Follow-up to "My First Take on Ubuntu"

As I was sitting in a Starbucks in Tianjin this morning doing some quick research on the "Schools Interoperability Framework" (my background in the data integration world makes me naturally curious about such things), I also ran across two recent well-written blog postings regarding the possibilities for widespread adoption of Ubuntu, one decidedly pro (by Christopher Dawson) and one unwaveringly con (by Jason Hiner).

While it is unwise, particularly in the realm of competing computer technologies, to say that a particular technology will never succeed, at this point in the game both my personal experiences with Ubuntu and the hard stats presented in the graph in Jason Hiner's posting indicate to me that the broad introduction of Ubuntu into a primary/secondary school environment is not currently a good idea (although I always want to regularly keep my finger on the pulse of alternatives to both Windows and Mac operating systems). It remains unfortunately true that FREEWARE ISN'T FREE -- the total cost of ownership is more than just the dollars and cents entailed in license fees.

Action research into metacognition development

As we are "reporting" on our Professional Portfolio website, my wife, Lora, and I have been doing some interesting work with her Grade 2 students in developing their reading skills (or more importantly, their ability to oversee the development of their own reading skills).

As we say on our site:

In working with the Grade 2 students at the International School of Tianjin, we have discovered a straightforward yet quite effective use of Flip camera technology in the classroom for development of metacognition skills in the language arts program.

Check out the full descriptive text and the accompanying documentary videos (showing of few of Lora's students in action) on our website.

My first take on Ubuntu - NOT ready for Grandma

This is a follow-up to an earlier posting of mine on the potential of using netbooks in K-12 education. I decided that I needed to see for myself what the potential is of using a netbook running the Ubuntu operating system, so I bought one this last summer. Here is my take on things:

In my past 6 months or so of experience as an Ubuntu "newbie" with a Dell Mini 9 netbook running Ubuntu 8.0.4, I find that it is an OS that I would definitely NOT recommend for use in any enterprise. Too many problems that I encounter with daily usage (like not being able to click the OK button on a print dialog window because it runs off the bottom of the screen, or not being able to configure a VPN because of inconsistencies in the operating system) are either unresolvable or require the entry of obscure commands in terminal mode. Most require me to delve through discussion board entries written by Linux aficionados in language that is incomprehensible to ordinary users.

If it ain't "ready for Grandma" (or very close to it), it isn't ready for the average enterprise.

On my next netbook, I will likely go with Windows 7. I have no ideological love nor hate of any particular vendor or approach (open-source vs. proprietary). I (and any enterprise the I work with in the future, particular educational enterprises) simply need something that works and that offers the potential for ordinary users to handle, on their own, most of the computer problems that arise in daily usage. While neither the Apple OS nor any version of Windows fully provides for this need (there are always daily usage issues that seem to require resolution by the 'geek squad'), they seem to come a lot closer than Ubuntu in its present state.