Suraj wrote:
,---- | We can also request developers to write the most elementary | introductory tutorial keeping in mind that it will be used by high | school students. [The best example I can cite is that of the | documentation that comes with PostgreSQL ] `----
One practical problem we faced in Demo@Schools was the lack of some sort of a thing (which I haven't yet understood completely) which results in documents/tutorials getting half way through.
Then, centralised efforts may be needed. Assigning the task to the teachers themselves is the best thing to do, because they know best what the students will understand and what they wont' which will be supplemented with their own notes.
,---- | Most teachers take their job seriously and may not be able to | visualise anything remotely resembling free software. The Management | and teachers think in concrete terms of text books, class work, home | work, tests and marks, and if a bare outline of the curriculum is laid | bare, then, I think most schools and teachers would be more than happy | to teach the students not only free software but the high value of | sharing in life that can be easily learnt at school level. `----
Completely Agree. From what I experienced, Its a chicken and egg problem -- Without convincing them (the school) how well the students can learn free software they wont let you present a valuable syllabus to follow and without following a proper syllabus, practicals, tests and "marks" the school wont know how to grade / judge the students. For all we did in demo@schools was to teach, teach and teach in weekends. Infact after a point we even convinced ourselves that "its okay if the students are interested by themselves. they will start hacking all by themselves after a point.". But that wont happen until they get a good grip on things... and THAT didn't happen... :(
It will happen only when the right text books get written and are available. Certain concepts like pipes and permissions could be taught from an early stage, and will help the students to think the right way from the start, regardless of `marks'. Merely pointing to resources already available should help. If no text books are available then, a good book available in the market should be made available for reference. Using primary documentation that comes with the program or those written by the authors themselves are the very best. They are often less profound than their commentators.
Regards, Ramanraj.