The Open Schoolhouse Building a Technology Program to Transform Learning and Empower Students Charlie Reisinger @charlie3 The Open Schoolhouse Building a Technology Program to Transform Learning and Empower Students http://theopenschoolhouse.com/ @OpenSchoolhouse Copyright © 2016 Charlie Reisinger This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Cover Design by Zach LeBar ISBN: 1537484052 ISBN-13: 978-1537484051 First Printing October 2016 Contents CONTENTS............................................................................................................................................................1 INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................................................3 A BRIEF OPEN SOURCE LESSON....................................................................................................................7 CLOSED SOURCE SOFTWARE................................................................................................................................8 SOFTWARE SUBSCRIPTION SQUEEZE....................................................................................................................9 WHAT IS OPEN SOURCE?....................................................................................................................................11 SOFTWARE COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE............................................................................................................13 HACKING AND SOFTWARE FREEDOM.................................................................................................................14 LINUX: FROM FINLAND WITH LOVE.................................................................................................................. 16 BEGINNINGS AND FOUNDATIONS...............................................................................................................18 A NEW GRADE BOOK........................................................................................................................................ 18 LAMP LIGHTS LEARNING................................................................................................................................. 20 FROZEN SERVER, FLOWING TEARS....................................................................................................................21 A BETTER SCHOOL ASSEMBLY LINE..................................................................................................................22 MOODLE LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM....................................................................................................24 OPEN CAMPUS, OPEN SCHOOLS........................................................................................................................ 27 WORDPRESS CLASSROOM PUBLISHING............................................................................................................. 27 FREEDOM OF THE STUDENT PRESS.................................................................................................................... 30 KOHA—A LIBRARY GIFT.................................................................................................................................. 32 SOFTWARE COST SAVINGS................................................................................................................................. 34 AN OPEN TECHNOLOGY TEAM................................................................................................................... 36 MEET THE TECHS...............................................................................................................................................36 VALUES AND PRINCIPLES.................................................................................................................................. 37 NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE.............................................................................................................................39 IRC AND MATTERMOST..................................................................................................................................... 40 CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?................................................................................................................................42 BACKING UP ISN'T HARD TO DO....................................................................................................................... 44 THE OPEN SECRET............................................................................................................................................. 45 LINUX IS ELEMENTARY.................................................................................................................................47 A DIFFERENT PATH............................................................................................................................................ 48 LINUX ON THE DESKTOP....................................................................................................................................50 THE GREAT TABLET DEBATE.............................................................................................................................51 ONE MORE DATA POINT.................................................................................................................................... 53 LAPTOP SHOPPING............................................................................................................................................. 53 THE DISTRIBUTION AND THE DESKTOP............................................................................................................. 54 GNOME OR XFCE............................................................................................................................................. 56 PUPPET MASTERS...............................................................................................................................................57 SHOWTIME FOR THE LITTLE LAPTOPS............................................................................................................... 58 LINUX LEARNING ISLAND..................................................................................................................................60 FROM FREE TO FREEDOM.................................................................................................................................. 61 PLANNING A ONE-TO-ONE PROGRAM...................................................................................................... 63 THE COMMITTEE................................................................................................................................................65 A HIGH SCHOOL FOCUS.....................................................................................................................................66 EVERY DEVICE ON THE TABLE.......................................................................................................................... 68 CHROMEBOOKS, NOT FOR EVERYONE............................................................................................................... 69 THE LINUX OPTION............................................................................................................................................70 UNLOCKED THE LAPTOP, UNLOCK LEARNING.................................................................................................. 71 PRINCIPLES, VALUES, AND VISION.................................................................................................................... 73 1 THE SCHOOL BOARD PLAN................................................................................................................................75 STUDENT STAFFING SOLUTIONS........................................................................................................................ 78 STUDENT APPRENTICES................................................................................................................................80 ANDREW AND NICK........................................................................................................................................... 82 STUDENTS SORT IT OUT.................................................................................................................................... 85 BEN.................................................................................................................................................................... 87 THE FIRST STUDENT HELP DESK.......................................................................................................................89 HACKERS WILL NOT BE EXPELLED...................................................................................................................91 STUDENTS AS TEACHERS................................................................................................................................... 93 BUILDING THE ONE-TO-ONE PROGRAM................................................................................................. 95 THE PILOT PROGRAM BEGINS........................................................................................................................... 95 TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT..........................................................................................................98 PAPERPLANE....................................................................................................................................................101