A presentation to the Elgg Conference 2008 on the use of open source software in UK Schools.

1. Open Source in Schools
Miles Berry
Elgg Conference
1st December 2008

2. Miles Berry
Head at Alton Convent Prep
Becta ICT in Practice Awards 2006
BCS, Naace, Mirandanet
Moodle, Elgg, Drupal, Edubuntu

3. Outline
Official Position
Applications
Advocacy

4. Structure
DCFS / SEED / DELLS / DENI
Becta (& Ofsted, QCA etc.)
RBCs
LAs
Schools - Governors and Heads
Teachers
Pupils

5. OGC
“UK Government
will consider OSS
solutions alongside
proprietary ones in
IT procurements.
Contracts will be
awarded on a
value for money
basis.”

6. EDM
That this House congratulates the Open
University and other schools, colleges and
universities for utilising free and open source
software to deliver cost-effective educational
benefit not just for their own institutions but
also the wider community; and expresses
concern that Becta and the Department for
Education and Skills, through the use of
outdated purchasing frameworks, are
effectively denying schools the option of
benefiting from both free and open source
software and the value and experience small
and medium ICT companies could bring to the
schools market.

7. Becta - TCO

8. Becta - Frameworks
Functional Requirements
Technical Specifications
Invitations to Tender, eg
Net worth >£700K
D&B risk ≥3
3+ years audited accounts
History of major education sector contracts
Atomwide - Moodle & Elgg
Sirius - SEIF
And yet...

10. Open Source Schools
“Becta wishes to ensure that schools are
aware of and can access the wide variety
of open source software in the
marketplace. To achieve this it recognises
that they must be supported in its
awareness, adoption, deployment, use
and ongoing development.”
Red Hat, Canonical, OSS-Watch,
AlphaPlus
Coordinate and support the community
of schools who use and develop open
source

12. BSF
Should we be?
LA Vision and Strategy for Change
ICT Output Specification
PfS & LEP
ICT as Managed Service
Local Choice Fund

13. Infrastructure

14. Web based applications

20. Web based applications
Web 2.0
Google
Hosting
Appliances

21. Open Source on
the desktop

33. Portable Kit

34. Advantages of OSS
Cost
Freedom
Philosophy
Innovation
Tailoring
Development
Education vs Training
Ownership

35. Issues with OSS
Procurement = Purchasing
Sustainability
Support
Compatibility
Exam Boards

36. Key People
Becta
RBCs / LAs
BSF contractors
Governors
Heads
Network Managers
Teachers
Pupils

37. Contact details...
milesberry.net
twitter.com/mberry
mberry@bcs.org