education – SAOSS

Estonia has published its online classroom software, Schoolaby, as free and open source software

Estonia has published its online classroom software, Schoolaby, as free and open source software under the EUPL licence. While this category of software attracted a lot of interest during the COVID lockdowns, the developers highlight that it can also assist with schooling for children who are absent due to illness or for other reasons.

Maybe the authors haven’t thought that online learning is here to stay. Not in the sense that it will replace the classroom or the teacher but rather to be of extra help – student who would like to investigate more; others who would need more time to understand; others who didn’t understand because in the class some students were unruly, or they had interruptions…

https://schoolaby.com/en/

The north-German state of Schleswig-Holstein plans to switch to open source software, including LibreOffice, in its administration and schools

In doing so, the state wants to reduce its dependence on proprietary software, and eventually end it altogether. By the end of 2026, Microsoft Office is to be replaced by LibreOffice on all 25,000 computers used by civil servants and employees (including teachers), and the Windows operating system is to be replaced by GNU/Linux.

The necessary steps for this are specified in the planning of the Schleswig-Holstein state parliament (German), as digital minister Jan Philipp Albrecht explains in an interview with c’t.

See https://blog.documentfoundation.org/blog/2021/11/18/german-state-planning-to-switch-25000-pcs-to-libreoffice/

Digital Colonialism: South Africa’s Education Transformation in the Shadow of Silicon Valley

This dissertation investigates the societal implications of technology choices for the emerging e-education transformation of the South African basic education sector. In October 2015, then President Jacob Zuma launched Operation Phakisa Education (OPE), an initiative designed behind closed doors
to fast-track digital education into all South African public schools. This study identifies and analyzes policy choices and perspectives regarding the technology considered and deployed for the national e-education rollout. It documents the OPE proposal, and examines how e-education policy choices relate to humanitarian objectives. See

Digital Colonisation South Africa Download

A thesis submitted in fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
of
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY
RHODES UNIVERSITY
by
Michael Kwet
March 2019