[Inschool] Re: Tool Kit

[Adam Williams]

>>If you mean the website, OK.  They mention calendars, multiple choice
>>tests, file sharing, etc... phpgroupware (and several other packages)
>>offer this out-of-the-box.  The web services they offer (as far as I can
>>tell), leave mean thinking: "So?  Big deal".  A volunteer effort could
>>offer such services with very little effort given they had some IT
>>infrastructure (servers, backbone connections, UPS, etc...)
>Yes!  I didn't know about phpgroupware and have just been looking into & 
>even downloading it.  It doesn't seem to have multiple-choice test
>features
>at present but it seems one could write such easily(?) in php.

It calls them "surveys",  same thing.  If not I have PHP code for
building forms for capturing various type of tests: multiple choice,
multi-choice, string, and essay questions.

>While the commercial system seems oriented to sit in one school to serve
>the
>teachers,students in that school.  If KLUG were to take on such a
>project,
>if they had the infrastructure you mention, including a physical
>location, 
>it could serve an entire school district, right?

Or nation, whatever.  Bandwidth and cycles, just add more.

>>I could EASILY see something of this nature hosted under the KLUG
>>umbrella if someone pulls together a knot of sincerely interested
>>volunteers.  I'd help get the rolling.

That would be good,  I can't promise time to "maintain" a project.

>Same here, although in my case, I'd be learning more than helping roll
>[the ball?]
>>>I also found the plugged in group itself interesting.  Would be great to
>>>build up a physical location
>>>where students AND parents and any other interested local citizen could
>>>come to learn some simple
>>>computer skills, learn of some useful websites, learn how to use email.
>>>Wonder if some local Internet
>>>Service Provider might be interested in taking on such a community
>>>project with volunteers maintaining
>>>the actual location and the ISP providing free or very low cost internet
>>>access.  Aside from
>>>the public service aspect, it would be a great way to promote the ISP
>>>for internet connection away from the center.
>>The requirement for physical facilities and volunteer assistants makes
>>this a MUCH larger effort.  KLUG  and myself have attempted in the past
>>to orchestrate entry-level training with community organs before,  but
>>the community organs have always exemplified fickle-ness, lack of
>>commitment, poor communication, etc...
>I believe that.  The former project could have the same problem if
>teachers were not given time or rewarded with at least praise for involvement.
>Since this project would have teachers/students working in LINUX as well 
>as MS windows on their classroom computers,  would this be a problem?
>i.e. can phpgroupware provide services for teachers without their 
>having any contact with command-line LINUX?

Sure, PHP groupware (and others) are purely web based.  So long as they
have a decent version of IE it should work.