Re: CISIC: project approved

Ace Suares wrote:
> 
>>Experience shows that entering into this kind of activity always results
>>  in failure unless there is enough infrastructure in place to support
>>the  ongoing development and training of staff. You also identify the
>>need to select the right software.
> 
> 
> Ross, I think you are  bit too negative and also underestimate the power of 
> Social Engineering...

I'm talking about experiences worldwide from similar projects. I'm not 
saying *you* can't make it work, I'm simply saying that there are many 
people out there who have tried it and learnt lessons from it. It 
wouldn't do any harm for the rest of us to learn from those lessons.

> First of all, I will train some people - that is always good, it increases 
> basic knowledge, and thus also basic knowledge about problems that arise. 

I'm all for doing what one can.

> Second of all, there is NO plan to roll out 92 schools with LTSP - but someone 
> needs to justify the expenses for the pilot project.

OK, your original mail seemed to imply that this was a move towards the 
full roll out (or at least that is how I read it). If we are talking 
about a pilot there is little risk. Sorry, I misunderstood.


> Third of all, I am very much intent on growing the network by teaching and 
> tutoring the decision makers.

This is the hardest part to achieve according to people I have spoken to 
who have tried a large scale project. Resistence to new things is much 
greater than one imagines. Of course, starting small and letting the 
interest grow is a differnt approach. If your schools/government are 
willing to go that route then cool.

> There are already computer labs in all schools - the problem is that 
> maintenance is killing them. 30 odd computers per school with all kinds of 
> different software, hardware, and mostly obsoleted hardware. No money to 
> upgrade.

This is exactly the kind of failed project I was talking about.

> SO, ltsp will save them maintenance and upgrades. But the 
> educational plan will stay the same (apart from adaptations to certain 
> software maybe).

OK. I see the difference now. You are tackling the maintenance issue not 
  how these machines are used in education.

> It is very different from the situation in T&T. They are 
> also pretty far in the process of connectiong all schools through a backbone 
> and internet.

Cool, thanks for the clarifications.

Ross