Good news for all parents and teachers: it's Ubuntu User Day
When it comes to computers, many parents and teachers feel they are not competent enough to judge if the way their children use computer is the best possible one. Sometimes, they simply ignore that there is more than one way. Luckily, none of these hypotheses is true. Keep reading and you’ll know why this is one of the best moments to discover why and find alternatives.
As it turns out, there is indeed a way to use computers that doesn't force schools or families to buy software licenses or brand new hardware every few years and educates children to cooperate and generally be active individuals, not just passive consumers. That way begins with using what is known as Free (as in Freedom) Software. Free Software includes single programs which are great for educational use or whole operating systems like Gnu/Linux (Linux for brevity) which are complete alternatives to Windows or Mac OS.
Free Software can be legally copied and installed as many times as you wish at no charge and is extremely flexible. The Free Software alternative to Microsoft Office, for example, OpenOffice is also available as OOO4Kids, a simplified version made to order for the 6/10 years age range. Different versions of Linux are used with equal success in Universities
and in homeschooling. If you still don't believe that every parent and teacher should consider Free Software for their children, please read why a mom thinks that every family should attend a Linux Day.
January 23rd, 2010, will be a great moment for all parents and teachers who have access to the Internet to know more about these issues and find support. Ubuntu, which is of the best versions of Linux for beginners and schools, will held the first Ubuntu User Day: a series of free online classes and chat sessions, also for **absolute beginners*, in which experts will answer any question you may have about installing Ubuntu, finding help, equivalent programs and much more. There should be also a Spanish edition. The complete class list and schedule of classes is on the Ubuntu User Day home page.
(Free) Software topics can be intimidating, but the Ubuntu User Day may be one of the best places and moments for beginners to undestand them. Please don't miss this occasion to know what Linux and Free Software in general really are. It is stuff that directly impacts the quality of the education your children get and may help them to find a better job tomorrow. Happy Ubuntu User Day!
Who writes this, why, and how to help
I am Marco Fioretti, tech writer and aspiring polymath doing human-digital research and popularization.
I do it because YOUR civil rights and the quality of YOUR life depend every year more on how software is used AROUND you.
To this end, I have already shared more than a million words on this blog, without any paywall or user tracking, and am sharing the next million through a newsletter, also without any paywall.
The more direct support I get, the more I can continue to inform for free parents, teachers, decision makers, and everybody else who should know more stuff like this. You can support me with paid subscriptions to my newsletter, donations via PayPal (mfioretti@nexaima.net) or LiberaPay, or in any of the other ways listed here.THANKS for your support!