On 4/11/06, Greg DeKoenigsberg <gdk@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > On Tue, 11 Apr 2006, Tom Hoffman wrote: > > Increased presence of free software at all the mainstream ed-tech > > conferences around the country. I'm not actually attending the > > innumerable little conferences going on around the country, but my > > impression is that, with a few notable exceptions (lately thanks to > > Steve H.) the open source profile is quite low. This could easily be > > a full time job for someone all by itself. While having strong > > regional networks of open source supporters is vital, I think a few > > nationally barnstorming evangelists would make a big difference, too. > > How about lots of well-connected part-time evangelists who have a strong > communications network, a strong unified message, and marketing materials? Well, that's good too. But one reason it would be nice to also have some national-scale evangelists is that they could get more keynote slots, which I think is pretty important in framing the overall conversaton in the ed-tech world. Here's a related question: if you were a reporter for a national magazine looking for a quote on open source in education, how would you know how to call? If you're doing a story on gaming in education, you know to call Marc Prensky. If you're doing a story on digital storytelling, you call the digital storytelling guy. Open source? I'm not sure who you should call. My point here is not that we don't have leaders, because we do. However, to their benefit, they aren't leaders who want to stop working in schools and spend the next few years talking to press, giving speeches and sitting in airports. That's a good thing. However, we'd all be better off if SOMEONE was doing that on behalf of open source, and I can think of several large companies, including Red Hat, who might benefit greatly in the long run through that work. --Tom
