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Information For Schools

Who We Are

At Qustom we provide and support Free/Open Source Software (FOSS) for education establishments, small organisations, local authorities and charities. We understand that many schools would like to move over to using more Free Software. We can support Free Software Systems, curriculum networks and admin systems including SIMS.net.

What the Media says about FOSS

A recent article in the Times Education Supplement states "Primary schools could cut their computer costs by nearly half if they stopped buying, operating and supporting products from the world's largest software company, government research has found."[1] Also the Financial Times says "a three-year trial of open source in 33 schools ... concluded that the IT savings amounted to 44 percent in primary schools and 24 percent in secondarys."[2] Both of these articles refer to a report on Free and Open Source Software produced by BECTA.

Why Would You Want FOSS?

Free Software can be a valuable resource in education. Not only can it be technically or pedagogically superior to proprietary alternatives, but it can also promote the values of the GNU project in the schools:

  • Freedom
  • Cooperation

Today, many students and schools don't even know about Free Software or the great advantages it brings. At the same time, software knowledge is required for more and more tasks, and Free Software has a distinct advantage in this field. If you are one of those kept in the dark until now, please read some of the information we've put together here.
Free Software in Education[3]

There are many Free Software programs that could benefit schools as well as other organisations:

  • OpenOffice is both an office suite and an open-source project. Compatible with all other major office suites, the product is free to download, use, and distribute.
  • Linux is a free, secure, reliable and scalable Unix-type operating system as a replacement for Microsoft Windows.
  • GIMP is the GNU Image Manipulation Program similar in functionality to Adobe Photoshop.
  • Mozilla Firefox is one of the best web browsers on the market, and it's free.
  • Mozilla Thunderbird makes emailing safer, faster, and easier than ever before with the industry's best implementations of features such as intelligent spam filters, built-in RSS reader, quick search, and much more.
  • Scribus brings new power and versatile tools for desktop publishing.

There are many packages specially designed for education including:

  • Dr. Genius is an interactive and graphical tool that allows the user to explore and discover Euclidean geometry.
  • GNU Typist is a typing tutor. It is an interpreter of typing tutorials, which includes tutorials for several languages.
  • Solfege is a program that can assist you with ear-training and is mainly going to be used by schools specialising in musical education.
  • Gcompris is a suite of educational software for young children.
  • Granule is a flash card (or index card) program that implements the Leither cardfile methodology for learning new words. It features both short-term and long-term memory training capabilities.
  • xcas giac - Computer Algebra System for Windows Linux MacOS
  • squeak is a "media authoring tool" used to create your own media, share and play with others.
  • SchoolTool is a project to develop a common global school administration infrastructure that is freely available under an Open Source license.

The Free Software ensemble is constantly expanding and being added to by volunteers and professionals all over the world. If a particular software area is not yet covered, chances are it is being worked on and will be available in the near future.

So What is Free Software?

"Free software" is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of "free" as in "free speech", not as in "free beer". Free software is a matter of the users' freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software. More precisely, it refers to four kinds of freedom for the users of the software:

  • The freedom to run the program, for any purpose (freedom 0).
  • The freedom to study how the program works, and adapt it to your needs (freedom 1). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
  • The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbour (freedom 2).
  • The freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements to the public, so that the whole community benefits (freedom 3). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.

The Free Software Definition[4]

The Benefits of FOSS

Free Software is peer-reviewed software, which by its nature results in:

  • Better security
  • Higher performance
  • More frequent bug fixes and enhancements
  • Better reliability
  • Easier maintenance
  • Reduced license fees
  • Open standards
  • Ability to customise
  • No forced upgrade cycle

What We can Offer

At Qustom we can offer everything from help with PLASC to support contracts for all the IT hardware and software in your school as well as SIMS.net support. We can advise you on how to make the most of your current equipment using FLOSS instead of following expensive hardware upgrade cycles. We can introduce your school to new software and new ways of looking at IT. We also run a wide variety of training courses from anything on FLOSS to Internet safety and the grammar of the Internet.

If you need help getting used to SIMS.net we can send one of our fully SIMS.net trained support officers to assist in the setup and provide one-on-one support for your staff while they become familiar with the software. We can come in and assist with entering Key Stage information into Assessment Manager. We can give advice on how to get the most out of your SIMS.net software; from using the school calendar to effective use of pre-admission groups and CTFs. Our prices are very competitive: from just £30* per hour to £210* for a full 8-hour day. For quotes on longer term contacts please send us an email to support@Qustom.co.uk or give us a call.

*All prices quoted are without VAT, which will be charged at the current rate (17.5%)

References

  1. http://www.tes.co.uk/2094985
  2. Financial Times, Monday May 9th 2005
  3. http://www.gnu.org/education/education.html
  4. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html