Well the debate is heating up.

Yesterday I had coffee with a few colleagues, and before the froth had time to settle, we were right into it. It being a passionate discussion about how new technology is lowering teaching standards, dumbing down academic outcomes, and wait for it, actually reducing people's intellectual capacity; especially young people's intellectual capacity.

My friend Brisley (not his real name) became highly agitated, almost belligerent. Completely out of character for him. He's usually a calm, intelligent, witty and articulate human being. Yet, there he was, going red in the face and blustering about modern technology ruining lives, and society as we know, and understand, it.

The discussion quickly moved into choppy water and suddenly all hands were on deck. These were fiery people with their swords drawn. Ready to slay the dragon, and restore peace to the world. Their world, that is. The world of order and predictability; the bedrock of the education empire. These fiery individuals have been programmed to protect the mighty kingdom, and with Henry the Fifth passion, protect it they would.

Never one to back away from a spirited debate, I jumped up, 'How good is this guys? A close encounter with the education police. It's our time! Finally we can get it out in the open and admit things that may have worked in the past, now need a bloody great overhaul. It's up to us to reshape the building blocks so they fit the future. Square isn't square anymore. Square is a cube with green-goo sides.'

Expressions had changed. Not surprising because these intelligent people just needed a little time to adjust. They're squares, changing into cubes. And they were ready.

Brisley was the first to speak, 'O.K. We get it. Now sit down and stop hogging the floor.' I sat. The hum of thirteen voices energised the room. 'I have to admit', Brisley continued, 'when I read a recent article about the death of teaching I was scared stiff. I love teaching; it's what I do best. If teachers become redundant, then I'm dead.' He laughed, 'Oh sure I can retrain and become a new age healer, or horse whisperer, but technically I'd be dead. Because I'd have no soul.'

Caroline patted Brisley's arm, 'Thanks Bris, but you're not alone. We're all scared stiff.'

'You needn't be', I said, 'We're great teachers because of our love for people. We make our students believe in themselves, and we show them how to reach their full potential. We have to use our skills to help people break down the walls. We have to help them put the sacred cows out to pasture, and remind them that neither, politics, religion or education can control their minds, because minds are fluid things that need to keep flowing towards the sea. It's important they know the sea of knowledge is limitless, and the best humans can do is to accept the fact there are no absolutes.' I paused. Sparkling eyes were watching me, 'If we have courage, our work won't be meaningless. And maybe for the first time in our lives, we can examine every concept, value and belief, and re-evaluate them in the light of ever expanding possibilities. Then we must change our teaching from the premise of 'Why? to Why not?'


SUGGESTION: Google green goo

You Be The Judge.

To follow up on a discussion Leigh Blackall and I have been having, I thought I should add a few links so people can better equip themselves to make choices. (see blog 15/02/07 - comments)

These links will take you to some interesting and informative articles. After you read them you should be able to make informed choices about open-source software.

http://www.dwheeler.com/essays/scm.html

http://searchsystemschannel.techtarget.com/qna/0,289202,sid99_gci1226999,00.html

http://software.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=06/06/27/206209&from=rss

http://www.macintouch.com/index.shtml

There’s a lot more if you search for it, so keep looking.

I am certain of one thing though, and it’s this: how many users actually have the base knowledge to apply any of this information in a professional way? My guess – not many. And that's a large part of the problem as well. You've got people with low-level skills downloading stuff they really don't understand. And when things go wrong they haven't a clue how to fix them.

Often they will stuff around, fiddling with this and that, and before you know it, they created a heap of other problems. Of course they can never remember what they did while they were stuffing around, and that's enough to drive anyone crazy.

Sorry if I sound like a grump here. But I know how much downtime stuff ups can cause. And they're costly. Someone has to invest time in the rebuilds etc. God, don't let me even go there. I think I've said more than enough. Now you be the judge.

Don't forget to leave your comments. They might help others with their decision making.

Thanks Suzanne.

PS: This is not meant to be a 'I'm right; You're wrong' competition. It's meant to generate valid debate to help everyone expand their IT knowledge so they can make better decisions.