New Resources on Open Technologies in K-12 Education
Press Release:
Ted Richane
The Fratelli Group
202/822-9491
trichane@fratelli.com
CoSN Primer Helps Educators Understand Open Standards & Provides Advice on Data Interoperability Standards
Washington, DC (May 05, 2005) - The Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) has released a new essential resource for educators exploring how school districts can use "open standards" or "open source" technology to share data and make critical applications work together efficiently and powerfully. CoSN's "Primer on Open Technologies in K-12 Education" also provides district technology officials counsel on how to choose open source applications and which standards might best fit their technology needs.
"More than ever, school districts require the ability to exchange data between multiple applications. Open standards support this ability, and this primer is an effort to give district technology officials the tools they need to get the most out of their technology investments." Jim Hirsch, Chair of the CoSN Task Force that developed this new resource.
The primer begins by explaining the differences between "open source" and "proprietary" education technology applications and reviews some of the more popular open source software in use in schools today. It also provides specific examples of where compatibility between applications - interoperability - is critical.
Stressing Options
CoSN expanded on the open source topic in a statement of recommendations issued with the primer to provide guidance to schools districts as they deal with these complicated issues.
In the statement, the CoSN Board of Directors explained that there is no single standard of interoperability, but rather multiple standards. Each of these options has particular strengths and weaknesses that must be considered before a school district chooses a data interoperability standard.
For this reason, CoSN encouraged states to move cautiously in mandating standards for data interoperability and to seek input from their school districts, especially those that have already built open architecture networks. Leading-edge districts that have moved forward on open standards should not be penalized and required to retrofit their networks to meet a specific standard.
"The key to making a successful technology investment is to understand both the challenges faced by the organization and the options available to meet those challenges," said Sheryl Abshire, CoSN Board Chair. "It's important that school districts understand that options exist before deciding on how to share data between applications."
About the Consortium for School Networking
Founded in 1992, the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), a national non-profit organization, is the premier voice in education technology leadership. Its mission is to advance the K-12 education community's capacity to effectively use technology to improve learning through advocacy, policy and leadership development. CoSN members represent school districts, state and local education agencies, nonprofits, companies and individuals who share this vision.
CoSN leadership initiatives include: Accessible Technologies for All Students (www.accessibletech4all.org); Cyber Security for the Digital District (www.securedistrict.org); Data-Driven Decision Making (www.3d2know.org); Safeguarding the Wired Schoolhouse (www.safewiredschools.org); Taking Total Cost of Ownership to the Classroom (www.classroomtco.org); and the development of the Council of School District Chief Technology Officers (CTO Council).
Visit www.cosn.org or call 202-861-2676 to find out more about CoSN's programs and activities that support leadership development to ensure that information technology has a direct and positive impact on student learning in elementary and secondary schools.
Consortium for School Networking (CoSN)
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ph 202/861-2676 . fx 202/393-2011 . email info@cosn.org
Unless otherwise noted, this site is licensed under a Creative Commons
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1025 Vermont Avenue NW, Suite 1010, Washington, DC 20005
ph 202/861-2676 . fx 202/393-2011 . email info@cosn.org
Unless otherwise noted, this site is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License.