Session 1: Global Hardware Trends

The hardware of a computer is akin to the body of human.  If the hardware is bad, the person struggles.   Yet many people view the hardware as commodity and they choose to choose a commodity foundation for productivity.  It is true that hardware technologies have developed so fast that being average is good enough but for the average person.  In fact hardware technologies have developed very fast that many people have lost sight of hardware and thought it was no longer relevant.  This presentation is not intended to go into philosophy, but attempts to provide an update of trends of hardware developments which will provide a more informed basis for our decisions.  It predicts that most PC in the classroom will eventually disappear and explains how this happens.  It explains the variety of storage approaches which will be a major criterion for continuity of operations of schools and security of ownership.   Keywords: cloud computing, virtualization and expander storage systems.

Presentation: 2008-1030 Global Hardware Trends.pdf (1.2MB)


Session 2: Alternative Software

Open source is free lunch for all but the lunch is not for everyone.  That is, not everyone is able to enjoy the free lunch.  You will need to have a wealth of knowledge as a prerequisite to enjoy the freedom open source offers.  Can people not familiar with open source be able to use open source for free?  Yes if under guidance.  Does open source perform better than proprietary software?  This is an issue called fitness for purpose.  Will open source be cheaper to run over a period of time than proprietary software?  This is an issue called the total cost of ownership.  We will give open source a fair go and support

Presentation: 2008-1030 Free Software ideas.pdf


Session 3: Open Floor incorporating “Northern Loop”

Northern Loop refers to a desire at this stage to have a high bandwidth Internet data highway for schools in Northland.  The loop is expensive to set up and use, and the industry has not come to the party yet.  We intend to provide a summary of the state of affairs in the seminar. 

Another issue is how peers can exchange experience and help each other.  We have started up a web forum as a recommendation of the last face forum and currently we have 12 members participating in the forum.  The most active members are Kamo High, Whangarei Girls High and Whangarei Boys High up to this stage.  We expect the membership to double every year for the next few years, and the benefits of participation to double linearly to exponentially.  Please offer your thoughts of how we can make the web forum work for schools.