The Problem(s)

Open Source Software is not used extensively in most schools in the UK. Where it is used it is mostly used because it is free (as in beer), solving a particular need. 

In addition, teachers are exceptionally time-poor (especially those who hold whole-school responsibilities) and are bombarded with information and offers from companies wanting to gain a slice of a guaranteed market.

Examples from the field

1. A teacher, frustrated with Internet Explorer, looks for an  alternative. She comes across Mozilla Firefox, installs it and is happy. The add-ons/extensions are an added bonus and the teacher makes her colleagues aware of it. 

Later, the teacher (as well as her new converts) attempts to access the school’s Management Information System (MIS) through Firefox, but can’t. Upon approaching an ICT technician she is informed that the MIS ‘only works with Internet Explorer.’ 

After some searching online she finds that Firefox can be configured to work with the MIS. She provides this evidence to the network manager’s team but is rebuffed as ‘Firefox cannot be locked down in the same way as Internet Explorer’.