schooltoolers team mailing list archive

[Gaël Hernandez <elgaelo@xxxxxxxxx>]

Thanks Tom for the writing up. Clear and a good boost for SchoolTool in the
developing world.

Gaël


On 28 January 2010 21:46, Tom Hoffman <tom.hoffman@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>> Here's a draft description of our big upcoming grant program.  A draft
>> of the actual application will follow.
>>
>> Hopefully it is otherwise self-explanatory.  If not, that's a bug.
>>
>> Your feedback is very welcome.
>>
>> --Tom
>>
>>
>> Background
>> ==========
>>
>> What is SchoolTool?
>> -------------------
>>
>> SchoolTool is a project to create free and administrative software for
>> schools around the world, particularly in the developing countries.
>> SchoolTool was conceived by South African entrepreneur Mark
>> Shuttleworth, who remains the primary funder of the project.  Much
>> more information about SchoolTool is available at
>> http://schooltool.org
>>
>> SchoolTool is also a testbed for using free and open source software
>> as a vehicle for philanthropy which empowers it users and leverages
>> the combined investments of donors, local government and businesses,
>> open source hackers, and NGO's.
>>
>> SchoolTool was originally a project of the Shuttleworth Foundation but
>> is now independently managed with a separate budget.
>>
>> Current Situation
>> -----------------
>>
>> SchoolTool 1.0 was released in April of 2009, as a school-level
>> student information system.  That is, each instance of SchoolTool
>> tracks the school and class enrolment, attendance, grading, various
>> report generation and calendaring for one school.  See schooltool.org
>> for a much more detailed description of SchoolTool's current
>> functionality.
>>
>> As of January 2010, the primary deployments of SchoolTool have been in
>> the US, the largest being an installation of SchoolTool and a
>> competency tracking module called CanDo in several career and
>> technical centers supported by the state of Virginia.
>>
>> This work has established a solid base for SchoolTool's next phase --
>> deployments in the developing world.
>>
>> While SchoolTool has no costs associated with licensing, school
>> administration is a complicated task, and even mature systems often
>> require substantial customization, particularly if being adapted to
>> the requirements of a new country or school design.  At this stage in
>> SchoolTool's development, any substantial deployment in a new context
>> will require some up front costs to ensure SchoolTool meets local
>> requirements.
>>
>> SchoolTool Development Grants
>> =============================
>>
>> Goal of the Grant Program
>> -------------------------
>>
>> The purpose of this grant program is to provide in-kind developer
>> support to defray the cost of additional development necessary to
>> deploy SchoolTool in target markets.
>>
>> What are the target markets?
>> ----------------------------
>>
>> Anyplace outside the US, Canada, Western Europe, Japan and Australia.
>>
>> Grant Value
>> -----------
>>
>> Up to EUR 50,000 for the 2010 calendar year, probably divided between
>> two sites, but the number of sites may vary depending on the scope of
>> accepted proposals.
>>
>> The majority of the award will be in the form of in-kind development
>> by experienced SchoolTool contractors.  We currently have three full
>> time developers working on SchoolTool.  From May 2010 through the end
>> of the year, the project's top priority will be supporting the grant
>> sites.
>>
>> Grant proposals can include funds to be used locally to support
>> requirements gathering, testing, feedback and focus groups with local
>> teachers, administrators, parents, students and other stakeholders.
>> Also some funds can be allocated for training local developers to
>> create and maintain further work and maintenance to SchoolTool.
>>
>> Additionally, SchoolTool will fund an independent review of both the
>> development and deployment at each grant site.
>>
>> Scope of "Development"
>> ----------------------
>>
>> With a few exceptions noted below applicants may propose any type of
>> additions or modifications to SchoolTool's programming to make it
>> suitable for local use.  One of the reasons for this grant program is
>> to get a clear idea of what actual users require, so we don't want to
>> pre-emptively limit the scope.  Typically, however, this would include
>> import and export scripts to work with existing data systems, reports,
>> both printed and electronics and routines for delivering them to
>> higher authorities, and custom data fields for local requirements.
>>
>> In particular, we expect governments to require more data tracking
>> about the school as a whole, for example, more detailed tracking of
>> information about a school's physical plant, and perhaps more detailed
>> information about staff such as level of training, years of
>> experience, etc.  But again, we would rather have potential users tell
>> us their specific requirements than try to guess.
>>
>> What this Grant Does NOT Cover
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> This program is for software development and some closely related
>> expenses.  It is not for hardware, translation, user training, or the
>> ongoing cost of deployment.  These are the responsibility of the grant
>> recipient.
>>
>> The purpose of the grant is to defray startup and customization costs.
>>  Once that is done the site will handle ongoing costs and requirements
>> in the same way they would any other deployment of open source
>> software.
>>
>> Three Facets of a Proposal
>> --------------------------
>>
>> There are three facets of an proposal for this grant:
>>
>>  - scope of user sites;
>>  - scope of functionality;
>>  - breadth and depth of support.
>>
>> Proposals will be evaluated on a holistic rubric that emphasizes a
>> balance between the scope of sites and functionality, and support
>> resources.  Bigger is not better if the necessary supports are not in
>> place.  A smaller, successful deployment that can serve as the
>> foundation for further growth is more desirable than a big deployment
>> with mixed results.
>>
>> Scope of Sites
>> ++++++++++++++
>>
>> The one hard requirement is that the grant should include a pilot
>> deployment of more than one site.  Bigger is not necessarily better,
>> if size outstrips local support capacity.  If we select one large
>> scale project, we might keep the second one smaller to avoid swamping
>> our own resources.  In many cases a first year pilot will proceed
>> plans for a wider deployment.  Whether or not this is necessary
>> depends on local circumstances.
>>
>> Sites should serve primary and/or secondary aged students.  They do
>> not have to be schools per se.  Other educational programs such as
>> enrichment programs are acceptable.
>>
>> Scope of Functionality
>> ++++++++++++++++++++++
>>
>> SchoolTool has a range of functionality across several modules,
>> including grading, attendance, competency tracking, and calendaring.
>> It is expected that most deployments will focus on a relatively narrow
>> scope.  This might include an entirely new, if fairly simple, module.
>>
>> In most cases, unless the capacity of local support is very high, the
>> scope of sites and functionality should be inversely proportional.
>> That is, a small number of sites using a relatively wide scope of
>> functionality, or a deployment aiming at an eventually large
>> deployment focusing on relatively few tasks.
>>
>> Depth and Breadth of Support
>> ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>>
>> The amount of local support the applicant has at its disposal must be
>> congruent with the scope of sites and functionality.  Do not, for
>> example, propose a deployment with a broad geographic span if all your
>> support staff is in a central city.
>>
>> "Support" encompasses the experience and expertise of the primary
>> applicant for the grant, local training and technical capacity,
>> including potential developers, and local government commitment to ICT
>> in general and FOSS in particular.
>>
>> Timeline
>> --------
>>
>>  - February 5: Final version of RFP and application.
>>
>>  - March 5: Recommended date for preliminary proposal.  This will be a
>> short form to help us and the applicant determine an feasible scope of
>> development for their proposal; e.g., we need to track education and
>> years of employment for teachers, import from this spreadsheet, track
>> this demographic data for students and generate these 12 reports,
>> what's the estimated cost of that work?
>>
>>  - April 1: Final proposal deadline.
>>
>>  - Mid-April: Winners announced.
>>
>>  - May 1: Development work begins.
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~schooltoolers
>> Post to     : schooltoolers@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~schooltoolers
>> More help   : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Blog in http://elgaelo.blogspot.com
> Pictures in http://www.flickr.com/photos/elgaelo
>
> Por favor, evite enviarme adjuntos de Word, Excel o PowerPoint.
> Vea http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.es.html
>



-- 
Blog in http://elgaelo.blogspot.com
Pictures in http://www.flickr.com/photos/elgaelo

Por favor, evite enviarme adjuntos de Word, Excel o PowerPoint.
Vea http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.es.html