blog.humaneguitarist.org

high school students in NSW get laptops with MuseScore

[Sat, 29 Aug 2009 14:51:13 +0000]
Last week I learned via Facebook that the open-source, cross-platform music notation software MuseScore [http://www.musescore.org/] will be provided to to New South Wales high school students via the NSW Department of Education and Training's Digital Education Revolution [http://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/gotoschool/highschool/dernsw/index.php] program. The open-source, cross-platform audio editor Audacity [http://audacity.sourceforge.net/] will also be included. The program provides laptops to high school students. If they make it past their last year, the students get to keep the device. That's not bad, especially considering that most people's computer needs are tapering off and a solid machine from 2009 should be good for quite some time. Interestingly, the machine will be powered by Windows 7 and will come loaded with Microsoft Office and various Adobe sofware - i.e. this won't be a banner example for the open-source and Linux communities. For the machine's specs and a software list click here [http://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/gotoschool/highschool/dernsw/thelaptop.php]. Of particular interest is the fact that students and parents have to sign a Laptop User Charter [http://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/gotoschool/highschool/dernsw/thelaptop.php#charter] before they can take the device home. Otherwise, they can only use it in class. Still curious? You can watch the snazzy promo video below. If you want, you can skip ahead [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-T71zmupiA#t=3m50s] to the part that discusses the charter. [EMBED]