Re: [seul-edu] Comprehensive Student Management System

[Chris Edwards <cedwards@wcs.k12.va.us>]

Kevin,

I know for a fact that even in my own system, accepting an entirely new OS is
going to be hard.  Even with 3/5 of the technical staff being strong Linux 
advocates, getting some teachers to even consider will be rough.

Maybe I am a glutton for punishment, but I feel that a there is a good chance
(if written properly) of a cross-platform GUI that runs natively on UNIX, Win,
and Mac environments.

As a design decision, it should be considered that building a cross-platfom
framework into it at the begining will be benificial later on.  However,
I feel that as a priority, using it on a Linux Desktop under X is more
important for those who are already in the process of moving to Linux Desktops.
For now, there are other applications that the Windows/Mac institutions can 
use.

As a person who supports this kind of software day in and out, I feel that
data conversion from existing applications is a very important goal.  I have
lived through nightmarish data conversion processes before and wish that on
no one.

I am working on getting the specifications of the SASIxp system up on the web
for those interested.  I also have end-user documentation in PDF format
for those interested.  I will send links for this info when it's up.

If any of you have an interesting name for a project such as this, please
step forward so that we can get mailing lists set up for detailed discussion.

If you are aware of any other student managment system that you or your local 
school district is using please give as much info as you can.

I would also like to work with some of the other projects once we get further
along to make a fairly seamless integration.  This alone would be a welcome
feature for most school system network admins. 


Chris Edwards
Computer/Network Technician
Washington County Virginia Public Schools
http://www.wcs.k12.va.us

On Thu, Aug 31, 2000 at 03:19:33PM -0500, Raybould, Kevin wrote:
> Ray
> 
> I agree that web browsers can be a limiting UI, but my main concern was
> acceptability.  I would think that some school systems would balk at having
> to install new desktops on teachers machines.
> 
> However, I don't know that, I just suspect.  Perhaps list members who are
> school sysadmins could provide us with their opinions?
> 
> At any rate, I think Chris probably has a good idea - one interface for a
> pure Linux environment, one (whether it is web based, or a gui that can
> function across multiple platforms) for heterogeneous environments.
> 
> Kevin Raybould
> Unix Engineer/Programmer
> 3160 Directors Row
> Memphis TN 38131
> kraybould@ionictechnologies.com