Here's a conundrum for you guys. My mum, although a fast touch-typist and shorthand demon, was, until a few months ago, a complete computer-phobe. The small company she works for have a Windows network with MS Office and some dodgy macros for doing their most common tasks. Like most British small private companies they provide no training. After struggling with the system for a while she signed up (with my encouragement) for some hugely (EU-)subsidized "computing" courses. These courses turned out to be very well run, carefully tested and graded Microsoft Office indoctrination classes. My mum has worked hard at them, enjoyed them immensely and made excellent progress. She has not been taught how to use a wordprocessor, but is brilliant with Word. She has no deep understanding of databases, but can do a dozen amazing things with Access before breakfast etc etc. Now she is the computer goddess at work. For her 60th birthday we (the rest of the family) want to buy her a computer so she can practise at home. A decent PC can be had for 650UKP. MS Office with all the components (I think the market-speak is "Office Pro") is at least 200UKP, more usually 250UKP, when bought with a new machine. This is, of course, a rip-off. What do we do (legally) to avoid paying this obscene sum? (Incidentally my sister teaches sixth formers, my dad is an ex-teacher and I lecture in a university so if any of you can think of a nifty educational deal I would be very interested. The impression I get is that there is no official discount for single, personal copies of the "full" MS Office suite, though there is one for "MS Office Standard" which doesn't have Access.) On a more philosophical note, I feel rather guilty about pushing the whole training business with her. It's like bad parenting in reverse. Imagine suggesting to your rather conservative teenage daughter that she should "get out a bit more" and finding out a few months later that she's become an enthusiastic drug addict :-) ... Anguished of Cambridge Malcolm Herbert wrote:
you may be aware that StarOffice 6.0 final release is due very soon and that it will have an educational license cost. Details from the NAACE conference this week.- - £50 per primary, £150 per secondary, for two sets of CD.s - covers staff and student home use - telephone support
Learning Pathways are the distributors/resellers/support for Sun in the schools market and state that this cost will help them develop training and support for schools.
if you want to contact them, http://www.learnpath.com
interested in your reaction
Malc
-- Damian COUNSELL http://www.counsell.com/ -- Damian COUNSELL http://www.counsell.com/