Microsoft Takes Teachers To Brazil

Microsoft is inviting teachers to foreign education conferences, despite cut-backs in public spending in the fall-out from the global recession, and claims that schools could save money with open source software.

Microsoft’s fifth annual Worldwide Educational Forum, held this week in Brazil, wil let teachers “tour the cultural and historical wonders of the city” and “will end with a gala dinner that celebrates the week of fun and hard work”, according to a blog posting inviting readers to apply to attend next year’s event, illustrated with a palm tree-strewn beach at sunset,

The blog post describes how teachers can win a place at the next foreign conference and share in the experience that teachers will be having at this year’s event in Brazil. “We’re expecting over 350 attendees to the Forum, to be held in gorgeous Salvador, Brazil,” the blog states.”Does this sound like something you’d like to be involved in? Do you wish you were going with Stuart and me to Brazil?”

Microsoft also announced the launch of an online networking tool for teachers at the Brazil conference. “Partners in Learning Network is the next generation of the Innovative Teachers Network (ITN), a global network expected to serve more than 2 million teachers and school leaders by next year,” the company stated.

Despite the hard work and educational benefit involved in the conferences, Microsoft’s use of exotic locations might unsettle education authorities in many countries facing public spending cuts in the wake of the financial crisis – and calls from free and open source advocates to reduce licence costs by using alternative software, .

Open source advocates claim Microsoft’s offerings add to the financial woes of struggling economies which spend millions on licences when cheaper alternative exist.

In an open letter issued last month to the Hungarian government’s procurement agency – Directorate General for Central Services (KSZF) – the Open Document Format Association states the government has already spent 6.3m Euros on educational licenses and millions more on consultation and services from the software giant. “Please make your calculations known to the public which will prove that open source will not be a viable low cost alternative,” the letter states.

Earlier this month, open source groups in the UK launched an event at Bletchley Park hoping to encourage local authorities to work together to save £60 million a year across their educational ICT budgets, through the use of open source solutions. The open source push is being led by the North West Learning Grid, a regional body that consists of 17 local authority members from the north west of England, which includes more than 2,000 schools. It aims to work together to deliver regional broadband, digital resources and virtual learning environments.

“All main political parties now accept that open source will save the UK public sector at least £600m per year. We are delighted to see the North West Learning Grid taking the first real steps to achieving this,” said Mark Taylor, chief executive of open source consultancy Sirius Corporation.