§ Mr. JenkinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what action his Department is taking to increase the confidence of schools in the use of open source software. [116659]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeThe British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (Becta), which is the Governments lead agency for ICT in education, has published a number of documents on its ICT Advice website that provide information about open source software. They are:
What is open source software?
http://www.ictadvice.org.uk/index.php?section=te&cat=00a&rid=1798
Using open source software
http://www.ictadvice.org.uk/index.php?section=ap&cat=004006&rid=1858
How to choose between software licenses
http://ictadvice.org.uk/index.php?section=
ap&pagenum=1&NextStart=1&rid=1005&rr=1
Licensing electronic materials: advice and issues for schools
http://www.ictadvice.org.uk/downloads/guidance_doc/licensing_electronic.doc
These articles put open source in the context of other licensing options, making schools aware that there are choices.
§ Mr. JenkinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many schools have signed a Microsoft Schools Agreement contract. [116660]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeThe Government do not collect this information. Schools are free to make their own arrangements about what software to use and how to pay for it. The British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (Becta), which is the 227W Governments lead agency for ICT in education, has published a number of documents on its ICT Advice website that help schools to make informed choices. They include:
How to choose between software licenses
http://ictadvice.org.uk/index.php?section=ap&pagenum=1&NextStart=1&rid=1005&rr=1
How to upgrade software
http://www.ictadvice.org.uk/index.php?section=ap&cat=004006&rid=1006
Microsofts own licensing information can be found at:
http://www.microsoft.com/uk/education/microsoft-licensing/