When it came down to coming up with ideas for the proposal of the White Paper project, many came to mind. We wanted to come up with an idea that if properly written could actually be used. We also wanted it to be an idea that could benefit our schools or communities. What we came up with was having schools switch from using Microsoft programs to using cheaper, if not free, open source programs. there are many institutions across the United States, primarily over seas, that are currently using open source programs as a way of saving money and expand knowledge. It is also believed that using licensed software in schools is, in a way, censoring students to only follow what they see in front of them. Using an open source type program, students will be able to look into how programs work and see how their programs (tools) are used.
I originally did not know much about this topic when one of my group members brought this up. He recommended that I just go online and type in this topic and see what comes up. As it turns out, there is a lot of information across the internet about the use of open source programs in schools as opposed to the use of licensed programs. Some sources of research that we are planning on using for this project include; the internet, libraries, magazine articles, and interviews just to name a few. I believe that interviews and the internet are going to be our best sources for coming up with valuable information to put in our paper.
When it comes down to splitting up the workload amongst the group it is not yet set in stone on which person is going to be doing what. There are a few areas that need to be assigned. Some of the areas that come to mind that are specific jobs are; research, project design, and project leader. Almost everyone in this group will be conducting the research. The most important jobs for this project are the project design and the project leader. With out a good leader it is going to be difficult to complete this project due to it being a project where there isn't much one on one interaction if not any. The project design is important due to the pure fact that if the White Paper is not designed well it will destroy any credibility that is trying to be made to sell this idea to anyone that we are trying to pitch it to.
All in all we believe this project is going to be an exciting and helpful one. Just like what was said in the beginning of this proposal, we hope to be able to use this project as a learning exercise and as a medium to try and spread this idea to people in our communities and schools.
Group 4 Proposal Feedback
This proposal falls short in several key areas.
The first is tone and content. The proposal does not need to include how you came about your idea. Simply tell the reader what you have chosen, why, and how you plan to execute it. This is more direct, informative, and professional. Keep this in mind as the group prepares activity reports.
Second, you do not provide a specific enough audience for this white paper. Is it schools or communities? What kind of school? What size community? You need to answer these questions so that you can analyze and respond to the audience's different contexts of use. You will also need to further identify secondary, tertiary, and gatekeeping audiences. Without a clear and focused sense of your audience, you have no chance of success.
Third, this really isn't structured as a white paper; it is more a case for open source software. Keep in mind that the purpose of a white paper is to evaluate competing solutions for a specific problem, so that the reader can make an informed choice. Solution options are mutually exclusive, so the decision-making audience is only going to select one. For a white paper, you must identify a specific problem, but your proposal doesn't quite do this. What is the specific problem you address, and then what are the pros and cons of the competing solutions to that problem?
With your topic, you need to identfiy different open source options, rather than just make a case for open source in general. Imagine if the specific problem you were addressing was that the mother of a middle-class family of five people did not know what mid-sized sedan to buy. The corresponding white paper would present the strengths and weaknesses of the different makes and models (based upon cost, gas milage, room, features, etc.), but ultimately the audience is just going to select one of them, not buy them all.
Your white paper needs to evaluate the pros and cons of the different options so that the audience can make an informed decision about selecting one based on his or her situational needs. That's what you're after.