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Open Source Resources for Education

Page history last edited by PBworks 17 years, 11 months ago

Open source software is created by a worldwide community of developers rather than a single vendor. The source code is free and available for modification, improvement, customization, and redistribution. And those in the Open Source movement believe the accelerated pace of open source software projects cannot compare with the relatively slow pace of commercial software development.

 

Open Source is creating increasingly robust applications that continue to mature and offer schools much needed equity solutions. Librarians can direct students who don't, for instance have Microsoft's Office Suite at home, to the Open Office alternative. It has fewer bells and whistles, but it does a darn good job. Librarians might suggest, for instance, a course management system like Moodle to a district considering a high price commercial alternative. The movement is growing stronger!

 

Some useful resources:

 

K12 General Open Source Resources

 

* School Forge http://www.schoolforge.net

* EduForge http://eduforge.org/

* FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) Primer http://www.iosn.net/education/foss-education-primer

* UNESCO’s Free Open Sources Software for e-Learning http://www.unesco.org/iiep/virtualuniversity/forums2.php?queryforums_id=9&querychapter=1

* K12 Linux in Schools Project http://k12os.org

* Open Source Schools News http://opensourceschools.org/

* Free Software Foundation http://www.fsf.org

* Making Decisions about Open Source for K12 http://www.netc.org/openoptions/

* Open Source Now http://www.redhat.com/opensourcenow/

* Open Source Opens Learning http://www.rsmart.com/assets/OpenSourceOpensLearningJuly2004.pdf

* The Cathedral and the Bazaar http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/cathedral-bazaar/index.html

* Open Source Initiative http://www.opensource.org/index.php

* Open CD Project http://www.msad71.net/OpenSource/Open_Source_Links.html

* Red Hat Academy http://www.redhat.com/training/academy/

 

Open source applications useful for educators:

 

* OpenOffice http://openoffice.org the cross-platform productivity suite includes a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation manager, and drawing program, works transparently with a variety of file formats, including those of Microsoft Office.

* PrimoPDF http://www.primopdf.com/

* Amaya http://www.w3.org/Amaya/ Web editor tools hosted by W3C

* Blender http://www.blender3d.org/cms/Gallery.55.0.html 3D graphics creation suite for modeling, animation, rendering, game creation and more.

* BlueFish http://bluefish.openoffice.nl Web editor tools

* Celestia http://www.shatters.net/celestia/ free space simulation

* Centre http://www.miller-group.net/ the open source, free student information system that tracks student demographics, includes a scheduler and gradebook, maintains attendance records and transcripts, creates calendars, and displays student photos. Student billing and cafeteria modules are also available.

* Debian Linux http://www.debian.org/ Free operating system

* Fedora http://fedora.redhat.com/ Free operating system

* Free Mind http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page Brainstorming and mind mapping software that also outlines and organizes links and can exports to html format.

* Gimp http://www.gimp.org Cross platform graphic software for photo retouching, image composition and image authoring.

* Graphic Converter http://www.graphic-converter.net/download.htm Graphics software that allows users to open, view, resize, and edit in multiple images formats.

* GRASS http://grass.itc.it Graphical Resource Analysis Support System for analyzing GIS data formats.

* Imagej http://rsb.info.nih.gov/ij Java-based image processing tool developed at the National Institute of Health for use in science and math.

* Koha http://www.katipo.co.nz/solutions/koha/ Library circulation, cataloging, and acquisitions system

* Moodle http://moodle.org/ is a course management system designed to help educators create online courses with a ground in constructionist pedagogy.

* Mozilla / Firefox 1.0 http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/ the browser offers a built-in popup blocker, protection from spyware, and smart search features and imports favorites, and settings from other browsers.

* NVU Web Editor http://www.nvu.com/ WYSIWYG editing of pages, makes word processor..Integrated file management via FTP. Simply login to your web site and navigate through your files, editing web pages on the fly, directly from your site.

* Odeo (for recording and sharing audio) http://odeo.com/

* OSPI http://www.theospi.org/ Open Source Portfolio Initiative

* Quanta Plus http://quanta.kdewebdev.org/ Web development tools

* Sakai Project http://www.sakaiproject.org Online course management system

* Shibboleth http://shibboleth.internet2.edu/ Allows teachers and pupils remote, secure access to online content from multiple providers using the same password, eliminating the need to remember multiple passwords.

* Squeak http://www.squeak.org/index.html Media authoring and educational games for children

* StarLogo http://education.mit.edu/starlogo Programmable modeling environment creating in the MIT Media Lab.

* StarOffice Suite (free to education) http://www.sun.com/software/star/staroffice/index.xml No license fees for education, a leading alternative office suite that offers word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, drawing, and database capabilities, and export to PDF in a familiar-looking interface.

* Thunderbird http://www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird/ email system offering intelligent spam filters, built-in RSS reader, quick search, and more

* Tux Paint http://www.newbreedsoftware.com/tuxpaint/ A free drawing program designed for children ages 3 and up, featuring an attractive and simple interface, and graphics and sound effects that get played as the user interacts.

* TUX&GNU@school http://www.fsfeurope.org/projects/education/tgs/tagatschool8.en.html

* WebMail http://www.webmail.us/ Hosted email, an Outlook-style interface, a choice email box sizes, virus protection and spam filters

* Weft QDA http://www.pressure.to/qda/ for coding and analyzing qualitative data

* Writely (Web-based word processing) http://www.writely.com/Default.aspx

Comments (1)

Answer Blip said

at 3:45 pm on Feb 8, 2010

I came across the few sites that have been great resources below on my home schooling ventures with my kids and thought they might be of help to your community of visitors.

http://www.encyclopedia.com
http://qanda.encyclopedia.com
http://www.answerblip.com
http://www.accessmylibrary.com

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