This document provides an overview of free and open source software that can be used for online learning. It discusses tools for schools, instructors, and students including learning management systems like Moodle and Sakai. It also lists specific applications for tasks like content management, audio/video, development, and productivity. The document aims to showcase cost-effective alternatives to proprietary software for education.

1. An Overview of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) that can be used in Online Learning Steve Sorden [email_address] e-Learning Institute May 22, 2007 http://sorden.org/forum (http://www.phpbb.com)

2. Disclaimer Most of the applications discussed today are not supported by ITS. Please do not contact the Solution Center requesting support for them. Open Source applications generally are well-supported through online forums devoted to a particular application. *Also, my focus was on applications for Windows, but most of these also work on Mac and/or Linux.

4. Education can benefit greatly from FOSS, and education can often give back to society by supporting FOSS. Many OSS projects around the world are supported by groups in education.

5. Especially important for K-12 as OLPC programs and One-to-one initiatives take hold.

7. Generally a democratic way of working.

9. OER Commons - http://oercommons.org

10. Ogg Vorbis - http://www.vorbis.com

11. Openlaw - http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/openlaw

13. Richard Stallman and others would probably disagree with this: The Free Software Definition http://www.fsf.org/licensing/essays/free-sw.html

14. My focus is more on functional definition of free and how it can benefit cash-strapped schools and students/families.

16. Instructor (increase opportunities and experiences for students, facilitate instruction)

17. Student (reduce costs, increase opportunities)

19. Apache Web Server

20. MySQL database

21. OpenOffice.org

22. Sakai, Moodle

24. Trillian, MSN, Yahoo

25. StarOffice 8 StarOffice Demo: http://wcdata.sun.com/webcast/download/VIP-2112/gallery.jsp?img=1

27. Claroline (Belgium) - http://www.claroline.net

28. Dokeos (Belgium) - http://www.dokeos.com

29. .LRN (U.S. - MIT) http://dotlrn.org

30. For more suggestions, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning_management_systems

32. Includes popular Open Source applications

33. Transport your files, bookmarks, and email

34. Runs XAMPP from your flash drive

36. It is a great tool for development and testing, as well as having a complete environment on your laptop, but don't leave it permanently running. It is not secure.

37. Moodle has a self-contained XAMPP version http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp.html http://sourceforge.net/projects/xampp

39. Local phone numbers are available for most cities.

40. Messages can be checked online or emailed to you anywhere in the world.

43. Joomla - http://joomla.org

44. Mambo http://www.mambo-foundation.org

46. Xoops - http://www.xoops.org

47. DotNetNuke (asp.net) - http://dotnetnuke.com

49. http://sourceforge.net/projects/tuftsvue CMAP http://cmap.ihmc.us

51. Vmware does not appear to endorse EasyVMX

52. Microsoft also has a free virtualization product called VirtualPC. http://www.easyvmx.com http://www.vmware.com/products/free_virtualization.html http://www.virtualization.info/2005/10/how-to-create-new-virtual-machine-with.html

54. It broadcasts live events and archives events for later viewing. http://epresence.tv

55. From their site ( http://docs.google.com ): “Google Docs & Spreadsheets is a free web-based word processing and spreadsheet program that keeps documents current and lets the people you choose update files from their own computers. You can, for example, coordinate your student group's homework assignments, access your family to-do list from work or home, or collaborate with remote colleagues on a new business plan.”

56. From the site ( http://www.gimp.org ): “GIMP is an acronym for GNU Image Manipulation Program. It is a freely distributed program for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring.”

57. From the site ( http://www.scribus.net ): “ Scribus is an open-source program that brings award-winning professional page layout to desktops with a combination of "press-ready" output and new approaches to page layout. Scribus supports professional publishing features, such as CMYK color, separations, ICC color management and versatile PDF creation.”

59. Convert tapes and records into digital recordings or CDs.

60. Edit Ogg Vorbis, MP3, and WAV sound files.

61. Cut, copy, splice, and mix sounds together.

62. Change the speed or pitch of a recording. http://audacity.sourceforge.net (LAME encoder library is needed to output in MP3 format.)

63. Wink is a screen recording application that is comparable to Captivate or Camtasia. It is not as powerful, but free. It creates output in Flash, executables (.exe), & PDF. Windows & Linux versions. http://www.debugmode.com/wink

65. Add XAMPP and you have a self-contained, independent development environment.

66. NVU - http://www.nvu.com

67. Kompozer - http://kompozer.net

68. PSPad code editor - http://www.pspad.com

69. PHPEclipse - http://phpeclipse.de

71. PINs also secures and encrypts information. http://www.mirekw.com/winfreeware/pins.html

73. It is 100% free, Open Source software.

75. Unpacking only: RAR, CAB, ISO, ARJ, LZH, CHM, Z, CPIO, RPM, DEB and NSIS http://www.7-zip.org

78. Gadwin Printscreen (very limited function) http://www.gadwin.com/printscreen

80. Encrypt PDFs and protect them from being opened, printed etc.

83. Test SDP with these feeds: http://wwitv.com

84. However, if you feel that you will need to do this often for various streaming formats, you might want to investigate Replay A/V8 at $49. http://www.applian.com/replay-av

86. ITS offers Microsoft Sharepoint, Confluence, and Sakai Wiki as wiki or collaboration solutions.

87. A good general OS wiki is dokuwiki.

88. It runs with PHP, but doesn't need a database. http://wiki.splitbrain.org/wiki:dokuwiki

90. Proper nouns

91. Related words

92. Pronunciations

93. 150 000 root words

94. 120 000 synonym sets

95. Look up words in almost any program

96. The Guide Nice application for outlining & note-taking http://theguide.sourceforge.net

97. Some FOSS Web Sites PC World’s 101 Fantastic Freebies http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,130045-page,12-c,freeware/article.html The 46 Best Ever Freeware Utilities http://www.techsupportalert.com/best_46_free_utilities.htm The Extended Best-ever Freebies http://www.techsupportalert.com/more/extended.htm#48 Mohawke’s Best of the Best Free and Open Source Software Collection http://www.digitaldarknet.net/thelist Seul/Edu Educational Application Index http://richtech.ca/seul Open Source Mac (Free, Open Source software for OS X) http://www.opensourcemac.org Office Applications Toolkit – ZDNet reviews of OS software http://reviews.zdnet.co.uk/software/contentcreation/0,1000001068,39286832,00.htm

98. An Overview of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) that can be used in Online Learning Steve Sorden [email_address] e-Learning Institute May 22, 2007 A PDF version of this Impress slide show can be downloaded at: http://sorden.org/foss_education.pdf