Open source presentation Laptop Institute Memphis, Tennessee July 21, 2009 by Zal (nbteacher@gmail.com)

1. Open Source Software Free Software Web 2.0 Applications July 21, 2009

2. Why bring up this topic?

3. In the Province of New Brunswick, a lot of money is spent on hardware and software Hardware needs to be updated usually because of compatibility issues, not because of technical issues

4. Every teacher (7,000) has a government supplied laptop HP with MS Windows XP MS Office 2007 Email Account Anti-Virus and other software

6. We had a number of laptop schools (grades 8-9) but the program has been scrapped ($) Every school in the province has wireless internet Every student in the province has an email account Every school has a fair complement of laptop computers and regular PC labs We have “mobile” labs that can be booked out It seems that Apple products are not really supported The City of Fredericton is completely covered by free wireless internet We were the 1 st jurisdiction in the world with full fibre optic connectivity

7. Our central repository for information and collaboration is on what we call the NB DOE Portal (or the Portal) Created using MS Sharepoint Designer

8. Sharepoint is costing us a fortune

9. Teachers aren't using it to share curriculum

10. Teachers use Google to find resources

11. Teachers use Web 2.0 for their PLNs

12. The “Free” way, in our case, is superior than what we pay for

13. We communicate with each other primarily via email although we can also use Microsoft Office Communicator, Interwise and SMART Bridgit software

14. A few dozen courses are offered via distance education (for high school students) This is done by using Desire2Learn

15. We spend a lot of money for MS licenses Windows XP – Vista Microsoft Sharepoint MS Outlook Web Access We spend a lot of other software Adobe Acrobat, Photoshop Macromedia Dreamweaver, Fireworks McAfee Anti-Virus, Interwise communications, etc

16. Get the picture? We are spending a lot of money on software and user rights Teachers are not flocking towards the Portal for information and especially collaboration The majority of teachers (dare I say 85%) will only use MS Office for Word and Powerpoint They love their laptops but want a way to get their work done and not as interested in what program they use to do this

17. So, I bring up Open Source software Free software and Web 2.0 apps

18. Why? I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, but if we weren't spending this large amount of money on software, couldn't we provide more hardware/tools to the students?

19. Provide more hardware with your budget while accomplishing the same quality of work

20. Land of the Free Free Speech Free Stuff Free Hot Dogs Free Software Free Beer! Land of the Free Free Speech

22. Purchasing Software Usually you buy the rights to use those zeros and ones... not ownership of them

25. Open Source Free Software Web 2.0 Applications

30. Linux - Ubuntu

31. Firefox

32. OpenOffice

33. You can explore by creating an account at digabites.co.uk Author has given you permission

34. VLC Media Player

35. Audacity

36. CutePDF

37. Gimp

38. Scratch

39. Visuwords www.visuwords.com

40. 7-zip

41. Blender http://blenderunderground.com/2008/04/21/blend-file-roundup/

42. Pidgin

43. Twitter

44. Delicious / Digg

46. StumbleUpon http://stumbleupon.com/

48. Alice 2.0-2 / 3.0 / Storytelling www.alice.org

49. Wordle www.wordle.net

50. Twiddla http://www.twiddla.com/121842

51. Google Maps / Earth earth.google.com - maps.google.com

52. Wikispaces / PB Wiki

53. Check out my presentation at prezi.com/27725

54. Flickr / Picasa nbteacher1

55. This could go on and on and on

57. Remember... there ARE alternatives to “paid” software... supported and enhanced by people like us It's about the children

59. Feel free to stay and explore It's all about collaboration Allen Steeves [email_address] twitter.com/nbteacher delicious.com/tekteach