Tag Archives: Software

Splce: Mix and Sequence Shared Audio Online

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I must say, Splice is terrific! Splice is an online sequencer that allows a user to search for audio clips (CC licensed), and then mix and publish your audio files.

I think what is neat about this service is that it directly encourages the use and remix of freely available material … more so than just having access to a database of materials.

I hope this service takes off, as I’d love to see where it goes.

More On Learning Management Systems (LMS) Patents

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In case you missed the big story from July, “Blackboard, a US-based LMS company that recently merged with Canadian-based WebCT to become the largest company in the market, took the academic community by surprise late last month when it announced that it had been granted a broad patent in the United States covering 44 claims related to learning management systems.”

Michael Geist has recently written an article covering the controversy, and he points to a site I had not seen before. “The No Education Patents wiki (noedupatents.org) is of particular interest since it provides a plain-language explanation of all 44 claims contained in the Blackboard patent and it invites the community to submit specific examples of prior art. The wiki is revealing as it illustrates how beneath the complexity of the language used in patents, many of the claims relate to simple functionality such as online chat rooms and exam submissions.”

Additionally, what I really like about the wiki is that it features a section covering “The History of Virtual Learning Environments“. This is a good resource for a refresher, or of course, one to contribute to if you are able to see any gaps in the history.

Reasons For Not Adopting FLOSS In Ottawa-Carleton

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Take a look at the posted response from a superintendent from a Canadian school district defending reasons why not to use FLOSS at any levels of significance.

http://www.digital-copyright.ca/node/2531

Clueless. It looks like Microsoft sales reps got to her first.

And what about the trend toward the LMS? I think, if we’re lucky, we will begin to see education back-pedal on that notion.

I’m A Mac …

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I finally got around to viewing the “I’m a Mac” series of ads from Apple. Great stuff! I’d love to see these done in light of Free/Open Source Software.

Thanks to Heather and Rick … man I’m a slow blogger.

And while I’m on the topic of Macs, if you haven’t already downloaded it, check out the latest version of GimpShop, a Photoshop-esque application for the Mac based on the popular The GIMP application.

Microsoft Vista Pushed Back Yet Again

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Microsoft has announced that its upcoming Windows Vista operating system will be delayed until at least January of 2007. Can anyone say vaporware? That’s OK MS, take your time. Seriously. We really don’t need Vista. There are plenty of excellent alternatives.

At any rate, this is likely good news for the Linux movement, and for Macintosh sales as Apple continues to increase its market share.

RedHat & Open Source In Education

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Redhat has announced a partnership with Lotus Learning Systems Society to promote the use and implementation of open source software in schools. (full article)

The Hyderabad based Lotus Learning Systems Society, an organisation established to provide world- class professional teacher development and establishing and operating educational institutions, will deploy Red Hat’s open source we can learn from and adapt in the educational context.

And a quote from the article that I particularly like:

With open source software, we can modernize the education system far more rapidly than we can with proprietary software. Open source gives schools flexibility and control over their IT infrastructure and freedom from expensive licensing schemes.

And a quote that I can support from my own research:

Open source also helps in building a participative community of educationists and technologists.

Yes!

And while I’m on the topic of open source software, I just noticed a couple of excellent links for those looking at finding and using open source applications on Windows or Mac operating systems. There are links to some excellent software packages here.

– Open Source Windows – Open source software for Windows.
– Open Source Mac – Open source software for OS X.

Concepts Trump Information

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Peter Rock has followed up on my previous post, and has thoughtfully expanded on my point regarding the old adage “if you don’t teach x (e.g., MS Office), you aren’t preparing students for the real world”.

Peter responds:

I don’t teach students to memorize and regurgitate. I don’t teach students to use MS Word or OpenOffice Writer. I use such applications to teach word processing. I don’t teach students to use Mozilla or Internet Explorer. I use such applications to teach web browsing. I don’t teach students Scribus or Adobe Pagemaker. I use such applications to teach desktop publishing. I don’t teach students Logo, Guido van Robot or Python. I use such languages to teach programming. I don’t aim to have students memorize the 5,6, or 7 steps it takes to perform a specific task. I teach menus, how they are organized and thus, where they would likely find a sought after function in any similar application. This is not to say that memorization does not occur – of course it does. But most of that memorization occurs unconsciously and is secondary to conceptual understanding.

I supervise many preservice teachers through their internship experiences, and of course, I do my best to ensure that these beginning teachers “get it” when it comes to technology integration. To get a better understanding of how well technology is being integrated into a particular classroom, I find out from the K-12 students themselves. I’ve often used the simple question, “what are you working on?”. Now most of the time, I will get an answer like, “creating a spreadsheet”, or “surfing the web”. That’s not what I want to hear. But, when I enter the classroom of a teacher who really “gets it”, I may hear something like “preparing a budget” or “projecting costs” or “analyzing and comparing information from multiple sources.” OK, the language is not always quite as polished, but even with younger kids, you can easily tell if they are learning a spreadsheet for the sake of learning a spreadsheet, or if the teacher has created an environment where such software is just another tool in the arsenal.

Check out Peter’s post. It’s worth the time.

ZDNet Article: Open Source In Education

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Today, ZDNet UK featured a special article focused on open source in education. It’s a good read with some excellent points, and since this is a huge interest of mine (and the reason for my very infrequent blogging), I’ve provided some of the key points below along with some thoughts of my own.

1) Exposing school-aged children to open source software may make the difference in long-term adoption.

Or alternately, “For companies like Microsoft the school market is important because they’re leading innocent young minds to love Microsoft technologies.” And of course, then the old argument continues that schools shouldn’t use open source technologies because they are not used in “the real world”. Whose world are we preparing these children for? Ours, or theirs?

2) There is a perception that open source software is more difficult to use … at least for adults.

Yes, some open source software is more difficult to use than their proprietary counterparts, and I’ve seen this stated as a reason for resistance many times. However, there’s also some excellent software that’s easier to use and better than anything in the proprietary world (if you are reading this using Firefox, you know what I mean).

But if there are any differences in usability, I don’t think it’s intentional unlike one voice quoted in the article. “There is a prevailing sentiment among many in the free software community that technology shouldn’t be too easy and that people should invest the time to learn about it.” Hmmmm … I am not sure I buy that.

But the more important point is that when it comes to children using software, it may not matter. “John Osborne, a deputy headteacher at Orwell High School, which runs about 350 Linux-based thin-clients, says the pupils in the school found it relatively easy to learn how to use the open source desktops, although the staff struggled initially.” And I guess the idea that staff struggle with software use ties in well to point #1, and of course, Prensky’s Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants argument.

3) There are now many open source educational applications available for schools.

“There are a number of open source educational suites available, including the KDE Edutainment Suite, which includes tools such as the geography learning tool KGeography and the vocabulary trainer KVocTrain; the GCompris suite which includes algebra, science, geography and reading tools; and the Tux4Kids project, which has produced software such as TuxPaint and TuxTyping. Some Linux distributions. such as Edubuntu, come with bundled educational applications, including.” Obviously, you just have to know where to look.

4) Open source software adoption in schools is still slow due to a general ignorance of these tools furthered by strong marketing campaigns/approaches from software companies.

“The limited use of open source by schools can also be put down to lack of awareness or technical skills, and fear of the unknown.” And of course, it’s not just fear. It’s fear, uncertainty and doubt or FUD.

5) It is perceived that the technicians in many schools are not familiar enough with open source tools to provide sufficient support, or are reluctant to do so.

“..technical skills among school technicians is also a key factor. Paul Jenkins, the managing director of open source consultancy SimpleICT (formerly SchoolLINUX) says that few IT technicians know anything about Linux, so are unlikely to support a migration to such software. “The IT guy doesn’t know anything about Linux, so a way to protect himself and his job is to say it’s no good,” he claims.” While I am sure this is not true in all cases, I’ve witnessed this sentiment and the inaction it brings. Obviously the solution to this is to support the educational growth and professional development of technicians as you would with anyone else in the institution.

6) It’s not just about the cost.

Sure, open source adoption can lead to superior cost-savings. However, there are many other factors through adoption that can be as or more important.

“Linux thin clients are more resilient — at one school where SiriusIT has installed thin clients, there is no technician to support the technology, but due to the resilience of the technology this has not been an issue. With Linux, IT isn’t an issue any more — systems don’t crash. The thin client environment is quicker to boot and if someone pulls the plug it’s back up in a few seconds. Also, they don’t blue screen any more.”

While I certainly don’t buy the argument that “IT isn’t still an issue with Linux adoption”, I do agree that the open source process often produces software with greater quality and resilience. However, thats’ not the only other good reason for adoption.

7) The open source movement can be seen as a culture, an ideology and a better way for humans to work together on shared pursuits.

There is some philosophical argument regarding the moral superiority of open source software vs. proprietary software. Some of this sentiment comes from Richard Stallman and the related, but different, Free Software Movement. Whether you buy this argument or not, there is something to be said about developing software or content through open methods, and the philosophy inherent to the open movement is worth modelling to our students. And in the words of Sartre “Instead of secrecy, openness should reign, and I can very well imagine the day when two persons will no longer keep any secrets from one another because they will have no secrets from anyone, because the subjective life will be a fact, as totally open as the objective life.” And with this, I will continue to do my part to support the open movement in my corner of the world.