Volume 5, No. 6
14 October, 2005
[To view this newsletter on line:
http://www.emck.net/eline/05_10_14.htm]
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"Why did I receive this?"
This newsletter is sent to all attendees of
the Kentucky Summer Teacher Academies (and other educators) as a free service of
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 The E-Line welcomes... the attendees
of the Kentucky Summer Academies! If you're new to The
E-Line and missed our September 30th edition, it tells what
we're about, and how you managed to join us. Check it out at
http://www.emck.net/eline/05_09_30.htm. Make sure you also look at
our information page! |
Free Software!!
Or....
"What do you mean, it doesn't belong to anyone?" -
Intellectual property in the age of Open Source
Software
 Several
educational technology discussion lists were furiously and heatedly looking at
the issue of content credibility and anonymity last week - specifically,
whether an "everybody can contribute" source like
Wikipedia, which belongs
to no one and allows anyone to write anything on the site, could be accurate
enough to be cited in serious research.
Regardless of how you feel about "Open Knowledge" models like Wikipedia, the idea transfers quite well to
software! According to
The Free On-Line Dictionary of
Computing, Open Source software is."...A method and philosophy for
software licensing and distribution designed to encourage use and improvement
of software written by volunteers by ensuring that anyone can copy the source
code and modify it freely." The Open Source movement has produced dozens of
titles, authored by literally hundreds of computer programmers working
together with no interest in being compensated for their work or declaring
ownership. Needless to say, it's all free! Unlike Wikipedia, credibility isn't a concern - if it
works, it's credible!
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General sources |
We've featured dozens of
free software titles in past editions. Our
October 15, 2004
was our last edition solely dedicated to this topic, but new titles
also appear in other editions. Below are some new titles we've not carried before,
listed by subject.
Where did we find them? Here are a few of the websites
where Open Source software can be found and downloaded. These sites do
not include free software offered by commercial sites,
private manufacturers/designers, and shareware sources (our
October 15, 2004
edition explains all that).
-
 Source
Forge - http://sourceforge.net
- This site is massive and difficult for the novice to navigate.
However, a little browsing will give you a feel for what it's like to be
an open source software developer or developer's community. Source Forge
hosts hundreds of developers' sites, and maintain links to download
sites all over the world. Many projects maintain openly-editable Wikis
as a means of displaying and developing their software!
-
 Fresh
Meat - http://freshmeat.net/ -
Offensively named, but huge, this site is a database of open source
projects, many of which are hosted by Source Forge. The layout is much
more predictable than the individual sites maintained all over the web.
- Open Science -
http://www.openscience.org/ -
Dan Gezelter of Notre Dame hosts this collection of math and
science-specific open source projects, most of which are too specialized
and advanced for P-12 use. But there are a few useful ones, and links to
other resources as well.
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Software |
| The
Arts |
 Audacity
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
Offered through the Open Source
website Sourceforge, this fully functional sound editing package is
quite simple to use, handles a variety of sound formats, and is
completely free. It took me about 2 minutes from downloading to sound
file editing! It's offered in Windows, Mac OSX, and Linux versions.
 Jahshaka
http://www.jahshaka.org/
I've not spent enough time with this to know how good it
is...it looks complex but powerful. It's an open source animation and
media creation tool for older students, blending images, video, sound,
and animation in one production environment. I would love to hear from
someone who has used it extensively!
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| Mathematics
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 KSEG
http://www.mit.edu/~ibaran/kseg.html
This free-for-download "clone" of Geometer's Sketchpad is the work of
MIT student Ilya Baran. It comes with a pretty complete set of tools for
simple constructions, and provides for simple animations. The examples,
unfortunately, are only interesting to college students, the
installation is crude for Windows (the program was originally Linux/Mac
only), and the help files are HTML pages you have to browse to. However,
if money is a factor, this program will cover your geometry class
compass/straightedge construction needs, with a whole lot more! |
| Science |
 Stellarium
http://www.stellarium.org/
This is a real find from the Open Science Project. It provides excellent
visual display of the sky from any earth position and any time, with
time lapse animation, and object search. It is extremely simple to use and
includes only objects observable using up to a small amateur telescope,
making it a great tool for beginning astronomers.
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| Social
Studies and Language Arts |
Free Mind
http://freemind.sourceforge.net/
If you've ever wanted to use Inspiration in your
classroom for brainstorming/quick idea organizing and generating, but
can't afford it - here's
your relief! It's not quite as powerful as the original, but it works
quite well. Java based means it will run on any operating system -
Windows, Mac, or Linux! |
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Art, Math, and Writing |
  New
Breed Software: The
Tux Family of Products
http://www.newbreedsoftware.com
We reviewed
Tux Paint (be
sure to download the "Stamps" collection, adding lots of pre-formed
stamp graphics for your young artist!) and
Tux Typing in our
October 15, 2004
edition. To this list, we add
the simple math software Tux Math (http://www.newbreedsoftware.com/tuxmath/) -
it's still under development, but the game gives timed practice at
basic arithmetic skills in a fun game environment...suitable for elementary
school students. |
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Grant Resources |
 Olympus/Tool
Factory Classroom Grants
http://www.toolfactory.com/olympus_contest/olympus_teacher.htm
This grant offers free digital cameras, Tool Factory software, and some
cash to purchase supplies, for a total around $3,500. Describe your
idea, list a budget - all through a simple online application process.
There are examples of winning applications on the site. Deadline is
December 30th, 2005. [Suggested by Greg Drake] |
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