Open Source and Free Software in Education

1. Open Source and Free Softwarein Education Rich Fielding IT Director Regional School District 13

2. What I hope to cover • Brief descriptions of • Open Source Software • Free Software and the GNU GPL • Not the kind of free that normally comes to mind • Free Software • The kind you were thinking about before, $$$ • Special focus on Google Apps for Education

3. Is it difficult? • Yes and No • Yes – some aspects of open source require advanced knowledge of programming languages such as C+ and Perl…that said • No – there are many programs that install on Windows and Mac just like any other program • No – most of the major projects have detailed instructions and wikis developed to support implementation

4. Open Source Software • OpenSource.org • Any software developed under the GNU General Public License (GPL). IE: Linux, Mozilla Firefox and others to be discussed

5. The GNU Project • Principally sponsored by the Free Software Foundation. www.fsf.org • The GNU Project was launched in 1984 to develop a complete Unix-like operating system which is free software: the GNU system. • The name “GNU” is a recursive acronym for “GNU's Not Unix”

6. The GNU GPL • While the GNU kernel is still incomplete, the GNU General Public License is widely used for other GNU and non-GNU projects • Write this down: http://directory.fsf.org/ • Has enabled the “Open Source Community” by allowing input on projects from volunteers who contribute on all levels.

7. How Open Source Projects work • Sites dedicated to hosting Open Source projects like Sourceforge.net where thousands of projects are worked on • Software distributions(versions) are available to download as source and compiled for a variety of Operating Systems. Linux, Windows, Mac OS X and Unix

8. How Open Source Projects work • Programmers test and tweak the software, uploading changes or patches to the code to the developers website. • The developers take the modifications along with others and incorporate them into their next distribution, or build. • Some software apps have daily or weekly builds depending on how many resources they have

9. Web 2.0 Apps • The Web as a platform – Blogs, Wikis, Social Networking, Video Sharing • Requires that websites (front end) interconnect to live databases (back end) that can then record and display data. • The Tools – Apache, PHP, MySQL, and phpMyAdmin.

10. Currently in use at District 13 • These three packages require a web server that runs Apache, PHP and MySQL. All are open source and free and are found on hundreds of web hosts. • Moodle – “Blackboard” type web based course management system - www.rsd13ct-moodle.org • Wordpress – Blog and website tool for teachers’ websites. Host it yourself or wordpress.net will do it for free. • Joomla – Website Content Management system for our school newspaper. - www.crhsnews.org

11. Apache • www.apache.org - Apache Web Server runs 65% of the world’s web servers. • Cross Platform • Not exactly an Open Source model – a “meritocracy” • The Apache Group(95’ish), later the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) 1999.

12. MySQL • www.mysql.org - The Database • It holds the data. • Kind of boring.

13. PHP • www.php.net - One of many scripting languages, including Perl, Java, Python, Ruby and more. • Can be embedded into html. • Connects the html to the database • phpMyAdmin – the tool to administer the database

14. Building Your Own Web Server • A computer – PC or Mac • Operating System – Windows 2000 or XP, Mac OS X or Linux • Apache • Host HTML websites – use NVU • Add PHP and MySQL for more capabilities • Highly recommend a hardware firewall

15. NVU • www.nvu.com • NVU – Pronounced N-View is a full fledged WYSIWYG html editor with FTP capabilities.

16. Moodle • Course Management system that requires Apache, PHP and MySQL. • www.moodle.org • Can be used for one teacher or an entire university. • Extremely well resourced Open Source Community, Lots of documentation, not too easy to get setup

17. Wordpress • www.wordpress.org • Another extremely well supported application • Very easy to get setup. • Lots of free plugins and themes • Free hosting from wordpress.net

18. Joomla and Drupal • www.joomla.org and www.drupal.org • Extremely powerful content management systems • Very flexible • Not as easy to get setup • Lots of free and commercial add-ons.

19. Others Currently in use at District 13 • Koha – library automation system that we are still implementing. Based on PERL, also free. New Beta is not always better. • Tux4Kids – a suite of programs including easy to use programs like TuxPaint as well as games that reinforce simple math, typing and others. • Seashore – more advanced image editing tool for Mac OS X

20. Google Apps for Education • www.google.com/a • Primary Features – Email (Gmail) • Uses your own domain name, or sub-domain. Our students addresses are example@student.rsd13ct.org • 7+ GB of storage space per user • Web Based • Unlimited Number of Accounts • FREE FOR SCHOOLS! Compared to $75/user for comparable business edition

21. Google Docs • Word, Excel and Powerpoint compatible programs. • Online, live, collaboration on documents with other users. • Upload/download documents and files

22. Google Docs Screen Shot

23. Sample Doc using collaboration

24. Document Revision History

25. Additional Features • Calendar – Allowed • Google Sites – Not Allowed • Google Chat – Not Allowed • Web Based Management – http://www.student.rsd13ct.org

26. Downside • Web based administration has major limitations with regard to mass changes. • Email archiving by Postini is expensive, though comparable to any other archiving system. • Security is difficult to achieve • email blacklist/whitelist issues.

27. Contact Info • Rich Fielding – rfielding@rsd13.org • Websites to check out: • www.rsd13ct-moodle.org • www.crhsnews.org • www.moodle.org • www.wordpress.org • www.nvu.com • www.icdsoft.com