Can free software satisfactorily meet the online teaching and learning needs of students, faculty, and instructional technologists? California State University faculty and staff seem to think so. Added on: 20-Sep-2005 | hits: 4347 Report broken link | Details
From the site: "What if there was alternative for Microsoft Word that would install and open in 6 seconds, read and write Microsoft Word .doc files and run on Macintosh, Microsoft Windows or Linux computers? And oh yeah, it was FREE so consumers didn't have to pay $499 for Microsoft Office. I'm excited to announce that day is here." Added on: 23-Mar-2006 | hits: 2802 Report broken link | Details
It seems that a viable open source alternative to the commercial products offered by the corporate giants may be just around the corner. Best of all, cross-platform development opens the field to all the major computer operating systems. Added on: 31-Aug-2005 | hits: 2545 Report broken link | Details
From the thesis by Owais Ahmed, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada: "This exploratory research examines projects that colleges and universities undertake to migrate from proprietary to open source learning content management systems. Responses to questionnaires from eleven individuals involved in nine open source migration projects were used to identify the: (i) main reasons for migrating to open source software, (ii) obstacles encountered during the migration, (iii) key factors that contribute to the success of open source migration projects, and (iv) main organizational changes that result from migrating to an open source learning content management system. Based on research results, propositions are developed and recommendations are made to chief information officers (CIOs) and presidents of colleges as well as senior
managers of suppliers of proprietary learning content management systems. Propositions are developed anchored around four models: (i) decision to migrate, (ii) LCMS selection, (iii) success of migration project, and (iv) outcomes from migrating to an open source learning content management system." Added on: 10-Mar-2006 | hits: 2454 Report broken link | Details
From the site: "The free software movement was inspired by the ideals of academic research, and in the last few years it has given some of the fruits of that inspiration back to academia. One of the largest open source projects in academia is the Open Source Portfolio Initiative (OSP) -- a specialized content management system, comparable to WebCT. Its functions are to assist universities in administering Web servers, teachers in preparing online course components, and both teachers and students in designing and using portfolios, which are academically oriented personal Web pages. Despite some flaws, the project fulfills its functions well." Added on: 09-Feb-2006 | hits: 2412 Report broken link | Details
From the site: "An emerging set of standards for ensuring the interoperability, accessibility, and reusability of digital instructional materials will have an enormous impact on eLearning. The standards' creators say they will open the door for educators to share, contribute, and reuse digital learning objects at will, regardless of the content management platform schools might use." Added on: 09-Apr-2006 | hits: 2338 Report broken link | Details
From the site: "More than a dozen technology companies, including IBM, Red Hat, and Novell are planning to support a new integrated server and desktop Linux standard unveiled at next week's Linux Desktop Summit by the Free Standards Group (FSG)." Added on: 24-Apr-2006 | hits: 2306 Report broken link | Details
Several students came to me in person at an event last week and told me how thrilled they are with the Moodle tests that you put together for us. They are MUCH better than Blackboard, which we used last year.
