Open Source Resource Switchboard
Classroom Toolkit is participating in the National Educational Computing Conference (NECC). This is in the EduBloggerCon and Open Source sections.
The demonstration for low-cost Open Source tools for teachers is available Online.
Sidebar
The issue of Online tools for teachers is different than the issue of "Free and Cheap" software for use in the our public schools.
See our article, The Case Against Open Source in this issue of Classroom Toolkit
What does the "Demo" Demonstrate?
The Open Source Resource Demonstration shows what teachers can do with Online hosting and "Free," "one-click" installation.
The application programs that are installed for this "Demo" include:
- Blogs: (Blogger™, Serendipity™, Wordpress™)
- Forum: (Simple Machine Forum™
- Content Management System (the Switchboard - Joomla!
- Learning Management System (Moodle!)
- Wiki (PHPWiki)
These Online "Demo" resources took "one click" to install, and were provided without extra charge by the Web Hosting Company. Domain registration cost $9.91 per year, or less, and Web hosting with automatic installation of application programs like these (and many more) cost as little as $4.00 USD per month.
The Switchboard application (Open Source Content Management System - Joomla!) links and launches the other applications.
Here are the links…
Open Source Resource Switchboard
Open Source Resource Blog
Open Source Resource Forum
Open Source Resource Wiki
Open Source Resource Tutorial
The Real Purpose of the "Demo" Site
Teachers need a demonstration of the easy, online capacity as much as they need the successor to the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB).
What this "Demo" site is for is to deliver a workshop on what it takes to build a Technology Integration Program, and what Open Source Advocates must to in the way of "changing the tune that they sing to school district executives" about "Free and Cheap" solutions.
Our students deserve quality programs, not half-baked, minimally funded, doomed to failure schemes to save money.
Financial Wisdom: "Either fund a program fully, or kill it in its tracks."
Sidebar
Last year, Classroom Toolkit produced a series of articles for Open Source at NECC that focused upon marketing Open Source Solutions.
These articles comprise most of the articles posted in the Open Source Resource Blog.
This year, the focus is upon finding a method for documenting the direct relationship between technology and observable, measurable student outcomes. (Yes, maybe even test scores.)
Open Source Solutions will remain stalled in our schools until school districts get the Technology Integration component functioning. Until now, Technology Integration has been…
- Focused upon technology, not instruction
- Focused on technology specifications, not teachers' needs
- Under funded
- Missing the huge training and professional development funding that it needs
- Missing the even more huge Back-End programming and "one-click" integration funding that it needs
Null Hypothesis
Experimental design requires that we use a "Null Hypothesis" because we cannot prove that something exists.
Instead, we disprove that something does not exist.
The Classroom Toolkit presentation contains a slide show, an online presentation, a wireframe, and mind-maps.
Here are the links:
Open Source Resource Switchboard
Presentation Wireframe (Graphic Overview)
Technology Integration: Fire, Aim, Ready! Slide Show
Experiencing New Technology Integration Mind Maps
Exploring Emotional, Social and Motor Learning: Technology Integration Mind Maps
Personalizing and Applying Technology Integration Mind Maps
Synthesizing and Structuring Technology Integration for Measurable Student Outcomes
Evaluating Technology Integration Mind Maps
