Tag: Open Source

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Open and openness are the keys to life and living

A few days ago I wrote a short piece on Facebook and in it I reflected on my anxiety of a few years ago when I retired from public education. I was certain then that my future was bleak. At the time my son said to me, “with your skill set you’re sure to excel.” I was not so sure, but what I’ve discovered in the past three years is that while my skill set is important, even more important is my mindset. Years ago I learned that honesty, open mindedness and willingness were keys to a happy life. Those three simple concepts have been the key to my life. I’m talking about being honest with myself. Taking a good hard look at what I have to offer and not assuming that because of my age and experience that I have nothing more to learn. Quite the opposite in fact. Approaching life with an open mind is key to not only success but also to contentment and longevity. In Chapter 76 of the Tao te Ching this life giving principle is stated succinctly.

The living are soft and yielding;
the dead are rigid and stiff.
Living plants are flexible and tender;
the dead are brittle and dry.

Those who are stiff and rigid
are the disciples of death.
Those who are soft and yielding
are the disciples of life.

The rigid and stiff will be broken.
The soft and yielding will overcome.

Therefore if you seek a long and happy life look to be open and willing. Openness and willingness point to growth. Embrace new ideas and learning. This mindset will keep your mind, soul and body in good health.

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An invitation to read the “The Open School House.”

If you’re looking for a fresh educational perspective and an invitation to build a school educational program that’s the embodiment of the maker culture then you ought to read “The Open Schoolhouse: Building a Technology Program to Transform Learning and Empower Students.” Recently written and published by Charlie Reisinger who is the technology director at Penn Manor School District in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

There is also a deeper ethical problem: reliance on closed source proprietary software teaches students a lesson of dependence on secret technology they are powerless to examine, study, share, and improve upon. If the social mission of schools is to amplify student potential, disseminate knowledge, and prepare students to have an impact on the world, then schools have a duty to help kids be free thinkers and self-reliant architects of their futures.

Reisinger, Charlie (2016-09-29). The Open Schoolhouse: Building a Technology Program to Transform Learning and Empower Students (Kindle Locations 304-307). Kindle Edition.

This book is a real invitation to think differently about how we educate our students and how you can use open source software and open source principles to invite student participation in the educational process.

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Once a teacher, always a teacher

I am preparing once again to teach class next Wednesday night at the Blount Library in Franklinville, New York. My first class of three adults met a couple of weeks ago and our topic was introduction to computers. The next class will be an extension of that same topic. I was fortunate to be asked to teach this group. I was thinking earlier today of my first student, my brother, whom I taught when we were in primary grades. I would make up tests for him with my Dad’s typewriter. Later as a member of the United States Navy I was called on to educate members of my company in recruit training at Great Lakes, Illinois. Though I recently retired from public education, teaching is something I enjoy. My students on Wednesday night will learn more about Google Drive and Microsoft Office. I’m going to teach them how to attach documents to an email and how to collaborate with others.  I enjoy blogging and using social media and soon I hope to teach a class on that topic too. I was thinking too of teaching a course on introduction to Linux and open source software. Though iPads and tablets in general are very popular there are still computer users who enjoy tinkering and that group would enjoy a class on open source software like Ubuntu Linux or creating your own podcasts with Audacity. Linux is like a software erector set. There is almost no limit to what you could teach a class about Linux. Linux skills are in demand in the marketplace too according to a recent article in PC World.

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Does cost really matter?

Earlier today I read a tweet from Phil Shapiro that suggested that the massive iPad initiative in Los Angeles Schools was in trouble. I did some “googling” and it does seem that the project is over budget. According to what I read the original estimates of cost per iPad were actually one-hundred dollars less than what the school district actually paid for the iPads.  How long will these iPads last and what is the replacement cost? Along with those thoughts are some of my own. I’ve been volunteering in the local library and there they have ten Dell computers which are now five years old.  I spoke with the librarian about upgrading them which would cost about $629 each on New York State Contract. Can the Blount Library afford that? Perhaps, but what will become of the units that are being replaced. Can they be refurbished and used elsewhere in the library? Yes, they could be and they might even serve as part of a “maker space.”  In one of Phil Shapiro’s tweets yesterday he stated that libraries could become local centers for the “Maker Movement.” This do-it-yourself revolutions which is sweeping across the country is gathering momentum and it’s one more purpose for today’s libraries.

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Inkpad for iPad

Just today I received a tweet from Phil Shapiro (@philshapiro) about an open source program for the iPad. It’s called InkPad and it’s the equivalent of Inkscape for the iPad. I was determined to use it and produce a graphic that I could share back to Phil. My mission is accomplished but more than that I can recommend InkPad to any of you iPad users who are interested in producing scalable vector graphics on your iPad. It’s very easy to use and the “Help” section of the application is very complete and easy to use. I’d give it five stars and I’m using it on an iPad 3 running iOS 7.

I’m blogging today on Ubuntu 12.04 Linux which is running on a four year old Dell Vostro 1520. Ageing technology given new life by Ubuntu Linux.

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Open Source of Course

I have been an advocate for open source software for a number of years. Until I bought a MacBook Pro four years ago I used Ubuntu as my primary platform. Ubuntu and other Linux distributions provide a reasonable alternative desktop. The library I’ve been volunteering in the past couple of months has aging Dell Optiplex 755 desktop computers that struggle a bit to run Windows 7 with 4 gigabytes of  RAM. I know these same units using a Ubuntu desktop would still be quite responsive. I have an older Dell Vostro laptop that came with Windows XP Professional on it four years ago. With the end of support for XP I’m tempted to install Ubuntu on it. I could put more memory in the computer and run Windows 7 on it but that’s going to cost about two-hundred dollars. In addition to that I’m going to have to install sometime of antivirus client. With Ubuntu or some other Linux distribution I need none of that and I get a host of other free software programs to install on this older laptop. Open source operating systems like Fedora or Ubuntu provide reasonable alternatives to Microsoft Windows and the Apple Macintosh platform.

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Open Source – A model for Social Enterprise

I first became acquainted with open source software in the mid-1990s. My brother James asked me if I had heard of Linux. I had not heard of it up until that time. A few weeks later I bought Red Hat 5.0 at the nearby Staples. Now, the open source model applies to more than software, but then even the thought of working for the common good appealed to me. There was after all a higher calling in this work. It reminded me of the early Apple II days when people shared their work and their code.

In the years that followed I became sold on the utility of open source software and the concept of working for the greater good. I believe it’s possible to sustain oneself while at the same time providing a valuable service to the customer. It’s a win-win proposition. Open source software really fueled the development of the internet. Platforms like WordPress, Twitter and Google itself run on open source. But what does the future hold and can the open source model be applied to other ventures too. This summer I came across an open source eye ware manufacturer in the United Kingdom called Botho. This quote taken from their “Why Botho” page really sums it up.

Open Source is about listening to our community, understanding our needs, developing solutions and facilitating our growth in a selfless way.

“Facilitating growth in a selfless way”. That’s really the heart of open source and social enterprise. That’s appealing to me.

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NYSCATE 2011

It’s been 20 years since my first NYSCATE Conference. The changes in that time have been remarkable. I’ve attended a number of sessions and most have been very interesting. Although I’ve seen no presentations on open source per se but I have seen a number of presentations where the applications are on the web and they are PHP served applications and most likely those applications are run on Apache servers. While Google is not open source, it is hosted on open source data centers. Great buzz here about Google Apps for Education. Twitter is huge in Educational Technology circles and it’s yet another open source based application.

The growth of iPads has been phenomenal. Very few attendees carry notebooks or even netboks anymore. Almost everyone has an iPad. Almost everyone has a smart phone and while many conference goers sport iPhones, many more are carrying Android based phones. Interactive white board vendors are more numerous and there must be at least a dozen separate vendors.

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Got to give it up

Ending ISTE 2011 listening to Steve Hargadon speak on open source brought me home. Steve said 20 years ago at ISTE teachers used to swap disks and programs because that’s the way it was. I remember those days well. That was the day of Al Rogers, FredWriter, Apple II & IIe. There was an altruism among teachers and tech coordinators. That’s been supplanted in many cases by vendors hawking their wares. There are still some like Apple, Microsoft, & Google who provide free services but for most vendors schools are markets to be monetized.

That is why I find open source so refreshing. I’m an entrepreneur and enjoy the fruits of success but I try to put people first. I do a lot of pro bono work and open source figures into that model well. I regularly use open source and recommend it. Why not use Open Office? I wrote all my papers in a recently completed masters degree with OpenOffice.org. I blog on WordPress, teach students using Moodle, build other websites with Drupal. I use Ubuntu and recommend it to my students. It has so many free tools and as Steve Hargaddon said in his talk ISTE a student can get a job right out of high school with a working knowledge of PHP, MySQL & Apache. I saw a billboard advertisement yesterday from Hostgator.com looking for people with Linux experience. Just sayin.