Schools
This is an informational page on Free & Open Source Software (FOSS) in and for UK schools, not a listing of GoodGNU’s commercial offerings of FOSS services to UK schools. If you would like to talk about how FOSS can expand your IT provision while saving money, I’m happy to talk on 0779 456 07 14.
This, rather, is a listing of some useful educational software, and links to case studies, as well as thoughts and reports on the issues as they occur. For now it’s just a copy of the text that I compiled for some International Software Freedom Day leaflets, but will be expanded in the future.
- Educational software - the highlights.
- How to increase your IT provision while cutting spending.
- Curriculum software – some thoughts.
This text is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, I hope it’s of use somewhere.
Educational software - the highlights.
You may have heard that there are 1000s of Free Software packages out there – but where do you start looking? Using a search engine returns a baffling selection of reviews, so take a quick look at our handy listing.
Pre-school and infants school.
Childsplay - www.schoolsplay.org
Part of the schoolsplay suite of fun and educational apps for younger children. A dozen different puzzles and games to encourage recognition of numbers and letters, logical thinking, and co-ordinated use of mouse and keyboard.
Runs on GNU/Linux, Mac or Windows.
Gcompris - http://gcompris.net/
A French programme (J’ai compris) available in 50 languages (including English). Consisting of of numerous activities for children aged 2 to 10. More than 100 well thought out games to stimulate young minds.
Runs on GNU/Linux, Mac or Windows.
Also available: a downloadable bootable Live disc – to run without installing.
Tux Paint - www.tuxpaint.org
A great Paint-type program, with fun sound effects and stamps, that engages even the youngest ones.
Runs on GNU/Linux (including Nokia N900 smartphone!), Mac or Windows.
TuxMath - http://tux4kids.alioth.debian.org/tuxmath/
An arcade game that helps kids practice their arithmetic.
Runs on GNU/Linux, Mac or Windows.
Tuxtype - http://tux4kids.alioth.debian.org/tuxtype/
While handwriting will always be important, typing is a skill needed earlier than ever. TuxType makes that typing practice a fun game.
Runs on GNU/Linux, Mac or Windows.
Primary School
Years 3 and 4 overlap with the software for infants schools, and years 5 & 6 with much of the simpler high school software. However, there are apps that fit particularly well for 7-11 year olds.
Little Wizard - http://littlewizard.sf.net/
“Little Wizard is a development environment for children. It is intended to be used by primary school children to learn about the main elements of real computer languages. Using only the mouse, children can explore programming concepts such as variables, expressions, loops, conditions, and logical blocks.
“Every element of the language is represented by an intuitive icon, making it easy to learn. “
Runs on GNU/Linux & Windows 2000/XP.
Moodle - http://moodle.org/
Not an educational app, but something that builds on the ideas of VLEs (Virtual Learning Environment), to make an online classroom that encourages wide participation. Although used at all levels (half of all Further Education colleges in the UK use Moodle), it’s been found to be an excellent tool for getting those who sit quietly in class, never putting up their hands, to contribute their opinions to lessons.
More on primary use at: http://ur1.ca/1jyau
KTurtle - http://edu.kde.org/kturtle/
Loosely based on Logo, Turtle is a simple way of teaching maths, geometry and programming.
The KDE Education Project - http://edu.kde.org/
Educational software for 3 to 18 year olds with a specialised user interface for young users. Written for GNU/Linux’s K Desktop Environment, but now runs on Windows, too. KSokoban is one of the noteworthy logic puzzles.
High School
FreeMind - http://freemind.sf.net/
Mind-mapping – a great way of turning jottings into thought-through ideas - is now taught at some primary schools, and certainly comes into its own at high school. FreeMind is the best mind-mapping software available, and can import and export files to other apps, too.
Runs on GNU/Linux, Mac or Windows.
INGOTS - http://theingots.org/
Not an app, but a qualification framework. The INGOTs – International Grdaes: Open Technologies – is a set of certificates awarded as pupils work through using OpenOffice.org (or any compatible office suite) and other typical desktop software. The advantage is no resource-expensive addition to the schools current teaching, just a simple, focussed distillation of what should already be part of the curriculum.
Children learn how to evaluate and participate. In the Gold INGOT they actually contribute to a community project through the software.
High Schools can help feeder schools offer the introductory version:
“”We have 30 feeder primary schools and 7 took part in the INGOT programme last year as part of our Specialist Schools Community Plan. There is a marked difference in the capabilities of those that took part and those that did not. We now need a strategy to enable all our incoming learners to benefit, levelling up attainment.”
– Elaine Delahunt, Assistant Headteacher
Up Holland Mathematics, Computing and Music College
Nvu - http://net2.com/nvu/
Programming may have fallen off the curriculum in most schools, but Web design is still an in-demand topic, and a WYSIWIG Web editor can make the first steps so much easier and more rewarding.
Runs on GNU/Linux, Mac or Windows.
Further Education
With 10,000 apps each installable with a click on Ubuntu GNU/Linux, it’s no surprise to find there’s an app for almost every task you need to do at college. Free Software tools were developed in Universities decades ago for thesis writing, and do a far better job with formulae, annotations and indexing than a word processor will.
Why not send your child off to college with a new NetBook running GNU/Linux? Not only are these portables lightweight and inexpensive, but they carry a far smaller Carbon Footprint in use than larger laptops. You can also install GNU/Linux and Free Software on a Laptop that’s supplied with MS Windows, and there are special NetBook versions of Ubuntu (and other distributions) to suit the smaller screen of NetBooks.
How to increase your IT provision while cutting spending.
Ten years ago Skegness Grammar School faced a £100,000 bill if they wanted to upgrade their computer systems.
As the selective school already had GNU/Linux running a successful network of old PCs in one of the boarding houses, the head of IT, Garry Saddington, decided to price up a Free Software alternative to the quoted Windows system. The saving was so great that Saddington could see no reason not to press ahead and was pleased to receive the backing of the head for a move that the Government’s own agency, BECTA, said was “inadvisable”.
The school bought new servers and installed LTSP – a technology that enables one computer to do all the work for a classroom of older PCs that had previously been thought redundant due to age. They now have 110 PCs – all discarded by local companies as too old to run modern software, and all running the latest Ubuntu software, thanks to LTSP.
Within three years they’d also saved enough out of their IT budget to put up a new building and to employ an extra part-time teacher. Saddington (and the parents and pupils) remains pleased with the network, still running well today, but cannot understand why it’s not taken up by other schools.
Can you?
Curriculum software – some thoughts
Anyone who’s worked in a school will know that there are cupboards full of expensive software. Some of it used once, some of it never used. Of such redundancy and waste are Silicon Valley billionaires made.
In fact 1% of the UK’s budget for IT in schools would be more than enough to pay British programmers to write Free & Open Source (FOSS) software across all the several hundred module areas of the schools curriculum.
All the software would be written as Web apps, making it deliverable to all manner of computers as well as mobile phones, and hand-held devices like the iPad.
By making it Free Software, it ensures that anyone can look at the source, and modify or improve it to suit changing circumstances, meaning for a tiny amount of paid programmer hours the software is up-to-date for the foreseeable future.
The last government didn’t like to steer away from giant foreign corporations to small, local businesses. Perhaps the new one will, but there’s no need to wait. Just one determined LEA, or a couple of dozen schools working in partnership, could get such a project well underway within months.
Just a thought for Software Freedom Day.
