Often when I work with a professor, teacher, or a student, I hear “I don’t have that program on my computer at home so I can only work on it in school.” I respond with the magic words of “Open Source and FreeWare.”
Professor, teachers, or students, can use OpenOffice for their word processing, “PowerPoint”, spreadsheet, database, and some graphic needs. Open Office is the equivalent of or better than Microsoft Office. They can use GIMP to manipulate photos just as they would PhotoShop. They can use CMAP or Glippy which are like Inspiration. All of these programs are very high quality and are free.
I’ve receive more emails from professors, teachers, and students thanking me for telling them about these programs than any other type of email I receive. They are amazed at how good the programs are. They are amazed that people voluntarily contribute to constantly improve the programs. They are so pleased that they now have educational resources in their home.
How do you share the good news about OpenSource with your fellow educators? How do you give them tools for their work at home?
© Harry Grover Tuttle, 2007
————-