Free and Open Source Software in K-12: New Webcast, New Website, and Conference Info
Steve Hargadon
First: This Friday (April 4th, 2008), I'm inaugurating a weekly "Open
Source Friday" Web show. We'll cover the news of the week, hopefully
have some interesting guests, and let you tell us what you are doing
that might be of interest to others. Find the show link at
http://www.classroom20wiki.com/live+conversations/. 2pm Pacific / 5pm
Eastern / 9pm GMT.
If you're into social bookmarking, you might want to join the Diigo
group "K12 Open Source"
(http://groups.diigo.com/groups/k12-open-source) to bookmark sites and
stories that we'll discuss each Friday.
Second: The CoSN.org K-12 Open Technologies website has been revamped
(Drupal, thanks to Jim Klein!) and is now up with some great content.
http://www.k12opentech.org/. Access the CoSN white papers on Open
Technologies, including the recent Moodle implementation study. And
we have guest bloggers! Recent posts include Jim Klein ("A Few of My
Favorite Open Source Desktop Applications"), Solveig Haugland ("Five
Principles for a Successful OpenOffice.org Transition"), and Jeff
Crawford ("SIF Needs An Open Source Zone Integration Server"). Coming
soon: Tom Hoffman, David Thornburg, Randy Orwin, Bryant Patten, and
YOU! Want to blog on your successful use of Free and Open Source
Software? Reply to this email and let me know.
K12OpenTech.org also has a rss news feed for Free and Open Source
Software in K-12. See it on the site or subscribe at
http://www.diigo.com/rss/user/Stevehargadon/opensource. And the
http://www.K12OpenSource.com wiki site has a good set of resources and
program list as well.
Third: Coming September 25 - 27, the second annual K12 Open Minds
conference in beautiful downtown Indanapolis, Indiana. :) Expected
to be even bigger and better than last year, K12 Open Minds promises
to be the definitive (and only?) *national* conference for Free and
Open Source Software in K-12. Last year there wasn't much outreach to
K-12 "pioneers" and "stalwarts." Expect better this year.
Information will be posted at http://www.k12openminds.com as it
becomes available.
Fourth: NECC 2008 is coming up soon in San Antonio, TX (June 30 -
July 2). NECC is again generously hosting an Open Source Pavilion,
where we'll have 50+ computers running Linux and Free and Open Source
program, a full speaker series that is in the program, and live demo
stations. With sponsorship this year so far from Aspen Learning
(http://www.aspenlearning.com) and (hopefully) Red Hat again, we are
still looking for additional financial sponsorship (equipment and
people transportation!) and for any volunteers to help in the Pavilion
during the show. With the recent news that the T + L annual
conference (last week in October in Seattle) has asked for an Open
Source Pavilion, when added to our good friends at the annual CUE.org
show, we now have three major educational technology shows actively
showcasing Free and Open Source Software.
Have a great rest of the week!
Steve
--
Steve Hargadon
st...@hargadon.com
www.stevehargadon.com
916-899-1400 cell