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By Brendan, on October 28th, 2009, 12:10 pm
I have been a big fan of Open Source Projects throughout my years of being interested in computers. Now for those of you who aren’t familiar with the term Open Source, there are two competing main entities in the computer programming world.
- Closed Source- some examples are: Internet explorer, Microsoft Office suite, Adobe Acrobat, All Microsoft and Macintosh Operating Systems.
Vs.
- Open Source- some examples are: Mozilla FireFox, Open Office suite, All Unix and Linux Operating Systems.
*Note* Source Basically refers to the code running in behind the scenes. These Files can be hard to read and understand.
Closed Source means you can’t make changes to the code to give it the features you want and you usually have to pay for this kind software. Having trouble understanding? Picture it like this; Closed Source is like a company recipe for Italian Bread sticks. They would never give you their recipe to be able to make your own Bread sticks, let alone your own style of Bread sticks, or make some kind of profit off of their bread sticks. Though their bread sticks are really good and filling, is there more you can do with this recipe?
This brings us to Open Source. It is code that is ’open’ for editing the code (though many don’t have the ability to edit the code). Open Source is also free for all to obtain. Mainly communities and small groups of people Collaborate to meet an end goal (Like Ubuntu Linux). Where is the money in this you might ask? There isn’t a whole lot. The majority of Open Source programmers either ask for donations or write programs for the ‘bragging right’ one might say (I would be pretty proud of myself if I could write make a Program that thousands of people use every day).
Some Positives and Negatives on both
- Closed Source
- +Geared for most people
- + or – Quality can Vary (i.e. Vista, Windows ME)***
- +Technical Support by companies who usually care about the customers experience and help users work through their problem.
- -Can Cost a lot of money depending on the software. Especially when getting new versions as technology expands
- +Can have some pretty advanced features
- Open Source
- -Not really geared for everybody**
- + or – Quality can vary****
- -Technical support isn’t available***
- +Free to download and use
- +Can have some pretty advanced features
Resources for Open Source Software
The most legitimate gateway site for Open Source Software is Sourceforge.net
Some Great Open Source Software is:
- Mozilla Firefox -Internet Browser (like Internet Explorer)
- Open Office- Office Software(like Microsoft Office)
- XMind- Brain-Storming Software/Mind-Mapping Software
- Ubuntu- Operating System(such as Microsoft XP, Mac OSX)
**Some programs use technical wording, and confusing menus, thus worsens the user experience
***Google and Forums is your best friend
****Quality usually is in relation to how popular it is
By Cindy, on October 27th, 2009, 8:47 pm
SBCTC has secured one large grant covering four separate projects under the heading of Washington State Student Completion Initiative. All four projects are tied together under the heading of Retention and Student Success. From the eLearning perspective we fit into the first project – Online Course Access and Success. The goal is to redesign 80 courses to use Open Educational Resources (OER) to improve affordability, accessibility, and student success. The courses were selected on the basis of High Enrollment and Low Completion, with predominantly young students who are from lower income households. That is who the Gates Foundation is most interested in helping. He has targeted Community Colleges in four different states with similar programs. There is a list of 81 courses, 80 existing courses and 1 proposed course. Money from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will fund the first 25 courses, Ford Foundation and State money is being used to add the additional 56 courses. That list may be modified between now and the end of the calendar year.
Executive Summary
Full text of Grant
The basics = redesign these 81 courses so that they are taught using digital resources available for little or no cost to the students. Those redesigned courses will then be made available to the world-wide web. Instructors and students from anywhere in the world will be able to access these course materials to use as they see fit. Our own faculty members within the state of Washington will be able to access these course materials and use them as they see fit in online, hybrid or F2F classes.
Redesign Courses
There will be room for instructional designers, librarians, eLearning staff, bookstore administrators and others to participate in the redesign project alongside the faculty members who are chosen. The process for determining who will participate in the grant has not been finalized. There will be a series of informational sessions held via Elluminate over the next month. These sessions are open to whoever is interested in listening and/or participating. (If you have not ever used Elluminate please review the information posted by Scott and take advantage of a little advance training.)
Washington State Student Completion Initiative – Course Redesign Project “town hall” meetings:
- Wednesday, November 4: 3:00 – 4:30pm
- Monday, November 9: 10:00 – 11:30am
- Tuesday, November 17: 1:00 – 2:30pm
- Friday, December 4: 2:00 – 3:30pm
Elluminate recordings for all meetings: Open Course Library Wiki
By Cindy, on October 27th, 2009, 12:24 pm
Read about the latest projects and developments coming from the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges in their quarterly Newsletter – The Browser. FALL09 EL Newsletter FINAL (2)
The Clark College eLearning team are following the Lecture Capture RFP very closely so that we will be set to take advantage of this new exciting technology as soon as it becomes available. I have previous experience with lecture capture using the Tegrity system. My online students found the video streamed mini-lectures a helpful addition to predominantly text-based course content.
Clark College has two Quality Matters certified courses: “Math 107 Math In Society” developed & taught by Jennifer Farney and “WS 201 Women Around the World” developed & taught by Ann Synder. Our eLearning Senior Instructional Designer Kathy Chatfield is a Certified Quality Matters Master Reviewer. Watch for upcoming Quality Matters training events throughout the year.
The new Gates Grant and course redesign project will require a series of posts! I have reviewed the entire grant and will be participating in a number of Elluminate sessions over the next two months. This is a major statewide project and Clark College will definitely want to be involved.
Stay tuned for more information!
By Scott, on October 26th, 2009, 6:11 pm
 Here in eLearning, we often consider the possible effects any disaster could have on regularly held classes and the demands it could put on Blackboard and the other software systems we maintain. As Clark’s eLearning Systems Administrator, I have seen the use of Blackboard increase dramatically, as our faculty discover its potential. However, Elluminate has not seen the increase in usage which would reflect its capability, especially with the current budget situation curtailing travel for meetings, our universal drive to conserve fuel and energy, and the latest news focusing attention on a Swine Flu pandemic.
Our version, called “Elluminate Live” and provided free through the State of Washington, includes an audio component, a typed chat area, and an interactive whiteboard for drawing, showing images or displaying PowerPoint presentations. You can share your desktop or demonstrate something in a software application, use breakout rooms for collaborative learning, or take advantage of the quiz manager or polling feature. You can also do synchronized web browsing, transfer files, and (for math and science) there’s a graphing calculator and a math symbol library.
Although Elluminate has been well established as a virtual meeting and collaboration tool, some of Clark’s own faculty, such as Willy Cushwa, have been experimenting with its use as an online classroom as well. It seems to be a hit with his students. Sally Keely has also remarked on the useful features of this specialty software and her ideas for increasing its usage beyond online office hours. Although the video feature isn’t always recommended for bandwidth reasons, many of the other features seem to captivate and engage most users. Generally, the moderator uses a mic or headset and the whiteboard area while the participants listen, observe, and use the chat area, responding to the moderator by typing or raising their “hands” to ask questions. Though these sessions are conducted synchronously, Elluminate sessions can also be recorded and made available later. For those students or participants with less technical experience, there is a five minute orientation available on the Elluminate website.
Elluminate is sophisticated, yet straightforward to use. I encourage all faculty and administrators at Clark to go through the online moderator training and discover this new tool. As a moderator with audio capabilities, a headset may be required, unless your computer is already equipped with a built-in mic and speakers – contact ITS (x2425) to purchase any necessary equipment. The links below should help get you going… After you complete the training, just contact me (scoffie@clark.edu) and I will set you up with your own meeting space or classroom where you may join the ranks of the Elluminati!
Check your computer for technical requirements
Five minute orientation for student participants or meeting attendees
For meeting or classroom moderator training, sign up for the two live training sessions using the link below. The sessions are:
- “Getting Started with Elluminate Live for Moderators”
- “Next Steps with Elluminate Live for Moderators”
Sign up for free training and select a time you would like to attend
Once you are comfortable with the basics, you may be interested in some of the more robust features:
Additional documents and recordings for advanced training of moderators
By Cindy, on October 19th, 2009, 3:34 pm
 Cindy Exploring the World As the new leader of the Clark College eLearning Department I would like to welcome you to the eLog. We hope you will come here often to share your ideas, ask questions, and explore what is happening in the world of eLearning. I will be using this site to pass along the latest information from the State Board of Community and Technical Colleges regarding distributed education, instructional technology, and various state-wide initiatives that may be of direct benefit to Clark College.
The eLearning Department has a great team of individuals who will be sharing their expertise on this site as well. They are ready to assist both students and faculty with their technical challenges. Be sure and check our Smart Penguin blog for the very latest tech support issues. If you are on campus I encourage you to stop by our office and meet the eLearning team. We are located in the breezeway between the library and Gaiser Hall. Our office is open Monday through Friday from 8 AM to 5 PM.
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