Free and Open Source Software

The following is a list of my personal favorite open source and/or free educational software.  Some of the best materials on the computer today are available for free.  Many open-source programs are created by a community of programmers who work together on the web.  Because the programs are developed by many contributors, mistakes are often quickly corrected, and the resulting projects are often developed to very high standards.  You are encouraged to help further develop these projects, or, at times, to contribute.  For more information on the Open Source movement, click here to read a definition.  Here for a wikipedia article, and here for an article in Technology and Learning.  For a PDF copy of Jacob's presentation on Open Source Software at the 2008 BOCES Tech Expo, click here.  If you have questions, click here to email Jacob. 

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Global Information Systems
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Google Earth:  Simply one of the best GIS programs out there.  Do not overlook this free program.  It is one of the best teaching tools to come out in the last 10 years.  You can find out more about using Google Earth in the classroom by clicking here.

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NASA Worldwind:  Like Google Earth but with more scientific material.  I use both Worldwind and Google Earth for different purposes.  Worldwind also has other planets.

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Image Editors
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Gimp:  A free open-source version of Photoshop.  This photo editor is very complex and very powerful.

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Inkscape:  A free open-source very powerful vector drawing program.

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Tux Paint:  A free children's painting program with lots of cool sounds and brushes.

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StoryWriter is a simple drawing program with a space to write about your art for use with kindergartners and first graders.

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3 Dimensional Image Editors
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Blender:  A free open-source very powerful 3d image creation tool

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Anim8tor:  A free simple but powerful 3d image creation tool

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Google Sketchup:  Create objects in 3d and view them in Google Earth.

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Programming:
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NVU:  A free open-source WYSIWYG web editor.

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Kids Programming Language:  A simple graphically oriented but powerful programming language made for young people.  For more information about using KPL in the classroom, click here.

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Net Beans IDE:  A feature rich Integrated Development Environment for the JAVA programming language.

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Space/Science
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Celestia:  A free open-source planetarium/space simulation program which enables you to travel from planet to planet or star to star and explore.  Click here for classroom activities with Celestia.

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Cartes Du Ciel:  Star-maps for anywhere in the world.  Free and open source.

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Orbiter:  A free richly detailed space-flight simulator.  This is an incredibly realistic program with amazing physics and graphics.

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Sound
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Finale Notepad:  A free music writing program from Finale.  One of the best in the business.

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Audacity:  An open source audio editor.  This one is great for podcasting.

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Games and Learning
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West Point Bridge Design:  A free CAD program as well as a virtual bridge design contest for young people.  Click here for classroom activities with the West Point Bridge Design program.

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Tux of Math Command:  Tux, the Linux penguin stars in this math game. Free and open source.

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Tux Typing:   This free and open source typing game is still in development. 

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Flight Gear:  One of the best flight simulation programs available today;  and it's free!  There are lots of ways to use a flight simulator in the classroom.  Click here to find out more.

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Orbiter:  A free richly detailed space-flight simulator.  This is an incredibly realistic program with amazing physics and graphics.

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General Use
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Open Office:  A free open-source clone of Microsoft's Office Suite.  The programs are very well designed and stable.

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Wikipedia.org:  The free encyclopedia with over 2 million articles in English.  There are versions in many languages as well.  All have been contributed by people just like you and I.  How can you use it in the classroom?  Teach your students to use an encyclopedia with this wonderful free resource.  Use it to get information about the topics you study.   Are you teaching an language other than English?  Here is free and accurate reading material. Want to go a step further?  How about teaching your students to write their own encyclopedia article?  Click here for more information.

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www.blogger.com:  Create blogs for free and host them anywhere on the internet.  This free space is run by Google and is one of the more stable blogging options on the web.

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www.wikispaces.com:  Create your own wiki.  Educators my create a free account.

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Google Docs:  Create and share documents with others using Google's full featured web-based tools including word processing, spreadsheet and more.

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Firefox Web Browser.  Many people consider this to be far superior to the commercial browsers, such as Internet Exploerer.

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Operating Systems and Tools
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Edubunto:  A Linux (an operating system, like Windows) implementation for young people.

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K9 Web Protection:  Free very well set up web filtering and parental controls from one of the best companies in the industry

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AVG Antivirus:  Free well written and up-to-date antivirus software.