Which Operating System do you like best?

I have a wide variety of operating systems in my classroom.  Currently, I have six PCs which use Windows XP, one PC which uses Windows Vista, and one Mac.  I also have one PC using Ubuntu which is one of the free source operating systems.  I only use one Ubuntu PC in my classroom as all of my older computers bit the dust.  I do enjoy working with Ubuntu because it runs very fast, all of the downloaded opensource software is free, and if the computer hard drive crashes, you can still run the software from the CD which allows internet access.  I guess each operating system has its strengths and I enjoy each.

I still use Windows for creating my school website because I really enjoy the creative options of  Dreamweaver and the other Adobe products. It is hard to say which I prefer... I like them all!

FETC 2011 Product Highlights

Document Cameras

• Lumens
• Elmo
• Accelerate Learning

Animation Software

• Crazy Talk Talking photo - Animation for all grade levels - Enhance Communication Skills and student participation through talking animation

Open Source Course Management System

• Moodle
• Moodle Demo Site

Technology Pen

• SMARTPEN
  
  
  Record lessons and play them back. The words you are saying are matched to the writing. Later, you can touch an area on the page and hear the exact words that were stated during the lesson. You can save the files and add them to homework sites so students have access to lessons they missed or ones that need to be repeated.

  Livescribe

  www.livescribe.com/education

Curriculum Resources

• Florida Virtual Curriculum Marketplace
  in partnership with Learning3.com
  
  
  Find content aligned to the Sunshine State Standards

  Create and share resources with other educatiors

  Create and share lesson plans

Student Response Systems

• Response Card IR - Turning Technologies These response systems are the size of a credit card. Setup is easy and quick. Complete classroom set under $700.

Educational Online Resources

• Educational Clips

Edubuntu

After experimenting with several versions of Linux, on and off for the last year, I am sold on Edubuntu. I use Ubuntu 9 on my home desktop and love it. I have no problem with crashes, etc. So, I have been looking for a program to give my old classroom computers a new start. I also wanted a program designed around education. The older computers in my classroom were the older PCs which originally used Windows 98. Most were starting to fail. I was determined to find a Open Source OS that focused on Education that would also work on these computers. I originally tried Edubuntu but used the latest version. It would not load. However, when I researched and found a few schools were successfully using the older version Edubuntu 6.0, I decided to give it a try. IT WORKED!!! I downloaded a version that would fit on a CD and followed the steps included. I chose to erase the hard drive and load Edubuntu from scratch. I will give you a follow-up soon. Right now, I'm using seven 386 PCs with Edubuntu 6.0 and they are running like new. Plus, with Windows 98, they originally would not recognize the USB drive without an individualized driver for each one. NOW, each of the newly formatted PCs are finding the USB flash drives with no additional software needed. I'm thrilled. Will update you with more information soon.

Gimp - The GNU Image Manipulation Program

The latest program that I have enjoyed in my Ubuntu OS is Gimp.
I have been a longtime fan of Paint Shop Pro. I preferred the versions that were sold by Jasc and taught workshops on the software for many years. However, within the last several years the software company was purchased and is distributed by Corel and it has never been the same. They modified it so much that the original program is not recognizable. I have been looking for another program to use in the elementary classroom and I am very excited about this new software program. It was already a part of the applications menu in my Ubuntu 8.4. I hope to have a lot more information on Gimp in the near future. In the meantime, take a look at their website: GIMP.org and download a copy for your review. I think you will be very excited about the software. There is also an online user manual.

Open Office

Open Office Productivity Suite is another free application that is included within the applications of Ubuntu. If you have been using Microsoft Office, then this free download would be a replacement for the Office package. I will tell you upfront that there are some issues with the sideshows or documents that you have previously created in Microsoft Office when they are opened in Open Office. I am currently in the process of making slideshows for my classroom using Open Office. At this point, my students are still using PowerPoint 2003 on the newer computers in my classroom and some of the older models have PowerPoint 97. I would like to begin uploading this Suite so that we are all using the same software at school and at home.

I would say that one of the greatest features about Open Office is that I can share the website with my students and they are able to go home and download the same program even if they are not using Ubuntu. In the past, students would not be able to work on projects unless they had the same software at home. The availability of Open Office corrects that problem. Open Office Productivity Suite is another Open Source application.

Ubuntu System Requirements

The quote below is taken from the http://www.ubuntu.com/products/whatisubuntu/desktop/features page and lists the PC requires for Ubuntu.

"System Requirements

Ubuntu is available for PC, 64-Bit and Mac architectures. The Alternate installation CDs require at least 256 MB of RAM (the standard installation CD requires 384MB of RAM). Install requires at least 3 GB of disk space."

KompoZer

KompoZer is one of the first open source downloads that I've added to Ubuntu. I had been using DreamWeaver which I spent a ton of money on myself when I purchased the Adobe Creative Suite 3. Unfortunately, I don't know how to use DreamWeaver using Wine within Ubuntu as I've read about, however, in the meantime, I was looking for a web design program to update my classroom webpage, which I do weekly. I found KompoZer. I had it downloaded, running, and updating my homework page within a few minutes. I enjoyed how easy it was to use so much that I have now downloaded it on my Vista computer at school. Take a look. It is a great program.