Enhancing student engagement with open source software
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The document discusses how technology, particularly open source software, can enhance student engagement and reengage unmotivated learners. It presents various open source alternatives to expensive commercial software, emphasizing their accessibility and legal use, while outlining motivational theories and strategies for educators. Notable open source tools for areas such as writing, web development, graphics, and music creation are highlighted to support educators in building technology-infused curricula that resonate with student interests.
Enhancing student engagement with open source software
- 1. James Richardson Academic Director andAssociate Professor CUNY-SPS & LaGuardia Community College Enhancing Student Engagement with Open Source Software
- 2. Why are we here today? Technology can be leveraged to reengage unmotivated and underperforming students.With that said, we will discuss how educators can introduce technology into the curricula that enhances the student experience, not trivialize it. While access to technology is expensive, recent advances in open source technology have leveled the playing field to a degree.We will investigate open source alternatives to expensive commercial programs and discuss how educators can locate and make use of legal software. This session will be valuable for any educator interested in reengaging unmotivated students with technology infused curricula, but is concerned about the rising cost of software.
- 3. What Motivates Students To paraphrase Deci and Ryan’s Self DeterminationTheory (SDT), all student motivation can be allocated to three main categories: Amotivation – Students that tend to avoid acting in their best interest by either not placing value on a given task, or not having the self-confidence to believe that they are capable of accomplishing the specific task. extrinsic motivation – Students that only work towards achievement if a reward, or threat of a negative outcome, is deemed great enough to warrant taking action.This would include the child that works hard in school to get straight A’s only because their parents promised a reward for such an outcome. intrinsic motivation – Students that are academically engaged without the promise of external rewards.These students are motivated by an innate satisfaction derived from learning.
- 4. Countering Low Motivation: Mapping the Plan of Reengagement Identify what each student values on a personal, cultural, or inspirational level. Find a way to bring those elements into the classroom and map them to the core academic skills and course/program learning objectives. Finally, whenever possible, tie student interests to technology infused curricula which lead to definitive career or life goals. The ultimate goal of the reengagement plan is to help move students down the SDT scale from amotivated to intrinsic. Student Interests (Amotivational) Core academic skills (Extrinsic) Technology-based curricula (Intrinsic) Definitive career or life goals
- 5. Why Choose Open Source High priced commercial packages Most software suites costs as much if not more than most entry- level computers Software piracy Peer-to-Peer networks like Bit-torrent Illegal and morally dubious It can lead to fines and other troubles if you are caught
- 6. Writing and Publishing Web Development Graphics, Drawing andAnimation Video and Sound Design MobileApp and Game Design The Software
- 8. Celtx Pre-production and scheduling application for movie,TV, and theater Screenplay writing Storyboarding Shot Scheduling Plot outline and treatment development Character development and motivation Huge forum community for feedback and collaboration The open source world's answer to Final Draft Available for theWindows, Mac and UNIX/Linux http://www.celtx.com/
- 9. Sigil is a multi-platform EPUB eBook editor and builder developed by Google. Create eBooks for many popular e-readers such as the iPad and iPhone. Available in multiple languages Available for theWindows, Mac and UNIX/Linux http://code.google.com/p/sigil/
- 10. Scribus Open Source Desktop Publishing software The open source world's answer to Quark andAdobe InDesign Available in multiple languages Available for theWindows, Mac and UNIX/Linux http://www.scribus.net/
- 11. LibreOffice The open source world's answer to Microsoft Office for the Mac. Based on the Open Office engine. Runs onWindows, Mac OSX, and Linux. Fully functional suite of office”like” apps Writer -Word processor Base - Database application Calc - Spreadsheet application Impress - Presentation software Draw -Vector Drawing application Math - Powerful GUI based math equations editor Available in multiple languages http://www.libreoffice.org/
- 12. Web Development
- 13. Kompozer Kompozer is a complete web authoring system that combines web file management and easy-to-useWYSIWYG web page editing. Kompozer is designed to be extremely easy to use, making it ideal for non- technical computer users who want to create an attractive, professional-looking web site without needing to know HTML or web coding. An open source answer toAdobe Dreamweaver.Available only for Windows. http://www.kompozer.net/
- 14. Aptana Studio Aptana is professional level open source web development tool. It was designed to be a single development environment for HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, Ruby, Rails, PHP and Python. The free open source software eliminates Java coding for buildingWeb 2.0 applications, allowing developers to focus on solving business problems. It is available forWindows, Mac OS X, Linux , or as a plugin for Eclipse. http://www.aptana.com
- 15. Blue Griffon is a new HTML5 and CSS3 visual editor currently in beta and powered by Firefox’s Gecko rendering engine. The open source world's answer to Adobe Dreamweaver and it is available forWindows, Mac OS X, and Linux. This application will allow users to edit Web pages in conformance to the latest standards. HTML5 CSS3, XML, and JavaScript support is included. http://www.bluegriffon.org/
- 16. WordPress WordPress is a state-of-the-art personal publishing system with a focus on aesthetics, web standards, and usability Free and popular blogging software Very customizable via themes and templates http://www.wordpress.org/
- 17. Graphics, Drawing and Animation
- 18. GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) Image and graphical editing software. The open source world's answer toAdobe Photoshop. Available in multiple languages. Available for theWindows, Mac and UNIX/Linux. http://www.gimp.org/
- 19. Lightzone Lightzone is an open source photography workflow application, a virtual darkroom for photographers. It manages your digital negatives in a database and enhance raw images. An open source answer toAdobe Lightroom. Available for theWindows, Mac and Linux. http://lightzoneproject.org/
- 20. Inkscape Vector-based drawing and graphical design program The open source world's answer toAdobe Illustrator Available in multiple languages Available for theWindows, Mac and UNIX/Linux http://www.inkscape.org/
- 21. Pencil is an animation/drawing application for Mac,Windows, and Linux. It lets you create traditional hand-drawn cartoons using both bitmap and vector graphics. Pencil is free and open source, and similar to Flash andToon Boom in functionality. It is primarily an animation tool Easy to use Available in multiple languages Available for theWindows, Mac and UNIX/Linux http://www.pencil-animation.org/
- 22. Synfig Studio Synfig Studio (also known as Synfig) is a free and open source 2D vector graphics and timeline-based computer animation program similar to Flash andToon Boom. It is primarily an animation tool Available in multiple languages Available for theWindows, Mac and UNIX/Linux http://www.synfig.org/
- 23. Video and Sound Design
- 24. Audacity Open source audio editor Excellent for podcasting Imports and exports most audio file formats (wav, aif, mp3, vorbis, etc.) Available in multiple languages Available for theWindows, Mac and UNIX/Linux http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
- 25. Frinika Music Workstation Frinika is a free open source music workstation developed to be a complete platform for making music on a computer. able to run on several operating systems, and being open source to be able to embrace the best technology being available at any time. Contains sequencers, midi support, soft synthesizers, audio recorders, piano roll/tracker/notation editing and more. Runs onWindows, Mac and Linux. http://frinika.appspot.com/
- 26. LMMS (Linux Multi-Media Studio) LMMS is a free cross-platform open source music creation program similar to ProTools, Logic Pro and Fruity Loops. Available forWindows and Linux http://lmms.sourceforge.net/
- 27. Blender 3D modeling and animation software Imports and exports most 3D file formats The open source world's answer to Maya and Lightwave Large developer and user community Available in multiple languages Available forWindows, Mac, and Unix/Linux systems http://www.blender.org/
- 28. The open source world's answer to Final Cut Pro andAdobe Premiere. There are two levels of service for the program, Lightworks Free and Pro. Currently available forWindows, Mac and Linux. http://www.lwks.com/
- 29. Mobile App and Game Development
- 30. Pencil Project, not to be confused with Pencil animation, is a free open-source GUI tool that can be used to prototype mobile apps, web sites, and desktop applications. It is primarily a prototyping tool that people can easily install and use to create mockups. Available for theWindows, Mac and UNIX/Linux http://pencil.evolus.vn/
- 31. Xcode Xcode is an integrated development environment (IDE) containing a suite of software development tools developed by Apple for developing interactive software for OS X and iOS. It is a free download from theAppleApps store and is available in multiple languages Available only for Mac https://developer.apple.com/technologi es/mac/
- 32. PhoneGap PhoneGap an open-source mobile development framework developed byAdobe Systems to enable programmers to build applications for mobile devices using JavaScript, HTML5 and CSS3, instead of often less-known languages such as Objective-C. It is both a standalone framework and included in Dreamweaver 5.5 and later. Capable of exporting applications for Apple, Android, Blackberry, Nokia,Windows, and HP tablets and phones.Available in multiple languages Available for theWindows, Mac and UNIX/Linux http://www.phonegap.com
- 33. Android Studio Android Studio is anAndroid development environment that provides integrated tools for development and debugging of mobile apps. It was designed as Android answer to Apple’s Xcode IDE. It is a free download from the Android.com and is available in multiple languages Available forWindows, Mac, and Linux http://developer.android.com/sdk/inst alling/studio.html
- 34. Thanks for listening Visit my website: http://www.jamesrichardson.net Feel free to contact me at: james.richardson@cuny.edu