The links listed on this page represent free and/or low-cost software solution in many areas. Although we have tested and even use many of these products listed, we can neither offer technical support, guarantee that any of these products will work for you, or be responsible for any loss of data. We cannot give you permission to install, configure or use any of these products on any computer in your school/business. Get permission from the proper authority before installing or using any of these products. If you are not familiar with this software, it should be tested in a non-production environment. This disclaimer is not an attempt to dismiss the validity of this software, but as with any software product, if you don't know what you are doing, you can do irreparable damage.
OpenOffice is a free office productivity suite. OpenOffice is the free version of Sun StarOffice. OpenOffice can
read and create Microsoft Office documents. OpenOffice contains a word processor, spreadsheet program, presentation
software, and paint program.
OpenOffice is a multi-platform productivity running on:
Linux, Windows, Solaris, and MacOS X pc's.
Word Quicktips for Open Office
Presentation Quicktips for Open Office
Sun Microsystems StarOffice Productivity Suite is a feature packed software package. It contains a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation manager, and several other packages. It is a stable, cost effective replacement for Microsoft's Office Suite. While Sun does charge for the StarOffice Suite, the cost is minimal and they offer an unbelievable discount for Educational institutions. StarOffice and OpenOffice share the basic core source code. You will also find many educational technology integration pages on Sun's webpage. StarOffice is an excellent solution for education, business, as well as for the home user.
602Pro PC Suite offers a free alternative to Microsoft Office Suite. 602Pro offers four full-featured applications: a word processor, spreadsheet, photo editor, and photo organizer. Each of the applications are compatible with the Microsoft version of the same type of application.
Atlantis offers a free word processor that is compatible with 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP. It takes up little space (650 Kb) and can load from a floppy. For this reason, it is often used on laptops.
Jarte, by Carolina Road Software offers a free word processor which works much like WordPad and NotePad. It will open multiple documents, open rich text files and documents saved in Microsoft 95/98/2000.
This web resource page catagorizes, describes, and provides links to a long list of free downloadable software applications. Some of these applications fall into the productivity side of computer applications, others such as calendars, calculators, and timers are downloads which can be used in the classroom and on web pages.
This web resource contains links to free downloads in all instructional content areas. Most of the downloads are cross platform for PC and MAC. Under the Download link visitors will find the programs listed by grade (or age) and by subject. One caution, some of the downloads are only demos of a piece of software that can be purchased or one that is no longer being produced. Make sure you test your download before using it in an instructional setting.
This web resource sponsored by the Owl and Mouse Educational Software company provides free downloads to educational software in the curriculum areas of Social Studies, Literature, and Reading. The Social Studies downloads are geared to the upper elementary and middle grades student. While the lower elementary age student can be reached through the use of several downloads dealing with phonics and early reading. The downloads are compatible with 3.1/95/98.
Mighty Book is a free instructional resource that provides electronic books created with Flash Plug-In animation for ages 2 to Pre-Teen. In addition, teachers can access interactive vocabulary games and puzzles and science themed sing along songs that introduce science vocabulary to elementary age students. Mighty Book's library also offers electronic versions of the Merriam-Webster Dictionary/ Thesaurus.
Time Line Maker by Progeny Software is a free program that allows the user to create time lines that can be viewed as color charts, published as html documents, or saved as images for insertion into other documents or presentations.
Tux Typing is a free typing tutorial game for elementary age children created using LINUX. It can be downloaded in a Windows or Linux compatible format.
This is an online activity created by the Smithsonian Institute that allows students to view a collection of actual photographs of our solar system taken using satellites and telescopes. Student record the observations they make as they view these images in a science journal and then compare their observations with those of experienced researchers.
This is an online activity created by the Smithsonian Institute that allows students to complete an online arcehological investigation into the lives of the Springer Family who lived in New Castle, Deleware 200 years ago. Students view and investigate actual artificats including objects and primary source material to learn about the Springer's life. Students compare their conclusions to actual historians' conclusions.
Produced by the National Center for Education Statistics this web site offers the user the ability to create four different types of graphs online: Area, Bar, Line, and Pie. Once the graph is created with the student data the graph can be lable, titled, and printed.
This Merit Software product is an online source for creating essays online. The site takes the writer through the steps to writing a five paragraph theme prompting the writer at different points for more details and information. The site also has links to a paragraphpunch, grammarpunch, and readingcomprehensionpunch that function much the same way as essaypunch.
ReadPlease is a free text-to-speech software that will read any text that can be pasted into the application. It is a wonderful tool for increasing accessibility of the Internet and other instructional resources for non-fluent readers.
Online "tours" and science activities that supplement all of the Magic School Bus books. There is a teacher section that provides instructional materials to go along with the online activities featured on the web site. This web site would be a great way to extend the learning of any unit using a Magic School Bus book as a literature connection.
Scholastic offers a wealth of online projects and activities that correlate to current events and timely topics. For example, in the month of February there are activities for American Presidents and Black History Month. Other features include the Writing with Writers activity in which students can participate in an online poetry writing tutorial with authors of some of the most acclaimed children's literature, online treks that allow students to explore far away places in our world and get to know the people who live there, and Scholastic Exploreres adventures in which students may learn from an actual scientist who is researching the topic they choose to explore. If you are looking for an online project to enhance an insturctional unit and motivate your students, Scholastic is a great place to start.
Teach-nology provides many useful rubric generators that can be created online and then saved for future use. Types of generators include concept web, KWL, SQ3R Chart, Time Line, and Venn Diagram.
Over 20 different types of rubrics can be created at Teach-nology's web site. A variety of rubrics can be created, printed, and saved for future use including Basic Reading Skills, Writing, Class Participation, Persuasive Writing, Presentation, Handwriting, Project, Webquest, Timeline, Lab Report, and many more.
Georiga Department of Education's web site that provides thousands of resources for Georgia teachers. The Teacher Resource Center at GLC provides teachers with access to web resources and other instructional resources correlated to the Quality Core Curriculum Standards.
LSP is a company with vast knowledge in Linux solutions as well as Novell, and Microsoft products. The company specializes in security in both education and the business world. LSP has the knowledge and expertise to optimize a multi-platform environment as well as create a total Linux solution. Linux Solution Providers is THE answer for your Linux needs!
Redhat Linux is the one of the leaders in the Linux Server markets. RedHat has been in business since 1994. They offer many purchase/support options. RedHat no longer offers free downloads of their operating systems. In late 2003, RedHat decided to redefine the company and try to avoid confusion. RedHat Linux now only sells it's Operating System,Enterprise Linux, and support options. It is a very stable OS with good support. They have teamed up with the Fedora project to offer free Linux Distributions. We have a link to Fedora Linux below.
Fedora Linux is the free version of Linux based on RedHat. As stated in the above link, RedHat now offers support to Fedora and has shared it reseach with Fedora for further development of Linux. Fedora is very similar to RedHat, in fact most people couldn't tell the different. The first release of Fedora Linux with RedHat's support has some nice updates. If you currently use RedHat and don't want to switch to a different distribution, Give Fedora a try. They even have an upgrade option in the installation.
ClarkConnect is a combination Server, Firewall, Proxy Server, Intrusion Detection, and print server solution. It is currently built on RedHat Linux version 7.3. ClarkConnect does an excellent job of protecting a network as well as offering many network services. It has built-in DHCP, a secure web interface for monitoring and Administration. Another great feature is ClarkConnect's built-in content filter. It also has minimum system requirements. ClarkConnect offers a free fully functional download version and a Professional version. While the free version is an excellent choice, some users might want to consider the Professional version with technical support and additional features. ClarkConnect is a service-based company.
Xandros is a very user friendly Linux operating system targeted to the desktop user. It has a quick, easy installation and can be installed as a dual-boot option with Microsoft operating systems. Xandros is built on the Debian Linux release so it is very stable. Xandros purchased what was originally Corel Linux and continued development. Xandros is not freely downloadable, however, the standard edition can be purchased for $39.95 which is a real bargan. Xandros Linux easily adapts to a Windows network as well as Linux network shares. It comes with an abundance of productivity software. This is truly one of the easiest and most user friendly Linux distributions for the desktop that I have used! For someone starting out that wants an easy install and configuration, you couldn't go wrong with Xandros.
Debian is a totally free distribution of Linux. While very stable and secure, the installation is not for someone new to Linux. Debian has a host of nice features such as the automatic application update. Debian is not a "for profit" company. The Debian distribution team is comprised of volunteers all over the world. Currently, Debian is a good choice for a server or Desktop OS, but probably not for the Newbie. If you are new to Linux and want to try Debian, either wait until the simplify the installation or investigate the many distributions that are built on Debian.
DistroWatch is an online resource that offers information on the many Linux distributions. It offers a thorough distributions list as well as links to the distributors web sites. They also offer a great deal of information about each distribution.
This is my Linux Webpage. I have tried to put links to resources that I feel useful to people trying to learn about Linux. I have tried to keep the page simple, easy to load and list resources that will make the road to Open Source software solutions a little easier to travel. Feel free to check out the site and if you have any suggestions please feel free to email me.
This school is amazing! Take some time and read about a school took matter into their own hands and transformed a school system into a technology advanced Open Source marvel. While you are there, don't forget to click on the school's home page and check it out. We should all be able to draw inspiration from this project and what these people did.
This page offers a wealth of information and resource links for schools wanting to get involved in the Open Source movement. Take your time and browse the many resources they have to offer.
Firefox is a new web browser with great new features. Easy to setup and customize, and features tabbed browsing. Thunderbird email client is a great alternative to Microsoft Outlook Express.
Many Web Pages and Web-based applications use Java code to offer a rich web environment for the end-user. In order to take advantage of this technology, you must have a Java Runtime Engine integrated into your Web Browser. Sun is the place to go! They ARE Java!!!!! The Sun Java Engine integrates seamlessly into IE, Mozilla, and FireFox.
AbiWord is an excellent standalone word processor. By standalone, I mean it is NOT a productivity suite.
But let's be honest, how many people actually need or even want an entire productivity suite?
AbiWord has most of the functionality that most people want or even need. AbiWord has a very intuitive interface,
however, it is not cluttered nor is it intimidating. AbiWord supports the usual file formats (rtf, txt, html)
including it's own file format AND Microsoft Word's doc format! Yes it can read and create MS Word
documents. Now what's your excuse? I have been using AbiWord now for many years and it has never let me down. So
go ahead, give it a try!
The Open CD project is a collection of popular open source software applications. Many of these applications have been mentioned earlier, however, with the Open CD Project you get a nice web interface and integrated installer. To use the Open CD, you simply download the zipped ISO file and use the appropriate software to create an installation CD. These are some great programs in a simple to use format!
Tight VNC is a remote management software. It is multi-platform (Windows, Linux and probably MAC OSX) software that even has a web client that you can activate. In order to use Tight VNC, you install the VNC Server on the machine you wish to manage remotely and install the client on the machine that you will be managing from. VNC has many useful options, and once you get used to it, it is a product that you cannot do without.
Google?Yes Google! I am constantly surprised at the number of people that are not aware of the great collection of tools that Google has to offer. To mention a few: Google Groups, Google Images, Google Language Translation, Google Catalogs, Froogle Google, Google Personalized, Picasa Photo Management Software, Google Toolbar, the list goes on and on. Do yourself a favor, check out Google Options!
NVU (pronounced N-view, for a "new view") is an opensource web development package. NVU is a multi-platform package. This package has an HTML editor, and all the tools that you need to develop clean html code. You can even use NVU to publish your page. NVU also comes in a portable app.
Would you like the ability to create nice graphics, buttons, backgrounds, and manipulate photos but can't afford PhotoShop? Well, Gimp is what you are looking for. Gimp is a very feature rich application that allows you to work with multiple layers to create any type of image you would like. It supports all image file types and has many useful tools and filters. Not only is Gimp a cost effective alternative to PhotoShop, it is a total solution to your graphic needs. Gimp also has a portable app version located here.
Portable Apps are one of the neatest things to come along since Linux and open source! These applications are complete fully functional applications that run completely from your USB drive. Plus nothing is installed to your computer, it doesn't take up any hard drive space and nothing is written to the registry. Currently, the developers have several applications available including: OpenOffice, AbiWord, GIMP, FireFox, Thunderbird, Filezilla, NVU, and several others. Many of the applications will fit on one 256Mb drive with plenty of room left over for data files. Another link to Portable Apps
The Linux world has tons of opensource software! It is very powerful and useful. Now many of the programs
available to the opensoure world are now available for Windows users.
Grisoft is an major Anti-virus company. They offer a free version of their software for personal use.
Create web albums complete with thumbnails and customizable layouts.
This is a plugin to Microsoft Windows XP Operating System that allows you to easily create CD's from ISO images. Creates a "Right Click" Menu Item In Windows Explorer.
Edubuntu is a Debian based Linux operating system. It's claim to fame is that it is an education based OS. It is easy to install, has a user friendly interface, and contains tons of educational software.
Ubuntu is a Debian based Linux operating system. Edubuntu is a branch of Ubuntu. Unlike Debian, Ubuntu has an easy installer, it also has a user friendly
interface. The package installer is easy to use as well.
You can also find several spinoffs of Ubuntu here:
Kubuntu
Xubuntu
Edubuntu Home Page
If you have older hardware and would like to run a Linux operating system, you might want to consider Xubuntu. It is tuned to run on older hardware.
Cmap is a software tool that allows creation of integrated diagrams and outlines. It can be used for planning projects and tracking progress.
FreeMind is a premier free mind-mapping software written in Java.Freemind allows creation of integrated diagrams and outlines. It can be used for planning projects and tracking progress.
Media and Methods is a Technology and Education magazine used for purchasing decisions in the K-12 school system.
Portal for open source resources.
Technology portal with tons of tech article and resources.
Technology resource page with hints, tips, and links related to technology and education.
Free online document converter.
Online verb conjugator.