Frances Long: November, Building Knowplace with Open Source and Freeware Tools

What’s Knowplace? International online learning community that…. supports knewbies to knowmads who work online with others through various services and activities

My Simplistic Definitions Open Source? Free and available programming code that permits others to download the code, install the program and change the code to suit your interests Freeware ? Programs that are free to use but usually contain ads

Choose open source products only when there is a robust programmers community and a robust user community Choose freeware only when there isn’t a viable open source alternative Choose proprietary systems only when freeware and opensource don’t meet needs Principles

Knowplace Environment Rarely meet in person (if ever) Rarely hear voices Very few photos Talk through typed words

Knowplace… 2/3 Programs, Activities & Services 3/3 People Talking & Sharing 1/3 Online Facility

1/3 Online Facility

Online Facility Requirements Intake An easy way for people to join our activities Advertise activities Calendar Course Descriptions, dates (visible to guests) Easy to open new courses Easy methods to take money Programs, Courses & Activities Discussions Group projects Self directed projects Polls Enrolment key protected Re-use some courses (eg: change dates) Track participants Rate activities Real-time Chats Exit Quizzes Assessments Follow up

We chose Moodle…. open source learning management system: Moodle=Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment

Moodle gives us…. Community: Personalized member identity, learning groups, registration options for guests, cross- course/institution collaboration, etc Design and Content separate: Teacher forum, back up, restore reuse and share courses and student contributions. Multiple Layers Of Help And Support Context help (institution-wide and course-specific) FAQ, glossary, resource, and communication tools. Access to administrator support contracts. Communication Tools Private dialogues, Personal reflection journals, Chat, Variety of formats and access privileges for asynchronous discussions, Option for notification of posts, integrated feedback/rating options for posts Assessment And Evaluation Grades recorded with customized scales, Options to grade any type of activity, Quiz tool allowing choices and combinations of quiz types, Survey tool, User logging and tracking. Flexible Customization Site branding and themes, Course organization according to pedagogical approach (topical/project-based, weekly units, etc.)

Knowplace Moodle We Use…. – To talk to each other: discussion forums, chat –For Group projects: wiki, dialogue –For Personal reflections: Journal, personal forums –For Content: Resources, Book Activity Modules –For assessment: Quizzes, poll

Open Office An open, feature-rich multi-platform office productivity suite. The user interface and the functionality is very similar to other products like Microsoft Office or Lotus SmartSuite, Gimp GNU Image Manipulation Program. Freely distributed software for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring. Many operating systems, in many languages Blender open source software for 3D modeling, animation, rendering, post-production, interactive creation and playback. Audacity, Jybe Tools to create podcasts, edit the sound Flickr Photos and storage Furl bookmark sites you share Blogger & Blogspot

2/3 Programs, Activities & Services

Programs, Activities & Services knowplace Open knowplace Capilano College & knowplace Partnership Our Partners Communities Online Conferences KnowWEEKS

Examine Open knowplace What are they? Free and open weekends about a variety of topics hosted by Knowmates, knowmads, our online colleagues and friends People give back to knowplace by sharing their own skills to host an open weekend Offered primarily… in asynchronous mode Topics change every week and every month

Examine… Open knowplace How do we use Moodle? Calendar Block (visible to guests) New Events Block (visible to guests) Course Descriptions, dates (visible to guests) Open a course shell for the facilitator Set an enrolment key so that the facilitator can prepare course in safety Remove key when weekend opens and place it again when course over Re-use some courses (eg: change dates)

3/3 The People Talking and Sharing

School Teachers University professors College Instructors Employment counsellors/career practitioners Workplace based trainers Small business owners Freeware tool:

Everyone active = success!  Technical Person  Manager  Members  Moderator

Where are we? Freeware tool:

Talk and Share Information Asynchronous Communication = Talk in delayed time Synchronous Communication = Talk in real time

Asynchronous Communication Moodle, to talk and manage the talk Freeware such as Yahoo Groups,Google groups, mailman to communicate Blogs, Wikis, for group projects

Synchronous Chat programs typed words, avatars video, pictures sound

Using open source and freeware tools A community is MUCH MORE than tools! Rather it is an online home that people to feel safe in, cherished and cared about

Questions? Contact: Frances Long: Come Visit Us: