Open Source: An In-Depth Look

Mini-Academy
9 am - Noon, Friday, October 19
Opryland, Room Bayou E

To provide participants with:

• A basic understanding of the various issues & definitions encompassed under "Open Source";
• Some of the resources that are available to K-12 educators;
• Pro's and Con's of selecting Open Source solutions;
• International growth and trends in education;
• Capturing the questions and concerns about Open Source among participants so we may discover the most appropriate programming to provide in the future!

Attendees for this program will reflect the multitude of job titles that generally attend the T+L Conference and will include technology directors, teacher leaders, superintendents, district administrators, principals, and school board members.

Open Educational Resources: A Process in which Learners, Teachers, and Content Meet

Inspired by the Open Source technology movement, the movement to make educational resources freely available is already spanning the globe, improving access to educational materials in the developing world. Created by the Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education (ISKME), and publicly released in spring 2007, OER Commons aggregates open materials that are currently available online, making it possible to search easily across sites and greatly facilitating sharing, adaptation, and reuse of materials by teachers and learners. The site aims to inspire educators to engage with each other to improve educational materials. Users are encouraged to add tags, ratings, reviews, comments, and favorites to contribute to a collective knowledge base about the use of teaching and learning materials. OER Commons serves as a point of departure in this mini-academy session to highlight issues across the open content movement and to showcase key projects in the global landscape where K-12 practitioners are making and sharing open resources, and making an impact on each others' learning.

Embracing Open Source Applications

Presenter: Marie Wardall, D.C. Everest Area School District (WI)
Open Source Applications are a viable solution to school districts looking for ways to be fiscally responsible yet meet the needs of students and staff. This presentation will highlight the advantages/disadvantages of Open Source applications and will illustrate how to put these applications into practice for both students and staff.

Participants who attend this session will learn:

• What the advantages/disadvantages are to using Open Source applications
• How students and teachers have adjusted to the changes