Open Source Software for the Classroom

Thea idea of open source software is awesome. It's free to use - you can customize it to suit your needs - and it was probably built in a collaborative environment. When it comes to schools with tight budgets, it makes sense to scour the web to find some open source options that might suit your needs.

I've known about OpenOffice.org for a while, as my husband never wanted to spend money on buying a license for Microsoft Office on his computers. I, on the other hand, always opted to get the license because I wanted full functionality of all of the MS Office programs for my grad school work and for teaching. Open Office has come a long way, and it can really do most of the things that MS office does- but it's free! It might make sense to use something like this in an Elementary setting, because right now, the students are barely cracking the surface of what is possible to do in MS office. Open Office could really suit their needs and save money for other technology resources. However, teachers may miss some of the functionality of MS office if they didn't have access to it.

I was trying to find a different open source application to review, other than OpenOffice, but I have to say that I wasn't that impressed with what I saw.  TuxTyping is a free, downloadable typing software program that you could use in schools or in students' homes. The arcade-style background music was a bit of a turn-off at first! This basic program isn't too bad, and let's kids practice typing skills in a game-format, where they have to type the letter before various things happen, like the penguin is trying to catch the fish in  his mouth before they fall to the ground.

I wasn't a huge fan of TuxTyping though, and I'll tell you why. It doesn't TEACH the kids how to type, it merely presents letters in random order, or words by category, like animals, or colors, etc. Kids need typing programs to teach them how to type - starting with the home row, and building off of that, there should be a sequential path of introducing letters and integrating ones already learned, rather than randomness. I've found DanceMat Typing, to be a much better free alternative, though not open source, in that it builds from the home row keys and is a bit more interactive and fun.

I'm sure there are a lot of other great open source programs/software out there, but I wasn't too impressed with Tux Typing!