Monday, March 06, 2006

FOSS for non-programmers

Australian blogger Bill Kerr produces a CD with free and open source software (FOSS) for his students to borrow if they are so inclined. Although you can find long lists of FOSS in various places, I like this list for its brevity and quality. I especially want to find the time to check out the following:

  • Celestia simulation of the universe
  • GameMaker
  • Wesnoth strategy game
  • Blender and Pov-ray 3D graphics
  • cmap concept mapping
It also includes some I am already familiar with:
  • Audacity sound recording and editing
  • Juice podcast maker
  • Firefox browser
  • Google desktop
  • Picasa image management
  • Open Office software suite
Prediction: if MnSCU ever moves away from Desire2Learn, it will be to an open source instructional management system. I'm not saying that it will happen, but in 3-5 years the open source applications that are currently being developed will be viable alternatives for our statewide implementation.

3 comments:

Bill Kerr said...

hi barry,

If you start using game maker then check out my website for resources too
game maker resources

Barry Dahl said...

Excellent Bill, I appreciate the tip.

I've learned a great deal already from your posts and the dozens of other blogs that I am now reading on a regular basis. The educational blogs are definitely some of the best learning (and thinking) that I've experienced in quite some time.
Barry

Anonymous said...

Gamemaker?

I got this for my 12yr old son. He has made a few neat games with it.