On the weekend I ran a short training session for teachers about Ubuntu. It was a lot of fun, and surprisingly most of the teachers had never played with Ubuntu before. Usually at these kinds of events, the people who turn up to the Linux/Ubuntu session are the hard core converted, so that was lovely!
We spoke about a lot of stuff, but unfortunately, even though I mentioned the need to be online, the people running the day hadn’t put two and two together (booting from a livecd and asking to be online) and they didn’t know their proxy details to get online, so the session was slightly less interactive than I would have liked. I wanted to have the online Ubuntu repository available so we could install and play with ome specific applications. Anyway, below are some useful links for the people who attended, and for anyone else interested.
The meaning of “Ubuntu”:
Ubuntu is an African word meaning ‘Humanity to others’, or ‘I am what I am because of who we all are’. The Ubuntu distribution brings the spirit of Ubuntu to the software world.
Information about Ubuntu:
- Get Ubuntu from here. They will either ship you a CD or you can download it.
- Information about Ubuntu
- How to get involved in the Ubuntu community
- Support options for Ubuntu – make sure you check out the community forums for questions or issues you may have
- User guide to Ubuntu – click through Take the Tour on http://www.ubuntu.com
- DVD/MP3 and other restricted format support – use this guide
- Useful Ubuntu derivatives – Medibuntu (multimedia focused) and Edubuntu (education focused). You can either use one of the derivatives as is, or look through what packages athey include and install them in your default Ubuntu installation.
- Available Ubuntu training options
Information about Open Source generally:
- What is Open Source – some great answers are on the following websites:
- Linux Australia information page
- Make the Move – useful information about Free and Open Source Software (FOSS)
- About Software Freedom – why software freedom is so important
- Top 10 FOSS for education – My top 10 areas in education from a presentation I gave about 4 months ago that was quite useful.
- Blogging for education – one of my blog posts that may be of interest
- Catalog of Free and Open Source Software for Education – an excellent list of FOSS education applications
- Open Source alternatives to proprietary software – a great resource to find alternative Open Source options
- My favourite Open Source applications by Mark Richardson, an Australian educator
- Moodleman blog – great for people interested in Moodle
- Australian Service for Knowledge of Open Source Software – focused on Open Source for higher education, but has loads of general information of use. Includes a page specifically about Open Source in education with loads of papers and research including the school sector
- Open Source industry and community survey – has a section specifically on education, and highlights why education about open source tools at school would really help the industry
Make sure you join the edulists open source mailing list to connect with other teachers using and talking about Open Source in education. Join the list and introduce yourself 🙂
Have fun everyone! If you have additional links that would be helpful, please add them to the comments.
Chris is stoked that you linked makethemove in your URL list. He’s keen to find people to help him update the site both factually and in a look and feel way. So if you know anyone who likes mtm and would like to help, please put them in touch with me or with Chris.
Considering there are over 2000 spoken languages in Africa, how can Ubuntu be an “African” word surely you can narrow it down a little as 1999 other language speakers may not understand you
It’s actually a fairly common word across many of the languages (and certainly the concept is well understood, even if the word itself is not part of the vocabulary), particularly middle to south of the continent. Consider, however, the relevance of the information to the audience, rather than the precise etymology.
But it must be asked: Do you ever post non whiny-little-maggot comments? Always the whinge about Windows or pointing out some minor quibble. At least bring humour to your pedantry, or go away and spend your time more productively/wisely.
I am confused on whose blog this is, does it really represent Pia or Jeff or are you so melded you are one in the same.
Actually I guess I am bringing balance where there isn’t any. For example the Iceland blog previously is completely irrelevant and I suspect completely wrong but that of course doesn’t stop the few painting a picture that is very different from the truth. But being able to retransmitt a falacy still doesn’t make it reality, I will stop whining now and return to my corpse that we maggots enjoy so much
Hi AlphaG, the Iceland blog was me reposting someone else’s blog which I found interesting.. Thank you for the followup comments about how it isn’t relevant to Australia, but that makes it no less relevant there.
This is certainly my blog, or are you suggesting that Jeff can’t comment on my blog? 🙂 Thank you for your questions, but please try to keep your comments constructive. My quote about the Ubuntu word was from the Ubuntu site, you are always welcome to direct any questions about it to them 🙂
@jdub, please refrain from these kinds of comments on my blog, I don’t like the tone they set. Thanks 🙂
I saw an ad on ESPN for the XO laptops. Just thought I’d say well done to all involved for making them so public.
Ubuntu 8.10 – no sound at all