http://sagehen.pbwiki.com/ This wiki provides a place for teachers to share resources, ask questions & get answers. en http://sagehen.pbwiki.com/feedlogo.gif http://pbwiki.com/ PBwiki 1.3.8 support@pbwiki.com http://sagehen.pbwiki.com/Cool+Science email.hidden@example.com (Faerthen Felix) Faerthen Felix edited Cool Science]]> Wed, 06 Aug 2008 14:16:46 +0000 mod http://sagehen.pbwiki.com/Cool+Science email.hidden@example.com (Faerthen Felix) Faerthen Felix edited Cool Science Instructables is a great website where people upload directions for building things. There are lots of scienceprojects, including akitchenproteinlaboratory & making baconsoap. Or, you can learn how to build amusing classroom-disrupting devices like marshmallowblowguns.
FunScienceGallery
BlogsBlogs & Wikis
Mind-blowing Science!
Mr. Hood's Worldwide Wiki: "This is a study and revision resource for students of Physics and Mathematics in Scotland."
Citizen Science
The annals of scientific history are packed with the achievements of amateur scientists...like Newton, for example. This tradition is expanded to larger groups of people in today's "citizen science". According to Wikipedia:
]]> Wed, 06 Aug 2008 13:54:39 +0000 mod http://sagehen.pbwiki.com/Cool+Science email.hidden@example.com (Faerthen Felix) Faerthen Felix edited Cool Science Instructables is a great website where people upload directions for building things. There are lots of scienceprojects, including akitchenproteinlaboratory & making baconsoap. Or, you can learn how to build amusing classroom-disrupting devices like marshmallowblowguns.
FunScienceGallery
Blogs
Mind-blowing Science!
Citizen Science
The annals of scientific history are packed with the achievements of amateur scientists...like Newton, for example. This tradition is expanded to larger groups of people in today's "citizen science". According to Wikipedia:
]]> Wed, 06 Aug 2008 13:46:43 +0000 mod http://sagehen.pbwiki.com/Cool+Science email.hidden@example.com (Faerthen Felix) Faerthen Felix edited Cool Science]]> Wed, 06 Aug 2008 13:43:48 +0000 mod http://sagehen.pbwiki.com/Copyrights+and+Free+Media email.hidden@example.com (Faerthen Felix) Faerthen Felix edited Copyrights and Free Media]]> Wed, 06 Aug 2008 13:40:15 +0000 mod http://sagehen.pbwiki.com/Copyrights+and+Free+Media email.hidden@example.com (Faerthen Felix) Faerthen Felix edited Copyrights and Free Media Other:
Tucowsis a great place to start your search for useful tools.
Widgets are little tiny programs that run on your desktop or web page. Some of them are really educational & useful. It's not a massive programming challenge to make or modify your own widgets, either. You can get them for Macs or PCs.
Gnu: is an organization that promotes the development of open-source software. Try Googling "gnu _" for whatever you need, i.e. "gnu zip utility", "gnu backgammon", etc.
Software for Macs: A lot of free software for Macs is really just junkfood, but these sites have good links:
TheFreeMacClassroomhas links to many, many really useful & powerful free Mac applications.
This blog has a good list.
Softpediahas lots of Mac application demos.
Widgets are little tiny programs that run on your desktop or web page. Some of them are really educational & useful. It's not a massive programming challenge to make or modify your own widgets, ei]]> Wed, 06 Aug 2008 13:39:26 +0000 mod http://sagehen.pbwiki.com/Copyrights+and+Free+Media email.hidden@example.com (Faerthen Felix) Faerthen Felix edited Copyrights and Free Media Xubuntu: got old computers with not much oomph? Xubuntu is Ubuntu-light.
Edubuntu: Ubuntu for education! Here are some screenshots showing the program package, including some of the educational programs.
Microsoft Office. Office
OpenOffice "is the leading open-source office software suite for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and more. It is available in many languages and works on all common computers. It stores all your data in an international open standard format and can also read and write files from other common office software packages. It can be downloaded and used completely free of charge for any purpose."
NeoOffice "is a full-featured set of office applications (including word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, drawing, and database programs) for Mac OS X."
Web-authoring software:
Nvu: A complete Web Authoring Syste]]> Wed, 06 Aug 2008 13:37:52 +0000 mod http://sagehen.pbwiki.com/Copyrights+and+Free+Media email.hidden@example.com (Faerthen Felix) Faerthen Felix edited Copyrights and Free Media Office packages: even if you don't want to change operating systems, you can still use open-source office software instead of Microsoft Office.
OpenOffice "is the leading open-source office software suite for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and more. It is available in many languages and works on all common computers. It stores all your data in an international open standard format and can also read and write files from other common office software packages. It can be downloaded and used completely free of charge for any purpose."
NeofficeNeoOffice "is a full-featured set of office applications (including word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, drawing, and database programs) for Mac OS X."
Image editing: there are some free, open-source image editing software packages out there that are often as good or better than the commercial ones th]]> Wed, 06 Aug 2008 13:31:19 +0000 mod http://sagehen.pbwiki.com/Copyrights+and+Free+Media email.hidden@example.com (Faerthen Felix) Faerthen Felix edited Copyrights and Free Media Office packages: even if you don't want to change operating systems, you can still use open-source office software instead of Microsoft Office.
OpenOffice "is the leading open-source office software suite for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and more. It is available in many languages and works on all common computers. It stores all your data in an international open standard format and can also read and write files from other common office software packages. It can be downloaded and used completely free of charge for any purpose."
Neoffice
Image editing: there are some free, open-source image editing software packages out there that are often as good or better than the commercial ones that cost hundreds of dollars:
GimpShop: GIMPshop is a modification of the free/open source GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP), intended to replicate the feel of Adobe Photosh]]> Wed, 06 Aug 2008 13:27:14 +0000 mod http://sagehen.pbwiki.com/Copyrights+and+Free+Media email.hidden@example.com (Faerthen Felix) Faerthen Felix edited Copyrights and Free Media Open Source Software
Software can be downright expensive. It can be less than optimal for your needs &/or uncustomizable. Some products--like Microsoft operating systems, for instance--are getting ridiculously irritating to manage, even for legitimate purchasers.
And you can get in big trouble for loading your software on more computers than you have licenses.
Fortunately, there are many, many free software applications available out there, especially for PCs (Macs have rather fewer options). Even many commercial software apps have a limited time or functionality version available for free. Some things I have downloaded recently & found very useful include image editing, web editing, video capture, sound editing, file format converters, FTP utilities, password crackers (for my own network machines!).
Operating systems: tell Microsoft where they can stick their obnoxious, difficult Windows activation codes! There are excellent open-source versions of Linux operating systems ]]> Wed, 06 Aug 2008 13:19:34 +0000 mod http://sagehen.pbwiki.com/Copyrights+and+Free+Media email.hidden@example.com (ffelix) ffelix edited Copyrights and Free Media Books: despite the best lobbying efforts of large corporations, copyrights do eventually expire. In the case of books & other publications, there are several sites that are madly digitizing out-of-copyright material for free distribution on the web. So why pay for the classics?
ProjectGutenberg
Google Books: Google even digitizes copyrighted books, so that you can do things like search for text, even if you can't actually download the whole thing for free.
Wikisource: an online library of free content publications collected and maintained by the community.
Wikibooks: free, open-content textbooks.
]]> Tue, 22 Jul 2008 09:26:59 +0000 mod http://sagehen.pbwiki.com/Copyrights+and+Free+Media email.hidden@example.com (ffelix) ffelix edited Copyrights and Free Media PrelingerArchives: an amazing collection of historic & contemporary video ephemera--all free! The Internet Archive that contains the Prelinger collection is also a great place to find other free media files like audio, graphics, etc.
Macauley Library: Cornell University's unbelievable collection of bird & animal recordings includes videos.
you may will need to embed your new oddball font in any PDF, .doc Word, PowerPoint or Photoshop files you produce with it, it so that others can actually see the font later--this text--this means bigger file downloads! downloads [if you are saving your work as a non-editable file like a .jpg image, for instance, this isn't a concern]. So don't use funky fonts for no reason--be sure you really need them to support the message of the image or document. Always look for True-Type fonts for maximum compatibility.
Font Garden: a great collecti]]> Tue, 22 Jul 2008 09:22:59 +0000 mod http://sagehen.pbwiki.com/Copyrights+and+Free+Media email.hidden@example.com (ffelix) ffelix edited Copyrights and Free Media PrelingerArchives: an amazing collection of historic & contemporary video ephemera--all free! The Internet Archive that contains the Prelinger collection is also a great place to find other free media files like audio, graphics, etc.
Macauley Library: Cornell University's unbelievable collection of bird & animal recordings includes videos.
Photoshop files, files you produce with it, so that others can see it the font later--this means bigger file downloads! So don't use funky fonts for no reason--be sure you really need them to support the message of the image or document. Always look for True-Type fonts for maximum compatibility.
Font Garden: a great collection of free fonts (a few are bad quality & won't load, though). You can even have them make a font from your handwriting!
Books: despite the best lobbying efforts of large corporations, copyrights do eventually expire. In the case of books & other publications, there are several site]]> Tue, 22 Jul 2008 09:17:31 +0000 mod http://sagehen.pbwiki.com/Copyrights+and+Free+Media email.hidden@example.com (ffelix) ffelix edited Copyrights and Free Media morgueFile: these are free high-resolution images for printing bigger.
Free low-resolution images: these are professional images that you pay for if you want higher resolution. The free versions are perfect for websites or even for printing very small.
clipart galleries gallery that come comes with the Microsoft Word [& other word processing programs are programs] is surprising & often overlooked. Not just crappy line-drawings, they include it includes photos that are not as tiny as they look & can often be scaled very large. These images are incredibly useful because they are shot professionally, then cropped or &/or stylized to remove extraneous information, making them very effective symbolic communication. I often If you want to change the image rather than just insert them it into ]]> Tue, 22 Jul 2008 09:16:48 +0000 mod http://sagehen.pbwiki.com/Copyrights+and+Free+Media email.hidden@example.com (ffelix) ffelix edited Copyrights and Free Media SagehenPhotos: Sagehen's website has lots of on-line photos free for educational use. Subjects range from aerial imagery, to wildlife, to botany, to field science & education, to historical shots from Sagehen's past.
WikimediaCommons: a database of 1,594,783 freely reusable media files to which anyone can contribute. Upload your own good shots to teach kids the power of open-source.
They includes an include amazing variety: quality & variety, like images from National Parks, Fish & Wildlife, FEMA, DOD & NASA images, DOD, NASA, & more.
morgueFile: these are free high-resolution images for printing bigger.
are just fine perfect for websites or even for printing very small.
Microsoft Clipart: the clipart galleries that come with the Word processing programs are surprising & often overlooked. Not just crappy line-drawings, they include photos that are not as tiny a]]> Tue, 22 Jul 2008 09:11:32 +0000 mod http://sagehen.pbwiki.com/Copyrights+and+Free+Media email.hidden@example.com (ffelix) ffelix edited Copyrights and Free Media Copyrights & How To Avoid Problems
If you are posting things to the web or producing permanent interp signs, you probably want to be a little more careful about protecting copyright than you might be if you were just generating a piece of paper for use in the classroom. While most educational uses are far less restricted than commercial uses, there are still some requirements--other people like to be credited for their work, even when there is no monetary payment required.
uses). Use
Use thislinktosearchforCCcontent.
Music: grabbing any old music file is a touchy subject right now because of all the file-sharing lawsuits, some of which targeted schools. Royalty-free music often means that you don't have to pay future royalties for additional use, but you still probably have to buy the music up front. Maybe better to think about using Creative Commons (CC) licensed music. Finding it is a bit of a trick, but I LOVE these sites:
ccMixter: a popular, credible CC music sit]]> Tue, 22 Jul 2008 09:09:02 +0000 mod http://sagehen.pbwiki.com/Copyrights+and+Free+Media email.hidden@example.com (ffelix) ffelix edited Copyrights and Free Media Copyrights & Open Source
Copyrights & How To Avoid Problems
the web, web or producing permanent interp signs, you probably want to be a little more careful about protecting copyright than you might be if you were just generating a piece of paper for use in the classroom. While most educational uses are far less restricted than commercial uses, there are still some requirements--other people like to be credited for their work, even when there is no monetary payment required.
Terms like open-source, shareware, royalty-free don't necessarily mean free of cost. Be sure to read the requirements of use for anything you grab. I like CreativeCommons(CC)licensing. It's pretty clear about which rights are granted to the public & which are not (generally just commercial uses). Use thislinktosearchforCCcontent.
Music: grabbing any old music file is a touchy subject right now because of all the file-sharing lawsuits, some of which targeted schools. Royalty-free music often me]]> Tue, 22 Jul 2008 09:07:37 +0000 mod http://sagehen.pbwiki.com/Copyrights+and+Free+Media email.hidden@example.com (ffelix) ffelix edited Copyrights and Free Media ccMixter: a popular, credible CC music site.
KevinMacLeod: a fantastic composer with wide range & very friendly use policies...basically just give him credit.
Sounds:
FreesoundProject: sounds only, not music.
Macauley Library: Cornell University's unbelievable collection of bird & animal recordings.
]]> Mon, 21 Jul 2008 12:24:05 +0000 mod http://sagehen.pbwiki.com/Copyrights+and+Free+Media email.hidden@example.com (ffelix) ffelix edited Copyrights and Free Media KevinMacLeod: a fantastic composer with wide range & very friendly use policies...basically just give him credit.
FreesoundProject: sounds only, not music.
animal recordings. Also a few videos. recordings.
FindSounds: a fantastic sound file search engine.
Photos: you can always ask the web master for permission to use anything you find, but it's less trouble to just get a royalty-free photo to begin with.
A big list of public domain image sources.
Video:
audio, stills, etc. graphics, etc.
Macauley Library: Cornell University's unbelievable collection of bird & animal recordings includes videos.
Fonts: sometimes you need a different type-face than the standards that came installed on your computer. Be aware that this means you may need to embed your new oddball font in any PDF, .doc or Photoshop files, so that others can see it later--this means bigger file downloads! So don't use funky fonts for no reason--be sure you really need]]> Mon, 21 Jul 2008 12:10:57 +0000 mod http://sagehen.pbwiki.com/Copyrights+and+Free+Media email.hidden@example.com (ffelix) ffelix edited Copyrights and Free Media SagehenPhotos: Sagehen's website has lots of on-line photos free for educational use. Subjects range from aerial imagery, to wildlife, to botany, to field science & education, to historical shots from Sagehen's past.
WikimediaCommons: a database of 1,594,783 freely reusable media files to which anyone can contribute. Upload your own good shots to teach kids the power of open-source.
images, too. & more.
morgueFile: these are free high-resolution images for printing bigger.
Free low-resolution images: these are professional images that you pay for if you want higher resolution. The free versions are just fine for websites or even printing very small.
]]> Mon, 21 Jul 2008 12:09:16 +0000 mod