Free Online Instructional Toolkit!

LOEX Quarterly Volume 35
TechMatters: Piecing Together a Free Online Instructional Toolkit
Krista Graham, Central Michigan University

If you work at a large academic institution, chances arefairly good that your organization provides access to a"course management" or "virtual learning" system suchas Blackboard (http://www.blackboard.com/), ANGEL(http://www.angellearning.com/), or eCollege (http://www.ecollege.com). Such systems include features suchas collaborative workspaces, drop boxes, grade books,and discussion boards to facilitate online teaching andlearning.Of course, not all of us work at institutions that providethese types of tools, and for others these learningsystems may be too dauntingly complex, as they providemore functionality than is wanted or needed for our particularinstructional purposes. Lucky for us then, that avariety of free tools are available online. When taken together,or separately, these tools can be used to create ourown e-learning environments. Lucky for us then, that avariety of free tools are available online. When taken together,or separately, these tools can be used to create ourown e-learning environments

Collaborative Workspace
Collaborative workspaces allow groups of individuals,who may be separated from one another by locationand/or time, to work together on documents, projects, or presentations. Rather than requiring participants to e-mail copies of their work to one another, documents are stored online so that they may be accessed by all group members and updated in real time.
Discussion Board
Discussion boards - also referred to as web forums,
discussion groups, or bulletin boards - provide space to
hold online discussions and post user developed content.
In general, such tools facilitate group discussion and interaction,
and may encourage collaboration amongst students.

Google Groups
http://groups.google.com/
Like Google Docs, Google Groups is a free service
that requires only that you create a "Google Account" for
access. Creating a new group site is as easy selecting a
name, providing a brief description, and then inviting
users to join your group. Users may then initiate and respond
to discussion topics and post documents. Clearly,
this tool could be used for a variety of purposes from establishing
an area to compare notes, files, and ideas for
students involved in group projects, to providing a forum
to allow attendees to continue discussion following a
workshop or instructional session.

Google Docs
http://docs.google.com/
Google Docs allows users to create or upload standardoffice files including documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. Once a document is added to the system, it can be accessed and edited from any computer connectedto the Internet via a standard web browser. The GoogleDocs interface includes a selection of familiar formatting features, such as bold, italics, and bullets, using toolbar buttons similar to those found in most "office" programs,including Microsoft Word and PowerPoint.Once created, the document author may invite others to read and/or collaborate on a document. Editing occurs in real time, so multiple users can work together simultaneously and immediately see changes as they are made. Ifyou assign any type of group project, this sort of application can be a powerful tool to help students work together successfully.

Drop Box
Drop box applications provide online space to store
and share large files. If you want students to submit assignments
to you electronically, but have limited space in
your e-mail inbox for large attachments, then a digital
drop box like Drop.io may be just the tool that you need.
Drop.io
http://drop.io/
Drop.io is a slick service that allows you to create a
private drop space without requiring you to create an
"account" or provide your e-mail address. Simply choose
a name for your drop, select a password, decide when
you want the drop to expire, and determine if you want
others to be able to "view only", "view & add", or "view,
add & delete" files in the drop. At that point, just send
your students the URL for your new drop site and they
may upload files for your review. Alternately, you can
send your students the e-mail address that Drop.io creates
for your site, and they can simply send the files as e-mail
attachments that will be automatically uploaded to your
drop space.

Grade Book
An online grade book is a useful tool for anyone who
is teaching a course with graded assignments, tests, quizzes,
and/or homework. Using an online tool to store and
calculate your grades allows you to make this information
easily accessible for your students at any time and
from any location.
Engrade
http://www.engrade.com/
Engrade is a free, private, secure, and easy to use tool
that allows teachers to create and manage an online grade
book and calendar for each of the classes that they teach.
As with all the other tools reviewed in this article, Engrade
is completely web-based and so doesn’t require
you to download or install any software. Once you create
an account, you can setup a grade book with your preferred
settings. Teachers control the grading scale, assignment
weights, and decide if grades will be calculated
automatically by the system. In addition, Engrade includes
an online calendar where you can post exam dates
or due dates for homework assignments.

Course Management Systems
The features discussed above are all individual components
of most commercial course management systems.
Taken individually, or in combination, they can
provide you with some of the core functionality of such a
system. Of course, if you really want access to a full virtual
learning environment, then you might want to take a
look at a free, open source software package such as
Moodle.
Moodle
http://moodle.org/
Moodle is a full-featured course management system
that is available for download and use under a GNU Public
License (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html). Basically,
this means that although the software is copyrighted,
you may still copy, use and/or modify the program
provided that you offer your version to others and
apply the same type of license to any derivative version
you create.
Moodle offers all of the features discussed in this
article and more. For example, Moodle offers a real-time
chat module, the ability to design and set quizzes and
tests, as well as a survey module. Moodle can be used to
host a single-teacher site, or by a large institution with
thousands of students and a multitude of courses. Of
course, because of its complexity, there is a significant
learning curve associated with using this program, so libraries
and librarians will want to keep this in mind before
choosing to go with this type of comprehensive solution.

Finding More Free Tools to Develop
Your Own Toolkit
Obviously, the sites reviewed in this article represent
only a sampling of the many free, online, open-source elearning
tools available. If these examples don’t meet
your needs, there is no need to worry. There are many
other options available, and the easiest way to find them
is via a simple web search using as search terms the category
of tool you seek (e.g., "grade books"), along with
the key terms "open source" or "free".
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Library-Related Conferences

Library-related conferences locally, nationally, and globally. Very good for advance conference planning, as A. Franco pointed out. Compiled by Marian Dworaczek


http://homepage.usask.ca/~mad204/CONF.HTM

Free Faxing / Free Security / Free Wifi from TOURBUS

Thank you, Bob Rankin.
Callie

TOURBUS Volume 14, Number 4 -- 20 Oct 2008
Tourbus Home -- http://www.internettourbus.com/

TODAY'S TOURBUS TOPICS: Free Faxing / Free Security / Free Wifi

In today's TOURBUS, I've got some tips to soften the impact of the current financial crisis. Send a fax, for free. Dump your expensive anti-virus and anti-spyware software and replace them with free alternatives that work even better. And get yourself hooked up with free wifi, without fear of getting hacked or going to jail. Read on!

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Free Faxing

Dump your fax machine, your computer and the Internet have made this dinosaur obsolete! If you need to send an occasional fax, but you don't have a fax machine, no problem... use free internet fax services, or free fax software that runs on your own computer. Here's how...

FREE FAXING - http://askbobrankin.com/send_a_free_fax.html

FAX SOFTWARE - http://askbobrankin.com/free_fax_software.html

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Free Anti-Virus Software

Is your computer safe from viruses? Without the proper protection, your computer can become infected faster than you can recite your email address three times. Viruses can destroy files, compromise your privacy, and make you vulnerable to identity theft. If you DON'T have any kind of anti-virus software, or if you're not happy paying for the one you have now -- here's good news.

I've long recommended in TOURBUS that you stay away from the expensive bloatware packages like Norton and McAfee. I've heard from so many people that they're invasive, can bog down your system, and often cause more trouble than they're worth. And with so many excellent free anti-virus packages now available, why bother?

But maybe you're confused by all the free antivirus products. Some say that Avira is the best, others claim that AVG or Avast! is definitely the way to go. Is there a clear winner, or are they all pretty much the same? Here are my reviews of Avira, Avast! and AVG to help you decide which is best for
you:

AVIRA - http://askbobrankin.com/avira_free_antivirus.html

AVAST! - http://askbobrankin.com/avast_free_antivirus.html

AVG - http://askbobrankin.com/avg_review.html

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Malware Scanners

So you're covered when it comes to viruses... but what about spyware, adware, rootkits and other nasties? In order to protect against all of these online threats, you need a good malware scanner and a firewall. But which one? Read my reviews of seven free malware scanners, and then check out "Do I Need a Firewall?" to get the scoop on WHO needs a firewall, WHAT they do, and WHY you might be wasting your money on firewall software.

MALWARE SCANNERS - http://askbobrankin.com/malware_scanners.html

FIREWALLS - http://askbobrankin.com/do_i_need_a_firewall.html

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Wifi: Sniffers, Moochers, Hackers and Slackers

A reader asked me about the legality of free wireless: "Sometimes when I'm away from home, I'll park my car, fire up the laptop and get online with a free unsecured wireless signal. Is this legal?" My advice: ask Sam Peterson. He'll probably tell you that it's much cheaper to go inside that coffee shop and buy a latte before going online. It might be a LOT cheaper than the fine and legal fees you could get hit with. Can you get arrested for mooching a free wifi signal? Find out here:

FREE WIFI - http://askbobrankin.com/is_free_wifi_illegal.html

Of course there are some places where free wifi is offered to the public, but it's not always easy to find a signal. A wifi sniffer can solve that problem. Here are six very clever wireless signal detection devices:

WIFI SNIFFERS - http://askbobrankin.com/wifi_sniffers.html

Do you have a wireless router in your home? You might be broadcasting a signal that makes it easy for neighbors, strangers or Evil Hackers to tap into your network. Find out how to secure your wireless network:

SECURE WIRELESS - http://askbobrankin.com/wireless_security.html

So you bought the latte and you're surfing in Starbucks. But if you're not very careful, someone could be intercepting everything that crosses your screen, or stealing your passwords. Find out how to use public wifi safely:

SAFE WIFI - http://www.askbobrankin.com/is_public_wi-fi_access_safe.html

"PrintScrn" or Screenshot a la Mac

I am a PC, no use hiding it (I have a new iMac at home)

If you want to take a screenshot, here's what I found out:

On a total Mac machine: Command +Shift 3 > Hear picture sound (it numbers pictures)

On a Mac dual boot with apple keyboard but in Windows program: F14 then Ctrl V in doc.

Of course, best is PC keyboard and PC (:-)) : Just hit PrintScrn tab and paste.