Dropbox

Dropbox is a free service that lets you bring all your photos, docs, and videos anywhere. After you install Dropbox on your computer, any file you save to your Dropbox will automatically save to all your computers, your iPhone and iPad and even the Dropbox website! With the Dropbox app, you can take everything that matters to you on the go.

Read your docs or flip through your albums when you're out and about. Save photos or videos to your Dropbox and share them with friends in just a couple taps. Even if you accidentally leave your iPhone in a taxi, your stuff is always safe on Dropbox.

Features:

● Always have your stuff with you, no matter where you are.

● Add files to "Favorites" for fast, offline viewing.

● Easily save photos and videos to your Dropbox.

● Share your photos and docs with family and friends.

● Save email attachments straight to your Dropbox.

Free & OpenSource Software

One of my most interesting sources of Free Software/ Open Source is the UNESCO Free Software Portal 

 gateway to resources related to Free Software and Open Source Technology movement.


The UNESCO Free Software Portal gives access to documents and websites which are references for the Free Software/Open Source Technology movement. It is also a gateway to resources related to Free Software.

It thus provides a single interactive access point to pertinent information for users who wish to acquire an understanding of the Free Software movement, to learn why it is important and to apply the concept. Visitors to the UNESCO Free Software Portal can browse through pre-established categories or search for specific words. They can add a new link or modify an already existing link. 


Free Software Foundation (FSF) / UNESCO Free Software Directory

TeacherPal

TeacherPal is a personal organizer for the teacher. It enables the teacher to organize classes, and students. Its simple and intuitive interface enables teachers to track the attendance, grades and behavior of students.

Some of the new features include:
1. Adding students from contacts
2. Adding new attendance types
3. Adding custom student profile fields
4. Managing the timetable for a class
5. Adding notes to your lessons
6. Importing attendance, grades


And the great new experimental face detection!!! Take a group photo of your class and TeacherPal recognizes the faces of students automatically and creates profiles for them!!!

Setting up a campus server

Hardware

A simple entry-level Intel server based machine should suffice for a normal sized institution with around 200 active users.

Server software
My favorite server software is Ubuntu server. Ubuntu Server Edition is becoming the platform of choice in the server market. In less than five years since its launch, Ubuntu Server now powers over 400,000 of the world’s websites, including giants such as Wikipedia.

Available for FREE, its text based interface is enough to deter a novice user but with the help of Webmin, administrating it is relatively simple.

* Free to use
* No license restrictions
* Easy integration with most OS clients and environments
* Easy to use built-in security features

Open source solutions in Education

There are a number of open source solutions for an educational institution. I will be listing and discussing them in detail and also the pros and cons in deploying the same.


Some areas of deployment include:
1. Administration
2. Classroom teaching
3. Student information management
4. Campus intranet communication and collaboration

iPad2 Apps: Pages, Keynote, and Numbers

Took the plunge and moved into Mac domain. Letting go of Microsoft is NOT easy, but the transition is smooth with this superb set of apps available from the itunes store. 


All the three iWork productivity applications help you  put together professional-looking documents, presentations, and spreadsheets.


Pages is a very powerful word processor with simple-to-use layout tools and a large onscreen keyboard. Importing and opening Word documents is straightfoward. 


With Keynote, it’s easy to create presentations with stunning animations and effects in minutes. 


Numbers lets you build compelling, attractive spreadsheets in minutes, including tables and charts. 

Educating the Educators

I have often been asked "What is the biggest hurdle to implementation of Technology in education?"

Well .... some of the obvious ones are listed below (in no specific order)

Funding

Schools and colleges need to have the money and resources/support necessary to have up-to-date equipment. In the ever changing world of technology, keeping the hardware / software purchased up-to-date is the second biggest part of the same problem. 

Support from the Administration

There needs to be strong support/knowledge at the management level before it starts to to trickle down to the classrooms.

Training

Teachers need training, professional development and mentorship to be able to implement ideas into the classroom.

Bias against technology/Generational bias.

Many teachers (sometimes rightfully) do not feel the need for computers. Power Point is just a fancy overhead presentation tool. Many use the excuse of age to mentally 'kill the urge' to learn.. Some don't want to change as long as what they are doing is working.

Technology vs Values

Are we sacrificing values at the cost of introducing technology in education?


With the easy availability and distribution of ebooks / PDFs via P2P, many of which are copyrighted, are we as educators encouraging the spread of wrong values

Apps for Education

"iPad apps are expanding the learning experience both inside and outside the classroom. From interactive lessons to study aids to productivity tools, there’s something for everyone".

Finally got myself linked with with an updated iTunes. There are literally thousands of apps available for download for students and teachers. Shall be putting together some of the more practical and affordable apps in the days ahead

Learning with iPad2

"An incredibly responsive Multi-Touch screen. A large, high-resolution LED-backlit IPS display. A design that’s thin and light enough to take anywhere. iPad isn’t just the best device of its kind — it’s a whole new kind of device. And it’s poised to change the learning landscape."

Finally got my hands on the ipad2.... a 'Teacher's Day' gift to myself.. Shall be writing about the amazing potential this device brings to the learning experience both inside and outside the classroom.

Integrating Technology into Education

Putting together my experience and findings as a consultant and advisor to various educational institutions on topics related to technology implementation, emphasizing instructional and student needs first and then through planning, integrating technology in ways that enhance and extend instructional and learning opportunities.

What is the purpose of this site?
With over twenty years of experience in planning, purchasing, testing and introducing technology into the educational system, both at the administrative and classroom learning ends, in rural and urban scenarios, the need for providing accurate advice

Some of the people that can benefit from this site will include:

Administrators / management of schools and colleges who are looking for a reliable cost-effective solution for their educational institution.

Educators: Teachers/ Lecturers/ Professors, who are looking for resources and tools to help themselves integrate technology into their own classroom learning experience

Students: who are looking for resources to help plan and manage their classes, schedules, study habits