Are you familiar with the free software available at http://www.openoffice.org/ ?
This software is identical to Microsoft Office – Word, Powerpoint, Excel, Access and more. There is a movement for FREE and legal software downloads on the net. Many of my students say that they do not have Microsoft Office at home on their own computers. I share this website with them and advise them to speak to their parents before they download anything.
The Applications are easy to use and, most important, they are free and legal. The toolbars are almost identical to those in Microsoft.
I thought this might be worth sharing with our student body somehow – maybe the blog? The faculty may not be aware of this tool; they could share it with their students, especially when they assign a project to them. If our students cannot afford the Microsoft Office suite, this is available for free and will help them complete school projects and assignments.
I’m unaware of any “negatives” of this software. Mr. Gordon may be able to shed some light on anything he knows about it. I downloaded and installed it on a computer a few months ago and that person has been using it daily without any problems.
Check out the site….below is the conversion of the components in OpenOffice to the appropriate Microsoft product:
Writer = Word
Impress = PowerPoint
Calc = Excel
Base = Access
Enjoy!
From our Technology Coordinator, Ian Gordon:
Last time I used OpenOffice (a few years back) it was not quite as good as described above. I have not seen it recently, but I have heard of many people now using it without any problems.
Google Apps is another option for those with internet connectivity.
Some people are not comfortable with free – open source software, for whatever reason. We also have greatly reduced pricing available to students and staff for Microsoft and Adobe products at http://www.journeyed.com/edResources/ .
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