Independent School Educators' List (ISED-L): July 2008

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Re: Technology Professional Development

Bill,
=20
This isn't quite an answer for you because it isn't really training as =
much as "forced" collaboration. Our big initiative of the last couple =
years has been tablet use. Each year we have added a few more teachers =
in a pilot sort of system and have required them to participate in a =
running blog at http://teacherplaces.com <http://teacherplaces.com/> =
with their projects and lessons learned. Other than that we train new =
teachers on the SIS and the rest is pretty much "just in time" training. =
We are small (50 staff) so it can work but I'm interested in other =
models.
=20
sherry
=20
=20
Sherry Ward
Director of Technology
Alexandria Country Day School
2400 Russell Road
Alexandria, VA 22301
703-837-1317 sward@acdsnet.org

________________________________

From: A forum for independent school educators on behalf of Bill Griscom
Sent: Thu 7/31/2008 6:16 PM
To: ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
Subject: Technology Professional Development

Hi everyone,

I apologize if this is a repeat posting. I'm still scouring the ISED web =
archives.

I'm wondering what everyone is doing with technical training, as well as =
technology integration work. We're interested in offering periodic =
training to our faculty and staff on technical skills, such as using =
Office, e-mail, web browsers, our SIS, etc.

We'd also like to help teachers learn more about integrating technology =
into the classroom, with the assistance of our technology coordinators.

I'd love to know if you're doing anything like this and if so, what =
topics/programs you're teaching, how often you're teaching them, how =
effective it's been, and just information on anything else you've =
encountered.

I'll continue to scour. There is some good stuff on Ning too. :-)

Thanks.

Regards,

Bill Griscom

Director of Information Services
Lancaster Country Day School
725 Hamilton Road
Lancaster, PA 17603-2491
717.392.2916 x. 246
griscomb@lancastercountryday.org

[ For info on ISED-L see http://www.gds.org/ISED-L ]
Submissions to ISED-L are released under a creative commons, =
attribution, non-commercial, share-alike license.
RSS Feed, http://listserv.syr.edu/scripts/wa.exe?RSS&L=3DISED-L

[ For info on ISED-L see http://www.gds.org/ISED-L ]
Submissions to ISED-L are released under a creative commons, attribution, non-commercial, share-alike license.
RSS Feed, http://listserv.syr.edu/scripts/wa.exe?RSS&L=3DISED-L

Re: Technology Professional Development

I will be away from campus until August 11, at which time I will respond
to all email messages. Thanks very much!

Technology Professional Development

Hi everyone,

I apologize if this is a repeat posting. I'm still scouring the ISED web =
archives.

We'd also like to help teachers learn more about integrating technology =
into the classroom, with the assistance of our technology coordinators.

I'll continue to scour. There is some good stuff on Ning too. :-)

Thanks.
=20

Regards,

Bill Griscom

Director of Information Services
Lancaster Country Day School
725 Hamilton Road
Lancaster, PA 17603-2491
717.392.2916 x. 246
griscomb@lancastercountryday.org

Best Ideas/EdTechTeacher.org

Fellow ISED colleagues:
I am leaving Noble and Greenough School after 10 great years to pursue
educational technology consulting opportunities. I plan to remain active
on the ISED list, but my new email will be thomasdaccord@gmail.com.

My departure coincides with the publication of my second book, Best Ideas
for Teaching with Technology: A Practical Guide for Teachers, By Teachers.
Co-authored by Justin Reich, Best Ideas for Teaching with Technology: A
Practical Guide for Teachers, By Teachers introduces and explains -- in a
clear and accessible manner -- powerful educational tools and strategies
that teachers can apply immediately to their own teaching. In the book we
show teachers how to use technology to empower students to do creative and
meaningful work and develop essential skills. Alan November comments that
Best Ideas for Teaching with Technology: A Practical Guide for Teachers,
By Teachers "is an extremely valuable resource for teachers hoping to
realize the tremendous opportunities that technology offers for powerful
learning in the twenty-first century classroom."

Best Ideas for Teaching with Technology: A Practical Guide for Teachers,
By Teachers is available via Amazon:
http://tinyurl.com/6cpx87

EdTechTeacher.org is our new website and online companion to Best Ideas
for Teaching with Technology: A Practical Guide for Teachers, By Teachers.
The website (currently under construction) highlights ideas, tutorials,
lesson plans, reproducibles, and other resources to help educators
incorporate technology effectively into different aspects of teaching. It
also provides a listing of tools and services that teachers can use to
design lessons, activities and assessments for their classrooms.

In case you're wondering, I plan to continue to organize the annual
"Teaching with New & Emerging Technologies" conference in the spring and
collaborate with Dan Weir and all the wonderful people at Nobles.
Best wishes,
Tom

Tom Daccord
Best Ideas for Teaching with Technology: A Practical Guide for Teachers by
Teachers
http://tinyurl.com/6cpx87
The Best of History Web Sites
http://www.neal-schuman.com/db/9/599.html

EdTechTeacher
http://edtechteacher.org/ (under construction)
Teaching History with Technology
http://thwt.org/
Best of History Web Sites
http://besthistorysites.net/

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Re: verbage for Faculty Handbook

Hello - I am out of the office at a Trustee meeting until Friday 8/1. All
technical support requests should ALWAYS be directed to
tech@newhampton.org, or 603-677-3454. Thanks!

Re: verbage for Faculty Handbook

Anyone read "When Young Teachers Go Wild on the Web" in the Washington =
Post (April 2008)? =
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/27/AR2008042=
702213.html?wpisrc=3Dnewsletter=20
Although we don't have language on social networking posts (specifically =
for faculty) in our handbook, when I read this article, I decided to =
refer to the article, with humor, at our upcoming new faculty tech =
training. We agreed that we didn't want to imply that our new teachers =
were behaving badly before arriving...just that they might want to think =
about the content of their profiles if they had not yet done so, now =
that they will be working with students who also use those networks.
=20
BTW Great NPR podcast. Thanks for sharing. - Vi=20
____________________________________
Vi Richter
Instructor/Academic Technology Coordinator
Phillips Exeter Academy

________________________________

From: A forum for independent school educators on behalf of Alex Ragone
Sent: Mon 7/21/2008 1:15 PM
To: ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
Subject: Re: verbage for Faculty Handbook
We're all in for some serious perspective shifting on this topic as we =
move forward. There was a great piece on NPR's The Takeaway last week on =
the use of Facebook and our student's future political careers (Replace =
political with any career you can think of): =
http://www.thetakeaway.org/archives/2008/07/16/2

- Alex

-----Original Message-----
From: A forum for independent school educators =
[mailto:ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU] On Behalf Of Lorri Carroll
Sent: Monday, July 21, 2008 1:13 PM
To: ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
Subject: Re: verbage for Faculty Handbook

Our issue this year was not that current faculty posted inappropriate
photos,etc but rather-- our younger faculty still had posts/photos from
college that may have been perceived by some as unprofessional.

Lorri Carroll

A forum for independent school educators <ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU> =
writes:
>Right on, Joel! Set high expectations for professionalism and make the
>phone, email, Internet, faculty rooms open for appropriate use. Does =
that
>make them accessible for misuse? Yes, but too often if you set the bar
>low and build a bunch of rules around it, folks spend time and energy
>living up to only that expectation and finding ways around it. Deal =
with
>individual problems individually and let the rest grow with the =
potential
>professional use.
>
>imo,
>
>sherry
>
>Sherry Ward
>Director of Technology
>Alexandria Country Day School
>2400 Russell Road
>Alexandria, VA 22301
>703-837-1317 (direct) sward@acdsnet.org
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: A forum for independent school educators
>[mailto:ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU] On Behalf Of Backon, Joel
>Sent: Monday, July 21, 2008 9:17 AM
>To: ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
>Subject: Re: verbage for Faculty Handbook
>
>Hi Lorri,
>
>You ask a loaded question, but I will begin with a simple answer. We =
have
>nothing specific in our Faculty Handbook under Professional Standards =
that
>refers to social networking sites. However, it would be hard to uphold =
the
>standards, and then practice unprofessional behavior on a social
>networking
>site. Your question, between the lines, implies that there is a concern =
at
>Hamden Hall that has prompted an administrative response that might be
>codified. IMHO, I would advise against such a practice.
>
>I have used social networking for thirty-two years (fifteen prior to =
being
>in education) as a means of giving and receiving information from =
people I
>trust. Most of these years, I lacked the power of the internet to make =
the
>process easier. Still, I attribute my professional relationships, both
>close
>and casual, established over the years, as most important to any
>professional success I have experienced. In cyberspace, I belong to at
>least
>ten social networking sites with varying levels of participation, but =
all
>are important at certain moments. If these sites didn=B9t exist, I =
would
>spend
>more time on the phone or writing letters, but I wouldn=B9t abandon the
>notion
>that people, at their best, are collegial and help other people. For =
that
>reason, I would be very circumspect about defining adult usage of =
social
>networking sites where you could potentially inhibit collegiality and
>professional development. Our professional standards are very clear =
about
>the nature of faculty relationships with students; it is a more than
>adequate guide for dealing with students on social networking sites as
>well.
>
>Joel
>
>--
>Joel Backon
>Director of Academic Technology / History
>Choate Rosemary Hall
>333 Christian St.
>Wallingford, CT 06492
>203-697-2514
>
>
>
>On 7/20/08 9:35 PM, "Lorri Carroll" <lcarroll@hamdenhall.org> wrote:
>
>> Hi All-
>> Does anyone have any verbage they could share from their Faculty
>Handbook
>> concerning social networking sites? We are thinking of adding =
something
>> to our "Professionalism" area.
>>
>> Lorri Carroll
>> Director of Technology
>> Hamden Hall Country Day School
>> 1108 Whitney Avenue
>> Hamden, CT 06517
>> lcarroll@hamdenhall.org
>> work (203) 752-2606
>> cell (203) 215-9833
>>

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Re: Webpages

Hi,

I taught webpage design to our middle school students and we used NVU wysiwyg web authoring tool that is open source but looks like it changed to KompoZer.

http://www.nvu.com/
http://www.kompozer.net/

Craig Rugh
Seoul Academy International School

----- Original Message ----
From: Renee Ramig <rramig@sevenhillsschool.org>
To: ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
Sent: Wednesday, July 30, 2008 3:08:00 AM
Subject: Webpages

Hi,

I was wondering how many of you are teaching basic webpage design to
your middle school kids.

If you do teach it (either as part of an integrated curriculum unit, or
as a separate course), can you let me know what software you are using?

We are a PC school, so iWeb and Rapidweaver are out. I would love to
use an Open Source solution that has a gui interface but also allows
students to see and edit the code itself. I use Dreamweaver myself, but
the cost and learning curve are more than I want to use right now with
my middle school students.

Thanks,

Renee Ramig

Director of Technology

Seven Hills School

The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing. John
Powell

Re: Webpages

Does it let you see the code too, or strictly gui interface?

Renee Ramig
Director of Technology
Seven Hills School
=20
The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing. John
Powell

-----Original Message-----
From: A forum for independent school educators
[mailto:ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU] On Behalf Of Jennifer Davenport
Sent: Tuesday, July 29, 2008 11:18 AM
To: ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
Subject: Re: Webpages

WebBlender is fantastic and easy to use - and PC friendly. The kids
love it
so much, we have parents calling us asking where to buy it.

Jen

On Tue, Jul 29, 2008 at 14:08, Renee Ramig
<rramig@sevenhillsschool.org>wrote:

> Hi,
>
>
>
> I was wondering how many of you are teaching basic webpage design to
> your middle school kids.
>
>
>
> If you do teach it (either as part of an integrated curriculum unit,
or
> as a separate course), can you let me know what software you are
using?
>
>
>
> We are a PC school, so iWeb and Rapidweaver are out. I would love to
> use an Open Source solution that has a gui interface but also allows
> students to see and edit the code itself. I use Dreamweaver myself,
but
> the cost and learning curve are more than I want to use right now with
> my middle school students.
>
>
>
> Thanks,
>
>
>
> Renee Ramig
>
> Director of Technology
>
> Seven Hills School
>
>
>
> The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing. John
> Powell
>
>
>
>
> [ For info on ISED-L see http://www.gds.org/ISED-L ]
> Submissions to ISED-L are released under a creative commons,
attribution,
> non-commercial, share-alike license.
> RSS Feed, http://listserv.syr.edu/scripts/wa.exe?RSS&L=3DISED-L
>

--=20
Jennifer Davenport
Director of Technology
Saddle River Day School
http://www.saddleriverday.org

[ For info on ISED-L see http://www.gds.org/ISED-L ]
Submissions to ISED-L are released under a creative commons,
attribution, non-commercial, share-alike license.
RSS Feed, http://listserv.syr.edu/scripts/wa.exe?RSS&L=3DISED-L

Re: Webpages

Hi Renee,

We're using DreamWeaver with our Middle School students, but we just purcha=
sed WebBlender for our Lower School students to use to create simple portfo=
lio web pages. Our curriculum is course based (1 to 2 times a week) K-6 an=
d then we have an integration model for 7-12.

http://www.tech4learning.com/webblender/index.html

- Alex

-----Original Message-----
From: A forum for independent school educators [mailto:ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.=
EDU] On Behalf Of Renee Ramig
Sent: Tuesday, July 29, 2008 2:08 PM
To: ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
Subject: Webpages

Hi,

I was wondering how many of you are teaching basic webpage design to
your middle school kids.

If you do teach it (either as part of an integrated curriculum unit, or
as a separate course), can you let me know what software you are using?

Thanks,

Renee Ramig

Director of Technology

Seven Hills School

The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing. John
Powell

[ For info on ISED-L see http://www.gds.org/ISED-L ]
Submissions to ISED-L are released under a creative commons, attribution, n=
on-commercial, share-alike license.
RSS Feed, http://listserv.syr.edu/scripts/wa.exe?RSS&L=3DISED-L

Re: Webpages

WebBlender is fantastic and easy to use - and PC friendly. The kids love it
so much, we have parents calling us asking where to buy it.

Jen

On Tue, Jul 29, 2008 at 14:08, Renee Ramig <rramig@sevenhillsschool.org>wrote:

> Hi,
>
>
>
> I was wondering how many of you are teaching basic webpage design to
> your middle school kids.
>
>
>
> If you do teach it (either as part of an integrated curriculum unit, or
> as a separate course), can you let me know what software you are using?
>
>
>
> We are a PC school, so iWeb and Rapidweaver are out. I would love to
> use an Open Source solution that has a gui interface but also allows
> students to see and edit the code itself. I use Dreamweaver myself, but
> the cost and learning curve are more than I want to use right now with
> my middle school students.
>
>
>
> Thanks,
>
>
>
> Renee Ramig
>
> Director of Technology
>
> Seven Hills School
>
>
>
> The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing. John
> Powell
>
>
>
>
> [ For info on ISED-L see http://www.gds.org/ISED-L ]
> Submissions to ISED-L are released under a creative commons, attribution,
> non-commercial, share-alike license.
> RSS Feed, http://listserv.syr.edu/scripts/wa.exe?RSS&L=ISED-L
>

--
Jennifer Davenport
Director of Technology
Saddle River Day School
http://www.saddleriverday.org

Webpages

Hi,

=20

I was wondering how many of you are teaching basic webpage design to
your middle school kids.

=20

If you do teach it (either as part of an integrated curriculum unit, or
as a separate course), can you let me know what software you are using?

=20

Thanks,

=20

Renee Ramig

Director of Technology

Seven Hills School

=20

The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing. John
Powell

=20

Monday, July 28, 2008

Re: Putting Annual Fund Pledge on Tuition Statements

As this thread is about tuition statements, are any of you providing =
online statements and payment options to your school parents? If so, I'm =
interested in finding out if you're using Diamond Mine to provide credit =
card and checking account transactions and the kind of feedback you've =
received from the parents.
=20
Many thanks,
=20
Nikki Lucyk
University School of Milwaukee
2100 W. Fairy Chasm Rd.
Milwaukee, WI 53217
(414)540-3159
=20
"The great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in the
direction we are moving." ~Oliver Wendell Holmes
=20

________________________________

From: A forum for independent school educators on behalf of Bassett, =
Patrick
Sent: Sun 7/27/2008 9:06 PM
To: ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
Subject: Re: Putting Annual Fund Pledge on Tuition Statements

From NAIS Legal Counsel, Debra Wilson (wilson@nais.org):

From: Wilson, Debra
Sent: Sun 7/27/2008 8:49 PM
To: Bassett, Patrick
Subject: RE: Putting Annual Fund Pledge on Tuition Statements

I actually think this is okay if you set out the letter the right way. =
What gets dangerous is if the letter starts to have more information =
than "Here is your tuition and here is the amount you pledged several =
months ago" (e.g.: a 'No -No" would be.... "Won't you also consider =
making a gift the annual fund for the difference between your tuition =
and the actual cost?). It's hard for schools and the development people =
to ignore the urge to monkey with it. You would probably be better off =
with two different communications in the same envelope (one a tuition =
bill another an annual giving pledge reminder of the amount that they =
gave).

Cheers.

Patrick F. Bassett, President
National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS)
1620 L St., NW
Washington, DC 20036
bassett@nais.org
202.973.9710 (O)
202.973.9790 (F)
202.746.5444 (C)
www.nais.org <http://www.nais.org/>

America's Independent Schools: Learning, Leading, Achieving

________________________________

From: Liz Cochran [mailto:ecochran@rockyhill.org]
Sent: Fri 7/25/2008 2:52 PM
Subject: Putting Annual Fund Pledge on Tuition Statements

So far not a lot of response. I posted a similar query with similar =
results
on the FUNDSVCS@LISTSERV.FUNDSVCS.ORG. I do not mean to be repetitive =
so I
will get right to the point,

We are considering once a parent has made a pledge we would add it to =
our
tuition bills that go out to them monthly. Some parents ask if this is
something we would consider so they could pay tuition and pledge all at
once? Anyone else do this or considering it? Looking for success =
stories
and/or pitfalls to this approach.

Thanks for any input anyone can offer.

Liz Cochran
Development Office
Rocky Hill School
East Greenwich, RI
401-884-9070 x 132

-----Original Message-----
From: A forum for independent school educators
[mailto:ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU] On Behalf Of Inman, Alex
Sent: Wednesday, July 23, 2008 6:21 PM
To: ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
Subject: Re: Payment Options for Annual Fund

I have little to add but it would be helpful if we could keep this open.
This has been a regular topic of discussion for us. I look forward to
reading people's responses.

Alex Inman
Director of Technology
Whitfield School
St. Louis, MO
314.434.5141

-----Original Message-----
From: A forum for independent school educators
[mailto:ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU] On Behalf Of Liz Cochran
Sent: Wednesday, July 23, 2008 3:20 PM
To: ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
Subject: Payment Options for Annual Fund

Good afternoon:

I write to inquire how other small organizations may set-up automatic
payments for gifts and pledged out gifts?

I am also curious if any other schools use automatic debit/credit =
options
for Annual Fund payments and/or if anyone adds Annual Fund pledges to
tuition statements?

Thanks for your help,

Liz Cochran
Rocky Hill School
530 Ives Road
East Greenwich, RI
401-884-9070 x 132

[ For info on ISED-L see http://www.gds.org/ISED-L ] Submissions to =
ISED-L
are released under a creative commons, attribution, non-commercial,
share-alike license.
RSS Feed, http://listserv.syr.edu/scripts/wa.exe?RSS&L=3DISED-L

Sunday, July 27, 2008

K12 Open Minds Conference

The following is an announcement the second K12 Open Minds conference
Sept 25-27 in Indianapolis. K12 Open Minds is dedicated to exploring
open source software in K12 education and our own Alex Inman from the
Whitfield School will be one of the keynotes. Please feel free to pass
this along to anyone who might be interested.

Dear Educational Leader:

Schools around the United States and the world are discovering the
benefits of Open-Source Software. In Indiana alone, over 150,000
students use Open-Source Software every day. Not only does Open-Source
Software save money, it allows schools to extend essential educational
software to students' homes and into after-school programs, providing
extended learning opportunities at no cost.

Are you looking for ways to provide more technology with less money?
Could your teachers benefit from a Virtual Learning Environment (Moodle,
Sakai)?
Do you want a solution for all of your students to access their school
work from home?
Is your school community looking for ways to increase student engagement
and learning?

Have you thought about developing an Open-Source Software strategy to
increase technology access while controlling costs?

Join us September 25-27, 2008 in Indianapolis, Indiana for the K-12 Open
Minds Conference! This is an unparalleled opportunity to talk with
teachers, administrators and technology staff from around the U.S. and
the world. We expect more than 600 attendees, from the US, Europe, Asia
and North and South America. Dozens of sessions that address teaching
and learning, leadership and technical issues related to open
technologies make this conference a "must attend" event.

Teaching and Learning sessions will feature experienced teachers from
around the world demonstrating successful strategies and techniques.
Technology and Infrastructure sessions will feature experts from around
the world on issues such as: connecting to your local Windows or Mac
authentication server, managing large and small network deployments, and
using interactive whiteboards in classrooms in Linux and open-source
environments, and more. Additional sessions designed for Leadership and
Policy will demonstrate how policy initiatives and effective strategies
for using Open-Source Software help to meet your educational objectives.

Featured Speakers include:
Donna Benjamin - Executive Director of Creative Contingencies and board
member of Open Source Industry Australia;
Alex Inman -- Director of Technology at Whitfield School, St. Louis, MO
- an Essential School using open source;
Chris Lehman -- Principal of the Science Leadership Academy in
Philadelphia, PA, and;
Dr. David Thornburg - Director of Global Operations for the Thornburg
Center and author of several books including, When the Best is Free.

For more information and to register go to: http://k12openminds.org

A special conference hotel rate of $97 is available at the Indianapolis
Downtown Marriott through Monday, August 25, 2008. After that, rates may
be higher.

If you have any questions please contact Mike Huffman at 317.232.6672 or
mhuffman@doe.in.gov

--
This time for sure!
-Bullwinkle J. Moose
-----------------------------
Vern Ceder, Director of Technology
Canterbury School, 3210 Smith Road, Ft Wayne, IN 46804
vceder@canterburyschool.org; 260-436-0746; FAX: 260-436-5137

Re: Putting Annual Fund Pledge on Tuition Statements

From NAIS Legal Counsel, Debra Wilson (wilson@nais.org):=20
=20
From: Wilson, Debra
Sent: Sun 7/27/2008 8:49 PM
To: Bassett, Patrick
Subject: RE: Putting Annual Fund Pledge on Tuition Statements

Cheers.
=20
Patrick F. Bassett, President
National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS)
1620 L St., NW
Washington, DC 20036
bassett@nais.org
202.973.9710 (O)
202.973.9790 (F)
202.746.5444 (C)
www.nais.org <http://www.nais.org/>=20
=20
America's Independent Schools: Learning, Leading, Achieving
=20

________________________________

From: Liz Cochran [mailto:ecochran@rockyhill.org]
Sent: Fri 7/25/2008 2:52 PM
Subject: Putting Annual Fund Pledge on Tuition Statements

So far not a lot of response. I posted a similar query with similar =
results
on the FUNDSVCS@LISTSERV.FUNDSVCS.ORG. I do not mean to be repetitive =
so I
will get right to the point,

Thanks for any input anyone can offer.

Liz Cochran
Development Office
Rocky Hill School
East Greenwich, RI
401-884-9070 x 132

I have little to add but it would be helpful if we could keep this open.
This has been a regular topic of discussion for us. I look forward to
reading people's responses.

Alex Inman
Director of Technology
Whitfield School
St. Louis, MO
314.434.5141

Good afternoon:

I write to inquire how other small organizations may set-up automatic
payments for gifts and pledged out gifts?

I am also curious if any other schools use automatic debit/credit =
options
for Annual Fund payments and/or if anyone adds Annual Fund pledges to
tuition statements?

Thanks for your help,

Liz Cochran
Rocky Hill School
530 Ives Road
East Greenwich, RI
401-884-9070 x 132

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Re: Open Office

On Sat, Jul 26, 2008 at 3:08 PM, Ernest Koe <ernestkoe@gmail.com> wrote:

> I was once a teacher but I am now on the private side of the education
> technology business. As such, my perspective on this evolving topic is
> largely informed by what I see as an potential employer and someone deepl=
y
> involved in the technology/software business.
>
> Bill makes some great points...
>
> My test of computer-literacy has little to do with what 'programs' people
> know. R=E9sum=E9s that list specific word-processing program skills (e.g.=
Expert
> in Word, Excel...) actually suggest something negative than positive. Fr=
om
> my perspective, it is better to expose students to patterns-of-use then t=
o
> application-skills; that one is an expert in MS Word but untrained in OO
> Writer or Google Docs or The Next Greatest Word Processor has very little
> relevance on this side of the industry...

Well, yes and no. It all depends on the industry and the job. For example,
our church office is an MS Office shop, and a new secretary who applies
without having either demonstrated skills in Office, *or* a demonstrated
desire to learn new stuff, is not a likely candidate for the job. We alread=
y
have a number of people who cut their teeth on WordPerfect and a dragging
their feet when it comes to adapting to regular and *good* use of Office
that we don't need another "Word trainee" on our hands. This became
particularly important when our pastor was working on his dissertation and
the software and format required by the seminary was Word. No one on the
church office staff had the experience with Word to be able to figure out
why certain flaky things were happening. Sure, they could *try* to look it
up, but an intermediate familiarity with the most popular word processing
program would've been great, and saved me numerous trips to church to try t=
o
figure things out and numerous hours examining an emailed file while
listening to a description of the problem over the phone. Sometimes you jus=
t
need an expert in *that* tool.

Granted, had any of these people been motivated to dig deeper into the
workings of Word despite their WordPerfect upbringings, they might not have
needed to call me as often. But the simple fact of the matter is that they
had other things to do besides become experts on another word processing
program. Especially if the dissertation called for features that they had
never used or cared about before.

And off the topic of the dissertation (and I have my issues with
institutions that expect the candidates to do all the DTP stuff as well as
the research and writing), even such "simple" things as the format for the
weekly bulletin can be a battle to try to explain to a person who doesn't
understand some of the more advanced features in word such as custom styles=
,
multiple sections, and facing margins. Having someone who already knows Wor=
d
really does make the training that much easier.

On the other hand the right person can learn any new program in a certain
category once they've learned the features of one. But this isn't everyone.
It's been part of my job as a computer professional for 20 years to learn
Xedit, Kedit, XyWrite, WordPerfect, MacWrite, WriteNow, Word, etc, and to
have an idea of what menu this particular developer might have put this
command under, and what they might've called it. But we shouldn't expect
everyone to be geeks with the time to learn three different operating
systems and their applications well. Most of us will never be in situations
where we have to be able to do that, and those few who will, will be
extremely well-paid. When I was in Computing Services at Syracuse
University, we often talked about serving the 95/95 user - that is what 95%
of the users need to do 95% of the time. If 95% of the users are using 25%
of the features of Word 95% of the time, then maybe that's what I should
teach. There is something to be said for teaching someone how to use one
tool *well* before having them try another similar one.

On the other hand though, I would love to be able to have the kids work in
two different word processing programs, move the files back and forth, and
learn how to figure out what menu the text wrapping command might be under
in FredWriter as opposed to Word. But there comes a point where teaching
them how to use the tools as a "general concept" takes away from them
learning how to use a specific tool to get the job at hand done well and
quickly. Perhaps I'll experiment with that a little this year as I try to
get all my students to sign up for Gmail accounts, and have them play aroun=
d
with Google Docs.

There's more I could say, but I think I've gone on long enough, and my 6yo
daughter wants a bowl of cereal.

Re: Open Office

I was once a teacher but I am now on the private side of the education =20=

technology business. As such, my perspective on this evolving topic is =20=

largely informed by what I see as an potential employer and someone =20
deeply involved in the technology/software business.

Bill makes some great points...

My test of computer-literacy has little to do with what 'programs' =20
people know. R=E9sum=E9s that list specific word-processing program =
skills =20
(e.g. Expert in Word, Excel...) actually suggest something negative =20
than positive. =46rom my perspective, it is better to expose students =20=

to patterns-of-use then to application-skills; that one is an expert =20
in MS Word but untrained in OO Writer or Google Docs or The Next =20
Greatest Word Processor has very little relevance on this side of the =20=

industry. We use it all, and we expect a meta-fluency in software =20
programs, not fluency in specific toolsets. A skills-based curriculum/=20=

approach may actually be counter-productive in my experience, though =20
I'll submit that my personal experiences do not make for a statistical =20=

case.

Alex said:

Though there is certainly a point of infinite regression, I think we =20
need to look for change in tools, when that change makes sense, and =20
push for it. Our students need to get used to new systems, new tools, =20=

new processes. That is the only certainly for which we can prepare =20
them. Today it is Office 2007 or GIMP. Tomorrow it is something that =20=

hasn't been written...and maybe by one (or several) of our students.

We don't teach students to play video games, yet they learn to play =20
the next greatest game without our need to offer video-game-playing =20
instructions. I'll posit that we don't have to worry preparing kids =20
for changes in software, though we should support the free and =20
unhindered exploration of whatever enables them to be better learners =20=

and thinkers. Nonetheless, I do understand that schools have real-=20
world administrative, political, or budgetary demands. We want =20
students to use computers but we want to do so in a such a way that is =20=

administratively tenable. We like uniform environments, common =20
practices, things that keep the chaos of change at bay. Yet, I wonder =20=

sometimes if the need to standardize on platforms or curriculums have =20=

less to do with any real pedagogical outcomes than on the impulse to =20
satisfy these those business-demands.

To be clear, these non-pedagogical reasons may be perfectly valid, but =20=

it seems to me that we ought not to confuse the them with the business =20=

of teaching any sort of computer literacy.

But the original poster asked if anyone had a good curriculum for =20
OpenOffice. Regrettably, I do not. However, I think any sort of 'good' =20=

curriculum should have the following features:
* it is grounded in problem solving, not in learning particular =20
features or skills
* it is about good writing, thinking and communicating, not about good =20=

word-processing or slide-making

myVeryHumble2Cents( )

On Jul 26, 2008, at 2:11 PM, Bill Fitzgerald wrote:

> Hello, all,
>
> I'm reading this thread and coming at it from two places: first, an =20=

> ex-technology director who had the responsibility/pleasure of making =20=

> technology decisions regarding platforms and applications for =20
> schools; and second, from the perspective of an open source =20
> developer --
>
> The argument about "preparing students for the real world" falls a =20
> little flat when it comes to many technology issues, especially when =20=

> it comes to productivity suites like office. The basic skills =20
> required are common among *any* platform; employers also offer =20
> training for new employees; and besides, many entry-level tasks are =20=

> moving to the browser as companies find they can save money by =20
> moving to web-based tools.
>
> I argue that we do students more of a service by teaching critical =20
> thinking skills that can be applied cross-platform, cross-tool. More =20=

> importantly, we do students a disservice by tethering their problem-=20=

> solving abilities to the options presented within one software =20
> package. If all you have is a hammer, every problem's a nail.
>
> And with that said, I do understand one piece of the argument that =20
> identifies Macs as the tool of choice for video editing.
>
> But still, using tools as the basis of our technological decisions =20
> will not serve us well in all cases. The choice of tools should =20
> start with a clear analysis of educational outcomes, and we should =20
> select the tools that best support those outcomes -- and, as TCO =20
> relates to access to computers, which relates to ability to achieve =20=

> some educational outcomes, Open Source has a role to play in these =20
> discussions.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Bill
>
>
>
>
>
> [ For info on ISED-L see http://www.gds.org/ISED-L ]
> Submissions to ISED-L are released under a creative commons, =20
> attribution, non-commercial, share-alike license.
> RSS Feed, http://listserv.syr.edu/scripts/wa.exe?RSS&L=3DISED-L

Re: Open Office

Hello, all,

I'm reading this thread and coming at it from two places: first, an ex-technology director who had the responsibility/pleasure of making technology decisions regarding platforms and applications for schools; and second, from the perspective of an open source developer --

The argument about "preparing students for the real world" falls a little flat when it comes to many technology issues, especially when it comes to productivity suites like office. The basic skills required are common among *any* platform; employers also offer training for new employees; and besides, many entry-level tasks are moving to the browser as companies find they can save money by moving to web-based tools.

I argue that we do students more of a service by teaching critical thinking skills that can be applied cross-platform, cross-tool. More importantly, we do students a disservice by tethering their problem-solving abilities to the options presented within one software package. If all you have is a hammer, every problem's a nail.

And with that said, I do understand one piece of the argument that identifies Macs as the tool of choice for video editing.

But still, using tools as the basis of our technological decisions will not serve us well in all cases. The choice of tools should start with a clear analysis of educational outcomes, and we should select the tools that best support those outcomes -- and, as TCO relates to access to computers, which relates to ability to achieve some educational outcomes, Open Source has a role to play in these discussions.

Cheers,

Bill

Re: Open Office

=EF=BB=BF

Alex - Very nicely stated.
=20
I know this list is geared towards independent schools and I
find that
- as a whole - they're much more willing to try new things and
be a
little more daring than the public schools, and there's been so
many
layers of bureaucracy in the public schools that it's been
difficult to
get an answer why there isn't more interest in free and open
source
software.
=20
I see our public schools in Frederick County, MD advertise that
they
have 4.5 students per PC. Talking to some of the kids, it's
most likely
that the number includes a good amount of unusable PC's - but
they're
making the numbers for the state. I talk to school educators
and 4.5
students per PC roughly translates to a little less than an hour
of PC
time a week for each student due to scheduling and other issues.
By the
way, =EF=BB=BFwe are considered one of the better county schools in=
our
state.
=20
I look at Mike Hoffman, CIO of Indiana Public Schools, who
decided to
take his whole state over to open source software because they
too had
4.5 students per PC. He felt that the time was so short, it
amounted to
typing class with no real computer skills being learned. In
addition,
he saw that the children from disadvantaged homes were falling
further
behind with the digital divide getting wider.
=20
With the change, he was able to get a PC for every student with
no
increase in funding. It's still early - they're two years in
and are
working on getting all the high schools done first - but it's
been
pretty amazing. Schools that have switched are seeing dramatic
drops in
disciplinary actions. He's angling for a study - he believes
it's
because the students are no longer bored, have a sense of
ownership in
their PC's. They're now planning on hitting the middle schools!
=20
I know change is difficult, but at what point does a school
system or school
decide that the change would be good for schools, the students
and the
community? Who ultimately would make that decision?
=20
On Fri, 2008-07-25 at 22:04 -0500, Inman, Alex wrote:
=20
> It's almost 10pm and I'm still at school trying to get things done before=
a short vacation but this post brings up something I think should be discu=
ssed more in schools. Bill makes a few points in his last two posts that I=
think are common.
>=20
> His points about choosing technology that will prepare our students for t=
he next level, such as Adobe on Macs for design work, makes sense. You are=
building a schema to complete specific tasks.
>=20
> However, I want to push a little on staying with Office 2003 because it's=
good enough or Photoshop because it's comfortable. These are both common =
arguments and not wrong. However, we are preparing our students for the ne=
xt level. That's college and the world. If Mac's and Adobe is what is nee=
ded to prepare kids for college, then Office 2007 is what's needed to prepa=
re them for college. But it actually goes beyond that. It doesn't stop wi=
th the "next step" because the "next step" never stops coming and each new =
step comes faster than the one before.
>=20
> Though there is certainly a point of infinite regression, I think we need=
to look for change in tools, when that change makes sense, and push for it=
. Our students need to get used to new systems, new tools, new processes. =
That is the only certainly for which we can prepare them. Today it is Off=
ice 2007 or GIMP. Tomorrow it is something that hasn't been written...and =
maybe by one (or several) of our students.
>=20
> We have to take cost, culture and migration issues into consideration, fo=
r sure, but we need to be seeking change. I'm not advocating change for th=
e sake of change. It needs to be calculated. However, I am most certainly=
advocating that we don't avoid change because it is not comfortable or out=
side of existing norms.
>=20
> Bill, I don't think you were making such bold assertions either. I am no=
t trying to make a Straw Man. I've just been thinking about this lately an=
d this was close enough for me to tie my rant. :-)
>=20
> Take care,
> Alex
>=20
> Alex Inman
> Director of Technology
> Whitfield School
> St. Louis, MO
> 314.434.5141

Matt Burkhardt, MSTM
President
Impari Systems, Inc.
=EF=BB=BF401 Rosemont Avenue
Frederick, MD 21701
mlb@imparisystems.com
www.imparisystems.com
(301) 644-3911

Friday, July 25, 2008

Re: Open Office

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c2Vydi5zeXIuZWR1L3NjcmlwdHMvd2EuZXhlP1JTUyZMPUlTRUQtTA0K

Re: Open Office

Matt,

We were able to purchase a site license of Adobe CS 3 Design Standard
(Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, & Acrobat) for both Mac and Windows
through our local IU at a price of $5,000. I thought that was a pretty
reasonable price for what we were getting. For us, we needed several
copies of InDesign because it's the format that our local printing
companies accept. To get Acrobat Professional was also very compelling.
Then to add Photoshop and Illustrator for our art students, we felt
compelled to spend the bucks.

As far as why people would stick with Photoshop, I think it comes down
to a few things.

1. Many teachers have been trained to use Photoshop, so they want to
teach Photoshop, not Gimp.
2. As people have become more familiar with Adobe products, it's harder
to switch to another program. It's comfort.
3. We know that many college programs will be using Adobe products for
layout and for photo manipulation. We felt that giving students access
to these programs would help them when they go to college. It's the same
reason we felt it was necessary to introduce Macs in our art
department.

I have nothing against Gimp and I certainly love FOSS, but this was a
situation where we didn't want to travel that road.

Regards,

Bill Griscom

Director of Information Services
Lancaster Country Day School
725 Hamilton Road
Lancaster, PA 17603-2491
717.392.2916 x. 246
griscomb@lancastercountryday.org

>>> Matt Burkhardt <mlb@imparisystems.com> 7/24/2008 10:30 AM >>>
I'm curious - Photoshop currently is about $300 per copy with their
educational discount. If you have it on 20 computers on a school,
that
runs to $6000. If a school went open source, you can purchase
computers
running Linux for $450 to $500 which translates to 12 additional
computers.

Kids would also be able to download it to their personal computers for
free and do additional work at home, helping to close the digital
divide.

So, my question is why do schools stay with Photoshop?

I can imagine it makes sense when you're a top tier private school
with
more money in the world, but many schools aren't in that situation.

Thanks,

On Wed, 2008-07-23 at 19:03 -0700, Jason Johnson wrote:

> Specifically GIMP does not have:
> --CMYK and Pantone support (which you almost certainly don't need).
> --RAW support (which you might need for digital camera work).
> Otherwise, I am not aware of anything but is has been about a year
since I checked. I am sure someone has a comparison chart out there.
>
> There are some other features that you may need to use a plug-in for
to achieve similar functionality. Probably the biggest drawback to GIMP
is that Photoshop gets all the press. There are dozens of books on PS
for ever one there is on GIMP and plenty of student friendly tutorials.
That is where gimpshop comes in handy. It converts the GIMP interface
to be more like photoshop (i.e. similar UI but does not change
functionality).
>
> http://www.gimpshop.com/
>
> Outside of features another big hurdle for mac users is that the
project does not produce binaries for the mac which means a more complex
install. Another group supports packaging with a sourceforge project
but, as always, that means they run months to years behind the OS
releases and GIMP releases.
> http://darwingimp.sourceforge.net/____________________________
> Jason at jasonpj@yahoo.com
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: Hoover Chan <chan@sacredsf.org>
> To: ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
> Sent: Wednesday, July 23, 2008 7:08:22 PM
> Subject: Re: Open Office
>
> re: Neo Office / Open Office doesn't do what I need...
>
> Just curious to hear of specifics.
>
> On a related note, I'm also curious to hear about what Adobe
Photoshop does that GIMP cannot.
>
>
> --------------------------------------------------
> Hoover Chan chan@sacredsf.org
> Director of Technology
> Schools of the Sacred Heart
> 2222 Broadway St.
> San Francisco, CA 94115
>
> [ For info on ISED-L see http://www.gds.org/ISED-L ]
> Submissions to ISED-L are released under a creative commons,
attribution, non-commercial, share-alike license.
> RSS Feed, http://listserv.syr.edu/scripts/wa.exe?RSS&L=ISED-L
>
>
>
>
> [ For info on ISED-L see http://www.gds.org/ISED-L ]
> Submissions to ISED-L are released under a creative commons,
attribution, non-commercial, share-alike license.
> RSS Feed, http://listserv.syr.edu/scripts/wa.exe?RSS&L=ISED-L
>
>

Matt Burkhardt, MSTM
President
Impari Systems, Inc.
ï»¿401 Rosemont Avenue
Frederick, MD 21701
mlb@imparisystems.com
www.imparisystems.com
(301) 644-3911

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RSS Feed, http://listserv.syr.edu/scripts/wa.exe?RSS&L=ISED-L

Re: Open Office

Thank you for your message. I am away from school. If you need immediate
assistance, please call or email Katrina (katrina_wolfe@ajhds.com)
I'll be back at school on August 18.
Best regards,
Larry

Re: Open Office

Renee,

I know that this doesn't address your question, but have you considered =
just sticking with Office 2003? If you look at the primary functions that =
people use in Office, I think you'll find that those features probably =
existed in Office 97. Obviously that's not true across the board, but most =
students are not Office power users. It seems that most office staff use =
pretty basic features, with the exception of mail merge.=20

If you didn't have copies of Office 2003, I would say that you might want =
to entertain the idea of OpenOffice or another alternative, but I'm not =
sure that any office suite would actually offer such a significant benefit =
that you'd want it over Office 2003. Unless we upgrade to Vista's =
successor and it cannot handle Office 2003, I don't see us moving away =
from Office 2003 for quite some time.

Regards,

Bill Griscom

Director of Information Services
Lancaster Country Day School
725 Hamilton Road
Lancaster, PA 17603-2491
717.392.2916 x. 246
griscomb@lancastercountryday.org

>>> Renee Ramig <rramig@sevenhillsschool.org> 7/22/2008 11:43 PM >>>
Hi,

I was wondering if any school has totally done away with using Microsoft =
Office and switched totally to using Open Office. =20

We are still Using Office 2003, and the thought of spending thousands of =
dollars to upgrade to 2007 is just not appealing to me. If you do use Open =
Office for all or most things, can you share with men of anything you have =
found missing in Open Office. Do students, teachers and administrators =
use Open Office, or just one or two of these groups?

Thanks,

Renee Ramig
Seven Hills School

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Submissions to ISED-L are released under a creative commons, attribution, =
non-commercial, share-alike license.
RSS Feed, http://listserv.syr.edu/scripts/wa.exe?RSS&L=3DISED-L

Re: Open Office

I will be on vacation and out of email contact until August 11. I will re
spond to your message when I return. If you would like immediate assistanc
e, please contact my assistant, Naoko Nakamoto, at naoko.nakamoto@chadwick
school.org. Thank you!

Putting Annual Fund Pledge on Tuition Statements

So far not a lot of response. I posted a similar query with similar results
on the FUNDSVCS@LISTSERV.FUNDSVCS.ORG. I do not mean to be repetitive so I
will get right to the point,

We are considering once a parent has made a pledge we would add it to our
tuition bills that go out to them monthly. Some parents ask if this is
something we would consider so they could pay tuition and pledge all at
once? Anyone else do this or considering it? Looking for success stories
and/or pitfalls to this approach.

Thanks for any input anyone can offer.

Liz Cochran
Development Office
Rocky Hill School
East Greenwich, RI
401-884-9070 x 132

I have little to add but it would be helpful if we could keep this open.
This has been a regular topic of discussion for us. I look forward to
reading people's responses.

Alex Inman
Director of Technology
Whitfield School
St. Louis, MO
314.434.5141

Good afternoon:

I write to inquire how other small organizations may set-up automatic
payments for gifts and pledged out gifts?

I am also curious if any other schools use automatic debit/credit options
for Annual Fund payments and/or if anyone adds Annual Fund pledges to
tuition statements?

Thanks for your help,

Liz Cochran
Rocky Hill School
530 Ives Road
East Greenwich, RI
401-884-9070 x 132

[ For info on ISED-L see http://www.gds.org/ISED-L ] Submissions to ISED-L
are released under a creative commons, attribution, non-commercial,
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PowerSchool

We currently run PowerSchool sis and are looking for information on what
other PowerSchool schools do to manage admissions, Business Office
operations, development/fundraising, Point of Sale functions, and
registrar functions. We currently run a host of homegrown databases and
spreadsheets and are looking for a more stable and efficient approach.
I appreciate any information you can give.

=20

Don Stalls

Episcopal Collegiate School

Little Rock, AR

(501)372-1194

Re: Admission Testing

As do many Catholic schools around the country, we use the HSPT from
Scholastic Testing Services. Our admissions application packet
includes:

--a 4-page application with parts to be completed by both the
applicant and the parent; this part is submitted by the applicant with
a $50 application fee.

These remaining completed forms, which are in the packet, must be
submitted directly from the applicant's school:
--forms for letters of recommendation from the applicant's current
English and current Math teacher
--a third form to be completed by a teacher of the applicant's choice
other than English or Math
--a form to be completed by the applicant's current principal or head
of school regarding the applicant's discipline record and the family's
involvement in the junior high
--a form to request the 7th and 8th grade academic and attendance
records be submitted to us.

We also ask the student to write a directed essay when she comes to
the HSPT testing.

Our applications are not available online and only given to those who
come to the testing either at our school or at the other schools in
the diocese. 8th graders may take the HSPT at any one of the diocesan
high schools and send their scores to up to three different schools.

Paula Petrowski
Director of Admissions
Xavier College Preparatory
4710 N 5th St.
Phoenix, AZ 85012

On Jul 25, 2008, at 8:56 AM, Stephen Edele wrote:

> For those of you who do not use the ISEE as an admissions tool, I
> would be
> curious to learn what testing or other forms of assessment you use
> in your
> admission procedures.
>
>
>
> Many thanks,
>
>
>
> -Steve Edele
>
>
>
> Stephen Edele
>
> Head of School
>
> The Harbor School
>
> P.O. Box 1912
>
> Vashon, WA 98070
>
> 206-567-5955
>
>
>
>
> [ For info on ISED-L see http://www.gds.org/ISED-L ]
> Submissions to ISED-L are released under a creative commons,
> attribution, non-commercial, share-alike license.
> RSS Feed, http://listserv.syr.edu/scripts/wa.exe?RSS&L=ISED-L

Paula Petrowski
Director of Admissions
Xavier College Preparatory
4710 N 5th St., Phoenix, AZ 85012
602-240-3104
petrowski@xcp.org
www.xcp.org
Celebrating a tradition of excellence since 1943

Admission Testing

For those of you who do not use the ISEE as an admissions tool, I would be
curious to learn what testing or other forms of assessment you use in your
admission procedures.

Many thanks,

-Steve Edele

Stephen Edele

Head of School

The Harbor School

P.O. Box 1912

Vashon, WA 98070

206-567-5955

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Building Mgmt System software

Hi All,
We are facing a large bill to upgrade our old Siemens Building Management System from v.2.x (still running on a Windows 98 desktop!) to the latest version of Siemens APOGEE Insight. In addition to buying the new software and paying conversion fees
(moving graphics and maps to the new system) we'll have to buy a low-end server to run it. All of our HVAC control units on campus are Siemens equipment.

I have two questions for you all. First, does anyone have positive or negative experiences they would be willing to share about Siemens' BMS software and/or the upgrade experience? Second, does anyone work with a different BMS that integrates Siemens
field equipment without much trouble?

Many thanks,
Ken

Ken Ambach
Director of Technology
Friends Academy
Locust Valley, NY

Re: Open Office

I'm curious - Photoshop currently is about $300 per copy with their
educational discount. If you have it on 20 computers on a school, that
runs to $6000. If a school went open source, you can purchase computers
running Linux for $450 to $500 which translates to 12 additional
computers.

Kids would also be able to download it to their personal computers for
free and do additional work at home, helping to close the digital
divide.

So, my question is why do schools stay with Photoshop?

I can imagine it makes sense when you're a top tier private school with
more money in the world, but many schools aren't in that situation.

Thanks,

On Wed, 2008-07-23 at 19:03 -0700, Jason Johnson wrote:

> Specifically GIMP does not have:
> --CMYK and Pantone support (which you almost certainly don't need).
> --RAW support (which you might need for digital camera work).
> Otherwise, I am not aware of anything but is has been about a year since =
I checked. I am sure someone has a comparison chart out there.
>=20
> There are some other features that you may need to use a plug-in for to a=
chieve similar functionality. Probably the biggest drawback to GIMP is tha=
t Photoshop gets all the press. There are dozens of books on PS for ever o=
ne there is on GIMP and plenty of student friendly tutorials. That is wher=
e gimpshop comes in handy. It converts the GIMP interface to be more like =
photoshop (i.e. similar UI but does not change functionality).
>=20
> http://www.gimpshop.com/
> =20
> Outside of features another big hurdle for mac users is that the project =
does not produce binaries for the mac which means a more complex install. =
Another group supports packaging with a sourceforge project but, as always,=
that means they run months to years behind the OS releases and GIMP releas=
es. =20
> http://darwingimp.sourceforge.net/____________________________
> Jason at jasonpj@yahoo.com
>=20
>=20
>=20
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: Hoover Chan <chan@sacredsf.org>
> To: ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
> Sent: Wednesday, July 23, 2008 7:08:22 PM
> Subject: Re: Open Office
>=20
> re: Neo Office / Open Office doesn't do what I need...
>=20
> Just curious to hear of specifics.
>=20
> On a related note, I'm also curious to hear about what Adobe Photoshop do=
es that GIMP cannot.
>=20
>=20
> --------------------------------------------------
> Hoover Chan chan@sacredsf.org
> Director of Technology
> Schools of the Sacred Heart
> 2222 Broadway St.
> San Francisco, CA 94115
>=20
> [ For info on ISED-L see http://www.gds.org/ISED-L ]
> Submissions to ISED-L are released under a creative commons, attribution,=
non-commercial, share-alike license.
> RSS Feed, http://listserv.syr.edu/scripts/wa.exe?RSS&L=3DISED-L
>=20
>=20
>=20
>=20
> [ For info on ISED-L see http://www.gds.org/ISED-L ]
> Submissions to ISED-L are released under a creative commons, attribution,=
non-commercial, share-alike license.
> RSS Feed, http://listserv.syr.edu/scripts/wa.exe?RSS&L=3DISED-L
>=20
> =20

Matt Burkhardt, MSTM
President
Impari Systems, Inc.
=EF=BB=BF401 Rosemont Avenue
Frederick, MD 21701
mlb@imparisystems.com
www.imparisystems.com
(301) 644-3911

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Re: Open Office

Specifically GIMP does not have:
--CMYK and Pantone support (which you almost certainly don't need).
--RAW support (which you might need for digital camera work).
Otherwise, I am not aware of anything but is has been about a year since I checked. I am sure someone has a comparison chart out there.

There are some other features that you may need to use a plug-in for to achieve similar functionality. Probably the biggest drawback to GIMP is that Photoshop gets all the press. There are dozens of books on PS for ever one there is on GIMP and plenty of student friendly tutorials. That is where gimpshop comes in handy. It converts the GIMP interface to be more like photoshop (i.e. similar UI but does not change functionality).

http://www.gimpshop.com/

Outside of features another big hurdle for mac users is that the project does not produce binaries for the mac which means a more complex install. Another group supports packaging with a sourceforge project but, as always, that means they run months to years behind the OS releases and GIMP releases.
http://darwingimp.sourceforge.net/____________________________
Jason at jasonpj@yahoo.com

----- Original Message ----
From: Hoover Chan <chan@sacredsf.org>
To: ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
Sent: Wednesday, July 23, 2008 7:08:22 PM
Subject: Re: Open Office

re: Neo Office / Open Office doesn't do what I need...

Just curious to hear of specifics.

On a related note, I'm also curious to hear about what Adobe Photoshop does that GIMP cannot.

--------------------------------------------------
Hoover Chan chan@sacredsf.org
Director of Technology
Schools of the Sacred Heart
2222 Broadway St.
San Francisco, CA 94115

Re: Open Office

I've been working with Google Docs and Zoho Office. Both have many of the
features of MS Office. As a school, we still purchase MS products, but I
don't have a need for them myself.

Susan Carter Morgan
Instructional Technology Coordinator
Fredericksburg Academy
Fredericksburg, Virginia 22401
540-898-0020
http://falconms.typepad.com
http://fredericksburgacademy.org

On Wed, Jul 23, 2008 at 7:08 PM, Hoover Chan <chan@sacredsf.org> wrote:

> re: Neo Office / Open Office doesn't do what I need...
>
> Just curious to hear of specifics.
>
> On a related note, I'm also curious to hear about what Adobe Photoshop does
> that GIMP cannot.
>
>
> --------------------------------------------------
> Hoover Chan chan@sacredsf.org
> Director of Technology
> Schools of the Sacred Heart
> 2222 Broadway St.
> San Francisco, CA 94115
>
> [ For info on ISED-L see http://www.gds.org/ISED-L ]
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>

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