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Open Source Server-Side Word Processor: The Missing App

July 30, 2008 in open source, Technology | No comments

How many times have we heard the excuses and problems? My printer is out of ink. I couldn’t find my flash drive. The software at home/school are not compatible. All are common problems sharing work between home and school, and word processing is probably the bulk of work that is ferried between the two. Wouldn’t it be great to have a server based word processor that allowed students to work from anywhere with the Internet, plus allow them to save their files to the server?

Some would ask what about Google Docs? Yes, it meets the bill in many ways. It is server based and allows users to save to Google’s servers, and even share their work with other individuals. The problems with Google Docs are two fold–the terms of service and data ownership. To sign up for a Google account one needs to be of legal age to enter into a contract with Google. Furthermore, I don’t think it would be legal for a child under 13 to use Google Docs in the United States because of CIPA. The other concern is that the students’ data and personal information would reside on Google’s servers. If we tell students to use Google or almost any other hosted web application, we are telling them to hand over their data, usage patterns, browsing habits, etc. It is one thing to decide to do that as an adult, and quite another to tell our students to do so.

Adobe’s Buzzword is another option. The hosted variant has the same problems faced with Google Docs. There is a browser based alternative that can be embedded in a website as a widget. Students could use that without entering into an agreement with Adobe, but there is no way to save the document to a server. It must be saved to a local drive. That being said, it offers a great array of formats including test, rtf, pdf, open office, and Word.

Another product, AjaxWord, looked good until I discovered that it only worked with Internet Explorer 5 and 6. Their website was inactive when I began to look into the product and at this writing is not available. Drilling down deeper with a SourceForge Search, I found nothing but abandoned projects.

I’m a bit puzzled by the lack of development in this area. I certainly would be an important application for school and other settings. Hopefully, a reader can point me to something that I have missed. Perhaps in the future Google will release the code for Google Docs. In any case, I will continue search for this potentially “killer” app.

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Blogging: The Haves and Have Nots (and the Do and Do Nots)

January 23, 2008 in Blogging | 2 comments

I have had the blogs set up for my students for a bit over a week. While I posted a question for the students to respond to on my class blog, I have left them to their own devices for a little while.

Some have really taken to it. One student, Blue Butterfly, has made several posts and leads the pack in terms of writing posts. She has made 10 posts since we got started on January 10 (13 days–she has me beat!). She clearly has access to the Internet at home. She has submitted a journal entry based upon literature that she is reading. I noticed that her writing is somewhat different than it is with pencil and paper, and even different from what she does in word processing or on an AlphaSmart. She has reflected upon her experiences in and out of school. She has also discussed her good friend’s motto: “Be happy.”

Purple Monkey, while not as prolific, has three posts all reflecting on life at school. Purple Monkey is a very social individual and has channeled her energy more into comments on other students’ blogs. This included a remark chastising a classmate who still has “Hello World” at the top of his blog. Again, she is one with good access to the Internet.

There have been a few surprises. One student has unfettered access with multiple Internet connected computers in his home has only worked on his blog with the time given at school. I am puzzled because he is extremely enthused about having a web presence. How do I get him going?

There are others with limited access. Some have to compete for computer time with parents and older siblings. They have managed to make a few posts, yet tend to focus on comments. Many of these are the same students that struggle more with writing in general. Can blogging help them get past their reluctance to write? Obviously, it would be helpful if they had more time.

One student, without Internet at home composed a burst of comments when he was visiting his grandparents. He too is a reluctant writer. It was great to see him seize the opportunity to write–even though they were generally one sentence blurbs. You have to start somewhere.

I am trying to provide more access at school, but it is tough to work the time in when more state test loom in the future. I am trying to provide access to the 30% of my class with no Internet access. Perhaps we can create opportunities after school. I am going to offer a few minutes during recess after their lunch.

Overall, I am delighted with this blogging experiment. Students are writing more and are have a greater awareness of audience. On the other hand, it certainly has accented the inequalities in access to technology.

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Classroom Blogging: Babysteps

January 8, 2008 in Uncategorized | No comments

My fifth grade class will begin blogging next week. Once our New York State English Language Arts Tests are over on Wednesday, we will focus on real learning as opposed to test prep. I’m pretty satisfied that I have WordPress MU figured out well enough to get going.

We will start with a class blog in which I am the administrator and the students are authors. I will set it up so it is viewable by the the public, but only blog members (my students and I) can comment and they will be moderated. We’ll start by working together on the “look” of the site by choosing a template, customizing it, and placing the widgets. I will model creating and commenting on a post.

We’ll start by asking the students to reflect on the NYS ELA test that they just took. After that, I’ll have them respond to a book that I am reading to them: Running Out of Time.

They are excited as am I. Once we have it up and running, I’ll post a link.

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Post NYSCATE 07 Tech Committee Meeting: Blogs

December 6, 2007 in Uncategorized | 1 comment

I returned from the NYSCATE 2007 Conference reinvigorated with fresh ideas as to where to take my class and our school in terms of education and technology. I felt ready to renew my efforts to incorporate podcasting and wikis with my students. I had done some work with both of these in limited, halting ways in the past. Yet there are a couple new areas that we have not ventured into: student blogging and use of “social networking” such as found in Ning and the open source Elgg. This required a sign off by the tech committee, so I called for a meeting.

We convened last Tuesday after school. The committee was interested in the Smart Board technology, the on-line AIS (Academic Intervention Services for children failing or at risk of failing state tests) possibilities. The tone changed when I started discussing students creating content for the Internet.

I started by saying that my fifth grade students really wanted to create websites and that I thought blogs would be the way to go. The mere mention of blog made several in the room cringe. They chimed in with the usual objections:

  • What if they create inappropriate content?
  • What if they post personal information?
  • There are bad people out there…

I assured them that we can install WordPress MU (Multiple User) and it could be configured so that a teacher would have to approve content before it is published. This helped quiet some fears, but they still wanted to keep the blogs password protected so that only select individuals could view the blogs.

I protested that one of the most important motivations to a writer is a sense of audience and that cutting off access would defeat the purpose of this exercise. Furthermore, I wanted to enable comments so that students could see the reactions of their audience and interact with readers. Again, the same objections were raised. I asked that if the comments too could be moderated by a teacher would it be acceptable. I got grudging skeptical acceptance with the qualification of “Don’t expect me to have any part of this.” I continued saying that we already allow students to submit material to our school website that is published upon administrative approval.

Fortunately, our school superintendent was supportive and felt that with these precautions in place that this would be a great idea. He was able to see the power of ownership and audience that this would provide for the students.

So, over the next few weeks, I will be setting up WordPressMU on our hosted web account, learning the ins and outs of users, permissions, and administration. My next obstacle may be parents to whom I plan to send a very carefully crafted letter. I fear that a few may object. I guess I can offer to password protect the directory in which their child’s blog resides.

Of course, my next proposal–social networking software drew even more objections and fears–some that I had more difficulty answering. I’ll discuss that portion of our tech committee meeting in an upcoming blog.

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