Join us at FOSSED 2009!

This post highlights a really fun conference we participated in last year (and we're planning on attending this coming summer): FOSSED 2009.

It's a great conference located in Bethel, Maine at Gould Academy. It's a great opportunity to learn about new free and open source software (FOSS) in education (ED), connect with other FOSSED enthusiasts and enjoy the Maine countryside in the summer.

Please consider if you haven't yet signed up for your summer conference (it's worth the trip and the amount of tricks, tips, new software applications and lesson plans you'll get is priceless). We'll be participating by presenting and there are already other Moodle sessions on the schedule.

This is the latest update from David Trask (organizer):

The 2009 FOSSed conference (Free and Open Source Software in Education) is only a few weeks away! June 24th - 26th at Gould Academy in Bethel, Maine. The school year is winding down and now it's time to begin planning for the future. Times are tough and budgets are tight, but we have the sessions and presentations to help you out! FOSSed has been providing excellent professional development opportunities for folks just like you for 7 years! Learn new ideas that can save your schools money, increase student learning and access to technology, and revitalize your technology offerings! Yes! You are entitled to professional development! Come, relax, and learn! FOSSed is a unique hands-on opportunity for you and your team.

Open 1to1 initiative

Today was the official announcement of the Open 1to1 project. Open 1to1 is an effort to provide technical support, expertise, professional development and a community to help schools that are tackling one to one netbook or laptop deployments. You can view the announcement here and visit the Open 1 to 1 web site here http://www.open1to1.org. This is an exciting time in technology! Open 1 to 1 aims to give folks the tools to make their netbook/laptop deployment successful. So....what does that mean for FOSSed? This year we'll offer several session for those who are beginning or considering a one to one netbook/laptop deployment. Imaging/deployment, care and use, server technologies, infrastructure/management....these will be addressed as part of our offerings at FOSSed to help get you on the right track for your project!

Sugar on a Stick!

This year we're excited to welcome Walter Bender and Caroline Meeks of SugarLabs! They will be showing Sugar the new operating system designed for exploratory education and how you can have your whole educational environment boot from a USB flash drive. From the Sugarlabs website: "Sugar provides a simple yet powerful means of engaging young children in the world of learning that is opened up by computers and the Internet. With Sugar, even the youngest learner will quickly become proficient in using the computer as a tool to engage in authentic problem-solving. Sugar promotes sharing, collaborative learning, and reflection, developing skills that help them in all aspects of life." (for those who are familiar with the One Laptop Per Child, Sugar is the interface for the OLPC) http://www.sugarlabs.org

Good news for ACTEM members!

At the recent ACTEM business meeting, ACTEM voted to add additional monies to the professional development budget to accommodate anyone wishing to take advantage of the $400 professional development benefit this year. Remember, the fiscal year ends June 30th, but that's just in time for FOSSed! ACTEM is a generous sponsor of FOSSed and encourages its members to take advantage of this membership benefit. The FOSSed conference is just $495 (on campus) and $455 (off campus) and the fees include everything! Meals, rooms, conference....everything. We take the worry and hassle out of attending...you just show up and bring your enthusiasm! The ACTEM web site has all the details! http://www.actem.org/Pages/ACTEM_ProDev/index

We're flexible!

Need special payment arrangements? Planning to be reimbursed, but can't go without your money for very long? Need to pay by credit card? Need special billing after July 1st? Let us know...we can help! We want YOU at FOSSed 2009....it's that important.... :-)

Teachers, techies, integrationists, admins....we have something for everyone! So...please join us this year for FOSSed 2009! Register today!

Visit our site at http://www.fossed.com for more information, flyers, pics, and more! Register soon....FOSSed will be here before you know it!