> This is strange, are you a recent uni graduate yourself? I ask because > I am currently studying and my experience has been that reports could > be written in anything and had to be submitted basically in a format > that the lecturer could read. Most of the letcturers were open to > installing standard/free software if need be. To me .doc, .sxw, .ppt > etc are formats for authoring, but why would you submit a report in > one when the marker has _no_ need to edit your work? PDF is a format > that is ideally suited to the job and this is what I submitted in.
Formats for assessment are an issue, but more so with Windows than with Linux. I've done a fair bit of external study and submitting your assessment items through web systems such as blackboard (or whatever that weird one is that UniSA use) often requires Microsoft formats. What's good about Open Office (for example) is that you can save in .DOC if you must, but you also have access to quite a range of other formats. If your T.A. wants .DOC then you can do that, if another T.A. wants .PDF then you can do that too. Aside from a list of alternate programs, which is a necessary requirement, I'm also interested specifically in productivity and usability benefits that come with using Ubuntu. For example, can a particular student perform a particular task as easily, or easier, on Ubuntu. Can a particular task be done quicker? What program options are available in Linux that aren't available in Windows? Simple case study. Student A is provided the task of undertaking a research project and needs to submit a literature review. This review should be presented in .PDF format with links between the table of contents and the relevant headings. A title page should be attached. The page numbers should be as follows: Cover Page: No Number Table of Contents: Roman Numerals (IVX etc.) Content: Standard Characters (0-9) Appendix: Roman Numerals (IVX etc.) It should include at least 50 references presented in the text and a list of references at the end in Harvard format. The table of contents should also provide a list of illustrations/images. Now, if the student were to undertake such a project in Ubuntu where would he or she start? What tools are available? How do they compare to any commercially available Windows alternatives? The list of recommended programs so far includes: a) Open Office.org b) Gimp c) Makefile d) Gcc e) Open-jdk f) Mozilla Firefox g) Zim (personal wiki) h) Eclipse i) gedit j) RapidSVN k) Pidgin -- Simon Ives E - [EMAIL PROTECTED] M - [EMAIL PROTECTED] W - www.simonives.info Please consider the environment before printing this email or any attachments. -- ubuntu-au mailing list [email protected] https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-au
