Instant access to powerful open source software for students in higher education

March 11, 2011 - PRLog -- Hughes Bennett Education, a studio in London which produces tools and materials for higher education, announces the availability of Bamboo Tools, an innovative tool that allows instant access to powerful open source software for students in higher education. The software works in web browsers without downloads or installations. Software in the collection includes R Project for statistical analysis, GNU Octave for numerical computations, Maxima for manipulation of symbolic and algebraic expressions, object oriented programming using Objective-C or C++ and Erlang for concurrent programming. Consistent with the open source philosophy, Bamboo tools is available and free to use.

Chi Nguyen, Editor of Hughes Bennett Education, commented that, "A significant barrier to the adoption of open source software in higher education has been the cost of installing, configuring and maintaining software. The result is that there are many excellent open source software packages for students, but, they are not accessible because students and higher education institutions do not have the money and staff in today's difficult economic climate. Bamboo Tools removes that barrier by eliminating the cost of installation and maintenance. Now, students and higher education institutions can instantly use the Bamboo Tools software collection with their studies."

Another innovative feature of Bamboo Tools is the complete integration with open source wiki software to provide students with Personal Notebooks, which have the added benefits of saving their work and reviewing changes to past document versions. The flexibility of personal notebooks allows students to work anywhere and anytime on their coursework and studies without having to carry the software everywhere.

Chi Nguyen, Editor of Hughes Bennett Education, commented that, "Version management of scripts and programs provide important benefits to the student learning experience. Students can compare their work over a period of time in order to reflect on their progress. The ability to save and compare also encourages students to develop their work in an iterative and incremental manner, which is a best practice in many professional disciplines including software engineering, product development and graphic design. Tutors and lecturers at higher education institutions can request students to print the version timestamps and document history as evidence of effort and original student work. A dark side effect of the Internet has been an increase in plagiarism and purchasing of coursework answers, the version tracking provided with Bamboo Tools Personal Notebooks, is an effective solution to this widespread problem."

PRICING AND AVAILABILITY
Bamboo Tools, http://hughesbennett.co.uk, are available and free to use. Optional subscriptions, starting at £2 per month, provide Personal Notebooks to save work and review changes.

ABOUT HUGHES BENNETT EDUCATION
Hughes Bennett Education is a studio which produces tools and materials for higher education. Our team is passionate about teaching and our work is influenced by research into the role of mental models in the learning process, adult education and classroom assessment techniques and different types of learning objectives.

Bamboo Toolbox is a collection of online software for higher education. The software works in web browsers without downloads or installations. Optional subscriptions provide personal notebooks to save work and review changes. Software in the collection includes R Project for statistical analysis, GNU Octave for numerical computations, Maxima for manipulation of symbolic and algebraic expressions, object oriented programming using Objective-C or C++ and Erlang for concurrent programming.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Marcia Nguyen
Hughes Bennett Education
Production Manager
+44 20 7119 8148
mn@hughesbennett.co.uk
http://hughesbennett.co.uk

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Hughes Bennett Education is a studio which produces tools and materials for higher education. Bamboo Toolbox is a collection of online software for higher education. The software works in web browsers without downloads or installations.