Hi,

I've been searching for a gradebook application for high school. I found onlinegrades (onlinegrades.sf.net) but it doesn't support any linux apps. I suppose it could be done in php/mysq, but I would rather not reinvent the wheel

Is there a linux app out there for us teachers?

Perry

When all else fails then always search this site for applications:

www.freshmeat.net


here is my search for gradebook:

http://freshmeat.net/search/?q=grade...&Go.x=0&Go.y=0

I checked freshmeat...gradeL is kinda buggy and gGradebook is somewhat outdated...I must keep looking...

Thanks,

Perry

I, too, am looking for a system that would allow me to track student grades. I am looking for something on the college level, though. I have a system that I use extensively and (currently) exclusively that I wrong in Access. But I am currently looking into making a full-fledged switch over to Linux, and this is the one big application that I have so far not found a suitable replacement for. My system, under Access, allows me to have multiple classes with multiple students. I can track all assignments and exams with this system, as well as keep track of attendance and schedule events. I can print progress reports and export my student contact information to a CSV file for later import to an e-mail program.

I am gradually coming to terms with the fact that I'll probably have to program my own, and I am also looking into a PHP/MySQL solution. If there's anything out there that might prevent me from having to start from scratch, I would love to be made aware of it.

Sorry I couldn't offer any help on this thread.

Try QEMU for running your can't-do-without MS Apps. I'm using it for Access now.
Regards,
Bill

I've been trying to get this thing to work on my system, but I can't. I tried downloading the source and compiling, but my version of GCC is 4.1.0 and QEMU specifically states during the configuration stage that it has known problems with this version of GCC. the QEMU web site shows that there are pre-compiled binaries, but there is no clear documentation on how to use these. The "binaries" that it provides state you uncompress them in the root folder.

When I tried this route, I was given a warning stating that some folders would be overwritten if I proceeded. I didn't want to mess up my install of SUSE 10.1 so I opted not to continue.

I'd very much like to have this running, and obviously others have gotten it to work. Can you provide me with details of how you installed yours?

Thanks.

well, for installing binaries, search google. what exactly do you need this app to do? just log students and grades? I think open office base may be capable of this as well. I haven't used it too much, but it's a access type app.


There may be something useful here too.
http://opensourceschools.org

Well, it's far more than just tracking students and grades. I keep complete information about my classes, my student contact information, their attendance histories, etc. I can also generate on-the-fly reports such as missing assignments and progress reports.

Now I have stated that I'm not adverse to rebuilding a similar system using PHP/MySQL. I'd rather not if there's a system that is already made. Since QEMU was mentioned above, I thought I'd give that a try as only an interim solution until I can rebuild my application. So don't think I'm trying to stick with Access. At the same time, if there's a ready-made solution that would prevent me from having to reinvent the wheel, so much the better.

The database functionality within OpenOffice is far from mature, though. I've already researched it as a possible solution, and have decided...well...it's just not.

I looked at the link you provided. I'll have to read more, but I notice they have a link for Centre. I've also looked into that and it's almost what I need. It's more geared for K-12 school districts, and more for district-wide administration of students. I need something that is for college-level. I don't need all of the extra asministrative stuff.

The solution that I will most likely go with for now, though, is to use the grading system that the college provides. It's not nice or pretty, and is not easy to navigate or work with, but it's there and it's free.

Schadeboy,
I won't be a lot of help on installing, since I run Slackware. But I got my Slackware package from Alien Bob's site, & he has some very good pointers there on installation & setup. Maybe that will help you.
Regards,
Bill

You might be interested in my Tutorial: Moving MS Access Data to Linux.

TSquaredF - I will check it out. I would have done more searching last night, but I had a class to teach, my sister's computer to fix, and some other things to research. I'll look more today. It's not a great hurry, since I do have the (very poorly written) system that the college has for online classes. I appreciate your willingness to help.

rickh - I shall look at your tutorial today, as well. I appreciate the link.

Well I don't know what features you are looking for.. but heres a few more Gradebook projects..

http://basmati.sourceforge.net/
http://onlinegrades.sourceforge.net/ - not sure what you mean this doesn't support linux apps ? it's avail as tar.gz download..
http://www.apple.com/education/powerschool/ - yeah I know this isnt free.. but it seems to cover all the bases..

a few other OSS Education resources..

http://www.schooltool.org/
http://www.schoolforge.net/
http://www.k12os.org/
http://www.unesco.org/cgi-bin/webwor...ls/index.shtml


Hope you find something to suit your needs.

Farslayer - Thank you for those suggestions. I looked through them, and found they are all very good sources. My needs are for post-secondary education. I'm a part-time instructor at my local college, and my needs are from an instructor's perspective. I have seen a lot of very good, open-source projects and tools out there for education, but most of them are for K-12 and are far more complex and involved than I need. They are primarily for entire school districts or individual schools and have a lot more administrative functions than I need.

What I want is a gradebook program that will allow me to do the following:

* Track student information including name, major, contact information, whether they are a VA student, and what classes they are enrolled in.
* Track individual class information to include name, meeting schedule, semester, credit hours, and other information.
* Track assignments for each class including due dates, point values, and any other pertinent information.
* Track student scores for each assignment, including whether or not that student has turned in an assignment late as well as why a student has received less than full credit (this can be tracked using a NOTES field)
* Track attendance (this is very important, especially for VA students).
* Provide progress reports and track missing assignments
* Automatically compute total scores and letter grades.
* Export contact information for importing into an e-mail client such as Thunderbird or whatever.
* MUST have a well designed interface and be easy to use.

That export requirement would be null and void if the software being used included it's own e-mail capability. Which is totally within the capabilities of PHP. That's one reason why I am considering writing my own using PHP/MySQL. Also, database management must be a part of the package.

So there you go. That's what I'm looking for. My current Access database (which I wrote) can do all of that. It's very functional, but because it's Access, I'm locked into using that Application. My ultimate goal would be to free the application from that platform and make it available to anyone if they want to use it.

At my college. Instructors use either Midas or Blackboard. You can then use Mozilla, Firefox, Konqueror, Opera, and several others to add grades. Also your students can look at their progress.

I have never used it, but why not give OpenOffice's Base a shot? Or is it so horrible that you can't use it?

EDIT: Oops, just read above...I don't know, you might want to d/l it and reconsider. I haven't worked with access too intensively, but I did find a lot of the access features in Base.