[Informatics] Adventures in Libre Office

Wed Mar 22 17:17:25 AEDT 2017

They’ve got a bit more h/wk time, and next week I’ll get them to try the favourites with a practice scenario.
So far…

Good

No Good

ZOHO - https://www.zoho.com/projects/gantt-charts.html
This website has a free trial, however - We can only make one project, accompanied by 10MB of accessible space.  (SAM & RIKASH)

This website is easy to navigate around.

Tableau
https://www.tableau.com/products/trial#system-requirements
There is a free trial of 14 days.
User has to pay for either the personal version ($999 USD) or the professional version (1,999 USD)
Expensive.

Smart Sheet -

  *   Free trial for 29 days

  *   Cheap to use compared to other programs
  *   Can export into different formats
  *   Has the ability to print
  *   Can share to different users
  *   Can Save online
  *   Can import data
  *   Can email to others
  *   fairly easy to navigate around the website

Smart Sheet:

  *   Have to pay after free trial ends
  *   Must register with email
  *   $14 dollars a month

https://ganttpro.com/
GanttPro
·         Not completely free 0
·         Email verification -1
·         Colour scheme is pleasing +2
·         English or Russian +1
·         Clear starter layout +1
·         Can input data +1
·         Cant export or save unless pro -3
Total: 2/10

Gantt Project
Free
http://www.ganttproject.biz/
[https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/P9l2W1uPQE8Key3QX6_WdZAlHw63njUcYWXAY2XOIk9gimPImlScUtqJ6EnMGw9WbpcRkryyMivw16Jd3pxHyQquU21YJRgQC8b80n9MjWrubMfT5F9N_F0Q8_SmI4WCgjweyHq-]
Offline
Exportable

https://dapulse.com
Requires to Pay after 3 months

https://www.tomsplanner.com/software/project-planning/pricingsignup.aspx

This allows you to do ONE PROJECT and it’s stored online! However, thats all we need!!! And worst case scenario - We can buy it and do 20 projects and its just under $10! --- Do have a look at this website!

Project Manager
https://www.projectmanager.com
Absolutely, positively horrible. The colour scheme was disgusting, and you had to insert your card details to continue with the “30 day free trial”
[https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/DyVtC5uhGiGow9UEyDvjo28dazl8bfcloo3esZ2vtMHfckEbaD-iXmGsoRE-yAKIzIJFsbiVh19Ml3s2J_c9bCoGOLChvDH32Ba9G_W6QiwzhzKhWUqdlWDUdyESTQD5lkz8zKFQ]
Like look how gross it is!

Liz Colley

Year 7 Assistant Educational Year Level Leader
English and Computing Teacher

From: informatics-bounces at edulists.com.au [mailto:informatics-bounces at edulists.com.au] On Behalf Of Mark
Sent: Wednesday, 22 March 2017 4:59 PM
To: Year 12 VCE Informatics Teachers' Mailing List <informatics at edulists.com.au>
Subject: Re: [Informatics] Adventures in Libre Office

And... ?

I'd very much like to hear about their findings.

Regards,
Mark

On 22 March 2017 at 16:50, Colley, Elizabeth E <colley.elizabeth.e at edumail.vic.gov.au<mailto:colley.elizabeth.e at edumail.vic.gov.au>> wrote:
My students had a fun time creating a google doc, with each pair testing out a different ‘free’ Gantt chart software and posting their results and recommendations.

Liz Colley

Year 7 Assistant Educational Year Level Leader
English and Computing Teacher

From: informatics-bounces at edulists.com.au<mailto:informatics-bounces at edulists.com.au> [mailto:informatics-bounces at edulists.com.au<mailto:informatics-bounces at edulists.com.au>] On Behalf Of Robert Hind
Sent: Wednesday, 22 March 2017 4:17 PM
To: 'Year 12 VCE Informatics Teachers' Mailing List' <informatics at edulists.com.au<mailto:informatics at edulists.com.au>>

Subject: Re: [Informatics] Adventures in Libre Office

Attack gerbils indeed!

I would like to point out that

"Gerbils and hamsters are classified as exotic rodents and they not allowed in Australia because they are a threat to the local ecosystem. That is, if they were to escape into the wild, they may start breeding and threaten native flora and fauna." http://www.petpages.com.au/a/lifestyle/why_cant_i_buy_a_gerbil_or_hamster_in_australia

Robert Hind
Ex Traralgon and Ashwood
Retired

________________________________
From: informatics-bounces at edulists.com.au<mailto:informatics-bounces at edulists.com.au> [mailto:informatics-bounces at edulists.com.au] On Behalf Of Mark
Sent: Wednesday, 22 March 2017 3:43 PM
To: Year 12 VCE Informatics Teachers' Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Informatics] Adventures in Libre Office
Hi James

If I needed a guard animal, I'd get a dog. I would not train a gerbil to attack intruders.

Similarly, if I need to create Gantt charts, I'd use a dedicated Gantt chart tool, and not expect a spreadsheet to do a job for which it is completely inappropriate.

- Does an Excel 2016 Gantt do proper dependency arrows? I can't find that.*
- Does Excel handle milestones automatically when a task's duration is set to zero?
- Importantly, if a task is moved or changed, do other tasks automatically change to accommodate the adjustment - or do you have to manually drag all affected tasks around to reflect the change? The SAC requires chart adjustments to be demonstrated, and manual adjustment of all consequential task changes is a real buzz-kill.
- Can you allocate resources to a task? Will it warn that resources are double-booked? (Not that this is required for Informatics, but it's a very handy feature)
- Is it free?

Far better, dedicated, no-cost Gantt software is easily available.
Why spend weeks training a gerbil to bark and assault strangers?

And yes, I agree that Google apps have much to commend them, but they also lack the features of dedicated tools.

And do Google docs work offline? I remember once sitting in the waiting room of a gerbil training academy that had no wifi, and could not produce a Gantt chart online. It was very distressing.

Mark

* It may explain why - before the 2016 Info exam - VCAA exams' Gantt questions have no dependency arrows or milestone diamonds. I can imagine the old exam-setting group at work:

A: We need to depict a Gantt chart in this IPM exam !
B: Great! Let's show a Gantt chart that lacks all of the most vital features of a real Gantt chart, like the arrows and diamonds!
A: Fantastic! Let's do that thing. But wait! Do you think it might confuse students who have learned what a real Gantt chart looks like?
B: Ha Ha Ha. Yes indeed. But if we downloaded and used real Gantt chart software tool - that would be really - um - free and quick and easy ... But you know Microsoft's slogan: "What the hell. Let's use Excel!"
A: But isn't that like training a gerbil to be an attack animal?
B: Golly. You must be psychic. That analogy won't be raised until March 2017.
A: Jeepers. That's spooky!

On 22 March 2017 at 14:37, Vella, James <jvella at mackillop.vic.edu.au<mailto:jvella at mackillop.vic.edu.au>> wrote:
And I’m guessing the latest version of Libre Calc doesn’t allow you to make Gantt charts like Excel 2016 does!

If you’re looking for a free productivity suite (with plenty of resources to boot), Google might be the better answer.

JV

--

Mark Kelly

mark at vceit.com<mailto:mark at vceit.com>
http://vceit.com

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