Liberating Education: Free Software in the STEM Classroom
summary
Shows concrete classroom workflows: using Python + Jupyter + SymPy to symbolically solve and numerically integrate physics (damped oscillator, nonlinear pendulum) and fit noisy lab data on a cheap netbook; drafting experiments with LibreCAD laser-cut parts to build optical mounts; students produce a working spectrometer that costs about $100–$200 and was built in four weeks with resolution comparable to $300–$1,000 commercial units; emphasizes free software to avoid vendor lock‑in and that these projects actually run and teach real engineering skills.
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chapters (20)
- 0:00Introduction
- 1:39Cradle
- 3:48My first computer
- 5:04Teaching and research lab
- 5:52How have computers changed
- 6:40Why cant we empower
- 7:03How we teach
- 8:23Academic environment
- 9:48No commercial marketing
- 10:40New project
- 13:51Maximum
- 18:12Libra
- 21:16Electronic Circuits
- 23:21Programming
- 23:42Jupiter
- 25:23Numerical Simulations
- 28:07Ray Tracing
- 33:51Open Source
- 34:49Commercial Software
- 35:51Conclusion
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