Total Benefits of Operation
From Schoolforge-UK
(Propositions & values) Besides reducing costs, what are the TBO for FOSS in schools?
How do the values that underpin FLOSS support the values of education?
Contents |
Useful references
Richard Stallman - Why schools should use exclusively free software
Jean Peyratout - Why give precedence to Free Software at school?
Terry Vessels - Why should open source software be used in schools? (also includes a number of links to other open source advocacy documents)
RSmart Group - Open Source opens learning
Freedom to share
Teaching is about sharing knowledge, and FLOSS is about sharing knowledge embodied in software. FLOSS licences permit software to be freely copied and distributed, so that, for example, students can be encouraged to take home a CD copy of OpenOffice.org if they need an editor or spreadsheet system for their homework.
Free for everyone
The licence terms permit FLOSS to be used by anyone, for any purpose, without discrimination. Moreover, FLOSS packages usually cost little or nothing.
Free to see how it works
Students and teachers are free to examine the source code of FLOSS to understand how it works, and, through membership of the developer communities, to see the processes through which the software is built.
Freedom to adapt
Students and teachers are free to edit and recompile the source code to see how changes affect the program's operation. In this way, FLOSS can be freely adapted to meet a school's specific needs.
Community knowledge
Like all scientific and mathematical knowledge, FLOSS is subject to wide-ranging peer review. Knowledge of the inner workings of FLOSS packages can be freely obtained through web pages and email groups.
A constructivist epistemological paradigm in which knowledge is actively constructed by the learner, rather than being passively received from the environment, is supported and mirrored by software that the user can help to construct. Moreover, a social constructivist approach to education, in which knowledge is created through the interactions and relationships within a community, or classroom, is mirrored by the community approach to development that characterizes most FLOSS projects.
How does a programmer learn to write good code? By working alongside and learning from others engaged in the same activity - just as Vygotsky sees education as taking place within the 'zone of proxymal development'.
Reliability
Because the source code is freely available, FLOSS programs are often subject to more extensive inspection and testing than many proprietary software vendors can normally achieve. The philosophy of "release early, release often" means that new FLOSS packages are highly reliable by the time they reach mass distribution.
Security
By openly distributing in source code format, FLOSS packages tend to be smaller and more modular than proprietary systems. Thus changes to individual components are less likely to impact other parts of a FLOSS system, than changes made to large, monolithic proprietary systems. The more modular approach to development and testing of FLOSS packages results in more secure computer systems, with fewer vulnerabilities.
Costs
Less money spent on proprietary software, the newer hardware to run it, and the extra staff needed to maintain proprietary systems, means more money available for books, buildings and teachers. Duh!
Main Themes for education
This needs to be merged in with the above SteveLee
Myths
- Hackers in bedroomm: any commercial orgs; Novel, Sun, IBM, HP......
- Free = cheep 'n' nasty: often very reliable and full featured, much of internet runs on OSS.
- No support: available from community and commercially
- All or nothing: can mix, OSS use of open standards makes that easier
Philosophy - community, sharing, derived works, freedoms
At the heart of Open Source is a philosophy of community collaboration and building on other's works. Easy access to electronic communications makes global collaboration easy and the low cost of entry means more can participate. Copyright laws are used to ensure the works remain available to all and foster derivation and innovation. These ideas became recognised in software development but have roots in the way science and art develop and are growing in areas as diverse as windsurfing and journalism.
Contract this with the proprietary model which focuses on keeping secrets using licenses, patents and Non Disclosure Agreements.
Code is becoming commodity, commercial companies make money other than through a license e.g. through support contacts. Note Open Source can be commercial but never proprietary.
Open Content is similar but for non-code works. The Creative Commons licenses allow authors to ensure works are reusable but control the conditions. This has big implications for educational resources, with much content available for reuse and development in teaching e.g. WikiPedia.
Open Resources align with educational needs and ethos with colleges and Universities are embracing them. A growing grass roots movement of educators is developing, using easily personalised tools to deliver content and engage students. David Hargreaves of Becta thinks it is vital for teachers to form Opens Source like 'innovation networks'.
Cost - savings on license, lower TCO, bridge digital divide
The big one. Schools can make large (60K) costs savings as license fees are usually 0. The Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) covers training, maintenance, development and can be low. Community aspects reduce these costs to. Often the developers themselves are freely accessible and give first-class first-hand support. Fast fixes or feature additions are commonplace and no forced expensive upgrades.
Fixes can be done by in-house tech staff (and return to projects) as code is transparent and good community support is available to help. OS development tools are popular (or even standard) and projects attract techies with good skills so people can often be easily found.
Low cost bridges digital divide as more can own tools.
Data Ownership - access, future access
Proprietary data formats mean that your data is locked up with the manufacturer controlling access. These can lead to vendor lock-in with inability to access data in future without (expensive) upgrades. In contrast OS tools often use Open Standards like Open Document which mean more ways to access data. In addition access to code gives security and older versions often available.
Community - support, contribution, participation
Many popular open source projects have very active communities of users alongside voluntary and commercial contributors. They provide support at many levels and rapid turn-around of feature requests and maintenance needs. Features can be based on users needs not vendor motivations.
The 'works' exist in a 'commons' with free access and an expectation (but not requirement) to contribute back in some way. e.g. customisations returned to project. This provides a way to contribute to a community. Schools can cluster in mutually supportive groups spreading knowledge.
License and cost grant freedom to give tools always for staff or students to use at home or part of community outreach.
Can teach global citizenship by getting students involved in OS projects.
Status - rapid uptake by business and education
Open source appears to have reached a 'tipping point' with large scale interest and uptake. The cost savings, reliability and close match to education needs and philosophy mean that Becta and JISC and indeed the UK Government now recommend Open Source Software.
