-
8/9/2019 Open Source Software for Education (Mel McIntyre) Open App
1/20
Open SourceOpen SourceSoftwareSoftware
forforEducationEducation
The 4C Initiative - increasingdigital content capacity for
education
-
8/9/2019 Open Source Software for Education (Mel McIntyre) Open App
2/20
Open Source Software
OSS
Free and Open Source SoftwareFOSS
Free/Libre Open Source Software FLOSS
-
8/9/2019 Open Source Software for Education (Mel McIntyre) Open App
3/20
Key messageOpen Source can help to increase digital content capacity
for education on a global scale
There are potential benefits
OSS and Open Commons go handin hand in making both the contentand the delivery mechanismavailable.
Better value from use of opensource solutions with zero licensecost allowing you to focus budgetson other areas
Reduced license administration and
ease of updating software The models of community and
participation are already proven andcome naturally to the educationsector.
The participative and interactive
nature of available applications areattractive to our young people
There are barriers to overcome
All IT needs support and the
education sector has limited budget
Limited support from local supplier
sector due to poor business model
Education has complex
requirements administration,
curriculum, infrastructure difficult
to find a focus
Poor understanding of OSS coupled
with a 'procurement/tendering'
mentality
-
8/9/2019 Open Source Software for Education (Mel McIntyre) Open App
4/20
Software just like any other but free of license costs Software that comes with a license that provides the user
with certain freedoms
freedom to use for any purpose, freedom to copy the software, freedomto view and modify the source code, freedom re-distribute modified
versions
Open Source Software comes in many varieties
Infrastructure Linux Operating System email firewalls ContentManagement Edubuntu desktop
Administration Moodle Course Management Centre SIS (Studentinformation) Schooltool (Scheduling)
Applications OpenOffice Gcompris Qcad - Scribus
Systems software Directories(OpenLDAP) Statistics(AWStats) -Monitoring(Nagios)
What is Open Source Software
-
8/9/2019 Open Source Software for Education (Mel McIntyre) Open App
5/20
How does this work
Maybe 70% of software available was notwritten by traditional software companies . .
people not in the business of selling software
Government, Universities, Communityprojects, Google Summer of Code, capableindividuals all release software for others to useand improve
New business models centred on service andsupport rather than licensed intellectual
property are rapidly evolving
-
8/9/2019 Open Source Software for Education (Mel McIntyre) Open App
6/20
A new force The undeniablemarket trend toward Open Source
Forrester report on Open Source in Europe (Dec 2005) reports that
72% of firms claim lower TCO & lower acquisition costs
40% of European companies already use some sort of open source solution(56% in USA). 45% in mission critical areas (55% in USA)
IDC/Forfas report July 2006
WW Software revenue (Linux/OSS) CAGR % of 48% for applications and 34%for application development and deployment software.
Predicted 2009 WW revenue of almost $17bn with at least the same in servicesrevenue.
CIO Insight reports that
81% of companies have deployed or are considering deploying open sourceapplications;
72% plan to expand its use
65% say open source has sparked innovation within their IT
-
8/9/2019 Open Source Software for Education (Mel McIntyre) Open App
7/20
Possible Benefits
Minimises vendor lock-in and proprietary systems Avoiding vendors branding, product release and revenue generation
requirements
Minimises capital expenditure and ongoing costs
no upfront royalty for license to use
No annual royalties for user seats etc.
More control of overall IT strategy
Open source projects tend to use standards for interoperability
Open Source projects allow organisations to influence the roadmap
Reduces risk of obsolescence
Open Source promotes innovation & ensures customisation
Through availability of source code
Through the free access to community ideas and modification
Quicker to add features
-
8/9/2019 Open Source Software for Education (Mel McIntyre) Open App
8/20
More specifically . .
Avoid being product/brand specific MS Office for ECDL/ICDL could be OpenOffice
Web CT for course management could be Moodle,Sakai, Dokios . .
Photoshop and Illustrator for graphics could be Gimpand Inkscape
ArcGIS for Geography could be Qgis
SPSS for Statistics could be R Project AutoCAD for CAD could be Qcad
-
8/9/2019 Open Source Software for Education (Mel McIntyre) Open App
9/20
Enabling an e-Learning culture
The adoption of Open Source systems and models is conducive tothe creation of an effective e-Learning culture and participativearchitecture.
Modern Open Source idioms
Collaboration/Participation and inclusiveness
Innovation and building on the work of others
Openness and sharing
Flexibility and responsiveness
The collaborative/community model is proven to work and is familiarto students.
Children and teenagers are exposed to the internet andsocial/community websites from an early age. They like andparticipate in these sites. The community model can be emulated
and harnessed in an educational context.
-
8/9/2019 Open Source Software for Education (Mel McIntyre) Open App
10/20
-
8/9/2019 Open Source Software for Education (Mel McIntyre) Open App
11/20
Risks of not using Open Source
From an education perspective there are risks associated with not adoptingOpen Source which can be summarised by the phrase avoid lifetime vendorlock-in for students
This lock-in is real and happens when students and teachers associate ICTusage and consumption only with a particular vendor.
The focus is on a vendor specific application rather than essential and moregeneric ICT skills.
Ideally the use of Open Source technologies would encourage students to
Have a critical point of view regarding different software solutions
Understand the differences between open and proprietary solutions Become active contributors to an open source project or tool
Adapted from EU Study on the Economic Impact of Open Source on Innovationand competitiveness of the ICT Sector in the EU. Rishab Ghosh, Nov 2006
-
8/9/2019 Open Source Software for Education (Mel McIntyre) Open App
12/20
Barriers to using OSS
Access to affordable support onsite configuration, problem solving, usage
Schools often do not have budget for any support OSS or proprietary
There is generally less support in the business space for OSS
Software often covered under capital budget consulting support oftenexpense
Local expertise most successes seem to built on the commitment of individualsrather than commitment from the 'system' -
Too much software how to choose what is useful
Similar issue to using 'free demonstration' versions of proprietaryapplications - it takes time and commitment to evaluate
The benefit over 'demonstration ' software is that you can keep the OSSsoftware should it fit your need
No vendor push nobody selling, limited marketing collateral, the business modelhas not developed well in the education space (maybe too difficult to define
Parents expectations OpenOffice versus MS Office
-
8/9/2019 Open Source Software for Education (Mel McIntyre) Open App
13/20
Open Source project: Edubuntu
Operating system designed for schools
Designed for fast and easy setup without technical expertise
Delivers the effective Linux Terminal Server Project (LTSP)
allows you to boot thin clients from an Edubuntu LTSP server.
lowers hardware costs by enabling the use of older machines as thin clients, as well asreduced administration overhead by having only to install and maintain the software on theserver.
Applications
Primary schools:
Early learning environment (Gcompris)
Educational games and activities from Tux4Kids and KDEEdu projects
Secondary schools:
full office suite, plus applications for instant messaging, graphics, sound and video.
Access to thousands of other high quality opensource programs at no cost.
-
8/9/2019 Open Source Software for Education (Mel McIntyre) Open App
14/20
-
8/9/2019 Open Source Software for Education (Mel McIntyre) Open App
15/20
Open Source project: Moodle
Moodle is a free software e-learning platform and Course ManagementSystem (CMS)
Moodle is designed to help educators create online courses with
opportunities for rich interaction. Its open source license and modulardesign means that many people can develop additional functionality, anddevelopment is undertaken by a globally diffuse network of commercialand non-commercial users, spearheaded by the Moodle company basedin Perth, Western Australia.
Moodle: Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment is a
free and open-source e-learning software platform, also known as aCourse Management System, Learning Management System, or VirtualLearning Environment. It has a significant user base with 45,721registered and verified sites, containing 32 million users in 3 millioncourses (as of January, 2010).[3]
Moodle is designed to help educators create online courses with a focus
on interaction and collaborative construction of content.
-
8/9/2019 Open Source Software for Education (Mel McIntyre) Open App
16/20
Open Source project: OpenOffice
Free software office suite of products used extensively throughout the world
Includes functionality such as word processor, spreadsheet, multi-mediapresentations, database and others.
Provides a familiar look and feel and is easy to use
Is compatible with other major office suites
It has a significant user base and is available in 80 languages
It provides all the necessary functionality for teaching IT skills and has ECDL/ICDLapproved courseware available from Blackrock Publishing.
-
8/9/2019 Open Source Software for Education (Mel McIntyre) Open App
17/20
What can you do . .
Teacher support organisations could promote best ofbreed for some categories course management,office, administration . . .
Could interact with developer community
Most applications supported on Windows and Macso not necessary to learn Linux . . try one at a time
No license costs means educators can collaborate
between organisations without commercialbarriers . . work with other schools or institutions
-
8/9/2019 Open Source Software for Education (Mel McIntyre) Open App
18/20
Case studieshttp://opensourceschools.org.uk/case-studies.html
Low cost ICT across the curriculum Tralee Ireland
Course Management with Moodle at Perins
Social networking with Elgg at Alton Convent
Cost effective curriculum delivery at SkegnessGrammar
Mount Tamar Special School - whole schoolcurriculum
Painting for Infants at Holmfirth Primary
-
8/9/2019 Open Source Software for Education (Mel McIntyre) Open App
19/20
Web resources
http://www.opensourcewindows.org/
http://www.freesoftwareforstudents.org.uk/
http://opensourceschools.org.uk/
http://www.k12opensource.org/
http://www.edubuntu.org/
http://www.osalt.com/
Magazines
Ubuntu
Linux Format
Linux Journal
Linux Magazine
http://www.opensourcewindows.org/http://www.freesoftwareforstudents.org.uk/http://opensourceschools.org.uk/http://www.k12opensource.org/http://www.edubuntu.org/http://www.edubuntu.org/http://www.k12opensource.org/http://opensourceschools.org.uk/http://www.freesoftwareforstudents.org.uk/http://www.opensourcewindows.org/ -
8/9/2019 Open Source Software for Education (Mel McIntyre) Open App
20/20
OpenForum Europe OFE
We are a not-for-profit, independent organisation launched in March 2002 toaccelerate, broaden and strengthen the use of Open Source Software (OSS)
in business and government. OFE is supported by major IT suppliers andworks closely with the European Commission and National Governments,both direct and via National Associates.
What we do!
OFE promotes informed debate on the pluses and minuses of Open Source
and Open Standards. We make input on European and National IT policy,hold bi-annual briefings with EU Commission organisations, speak atconferences and generally promote awareness of the issues and activities ofOSS
Mel McIntyre
Non executive director of OFE since 2005 and founder and chair of an OFEpartner in Ireland
Founder and Managing Director of OpenApp, a software development andsupport company since 2002 focusing of OSS solutions in business, healthand education sectors.