Open Source for Educators

Geoff Cain, M.S.Tacoma Community College

The Software Problem

•Cost•Licensing•Support•Upgrades•Who Pays?

What is “Open Source?”OLD MODEL NEW MODEL

• Built by a Company• Need from Company• Companies Sells

Product• Companies Create

Demand• Product Slowly

Evolves

• Created by Everyone• Need Evolves from

Use• Product is Free• Companies Sell

Services• Updated by Users

For Example…• Operating systems

▫ Linux▫ Free BSD▫ Ubuntu (User Friendly)

• Server Software• Content Management Systems

▫ Drupal• Learning Management

Systems▫ Moodle

• Office Suites▫ Open Office▫ NeoOffice

• Camtasia/Jing

Why Use It?• Free for the Students• Free for the College• Teachers Can be

More Creative• Expand Assignments • Encourage

Multimodal Teaching

Ups and DownsGood News Bad News

• Free• Responsive to Change• Frequent Updates• Tailored to Needs of

Community Rather Than the Dictates of the Market

• Works in Progress• Cost of Ownership• No One

Responsible/Blame• Authorship

Disappears• Disorganized• Hard to Adopt

Institutionally

Why Isn’t Everything Like This?• Education• Media• News• Hardware

▫Phones▫Computers▫Televisions

Where Do We Find It?

•School Forge•Open Source Alternative to Commercial Soft

ware•Source Forge Open Source Software•Open Source Software for Educators•Open Education Disc

Further Investigations

The Cathedral and the Bazaar by Eric S. Raymond

The Open Source Initiative websiteWhy Open Source Software? By David A.

WheelerOpen Source Textbooks – COSTPWA Open Educational Resources – Cable

Green