Task 3: Analyze the potential of open education approaches for learning in a digital age
 

       Open does matter significantly for Learning in a digital age. One of the most empowering dimensions of the Open paradigm is open source software. Open source software means software where the source code is open for modification and redistribution without restrictive licensing (Open Source Initiative, n.d.). The key characteristics of open source are transparency, collaboration, release early and often, inclusive meritocracy and community (The Open Source Way, n.d.). These properties make open source software a very effective tool for enhancing education not only by the use of free software tools but also through the collaborative community focused development of new software tools and services. One of the first use case of open source software was the GNU operating system which is an open source implementation of Unix like Operating System. The founder of GNU project was Richard Stallman whose concepts influenced the open educational philosphy and development of open educational content (Wiley & Editor, 2014).             

 

         Historically, open source software have played an important role in enhancing education by making high quality software available for teaching as well as a computing platform with utility software to do data processing, communication and visualization. van Rooji (2010) presents a review of challenges and opportunities of adopting open source software for higher education and identified the difference in views between educators and ICT administrators. According to their findings, the technical people who maintain ICT infrastructure for educational institutions prefer open source software due to its low cost of ownership, customization capability and reliability, with challenges of having enough technically skilled staff, portability of existing proprietary software with the open source ones and the lack of formal support from any company. On the other hand, educators prefer open source software as long as those are easy to use and have only the features they need most. Despite adopting open source software for running infrastructure and learning management systems, it can be an essential tool for teaching software development and operating system design courses (Lakhan & Jhunjhunwala, n.d.).

 

       One source software has tremendous possibility in deploying appropriate infrastructure and teaching facilities in the developing countries where there is a significant lack of financial resources. On the other hand, there is a huge possibility of developing skilled human resources from consumers to developers of innovative software solutions. In that way, the availability of open source software will significant increase since majority of worlds young population lives in the developing world. Câmara & Fonseca (2007) have studied the key properties of open source software and suggested government interventions to increase the adaptation and development of open source in developing countries: “if governments in developing nations aim to profit from the potential benefits of open source, they must intervene and dedicate public funds to support the establishment and long-term maintenance of open source software projects” (p, 9).  A report (The State of Enterprise Open Source, 2020) published in 2020 shows that 95% of IT leaders surveyed admitted that open source is really important for enterprises. Certainly, focusing on capacity building in open source software based education will bring huge employment possibilities for developing countries.

 

References: 

Câmara, G., & Fonseca, F. (2007). Information Policies and Open Source Software in                 Developing Countries. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 12, 255–272

Open Source Initiative. (n.d.).  The Open Source Definition  Retrieved March 2, 2021, from 

The open source way. (n.d.). Opensource.Com. Retrieved March 1, 2021, from 

The State of Enterprise Open Source, 2020. Enterprise open source use rises, proprietary software declines. (n.d.). Retrieved March 2, 2021, from

van Rooij, S. W. (2010). The Role of Organizational Sub-cultures in Higher Education Adoption of Open Source Software (OSS) for Teaching/Learning.

Wiley, D., & Editor. (2014). Richard Stallman, “The GNU Project.” In An Open Education Reader.

 https://openedreader.org/chapter/the-gnu-project/

Weerawarana, S, & Weeratunga, J. (2004). Open Source in Developing Countries—PDF Free Download. (n.d.).  Retrieved March 2, 2021, from https://docplayer.net/6318668-January-2004-sanjiva-weerawarana-jivaka-weeratunga-open-source-in-developing-countries.html

Lakhan, S. E., & Jhunjhunwala, K. (n.d.). Open Source Software in Education. Retrieved March 3, 2021, from https://er.educause.edu/articles/2008/5/open-source-software-in-education




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