Summary of Week 10: Free and Open Resources

Thank you all for the thoughtful responses! :)

1. A definition of an open source can be found on the Open Source Initiative Homepage. What open resources (if any) have you used in your classroom? If you do not have your own classroom, have you witnessed open resources being used?
There were several examples of open resources being used: wikipedia, firefox, blog, Lesson Planz, and several lesson plan pages where teachers can share ideas and collaborate.

2. Under The Free Software Definition on the GNU Operating System website it says that “A program is free software if users have all of these freedoms. Thus, you [should] be free to redistribute copies, either with or without modifications, either gratis or charging a fee for distribution, to anyone anywhere. Being free to do these things means (among other things) that you do not have to ask or pay for permission.” Thinking about the word [should], what types of problems do you think can occur when copying/redistributing information?
We had some thoughtful responses to this question. One of the topics that came up is who gets the "glory" for the end result? We agreed that with so many people working on the projects its hard to figure out where it originated. That is also where the idea that citing sources and awknowledging all participants comes along. I think we can all agree that although some open resources require no "citing" it is important to do so in all of your work.

3. The article written by Sally Johnstone, Open Educational Resources Serve the World, states that “A major reason for sharing resources created for local communities is individuals’ desire to make a difference in the lives of those less fortunate. Other reasons relate to institutional goals and benefits.” In your own experience, what is the reasoning for using an open resource? Was it to help out those that are less fortunate within your school or community? Or was the source you used a great source that just happened to be an open resource?
A lot of people that responded to this stated that they have used open resources/saw open resources being used in the classroom. Some of you didn't even realize that some of the resources that you were using were considered an "open resource" but that you would continue to use them. Amy and a couple others said they used open resources for the basic fact that they were a great resource- like a great youtube clip, etc.

4. The same article written by S. Johnstone talks about the “Connexions” project, which was created by Richard Baraniuk and his colleagues at Rice University. Do you find any of the Connexion material modules for secondary-school teachers useful? Could you use these modules in your own teaching? Why or why not?
Most of the people responding to this question felt that the modules could be very useful. Theresa brought up the idea that they would be very beneficial for even elementary teachers as it would be great to have a place to share lessons and ideas. Most people agreed in that having a place for teachers to go and share information would be wonderul and they would use the modules if available. Most agreed that it is always great when teachers are sharing and collaborating.

5. The essay written by Nikola Bezroukov titled Open Source SoftwareDevelopment as a Special Type of Academic Research (Critique of VulgarRaymondism) was written to "...forewarn open source developers about theproblems of working on open source projects, and reduce some of thefrustrations." What problems did Bezroukov discuss? Do you agree with him,or do you feel that he was too critical about open sources?
Several of you agreed that there are "problems" with open resources that still need to be worked out, but that they should not be taken away because they are still very beneficial. Gretchan stated that just like any other internet source, free and open resources has glitches, but they can be worked out. We agree that there are glitches and problems that can occur- but like any internet source they can be worked out.