Thank You everyone for this weeks postings. This weeks readings were difficult in terms of the topic "open sources". It is a term that is new to me as well as everyone that read the assignment and has blogged. It seems to me that everyone agrees that open sources is not applicable to work with in a K-12 setting. I agree with Lori and Theresa in saying that as educators using open sources even as as project can be quite difficult. If open sources are to be used to create software, a teacher that is up-to-date on his/her technology would seem lost. As Lori, Cori, Theresa and others have pointed out, open sources seem to be for computer engineers and whiz kids. as far as public edu K-12 we are not there yet. Speaking of public education(K-12), is a district going to invest in open software with so much uncertainty? Have the bugs and kinks been hammered out to prevent crashing and constant failing? Almost all of you saw more negatives than positives when dealing with open software. I agree with the majority in saying there is just too many negatives when it comes to open software. One of the negatives as Kathryn has pointed out is that in an open source everyone gets to contribute to the project or the creation of software. The"Community infrastructure is the particular licensing strategy for the Project" as Kapor cites. This is very uneasy for me because I feel that anyone that would like to contribute to the project has to be trained which takes time, effort and patients on both sides of the party. Open sources is a totally new concept to me as well as others. I don't see open sources being talked about and practiced on a wide scale for a long time. There are just too many uncertainty's that comes with this concept.
Here are the questions for this weeks blog. Remember you don't have to answer all questions.
- According to Mitchell Kapor, what is open source software? Give some examples that Kapor describes in his article.
- What are some positives and negatives of an open source project?
- If you were to consider an open source project what will be some important questions you would like to know? Do you find your questions similar to Kapor’s? How?
- In Brad Wheeler’s article Open Source 2007, he states that they are two scenarios: #1 Open source becomes mainstream and #2 few open source application matter. After reading both scenarios which view do you agree with? Why?
- After reading Kapor’s and Wheelers articles, do you see open source in public schools in the near future? What are the negatives? What are the positives, if any?
26 comments:
In response to question #2, I feel there are many positive and negative aspects of an open source project. Teachers are now exposed to more technology and they should be aware of the programs that are out there to for their use in the classroom. I think one positive aspect of open source as it allows teachers to use programs in their classrooms that are free of charge and that they might not be able to get from the school. Also it allows them to incorporate different types of technology and programs into their classroom. One negative aspect is some school district place blocks on their computers that do not allow for downloading to occur. Other than that, giving students the opportunity to browse the web for open source software to complete any given assignment is a great idea.
In response to question one, Kapor defines "open source software" as "projects involve the production of goods, but in software projects, the 'goods' consist of information." He also defines it as software that is transparent which allows anyone to have access.
An example of an open source project that Kapor gives in his article is a website called SourceForge.net. On this website it lists many open source projects and even a project of the month. The project of the month for October is called "concrete5." This project involves a management system that allows people to run there own website easily. Another project found on this website is PowerFolder. This project allows people to share, access, and transfer files over the internet. With this project, people can share photos and work on a particular document together.
#2: One of the best positive aspects of an open source project is the fact that, "anyone can participate, anyone can play a role, and anyone can shape a project." If you don't like the code, you can '"re-shape" it, or even start a new project. Teachers can use open source to their advantage in the classroom to allow their students to use different programs. There are definitely negative aspects of an open source project, as well. First of all, there can be problems within the software downloads. Finding out if the software even works is a big problem! Also, a lot of programs can go unknown, therefore they do not get a reputation. This can create "unknowns and increased risks for users."
In response to question 2, there are many positive and negative aspects of open source projects. One positive aspect is that according to Kapor "anyone can participate, anyone can play a role, anyone can shape a project." This makes open source projects open to everyone to help make it better. It goes with the saying "two heads are better than one." People can make their own contributions to make the project the best that it can possibly be. Another positive that Kapor discusses is that if "something need(s) to be fixed, replaced, or created, you are not only permitted but encouraged to do that yourself." This idea makes it a whole lot easier when you cut out a "middle man" and just fix something yourself. And because open source projects are so open to other people to help contribute you can ask for guidance from other people to help you fix the problem should get stuck in doing so. A third positive mentioned in Stephenson's article is the ability for "educators (to) make instruction more graphic, dynamic, and active than it is now." From previous readings and videos that we have read and seen, we are now faced with students who are digital learners. Open source projects allow teachers to meet the needs of their students in ways that weren't able to do so. Students are able to learn better when they can make real-world connects to the concepts they are being introduced to. Open source projects give students exposure to real-world experts and real-world problems.
A negative aspect to open source projects is the high cost it has regarding the time it takes for educators and other people to master this technology. As we all know from experience, teachers are very busy people and often we barely have time for ourselves. We are constantly being taken away from the classroom so that we can attend certain workshops regarding curriculum. Very rarely is there a workshop for teachers in technology where attendence is not mandatory. Because of our constant absence from the classroom, we have to work extra hard in making sure our lesson plans our thorough and complete so that the substitute can follow them. This takes so much time away from our day. When it comes to learning about using technology we often struggle with finding the time to actually learn how to use it and use it well. Another negative aspect of open source projects is the unknown and riskes it creates for users. Reputation is often absent with these projects which makes it difficult for users to trust. If a problem should arrise that is beyond what we can fix, sometimes we are unable to turn to anyone for help or the help we may receive may not be reliable.
Open source projects do have many positives and negative aspects for users. The question remains do the positives out weigh the negatives? In most cases I think it depends on the person using open source projects and the level of technological skills they possess. For instance someone who is a master in technology may not be afraid to use open source projects. A person with a small amount of technological skills, like myself, may be wary of using open source projects because of being uncomfortable using it or because of the stress factor that would be involved if they didn't know how to fix a problem and didn't know who to ask for help.
amyh answering #5 After reading Wheeler and Kapor it sounds to me that if this was to be in school it would not be in the elementary or probablly jr high. As Kapor said in HOW IS OPEN SOURCE SPECIAL? Anyone can but it really doesn't mean anyone can. Obviously, one needs to jhave appropriate technical skills. If you are looking at a high school tech school yes it might be a great project. Certainly a good project for college level computer students. I truly don't see it coming any time to any ordinary classrooms.
Amy h answering question#1 In reading Kapor's article Open Sources software projects involve the production of "goods", but in software projects the goods are information. Open source projects are genuinely decentralized and transparent. transparent means thaht all of the information pertaining to what is being made from the source code to the bug list, the design documents, and the mailing lists in which discussions are held and decisions are often made is available to anyone who cares to look. an example of open source software :formal government projects which gives a citizen involved. With how the community works, how do decisions get made and the power relationship. Open source needs to be easy for people to get involved. Also the project has to have decisions made if they aren't it just lies there.
amyh replying to Lauren's #2 I agree that two heads are better than one and if you need another person's help that person may be in england. The time factor is what concerns me. Say you have a project going and someone comes in and totally takes it in the wrong direction how long is it going to take you to find the problem and get it back to where you had it? Is there a way to cut something like that out quickly? I am not saying Lauren is right or wrong I am just adding to her writing.I guess I do not see this as something that I would be able to do because it is way above my tech skills. I can see this at a college level science, engineering or computer classes not to much in the public schools.
I like Gretchen’s ideas of positive ways to incorporate open source projects into the classroom. I also like the negative aspect she brought up of how many programs can go unknown. This is true for many things you download. Other unwanted programs and even virus can come along with the program you are trying to download. Good job in finding positive and negative aspects of open source projects Gretchen!
After going through the readings for this week, I must say that the whole open source projectsis a bit confusing. We have been talking throughout this class how technology is changing, and teachers need to keep up. Well in this case, I definetely need to get with it. If I hadnt read these articles, I would not have any clue what open source software/projects is, and to be honest, I still do not have a firm grasp on what it actually is and includes. Much like what gretchen, lauren and amy have said, one of the main advantages if using open source projects, is that "Anyone can participate, anyone can play a role, and anyone can shape a project." Obviously one needs to be farmiliar with computers and computer processes in order to be of nay help, however, it is the fact that "anyone" with proper knowledge can make a difference. One of the real downsides to this technology would be the fact that reputation play such a big role in whether or not to download materials or not. If you have to rely on reputation, you may download unecessary files/materials and also cost yourself time and money. Like it says in the article, there are "too many risks and unknowns"...
The article states that if somthing is worng, or not functioning properly, the user is allowed and encouraged to try and fix it themselves. Again, only a person with extensive knowledge of computers would be qualified to do such a thing. Therefore, in terms of incorporating this type of thing into the classsroom would require an educator with a great deal of knowledge of computers, which is not always easy to find as we have been discussing. But trying new things can turn out in a variety of ways, so encouraging new methods of branching out could always be useful...
Question #1: Mitchell Kapor defines open source software as, "projects involving the production of goods, but the 'goods' consist of information". He describes how the open source model is an "alternative to the conventional centralized, command-and-control ways in which things are usually made". An couple examples of open source projects that Kapor describes in this article can be found on a website called SourceForge.net. This is a website that contains thousands of open source projects. One of the projects in the past was from April 2007. This project was called Art of Illusion. Art of Illusion is a 3-D graphics studio that provides modeling, texturing, animation, and rendering in a single program. It is designed to be easy to use so that new users can pick it up quickly, while still providing advanced features to let experienced users create professional-quality artwork. Another project found on this same website is called FreeCol. FreeCol is a project from February 2007. It is a turn-based strategy game based on the old game Colonization, and similar to Civilization. The objective of the game is to create an independent nation. You start with just a few colonists and a strong dependency on your home country. You can fight a War of Independence after building colonies, trading goods, fighting off rival European powers, and encouraging the rising rebel sentiment.
I'm a bit confused, too, Corey. I had no clue how to even begin this weeks blogs!
Okay...After deciphering Wheeler's article, he states his two scenarios. The first scenario, makes the most sense to me because I believe the economy will be definitely be affected by open source software. Whenever a software is not purchased, issued, registered and downloaded the company who created the software does not make the $ it should. This is obviously useful for educational institutions and makes sense because they have much more important expenses. After viewing the PennState open source project. This also makes a lot of sense for collegiate institutions, as well. Think of art majors who may not have the particular art software downloaded to their computer to do certain assignments. When I attended SUNY Brockport, on the brink of all this technology craze, I was asked in my very first art class to purchase the Adobe Photoshop Software...I was very confused...but I did it, and it was expensive! I would never want any students to feel that they have to purchse software in order to get assignments done.
With "reliabilty and scalability viewed as threats to open source viability" I will still need to complete more research before I commit to join the whole open source software websites.
I agree with what amyh states in her response. The open sources definitely need to be easy for people to get involved! Isn't that the only way that anyone gets involved in anything?!?!?! :o)
Also, as with any project, if decisions are not finalized than there will be no progression and the it will remain "just there."
I agree with Gretchen and Corey this weeks readings are confusing and I am not sure where to even start in responding this week!
In response to question 1.
The term open source software refers to the production of information in which anyone can participate, anyone can play a role, and anyone can shape a project.
Some examples are the software projects that are being developed and the people interested and involved creating patches for the bug and submitting the fixes. The open source software is something that isn't always monitored and cared for. They are like a fad in which one can be created that seems to be the next hot item, but quickly becomes abandoned.
In response to question 2...
The positives of open source software are that anyone can participate and have "a ha" moments in which they figure out a problem with the software and create a patch to fix the problem. Everyone can collaborate as much or as little as they want. Those who take the time to do something with the project will most likely be individuals who are interested in the program and what it has to offer as opposed to being malicious. Those participating are putting their reputation on the line, and a reputation is important in todays technological world.
The negatives are that the programs come and go, "boom towns" and "ghost towns" are terms used that describe how one project can come out and be a huge success, but after time, can become abandoned because something else that is better came out or because it doesn't do enough to be as successful as it needs to be.
I agree with Amy and Jess. The projects do need to be easy to understand, in their function and what they are supposed to do. So often, programs are made now that are not intuitive to the user and we are expected to know what every function is and how to use it. The problem is, those who create the programs are often computer whizes that can do anything with a computer. The problem is that in todays world, many teachers are struggling with the technology because they are not getting the training. I think that the use of these in the classroom in the future is something that will be another requirement without the training. Teachers are being fed to the wolves in terms of technology and being informed enough to use what is available.
I also agree with those are confused on the articles and what they mean. It took me forever to read the article and understand what is going on. I think that it is written vaguely. I don't really understand what an open source is, I think I get an IDEA of what it is, but I am not confident in my own interpretation because there are no real hard core examples. I must agree that this weeks topics are tough.
According to Kapor Open Source Projects are decentralized and transparent. Meaning that instead of the software developer having the power to make changes anyone can make changes. By transparent he means that the inner working of the software can be seen and modified and it is no big secret and according to Kapor this transparency is what lowers the barries to entry and participation.However, I agree with Corey that only people with extensive knowledge of computers would be able to participate in open source projects interms of modifying codes and doing all the technical stuff.
There are so many questions that I have reguarding open source software...like what it really is! At this point in time I feel like the word open source software is a foreign language to me. I am pretty up to date with technology but not with this! I will definitely not be using open source software in the classroom any time soon until I do more research and get more knowledgable about it!
I agree with several of the other responces- There are some very positives when it comes to an open source project. One of the great things about it is (like Gretchen said), "anyone can participate, anyone can play a role, and anyone can shape a project." Some people worry that they will not like the results or some of the information others provded, but you can always erase or edit what is not liked/agreed with. Another great things is that it is Free! Teachers are always resorting to the "my school can't afford the new technology tools," but this is a source that everyone can use regardless of income.
Um.....huh?
What a tough week in the blogging world. I have looked over the articles a few times and sadly, Im not sure what to say, without repeating ideas, and without sounding like an idiot! :)Anyway, here goes:
I agree with most of you that the idea of being able to add information and participate is great in many ways. The problems arise when the information is not valid. We have talked about this when using wikipedia in the classroom as well. Another negative aspect is the downloading of software. Many school firewalls limit what can be downladed, and the threat of viruses makes many hesitant to download anything. I dont think that this type of program is very relevant to the elementary classroom teacher. Until the information is broken down and clearly explained, I wouldnt use it for fear it would hurt more than help.
Week 8 Summary by Neal Prince
Thank You everyone for this weeks postings. This weeks readings were difficult in terms of the topic "open sources". It is a term that is new to me as well as everyone that read the assignment and has blogged. It seems to me that everyone agrees that open sources is not applicable to work with in a K-12 setting. I agree with Lori and Theresa in saying that as educators using open sources even as as project can be quite difficult. If open sources are to be used to create software, a teacher that is up-to-date on his/her technology would seem lost. As Lori, Cori, Theresa and others have pointed out, open sources seem to be for computer engineers and whiz kids. as far as public edu K-12 we are not there yet. Speaking of public education(K-12), is a district going to invest in open software with so much uncertainty? Have the bugs and kinks been hammered out to prevent crashing and constant failing? Almost all of you saw more negatives than positives when dealing with open software. I agree with the majority in saying there is just too many negatives when it comes to open software. One of the negatives as Kathryn has pointed out is that in an open source everyone gets to contribute to the project or the creation of software. The"Community infrastructure is the particular licensing strategy for the Project" as Kapor cites. This is very uneasy for me because I feel that anyone that would like to contribute to the project has to be trained which takes time, effort and patients on both sides of the party. Open sources is a totally new concept to me as well as others. I don't see open sources being talked about and practiced on a wide scale for a long time. There are just too many uncertainty's that comes with this concept.
When considering an open source project I found myself asking some of the same kinds of questions that Kapor’s asked in his article. However, I may be a little more cynical than he. I worry particularly about where the information is coming from and how resourceful it is. I am also looking at open source from an elementary perspective, in which it is completely inappropriate for student use. The faculty and staff may be able to take advantage of the open source project, but I do not see it happening anytime soon.
After reading both scenarios in Brad Wheeler’s article Open Source 2007, I would have to agree with Wheeler. I do not see open source becoming mainstream at all. There are too many current factors to prevent it from happening. Honestly, one of the biggest factors is the cost and licensing fees. It is too expensive for districts, and companies to invest their money in project that is not yet efficient. There is also too much room for error at this point.
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