Open Source Software in Education

Open Source Software

32 EDUCAUSE QUARTERLY • Number 2 2008 in Education

Academia has adopted open source software for some online learning initiatives because it addresses persistent technical challenges

By Shaheen E. Lakhan and Kavita Jhunjhunwala

ducational institutions have rushed to put their academic resources and services online, bringing the global community onto a common platform and awakening the interest of investors. Despite continuing technical challenges, online education shows great promise. Open source software offers one approach to address- ing the technical problems in providing optimal delivery of online learning. EOpen source refers to both the concept and practice of making program source code openly available. Users and developers have access to the core designing functionalities that enable them to modify or add features to the source code and redistribute it. Extensive collaboration and circulation are central to the open source movement. Many features distinguish open source software from closed or proprietary software. The Open Source Initiative (OSI) has set a standard—the “open source definition”—by which software qualifies for an open source license.1 The software must meet the following criteria:

■ Unrestricted distribution. Users can distribute or sell the software without paying royalties. ■ Source code distribution. The source code of the entire open source product must be easily modifiable. In the absence of the source code, the product must cite a low-cost resource where users can obtain it. ■ Modifications. The license allows modifications, and its terms remain unchanged for distribution of improved versions. ■ Author’s source code integrity. If the license allows patch file distribution along with the original source code, a user cannot modify the code and distribute it2 except by giving the new version a new name.

© 2008 Shaheen E. Lakhan and Kavita Jhunjhunwala Number 2 2008 • EDUCAUSE QUARTERLY 33 ■ No personal discrimination. No lost momentum in the face of advances lections of study material culled from person or group shall be discrimi- in computer science. different academic sources. nated against during open source Programmer Richard Stallman Education portals, although not product distribution. founded the GNU Project in 1984. The directly connected to the curriculum, ■ No restriction on application. Open GNU General Public License allows have become an integral part of educa- source software can be used in any users to modify the code and distribute tion. Since the late 1990s, some U.S. field and for any purpose. the improved version under the same universities have outsourced e-mail ■ License distribution. The privileges license. The GNU operating system and other Web services, site admin- attached to the original program lacked a kernel, however, until Linus istrative functions, courseware, and extend to all who receive the program, Torvalds developed the Linux kernel. In other computer administrative ser- so recipients do not need to apply for 1992, the Linux kernel was integrated vices to software development and a separate license. within the GNU operating system. application companies. ■ License must not be product-specific. The Linux became more sophisticated Courseware is used in both the aca- rights associated with a license extend over time with the help of program- demic and corporate sectors, with to products extracted from a larger mers who worked to improve the kernel development often outsourced to software aggregate. and create Linux-adapted software. The companies that provide study mate- ■ No restriction on other software. No following years witnessed the introduc- rial for both online and offline pur- restrictions are allowed on distribu- tion of many commercial and enhanced poses. Many companies use sophis- tion of open source products bundled versions of the Linux operating system ticated computerized courses in their with products developed on other by vendors such as Red Hat, Mandriva, employee training programs. software platforms. and Novell. Linux is still available as The Internet offers opportunities to ■ Technology neutrality. Licenses should free open source software. combine educational and economic not be issued on the basis of the spe- goals on a common, globally acces- cific technology involved. Learning and Digitization sible platform. This requires extensive The digitization of education is technical support to create and sustain History of Open Source a relatively new phenomenon that the software infrastructure on which The development of three operating has transformed the education sector. digital education primarily depends. systems—UNIX, GNU, and Linux— Corporations and academic institu- Most universities rely on software ven- formed the foundation of the open tions have joined forces to further dors to support, for instance, virtual source movement.3 From its inception, explore the potential for digitizing learning environments and learning open source has been closely associated education through management systems that deliver with academia. online learning components. This puts UNIX had its roots in the joint ven- ■ Virtual universities considerable strain on their already ture launched in the late 1960s by Bell ■ Online courses overburdened finances. Labs and MIT to create a new operating ■ Education portals Following a period of intense system named Multics. Based on that ■ Courseware competition, the higher education work, some of the programmers devel- software domain is dominated by a oped a new operating system, which Virtual universities are the best-known few major vendors,4 with the risk of they named UNIX, to provide more form of online education. Accredited monopolization in the future.5 This flexibility to users. Academic insti- virtual universities such as the Univer- leaves academic institutions with one tutions could purchase UNIX source sity of Phoenix offer degrees in mainly obvious option: to develop in-house codes at a price considerably lower professional courses taught largely by systems to fulfill their IT requirements. than that paid by corporations and part-time faculty members from dif- Unfortunately, such projects often are government agencies. ferent universities. Online consortia of isolated endeavors riddled with flaws In 1975, Ken Thompson joined the academic institutions integrate related or prohibitively expensive—or both. University of California, Berkeley, along courses into programs delivered via a Another option is to adopt the with two other graduate students, Bill single virtual university. collaborative model of open source Joy and Chuck Haley. In 1977 the trio Online courses are offered in a vari- software development, which enables began distributing an open source ver- ety of forms by various sources. Some educational institutions to pool their sion of UNIX called BSD. The following courses are offered by subsidiaries of financial and technical resources. In year saw the release of a revised edition renowned traditional universities, addition, a huge user community pro- called 2BSD. although many such courses are not vides a variety of testing environments The MIT Artificial Intelligence Lab accredited. The parent universities’ for the new software. launched a similar endeavor in which names act as a powerful draw for online Open source software products tend the code was enhanced by passing it students. Courses are also offered by to be more reliable and benefit from among the programmers. The venture organizations that create digital col- continuous development. This is one

34 EDUCAUSE QUARTERLY • Number 2 2008 reason to invest liberally in develop- usability. This is one reason proprietary ing open source application software— software companies commit resources to work out a more cost-effective to product documentation and cus- way of meeting e-learning software tomer support. The lack of commercial challenges. incentives in many open source proj- ects undoubtedly reduces some con- Open Source and Its Impact tributors’ enthusiasm. If the support on Learning system disappears, educational institu- As college administrators strive to tions will have trouble improving and strike a balance between resources and customizing their open source products requirements, open source e-learning in the absence of governmental grants software has emerged as a viable solu- or advocacy policies (which are contro- tion. Many universities have opted versial in themselves). for open source learning management systems, in particular. Advantages that Considering the Options have tipped the balance toward open Educational institutions must con- source include the following: sider multiple issues before making a choice among software options. Many ■ The absence of a license fee. Most uni- The huge collaborative nonprofit organizations provide infor- versities annually pay large sums network of the open source mation about open source products to software companies to use their and their applicability. OSS Watch, products, but open source licenses community minimizes, an advisory committee funded by the are free. although it does not Joint Information Systems Committee ■ Flexibility. Open source products are (JISC), provides comprehensive analy- customizable and can involve third eliminate, the risk of ses of the legal, technical, and eco- parties. New features and tools can discontinued service nomic aspects of open source software be imported from the open source implementation in the higher educa- community. tion sector,8 and workshops and con- ■ Service continuity. The huge collab- products are not always compatible with ferences are organized to help gauge orative network of the open source existing software components. the impact of open source products community minimizes, although it Open source development has other within educational institutions. does not eliminate, the risk of dis- potential disadvantages. There are no Open educational resources (OERs) continued service. Volunteer help is guarantees that a project will reach com- are online resources that provide free available through open source sup- pletion and deliver the desired results, applications and learning materials for port systems such as forums. for example. Progress depends on the academic institutions.9 The term, which ■ Continuous improvement. Extensive interest and time of the collaborative was coined in a forum on the impact of collaboration ensures that software workforce, and lack of resources or open coursework for higher education products keep improving. Program- funding can derail a project. Most com- in developing countries, refers to free mers from different institutions and mercial open source products, however, learning resources including complete organizations, along with volunteers, are self-sufficient.7 course materials, modules, journals, ref- contribute freely to projects. Intellectual property rights can make erence materials, and tools that enable ■ Tax benefits. Governments of many it difficult to ascertain whether a particu- users to create online learning manage- countries have implemented tax- lar software solution has been patented. ment systems and design and publish exemption policies to boost open If a process used in an open source materials. These resources can be modi- source projects, although the govern- project has already been patented, fied and redistributed. mental role in promoting open source the group can be charged with patent A similar endeavor called open software is controversial.6 infringement. Although the availability source curriculum (OSC) follows the of source code makes it difficult for open source philosophy of making The main potential drawback of open patent holders to prove infringement, source material accessible to students, source projects for education becomes these issues often cloud development instructors, administrators, parents, and evident during their implementation. of open source software. governing bodies. Specific instructional Using the software to its full potential Perhaps the most alarming factor goals are set, and designers, content may prove challenging for beginners, to consider is possible loss of support. experts, and technical advisors work and the availability of the source code Typical users are not interested in the together to create a complete curricu- is irrelevant for end users if they do not availability of source code; they are lum. All users can contribute. An open find the product useful. Also, open source more concerned with the software’s exchange of ideas has enabled these

Number 2 2008 • EDUCAUSE QUARTERLY 35 online open source curricula to reach a single instructor site or a system of dresses the pedagogical needs of teach- world-class standards. thousands of students. It is licensed ers and learners, emphasizing train- Open source resources are available by the Open Source Initiative under a ing technologies and well-structured from the following initiatives: general public license (GPL). online courses. Claroline developers Many plug-ins are available to focus on enhancing existing tools to ■ Curriki, the Global Education and enhance existing features. MySQL and give both instructors and students a Learning Community, is a nonprofit PostgreSQL databases can be used with refined learning environment. body dedicated to the creation of Moodle, and developers are working Claroline is supported by a huge free, open source curricula for all to make the system compatible with user and contributor community that users and one of the most popular Oracle, Microsoft SQL Servers, and continuously enriches the software. OSC online resources.10 Curriki pro- other databases. The nonprofit Claroline consortium, vides course materials for primary Moodle emphasizes making students founded in May 2007, is dedicated to and secondary education, primarily a contributing factor in learning; its fea- enhancing and promoting the soft- focusing on the creation of complete tures invite active participation from ware. It is licensed under the GNU curricula for courses distributed and students. A growing community of GPL. used ­globally. over 200,000 registered users in more ■ Connexions is a pioneering venture11 than 175 countries supports Moodle. Dokeos. Dokeos is a web-based appli- set apart from other open-education In numerous forums and other interac- cation developed on free technologies resources by its scope. The site provides tive centers, developers from all over such as PHP and MySQL. Designed to instructional material for primary, the world contribute to the software’s facilitate e-learning and course man- secondary, and postsecondary levels, overall development. agement, it provides a flexible, user- as well as the industrial sector. Contri- friendly platform to simplify the e- butions are invited from all segments Bodington. This Java-based virtual learning process. of society. The materials are available learning environment was developed Dokeos was developed with the help in different languages, and users from by the University of Leeds in the United of global contributions made by uni- all over the world can download, cus- Kingdom. Bodington aims to provide a versities, organizations, and individual tomize, and reload them. Authors get flexible, durable learning environment programmers. It integrates open source credit for their contributions. for large, complex institutions with ideas, especially those highlighted in ■ MIT OpenCourseWare makes under- numerous departments. It allows quick “The Cathedral and the Bazaar.”14 The graduate and graduate course materi- upload and management of learning Dokeos forum facilitates the exchange als from MIT available on the Inter- content, and the multilayered admin- of ideas among programmers world- net.12 This initiative has not damaged istrative model effectively meets varied wide, with development details avail- the university’s reputation but instead administrative challenges. able on the Internet. Contributors may has encouraged other institutions to Bodington conforms to World Wide send their revised codes via e-mail, publish their courses online as well. Web Consortium (W3C) recommenda- wikis, or forums. Dokeos is licensed tions. It also complies with the Special under the GNU GPL. Open Source Learning Education Needs and Disability Act Management System Tools 2001,13 allowing people with physical .LRN. Pronounced “dot learn,” .LRN Another aspect of the impact of the and visual impairments people to take is a popular tool developed at MIT and open source movement on education is part in digital courses supported by the based on AOLserver and OpenACS. It the rapid proliferation of open source Bodington VLE. supports online learning and other learning management system (LMS) A huge community supports Boding- interactive digital systems. Originally tools and other learning applications. ton, continually contributing to the soft- designed to meet the needs of uni- LMS tools are used mostly to create and ware’s sophistication. Some Bodington versities, it was later implemented in manage learning content on the web. projects have received JISC funding. schools, organizations, and corpora- Some of the most widely used LMS tools Bodington has been implemented tions. Its flexible framework allows are briefly described in Table 1 and sum- at academic institutions including the easy customization. marized next. University of Leeds and the University .LRN is supported by an expanding of Oxford, along with further educa- user community and the .LRN con- Moodle. Moodle integrates peda- tion colleges. (Further education in the sortium. The consortium institutions gogical features missing in many LMS U.K. refers to education received after help each other deploy and enhance tools, allowing instructors to construct secondary school, similar to community the software. The consortium also pro- customizable, online courses or a wide colleges in the United States.) vides quality assurance by certifying range of course modules on a flexible software components as .LRN compat- platform. Moodle can be downloaded Claroline. Built on free technologies ible. The software is licensed under to any computer and used to support such as PHP and MySQL, Claroline ad- the GNU GPL.

36 EDUCAUSE QUARTERLY • Number 2 2008 Table 1 Open Source LMS Tools

LMS Tool Compatibility Usage Moodle Linux, UNIX, Windows, Mac OS X, Downloaded about 500 times a day. More http://www.moodle.org FreeBSD, and any other system that than 28,000 registered sites, over a million supports PHP courses, a learning community of 10 million. Bodington Shibboleth, Linux, Microsoft, Mac OS X, Implemented at University of Leeds, UHI http://www.bodington.org or UNIX Millennium Institute, and University of Oxford. Provides services to 15,000 users with a single server. Claroline Microsoft, Linux/GNU, Mac OS X; Available in 35 languages and has users in http://www.claroline.net complies with SCORM and IMS/QTI. more than 80 countries. Dokeos Supports SCORM import and LDAP. Data In 30 languages and more than a http://www.dokeos.com can be imported using CSV or XML files. thousand organizations. Implemented at Ghent University and Vrije Universiteit Brussel. More than 28,000 users and 3,600 courses. .LRN LORS Central, Curriculum, LORS Almost half a million users in 18 countries. http://www.dotlrn.com Management, .LRN Ecommerce, Project Manager, Page Editor, Staff List, Syllabus, Expense Tracking ATutor Complies with W3C WCAG 1.0 and W3C More than 17,000 registered installations http://www.atutor.ca XHTML 1.0; supports content developed worldwide. in IMS or SCORM. OLAT Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, Popular within the European higher http://www.olat.org Solaris, and UNIX. Conforms to SCORM, education community. IMS QTI, and IMS Content Packaging. Sakai Complements commercial software like Adopted by many reputable universities http://www.sakaiproject.org WebCT, Blackboard, ANGEL Learning, and worldwide. Desire2Learn.

ATutor, OLAT, and Sakai. The ATu- for education, is built and maintained sharing sites, blogs, RSS feeds, tags, tor learning content management by the Sakai community. The core soft- podcasts, wikis, and discussion forums. system was developed by the Adap- ware consists of generic collaboration Knowledge transfer has become a two- tive Technology Resource Centre at tools, with tools designed for specific way process, with users both receiving the University of Toronto. Different applications (such as teaching and and contributing information. As a feature modules are available, as are portfolio tools) available. The Sakai result, information has become a com- third-party plug-ins. The creators tout Project is registered under an Educa- mon and accessible commodity, circu- the software’s accessibility and adapt- tional Community License. lated via interactive communities. ability. ATutor is licensed under the Although Web 2.0 technologies are GNU GPL. New Face of Open Source: not designed specifically for digital OLAT (Online Learning and Train- Web 2.0 learning, the academic community ing) began in 1999 at the University The term Web 2.0 encompasses a set looks to Web 2.0 for interactive mod- of Zurich, where a team of develop- of technologies and practices that has els. The incorporation of Web 2.0 tech- ers continues to enhance the software. redefined the Internet’s user interface nologies has changed digital education Much of it is written in Java. OLAT is and radically changed the way people from a medium to a platform, and registered under Apache License 2.0. use the Internet.15 Among the most many believe Web 2.0 technologies Sakai, which its developers call a col- important Web 2.0 features are social- will help digital learning evolve into laboration and learning environment networking sites, video- and photo- a mainstream concern.

Number 2 2008 • EDUCAUSE QUARTERLY 37 Moving to Student-Centered sites are becoming more common. Learning Teachers all over the world encourage Web 2.0 enables students to participate their students to get more involved in in a many-to-many information-sharing creating blogs and other interactive web operation. So far, though, e-learning has applications to enhance peer communi- been one-way content publishing. Ste- cation in and outside the classroom. phen O’Hear wrote: Blogs are the most extensively used Web 2.0 tools. Open source blogging Like the web itself, the early prom- platforms such as WordPress, LifeType, ise of e-learning—that of empow- and Roller allow the free creation of erment—has not been fully real- blogs (as do many commercial services). ized. The experience of e-learning Open online portals permit keeping for many has been no more than a content and feedback on the same plat- hand-out published online, coupled form. Teachers and students can col- with a simple multiple-choice quiz. lect, create, and share their own online Hardly inspiring, let alone empow- knowledge resources. ering. But by using these new web Wiki technology allows site visitors services, e-learning has the potential to edit the site’s content, accelerating to become far more personal, social, content generation. The most com- and flexible.16 mon example is Wikipedia, the online Teachers all over the free encyclopedia. Both closed and The traditional learning structure— open source LMSs incorporate wikis, where students take a backseat while world encourage their and much open source wiki software content is developed by instructors students to get more is available, including XWiki, TWiki, and then structured and delivered SWik, and Trac. as courses—has undergone a radical involved in creating blogs Podcasting has been adopted by many change with the adoption of Web 2.0 institutions to make content available technologies. Students have become an and other interactive web to students in audio form. Stanford important component in the develop- applications to enhance University, for example, joined forces ment and distribution of learning con- with Apple to develop the podcast-based tent. Stephen Downes called this new peer communication in and iTunes University. Other universities phenomenon E-Learning 2.0 in his outside the classroom have followed, signing up for iTunes essay on the same topic: “…E-learning­ U. Some of the content available is freely is evolving with the World Wide Web available to the public, while others are as a whole, and it’s changing to a be harnessed, while students bond in restricted (to students). degree significant enough to warrant stronger, redefined ways. Podcasting technologies have encour- a new name.”17 This dissolution of distinctive aged an increase in learner-generated According to Geraldine O’Neil and parameters is in line with open source content, enhancing learner participa- Tim McMahon, or free software, open access, and tion in digital education. Open source Creative Commons licensing. As Ian podcasting software such as Audacity The changing demographics of the Davis wrote: and Juice is widely employed by the student population and the more user community. consumer/client-centered culture Web 2.0 is an attitude, not a tech- Media-sharing sites have emerged as in today’s society have provided a nology. It’s about enabling and powerful tools for the learning com- climate where the use of student- encouraging participation through munity. Many teachers use still images centered learning is thriving.18 open applications and services. By and video, especially those registered open, we mean technically open under Creative Commons licenses, for With Web 2.0, the concept of with appropriate APIs but also, more both offline and online courses. Media- ­student-centered learning has acquired importantly, socially open, with sharing sites can also be used to publish a new dimension. Previously, the rights granted to use the content in student-generated video or photographs, greatest critique of student-centered new and exciting contexts.19 shared with peers and teachers to receive learning was the lack of resources and critical feedback. Some photo-sharing the isolation of each student from Common Web Tools sites allow the addition of annotations to other learners. Web 2.0 has provided The Web 2.0 tools most commonly an image, facilitating distance learning. a means through which both collec- used in education are blogs and wikis, Media-sharing and other social- tive and individual intelligence can although podcasting and media-sharing­ networking­ sites such as Elgg, Slashdot,

38 EDUCAUSE QUARTERLY • Number 2 2008 and AROUNDMe can serve as impor- administrator using digital media now and influencing employers in evaluating tant interactive learning tools. These has various roles—as content creator, online degrees. social-networking tools were not created reviewer, technician, and administrator. Nonetheless, the commercial model exclusively for educational purposes, These hierarchies can be more confus- of education has made education more however, and might contain objection- ing and no less stern than those found learner oriented, with courses structured able materials, raising ethical concerns in traditional education. According to according to what learners need or want. regarding students’ exposure to and use Downes and Mui, “In many sectors inter- This has led to the decentralization of of the sites. mediaries have proven to be remarkably education. As Chris Werry wrote, One concern about the extensive robust. Long chains are being taken use of Web 2.0 applications, especially apart, but they are also being put back The Internet is allowing entrepre- wikis,20 is access. Developers can assign together in new configurations.”21 neurial companies and innovative content development rights to limited The redefined hierarchy may include colleges to unbundle learning and users, and some have done so as Web components that are not part of the credentialing services from the 2.0 tools slowly gain the sophistication university, such as agents representing whole campus-based industry with needed to provide much-needed secu- corporations with an economic interest its high cost of research and resi- rity features. This trend goes against the in e-learning projects. External agencies dential services and to deliver these fundamental Web 2.0 idea of liberating could be involved in course develop- services to a growing marketplace. content, however, and rouses objections ment, instructional design, LMS devel- The learning revolution has only from many users. opment, LMS hosting, and software sup- just begun to capture the promise It is highly likely that digital education port. Outside involvement might not of the democratization of knowl- will depart from current Web 2.0 prac- directly affect learners, except in case edge made possible with Internet tices and use Web 2.0 tools in entirely of course fees. Nevertheless, this cross- technologies.23 different ways. This movement—mak- linking between various agencies is no ing information available to a larger sec- less complicated than the traditional Market demand will foster the emer- tion of the global learning community educational architecture. gence of numerous courses and modules through the Internet and Web 2.0—has Online learning makes education not available in the traditional learning introduced greater democracy in the available to the global community. framework. This will give rise to a highly education system as a whole and is one Students almost everywhere have flexible learning process, with a greater of the strongest arguments for digitiza- access to quality education through the scope for mass customization. tion of education. Internet. Open access is an initiative to give worldwide access to peer-created Conclusion Destructuring Education and -reviewed journal content. The Open source products have gained with Open Source core idea behind such projects is best considerable currency in the realm of The use of open source has enabled embodied in the words of the Budapest higher education. The question remains, universities to create courses easily avail- Open Access Initiative: nevertheless: What is the future of open able to the global education commu- source software in higher education? nity. The concept of open access and Accelerate research, enrich educa- From a commercial perspective, open the proliferation of academic blogs have tion, share the learning of the rich source projects are taking their first broken down many barriers in the edu- with the poor and the poor with the tentative steps into the marketplace. cation sector. Pundits have propounded rich, make this literature as useful This might be good news for universities various theories of digital education in as it can be, and lay the foundation because it would remove the threat of response to these changes. for uniting humanity in a common market monopolization, but to measure Many people believe, for example, intellectual conversation and quest up to industry standards, open source that digitization of education has for knowledge.22 projects need more sophistication. If loosened the bureaucratic framework collaborative contributions continue at of traditional learning. The adminis- A large chunk of digital education is their current pace, this might not be trative body is less involved—in the guided by e-commerce goals, however. difficult to achieve. sense that teachers and students are Some online courses cost as much as The nature of collaborative con- more involved—in the direct conduit on-campus courses, making higher edu- tribution could cause some concern. of e-learning. cation financially inaccessible to many Although the community-based model Others believe the role of the digital students. In addition, mass-marketing agrees with the culture and values of medium in disintermediation is over- of education might decrease the brand higher education, enthusiasm cannot be emphasized. (In economics the term value of prestigious online courses, the sole incentive. Some other form of disintermediation refers to the removal undercutting the commercial goals for encouragement is needed to avoid the of mediators, giving users direct access online education. The university’s sta- “forking” of codes,24 which is modify- to products.) The traditional teacher or tus is a major factor attracting students ing the technology of the vendor one

Number 2 2008 • EDUCAUSE QUARTERLY 39 has been working with and develop- Endnotes 16. Stephen O’Hear, “Seconds Out, Round ing a new business model around it by 1. Ken Coar, “The Open Source Definition,” Two,” Guardian, November 15, 2007, rebranding the technology. Forking is a July 7, 2006, http://opensource.org/docs/ http://education.guardian.co.uk/ osd. elearning/story/0,10577,1642281,00 common problem for open source tech- 2. A patch file is a collection of changes .html. nology companies. Probably only a few made to enhance a program, compiled 17. Stephen Downes, “E-Learning 2.0,” large communities with considerable in a way that another user could easily eLearn Magazine, http://www.elearnmag commercial backing will survive after implement when working on the same .org/subpage.cfm?section=articles& a few years. Projects like Sakai and the program. article=29-1. Kuali Foundation, which involve both 3. “A Brief History of Open-Source Soft- 18. Geraldine O’Neil and Tim McMahon, ware,” http://eu.conecta.it/paper/brief_ academic and corporate concerns, have “Student-Centered Learning: What history_open_source.html. Does It Mean for Students and Lectur- more chance of lasting than small, iso- 4. Brad Wheeler, “Open Source 2010: Reflec- ers?” AISHE Readings, http://www.aishe lated, open source software projects. tions on 2007,” EDUCAUSE Review, Vol. .org/readings/2005-1/oneill-mcmahon- Moreover, the development of open 42, No.1 (January/February 2007), p. 52, Tues_19th_Oct_SCL.html. source software is largely dependent http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ 19. Ian Davis, “Talis, Web 2.0, and All That,” on the requirements of the e-learning erm0712.pdf. Internet Alchemy blog, July 4, 2005, industry, which itself has to endure 5. Paul N. Courant and Rebecca J. Griffiths, http://iandavis.com/blog/2005/07/talis- “Software and Collaboration in Higher web-20-and-all-that. the test of time. Nearly 20 percent of Education: A Study of Open Source Soft- students who enroll for higher study 20. Brian Lamb, “Wide Open Spaces: Wikis, ware,” July 26, 2006, http://www.ithaka Ready or Not,” EDUCAUSE Review, vol. in the United States opt for e-courses, .org/about-ithaka/announcements/ooss- 39, no. 5 (September/October 2004), and the e-learning growth rate exceeds study-final-report. pp. 36–48, http://www.educause.edu/ir/ that of the traditional education sector, 6. Robert W. Hahn (ed.), James Bessen, library/pdf/ERM0452.pdf. David S. Evans, Lawrence Lessig, and but the emphasis is more on quantity 21. Larry Downes and Chunka Mui, Unleash- Bradford L. Smith, “Government Pol- 25 ing the Killer App: Digital Strategies for Mar- than quality. Getting qualified instruc- icy Toward Open Source Software,” ket Dominance (Boston: Harvard Business tors could prove difficult, for example. AEI-Brookings Joint Center for Regula- School Press, 1998), p. 152. Sometimes existing instructors have to tory Studies, Washington, D.C, Decem- 22. Budapest Open Access Initiative, http:// double or even triple their workload ber 2002, http://www.aei.brookings.org/ www.soros.org/openaccess. to manage online teaching. This can publications/abstract.php?pid=296. 7. “Perceived Disadvantages of Open Source 23. Chris Werry, “The Work of Educa- have an adverse effect on the quality of Models,” http://eu.conecta.it/paper/ tion in the Age of E-College,” First online courses. Also, e-learning has yet Perceived_disadvantages_ope.html. ­Monday, vol. 6, no. 5, May 7, 2001, to gain the confidence of employers. A 8. Christina Smart, “Choosing Open Source http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/ study conducted by Vault.com found Solutions,” JISC eLearning Focus, May issue6_5/werry. that around 77 percent of employers 17, 2005, http://www.elearning.ac.uk/ 24. Shamus McGillicuddy, “Vendors Duke It prefer online degrees from accredited, features/oss. Out Over Open Source ‘Forking’,” CIO News, June 7, 2007, http://searchcio.techtarget established universities.26 The exis- 9. “Making High-Quality Educational Con- tent and Tools Freely Available on the .com/originalContent/0,289142,sid19_ tence of multiple accreditation agencies Web,” Open Educational Resources, gci1259981,00.html. (regional, national, and specialized) is William and Flora Hewlett Founda- 25. Stephen R. Ruth, Martha Sammons, and a bit confusing, however.27 Centralized tion, http://www.hewlett.org/Programs/ Lindsey Poulin, “E-Learning at a Cross- accreditation might more effectively Education/OER/openEdResources.htm. roads: What Price Quality?” EDUCAUSE convince prospective employers of the 10. Curriki Global Education and Learning Quarterly, vol. 30, no. 2, 2007, pp. 32–39, Community, http://www.curriki.org/ http://www.educause.edu/apps/eq/ quality of an online program. xwiki/bin/view/Main/WebHome. eqm07/eqm0724.asp. Open source and digital education and 11. Connexions, http://cnx.org/. 26. Alex Wellen, “Degrees of Acceptance,” learning, separately and together, aim to 12. MIT OpenCourseWare, http://ocw.mit New York Times, July 30, 2006, http:// reach everyone. Although both move- .edu/OcwWeb/web/home/home/index www.nytimes.com/2006/07/30/ ments have gained considerable maturity, .htm. education/edlife/conted.html. a need for greater coordination exists. A 13. This law applies to the education sector in 27. Evan T. Robinson, “Accreditation of Dis- cohesive plan must bring together open England, Wales, and Scotland. See “Spe- tance Education Programs: A Primer,” source principles and technologies, educa- cial Educational Needs and Disability Act American Journal of Pharmaceutical Edu- 2001,” Office of Public Sector Informa- cation, vol. 68, no. 4, October 15, 2004, tional institutions, and economic factors tion, 2001, http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/ http://www.ajpe.org/aj6804/aj680495/ so that each component’s role is clearly acts2001/ukpga_20010010_en_1. aj680495.pdf. defined. Both open source and digital 14. Eric S. Raymond, “The Cathedral and education projects are taking their first the Bazaar,” First Monday, vol. 3, no. 3, tentative steps into the consumer world. Mar. 2, 1998, http://www.firstmonday Shaheen E. Lakhan ([email protected]) is .org/issues/issue3_3/raymond/#d1. They have a long way to go before they Executive Director and Kavita Jhunjhun- 15. Sean Carton, “Web 2.0: What Is It enter the mainstream, but together they Really?” ClickZ Network, March 5, wala is Research Consultant for the Global have great potential to change forever the 2007, http://www.clickz.com/showPage Neuroscience Initiative Foundation (GNIF) face of education. e .html?page=3625146. in Los Angeles, California.

40 EDUCAUSE QUARTERLY • Number 2 2008