Libre software and educationExperiences from libre software projects
Experiences beyond the libre software world
New Trends from Libre Softwarethat May Change Education
EDUCON 2011 - Advances in the eMadrid Excellence Network
Gregorio Robles, J. M. Gonzalez Barahona, J. Fernandez
[email protected]/LibreSoft, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos
Amman, Jordan, April 4th, 2011
Gregorio Robles, J. M. Gonzalez Barahona, J. Fernandez New Trends from Libre Software that May Change Education
Libre software and educationExperiences from libre software projects
Experiences beyond the libre software world
c©2011 Gregorio Robles, Jesus M. Gonzalez-Barahona, Jorge Fernandez
Some rights reserved. This presentation is distributed under the“Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0” license, by Creative Commons, available at
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Gregorio Robles, J. M. Gonzalez Barahona, J. Fernandez New Trends from Libre Software that May Change Education
Libre software and educationExperiences from libre software projects
Experiences beyond the libre software world
Contribution of Libre Software to *-Learning
Figure: Libre Software has contributed with products.
Gregorio Robles, J. M. Gonzalez Barahona, J. Fernandez New Trends from Libre Software that May Change Education
Libre software and educationExperiences from libre software projects
Experiences beyond the libre software world
In this presentation...
We focus on procedural aspects that could beextrapolated from the libre software world to the
general educational sector.
(think of practices of creationand dissemination of knowledge)
Gregorio Robles, J. M. Gonzalez Barahona, J. Fernandez New Trends from Libre Software that May Change Education
Libre software and educationExperiences from libre software projects
Experiences beyond the libre software world
Libre Software and e-learning
Main reason why developers join (and stay) in libre softwareprojects is because of learning
Actually, getting involved in a libre software project is alearning activity!
Based on constructivism
Understanding is applied to learning (remember keynote:knowledge, wisdom!)
Acquired knowledge is more than hard skills
Programming (and debugging)!But social, legal, organizational, communication and other softskills as well
Gregorio Robles, J. M. Gonzalez Barahona, J. Fernandez New Trends from Libre Software that May Change Education
Libre software and educationExperiences from libre software projects
Experiences beyond the libre software world
Goals
To present some learning experiences from libre softwareprojects.
To present learning experiences based on the philosophy andpractices of libre software projects in educational settings
To have a brief discussion about them
Gregorio Robles, J. M. Gonzalez Barahona, J. Fernandez New Trends from Libre Software that May Change Education
Libre software and educationExperiences from libre software projects
Experiences beyond the libre software world
Related experiences
Linux certifications
RedHat, SuSE, LPI...Many materialsBut in the end not very different from getting certified for anyother technology
Seneca’s (Canadian College) agreement with the MozillaFoundation
Public materials... but courses not open to outsidersIt is an adaptation of the traditional curriculum to new ways ofdeveloping
Gregorio Robles, J. M. Gonzalez Barahona, J. Fernandez New Trends from Libre Software that May Change Education
Libre software and educationExperiences from libre software projects
Experiences beyond the libre software world
Experiences from libre software projects
How do libre software projects manage learning of theirparticipants?
Do they have systematic methods to enhance learning?
Do they have specific roles to promote learning?
...
Some experiences will be presented in the next slides...
Gregorio Robles, J. M. Gonzalez Barahona, J. Fernandez New Trends from Libre Software that May Change Education
Libre software and educationExperiences from libre software projects
Experiences beyond the libre software world
MySQL University
Technical education program aimed at participants in thedevelopment and inner workings of MySQL
Weekly sessions (now, after Oracle bought Sun, unclear)
Sessions are open to the public and recorded including slidesand audio,
Materials available under a free Creative Commons license
Gregorio Robles, J. M. Gonzalez Barahona, J. Fernandez New Trends from Libre Software that May Change Education
Libre software and educationExperiences from libre software projects
Experiences beyond the libre software world
GNOME Love
Initiative that aims to help people who want to startcontributing to the GNOME project,
Specific mailing list, an instant messaging channel(#gnome-love) on IRC and a web page with documentationfor beginners.
Encourages GNOME developers to mark simple bugs (orbeginners) in the bug tracking system
Gregorio Robles, J. M. Gonzalez Barahona, J. Fernandez New Trends from Libre Software that May Change Education
Libre software and educationExperiences from libre software projects
Experiences beyond the libre software world
Learning Ubuntu
Umbrella for various educational initiatives within the Ubuntuproject.
Program of conferences similar to the one by MySQLUniversity (although just text thru IRC)
Professional team specifically for organizing these tasks, led bythe Ubuntu Community Manager.
Gregorio Robles, J. M. Gonzalez Barahona, J. Fernandez New Trends from Libre Software that May Change Education
Libre software and educationExperiences from libre software projects
Experiences beyond the libre software world
Debian
Well defined process to be admitted as a new Debianpackage maintainer is a learning process, while at the sametime a selection process
Part of quality assurance efforts of Debian
maintainers of Debian are the members of the project andhave special rights
Guided by a mentor (a Debian maintainer)
Several steps from the knowledge and acceptance of thephilosophical guidelines of Debian, procedures or packagingactivities
Gregorio Robles, J. M. Gonzalez Barahona, J. Fernandez New Trends from Libre Software that May Change Education
Libre software and educationExperiences from libre software projects
Experiences beyond the libre software world
Experiences beyond the libre software world
Some organizations have tried to offer (formal and informal)educational activities that are
community-centered,open to anybodyand transversal to institutions
Some experiences will be shown in the next slides...
Gregorio Robles, J. M. Gonzalez Barahona, J. Fernandez New Trends from Libre Software that May Change Education
Libre software and educationExperiences from libre software projects
Experiences beyond the libre software world
Google Summer of Code
Program of scholarships / internships funded by Googleduring the summer months
College students can perform remunerated work offered byparticipating organizations
Organizations offer mentors (who also get paid)
According to sources at Google, about 30% of students whoattend the GSoC program remain in the projects
Gregorio Robles, J. M. Gonzalez Barahona, J. Fernandez New Trends from Libre Software that May Change Education
Libre software and educationExperiences from libre software projects
Experiences beyond the libre software world
openSE
Open Educational Software Framework For Computer ScienceEngineering
Initiative of institutions of higher education, libre softwareprojects and companies in various countries of Europe andAfrica
Provides educational materials focused on softwareengineering as well as resources and support so that studentscan carry out their own learning within the community of libresoftware
The novelty is that it systematically combines formal andinformal learning in an informal and unrestricted learningenvironment.
Gregorio Robles, J. M. Gonzalez Barahona, J. Fernandez New Trends from Libre Software that May Change Education
Libre software and educationExperiences from libre software projects
Experiences beyond the libre software world
p2p University
Project carried out by volunteers that organizes coursesoutside institutions and gives students recognition for theirachievements
Course organizers are volunteers who propose an idea andreceive help from a group of experts and community membersto create a comprehensive study guide, including material andsocial structure for the course
Evaluation design in P2PU focuses on participants to assessand provide feedback to the work of others.
Gregorio Robles, J. M. Gonzalez Barahona, J. Fernandez New Trends from Libre Software that May Change Education
Libre software and educationExperiences from libre software projects
Experiences beyond the libre software world
Summary
Solutions based on the libre software philosophy:
Learning is done in a community
There are sometimes roles, but these are dynamic and oftennot assigned
The learning process goes beyond the organization. Noaffiliation is required
There is a trend towards professionalization of those in chargeof making the community keep on learning
There is usually no accreditation. Recognition is givenby/inside the community
Gregorio Robles, J. M. Gonzalez Barahona, J. Fernandez New Trends from Libre Software that May Change Education
Libre software and educationExperiences from libre software projects
Experiences beyond the libre software world
Summary (and II)
What of the previous characteristics can be found in the initiativespresented?
Figure: Summary of initiatives and characteristics.
Gregorio Robles, J. M. Gonzalez Barahona, J. Fernandez New Trends from Libre Software that May Change Education
Libre software and educationExperiences from libre software projects
Experiences beyond the libre software world
Discussion
Will this way of learning be more frequent in
the future?
How will it impact education and institutions
(as we know them)?
...
Gregorio Robles, J. M. Gonzalez Barahona, J. Fernandez New Trends from Libre Software that May Change Education
Libre software and educationExperiences from libre software projects
Experiences beyond the libre software world
Conclusions
Libre software has already had high impact on tools andcontent
A second wave of influence could come from procedures andnew organizational models
Community learning, informal learning, flexible mentoring andlearning outside the scope of institutions are some of theelements that should attract the attention of researchers andeducation institutions
Gregorio Robles, J. M. Gonzalez Barahona, J. Fernandez New Trends from Libre Software that May Change Education
Libre software and educationExperiences from libre software projects
Experiences beyond the libre software world
New Trends from Libre Softwarethat May Change Education
EDUCON 2011 - Advances in the eMadrid Excellence Network
Gregorio Robles, J. M. Gonzalez Barahona, J. Fernandez
[email protected]/LibreSoft, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos
Amman, Jordan, April 4th, 2011
Gregorio Robles, J. M. Gonzalez Barahona, J. Fernandez New Trends from Libre Software that May Change Education