::fibreculture:: WebCT, Open Source and Beyond

[Julian Knowles]

On 09/08/2005, at 8:02 AM, Andrew Murphie wrote:

> But where are the big, major crits of WebCT and proprietary software 
> and systems in education?

i always feel terribly unfashionable when i raise these issues.. but i 
think there are some pragmatic problems/issues in using FOSS in 
teaching environments in that a lot of FOSS is very 'alpha' and 
unstable... This can really hinder student learning. For my own part, I 
think that stability and useability are key factors in choosing a 
software platform for teaching. I therefore use proprietary, commercial 
software over free/open source for most tasks. I simply could not run 
the courses I teach on free/open source software and it does not look 
like it will be possible in the near future either. Most of my 
discipline colleagues would be in the same position. That is not to 
say, that I am not supportive of using FOSS in teaching contexts... 
just that I need to use it alongside commercial apps rather than as a 
replacement for them.

I don't mind paying for things that work.... we don't expect free/open 
source chairs. pens, whatever.... What I don't liek doing is paying for 
software that doesn't work as advertised, or lacks decent support...  
ie those things you expect when you _do_ pay.

I use WebCT for what it can do... Sure, it is pretty clunky at times, 
and makes assumptions about the way people might want to access 
information on-line, but its not like you need to use it exclusively (I 
am make the same point again, I guess). It has some decent features and 
doesn't crash.. The problem is that many e-learning people treat is as 
a complete tool, when in many respects it is just one of a number of 
tools and approaches which can be used to teach.

/unfashionable position


julian






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