::fibreculture:: WebCT, Open Source and Beyond

[Anna Munster]

>

Julian - your point below:
> 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...

don't you think that in choosing to steer students away from the 
"unstable" you are also making certain assumptions about what you want 
as your learning outcomes from them?

What if instead of wanting them to be good "users" you are trying to 
assist students in dealing with a very unstable, mobile and alpha world 
(ie the contemporary life we all lead outside of protected proprietary 
bubbles) in which they will constantly have to encounter changes in 
software, crashes breakdowns of communications services, outages etc.

My problem with WebCT is not just the fact that one has to pay for it 
but that it comes with a whole set of assumptions about the world -ie 
it's enclosed, it is a space in which one monitors and is monitored, it 
draws strict bounds etc.

Sure a lot of FLOSS is not useable but a lot is. And the arguments 
about WebCT vs using other things ie blogs, wikis etc in universities 
is increasingly centred around the issue of IP as Ned states.

However IP is a very complex issue - it is not just about who 
financially owns the knowledge produced but how the knowledge is 
associated with the overall image of the institution and who owns and 
has access to that image/branding. So, one of the  issues around use of 
web-based tools in the university classroom and also by staff (rather 
than the use of intranets such as WebCT) has to do with the ways in 
which students and/or staff 'speak" for the university in spaces that 
the institution cannot directly  monitor and control.

Believe me this is not Big Brother paranoia. Right now a key debate at 
UNSW is about whether staff are going to be allowed to identify 
themselves as staff AND publicly speak (including on their blogs) in 
areas deemed outside their expertise. (whatever that means - presumably 
that one is not supposed to be a uni staff member and have opinions)

Blogs and the like are deemed by university management as unruly and 
potentially damaging to the professional image of the university. IP is 
as much about IMAGE property as it is about intellectual property and 
the debate about what software to use in the tertiary sector is very 
much imbricated with the question of image.

cheers
anna

Dr. Anna Munster
Senior Lecturer
Post-Graduate Coordinator
School of Art History and Theory,
College of Fine Arts
University of NSW
P.O Box 259
Paddington, 2021
NSW
Australia
ph: 612 9385 0741
fx: 612 9385 0615
CRICOS Provider code 00098G