::fibreculture:: WebCT, Open Source and Beyond

[Chris Chesher]

On 09/08/2005, at 1:29 PM, Julian Knowles wrote:

> there are some pragmatic problems/issues in using FOSS in teaching 
> environments in that a lot of FOSS is very 'alpha' and unstable.


While free and open source software (FOSS) can be 'very alpha', there 
are many examples where it is superior to commercial software. And 
there are several reasons collectively for Universities to support FOSS 
into the future.

I've been using Moodle <http://moodle.org> for the first time this 
semester. After being lumbered with WebCT for so long, it's wonderful 
to start using a learning management system which has an information 
architecture and interaction design concepts in line with my pedagogy. 
Moodle allows teachers to attach interactive and content tasks to 
specific weekly topics (where WebCT presents just a collection of tools 
with little relation to content). Moodle incorporates a wiki engine, 
and future versions will have strong blogging features, as well as 
integration with LAMS <>.

Moodle has more granular and useable surveillance features than WebCT. 
I agree with Ian that these can be useful in being fair in assessment. 
However, I also with Lisa that the question of who gets access to this 
surveillance data is important. I don't think it's appropriate for such 
identified data to be available to anyone besides the course convenor.

There are strategic reasons why public institutions should invest in 
FOSS. FOSS offers educational institutions a better business model than 
commercial software. At the moment, Universities not only invest large 
amounts to maintain software licences, but spend even more supporting 
these proprietary systems. Support tasks are restricted by the 
inflexibility of black-boxed software (where open source can be 
customised or added to), and there is no return from this labour to the 
institution. When support staff learn to use and customise these 
systems, the institution becomes even more closely tied to companies 
which won't necessarily be there next year anyway, and don't provide 
comprehensive support.

By devoting the same resources to support and develop open source 
infrastructures, the quality issues for FOSS will quickly disappear 
(and where they don't, as Anna points out this doesn't necessarily 
preclude learning). In a mixed economy, Universities are often better 
off avoiding being tied to the market where it is not appropriate. They 
should neither outsource their own core expertise in creating and using 
educational technologies to commercial interests, nor should they try 
to become part of the market by the wasteful and risky path of 
commercialising their own IP. I'm really advocating a return to 
old-fashioned values of research-led teaching, peer-review, 
collegiality, and Universities contributing to the common wealth of the 
community.


Chris

--
Dr Chris Chesher
Director, Arts Informatics
School of English, Art History, Film and Media
Room S314 John Woolley Building A20
University of Sydney NSW 2006 Australia

Phone: +61 2 9036 6173 Fax: +61 2 9351 2434
e-mail: chris.chesher at arts.usyd.edu.au
Web: http://www.arts.usyd.edu.au/departs/informatics/