Uncovering the Open Movement

1. Uncovering the Open Movement Implications for Publishing & Pedagogy SIDRU Seminar October 20, 2004 Presented by Alec Couros

2. Introduction What is the ‘open’ movement?

3. Technical Foundation of the Movement • The ‘open’ movement finds it roots in the hacker culture of the 1960’s, and initially in the context of software. • A world-wide movement: “best way to produce software that will be sophisticated, robust, and (relatively) bug-free is to enlist the cooperation of interested, skilled, altruistic programmers who are willing to work for free” (Wyllys, 2000) • Fundamentally and functionally, a cooperative movement. • Famous examples: Linux (operating system), Apache (web server), Perl (programming language) and BIND (supports Internet domain naming). • The Internet, as we know it today, would not be possible without open source software.

4. Free as in Freedom, Not as in Beer • Two main categories of “free software” • Software that can be distributed or copied without payment (think free beer or gratis). • Software that can be copied, used, studied, modified, distributed, etc., with few or no restrictions (think free speech or liberty). • The latter definition is sometimes referred to as "software libre", from the French "logiciel libre" and the Spanish "software libre". • The Open Source Movement refers to those people who advocate the principles of free (as in freedom) software

5. Conversion of Human Thought to Machine Code Unless developers make source code available, the code is almost always impossible to retrieve, modify or improve.

6. Social Conditions for Success • Community need • Must fill a wider need or niche. • Often competes with an established product. • Community communication • Rapid exchange of all product information • Rapid sharing of resources • Non hierarchical social structure • lack of control relationships • trust that quality will emerge from an unstructured process.

7. Relevance to Education • The OS Movement, in theory, moves well beyond software. The movement involves various inquiries into the nature of intellectual property and the creation and dissemination of information (e.g., open content, open publishing). • The OS movement is often described and situated as a reactive event. While some advocates target large monopolies (e.g., Microsoft), essentially, the reaction is a check against dominance or control. • The open source movement has really moved beyond software, and has now inspired the ‘open movement’ which includes open publishing and open content. • *** The open movement can be seen as a culture, an ideology, and a better way for humans to work together on shared pursuits.

8. Popular Examples • Open Source Software: Linux (alternative to MS Windows), Open Office (alternative to MS Office), the GIMP (alternative to Adobe Photoshop) • Open Content • CourseWare and Learning Object repositories: MIT’s OpenCourseWare Initiative, CAREO, MERLOT, CLOE, DLORN. • Wikis: Wikipedia, Wikitravel, Wikibooks. • Texts: California Open Textbook Project, • Free “As in Beer” Content • Journals: Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) • Literature: Project Gutenberg • Open Publishing • IndyMedias: Independent Media Centre, TearItAllDown • Blogging Services: Blogger, LiveJournal • Other: Student Publishing

9. Tensions Dichotomous World Views

10. Opposing Forces Open vs. Closed Broadcast vs. Conversation Institution vs. Individual Hierarchy vs. Network Centralized vs. Decentralized Product vs. Remix Planned vs. Chaotic Static vs. Dynamic Push vs. Pull From Steven Downes Utah Presentation, 2004

11. Virtual Counterparts Internet vs. Television Blogging vs. Newspapers Fax Machine vs. Courier Services Skype vs. the Telephone Email vs. Snail Mail Technology... the knack of so arranging the world that we don't have to experience it. ~Max Frisch From Steven Downes Utah Presentation, 2004

12. Reclaiming the Gift Economy • Theorists have compared the Internet economy, and particularly open source communities, to that of the “Gift Economy” which was practiced traditionally by North American First Nation tribes and ancient Chinese societies (Cheal, 1988, Mauss, 1990). “Within small tribal societies, the circulation of gifts established close personal bonds between people. In contrast, the academic gift economy is used by intellectuals who are spread across the world. Despite the anonymity of the modern version of the gift economy, academics acquire intellectual respect from each other through citations in articles and other forms of public acknowledgement. Scientists therefore can only obtain personal recognition for their individual efforts by openly collaborating with each other through the academic gift economy. Although research is being increasingly commercialised, the giving away of findings remains the most efficient method of solving common problems within a particular scientific discipline.” (Barbrook, 1998, Online)

13. The Attention Economy? • Michael Goldhaber (1997) has developed ideas around what he labels the “attention economy.” While the capabilities of computer technologies and available information resources grow at incredible speeds, the relative capacity of human processing remains virtually unchanged. • Humans simply are unable to process as much information as they are exposed to in a single day. Goldhaber suggests that in an age of information abundance, attention is a scarcity and therefore has great value. • In an economy of abundance, there is more potential value in what is “given away”.

14. Implications For Publishing, Pedagogy … the Classroom and the Institution

15. Open Source Software (OSS) • Economic: Increased access through free and/or affordable software. • In Mexico, the ScholarNet program is equipping 140,00 computers with Linux. Director of the program estimates that the savings to be about $835/machine ($885 with Windows, $50 with Linux) • In South Africa, the Zingasa Comprehensive School in Umtata has created a computer learning centre with old 386-based computers running Linux. This is one of 28,000 schools in S.A. which will eventually be using OSS. • In France,350 primary and secondary schools in the Grenoble academic district are accessing the Internet through Linux servers and using OSS.

16. Further Implications (OSS) • Economic: Open Source leads out of dependence on one or few vendors. • Social: The Open Source process has the potential for community building, and the collaborative/distributive development of common tools and content. • Social/Philosophical: Through a reduced TCO (total cost of ownership), schools can provide greater access to “free” content. Less money is spent on infrastructure. • Technical: The open source model claims a better, less expensive, technical support infrastructure and better quality applications.

17. Open Content: MIT, etc. "Our central value is people and the human experience of faculty working with students in classrooms and laboratories, and students learning from each other, and the kind of intensive environment we create in our residential university." ~ Dr. Charles Dr. Vest, President, MIT, 2001

18. Open Content: Creative Commons GO

19. Blogging as a Social Act • A blog is basically a journal that is available on the web. The activity of updating a blog is "blogging" and someone who keeps a blog is a "blogger." • Blogs are typically updated daily using software that allows people with little or no technical background to update and maintain the blog. • Distinction: Publishing a blog vs. the “social act of blogging”. • Habermas: Blogging may represent a communicative action into the sphere of intersubjectivity known as the "life-world" (the sphere where everyday practices are interpreted, negotiated, given social significance, and where human meaning is both made and made use of by thinking and acting subjectivities). This communicative act, for Habermas, represented a way out of the oppression and monopolization.

24. REAL Implications • Student Publishing and Perceptions: “Why should I hand in my assignments to you, when I can publish to the masses”. (Grade 5 Student, Edmonton Alberta). • The concept and realizations of “the invisible college”. What are the implications? • Greater access to knowledge (not publicly funded knowledge tied up in commercial, subscription-based journals), and freedom to edit and distribute. • Example: Lessig’s “Free Culture”

25. Real Implications (cont.)

26. Blogging in K-12 • Secret Life of Bees (Novel Study) • Student site • Parallel parent site • Teacher Mentoring/Supervision - http://www.edithere.com/eyt/ "Through the use of our Weblog we've been able to build a relationship, engage in reflective practice, have interactive opportunities that develop and broaden our knowledge base, and document evidence of growth and refinement in the practice” • Web-logged • Resource for blogging and RSS in education • http://www.weblogg-ed.com/ • Using Wikis and Blogs in the Classroom • http://edtech.coedit.net/WikisInTheClassroom • Sample Wiki - Teacher Resource Wiki • http://www.educationaltechnology.ca/wiki/

27. Key Understanding: RSS • Weblogs may not appear to be technically different than a standard webpage, however a key difference is the use of a technology called RSS. • RSS (Really Simple Syndication) allows readers to subscribe to weblogs through a news reader. • Some free newsreaders include • FeedReader (PC Software) • NetNewsWire Lite (Mac Software) • Bloglines (Web-based News Reader) • Show Demo of Reader in Action

28. Resources Where to get started with the open movement and educational blogging.

29. Starting Places • Creative Commons • http://www.creativecommons.org (or .ca) • Wikipedia • http://www.wikipedia.org • Couros Blog • http://www.educationaltechnology.ca/couros • Article “Inside the Ivory Tower” - Blogging in Higher Ed. • http://www.guardian.co.uk/online/story/0,3605,1310111,00.html • Article “Educational Blogging” - Stephen Downes • http://www.educause.edu/pub/er/erm04/erm0450.asp • Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) • http://www.doaj.org • Many more weblog related articles • http://elmine.wijnia.com/weblog/references.html • Scholars Who Blog http://alex.halavais.net/files/ScholarsWhoBlog

30. Contact This presentation can be downloaded at: http://www.educationaltechnology.ca/couros click ‘Presentations’, then ‘Recent’, Considering setting up a blog for you or your students? Want to know more about open source software, or open content? Please contact me - email: alec.couros@uregina.ca, or Google me: keyword, ‘couros’ Thank you for your time and attention.