Amber Pryor Emerging Technology: Open Source

A Definition Open source literally means that the source code is “open,” or that it can be seen or accessed by anyone. This gives the user rights to freely use, modify, and redistribute, the code. The term “free software” is often used interchangeably or in conjunction with the term “open source.”

To what does Open Source pertain? Software (OpenOffice) Operating systems (LINUX) Web browsers (Mozilla Firefox) Android Apps Platforms (Wikis, Weblogs, Messageboards) (Most often, the term Open Source is used to describe software.)

What does it mean? It means that any person can access an open source product, modify or personalize it, and then redistribute the new product into the public market without worry about copyright, licensing or domain issues. For platforms (i.e. Wikipedia), it means that anyone can add, update, or otherwise modify information and then publish the new version.

Broader Definition You can apply the term open source to mean any product, system or platform that allows people to bring individual knowledge and information together in order to create a collaborative project. –Business management systemsBusiness management systems –Political partiesPolitical parties –ReligionReligion

Open Source AND Education

Open Source Software Schools can save money while increasing access for all students. They can download software, distribute it to students, customize it, have computer science students rip it apart and make it better, and much more. They can burn open source software onto a CD for students to take home and download to their home computer, no matter what operating system they use.

Open Source Platforms Wikis Blogs Messageboards These and more are platforms teachers can use in the classroom to allow students to collaborate knowledge and information.

Open Source Collaboration Google Docs Group members can work separately on a project document by opening, modifying and resaving the work from different computers and using different word processing programs. The newest version of the work can be accessed by any group member at any moment in time.

Potential Drawbacks An abundance of choices (i.e. Android apps) means it can be difficult and confusing to find what you need. You may need IT staff or an expert to be able to modify software. You are on your own since there is no help desk obligated to answer your questions.

Educational Resources OpenSource.com has a section dedicated to open source education resources.OpenSource.com OpenCulture.com provides a list of free educational resources for K-12 students, such as eBooks, music and videos.OpenCulture.com Kahn Academy includes hundreds of free tutorial videos in math, science, etc.Kahn Academy Cool Tools for Schools is a compilation list of software available for free download in the classroom.Cool Tools for Schools

References Lance Edgar, open source programmer classroomhttp://opensource.com/education/11/3/get-open-source-your- classroom source/slideshows/five-pros-and-five-cons-of-open-source-software/ source/slideshows/five-pros-and-five-cons-of-open-source-software/