The Only Reason to Push Open Source Solutions
Our zeal for promoting Open Source Solutions needs to be tempered with the “rock-bottom-basic” realization that each school district’s job is to teach, instruct and drive student achievement. Promoting Open Source makes sense only in that context.
Do we perform a disservice to the Open Source Movement if we push Open Source for any other reason except improving instruction and enhancing student achievement?
Open Source advocates have to be clear about the benefits and features of the solutions that we recommend. (Open Source Solutions comprise more than free software.) And, any confusion about our marketing message limits our effectiveness in promoting Open Source Solutions.
And, we need to remember that teachers and students want benefits and value. Teachers and students care nothing about requirements, specifications and or who manufactures the software.
Just labeling a product as “Open Source” fails to elevate junk-code to the level of a “killer app.” The proof is in the results, the ease that the results were obtained, and the closeness of fit between the teaching and learning goals and the measurable outcomes that were recorded.
Ethical Considerations
We also have an ethical obligation to provide “full disclosure” to the people that we wish to help. (In this case, teachers and students.)
Inaccuracies and hype come as a detriment to our Open Source movement. So does pushing free software as a easy choice for school districts; but “forgetting to mention” that professional development costs remain constant, or, “forgetting to mention” that professional development and classroom support, not software, are the key factors (independent variables) affecting the improvement in instructional delivery and teacher performance is an abrogation of our duty to inform.
“Free and Cheap”
There are a lot of issues beyond “free” and “cheap” that affect technology decisions. In fact, “free” and “cheap” may be the least viable reasons for promoting Open Source Solutions.
There are also other questions that need to be answered when promoting an Open Source project or program. For example…
What legal and school district policy issues come into play if a teacher decides to…
- Install software on school district computers?
- Give software to students to install at home?
- Post online course materials without school district approval?
- Allow students to bring in disks, CDs and USB drives with files that the students worked on at home?
What classroom, instructional management and logistical issues come into play if…
- A teacher gets approval to install these software programs on a single classroom computer?
- Twenty plus students all want to add time-consuming graphics to their subject/ content-area reports?
Classical Wisdom and Software Choice
Software decisions (including Open Source decisions) should be based upon the jobs that need to be completed with the use of that software.
Open Source advocates must start at the level of instructional objectives and measurable student outcomes. Software solutions can only be prescribed after examining the measurable outcomes that need to be met. If measurable student outcomes fail to drive the software choice decision, the project will fail to build the data that demonstrates that the investment was justified.
(Note: there are always investments. Free software does not mean “free” in terms of teacher, student and IT staff time. Free software also does not mean “free” in terms of opportunity costs; i.e., spending time on non-instructional, non-productive tasks instead of spending time on instructional tasks that pay off in terms of student achievement.)
If any Open Source advocate begins to tell you what Open Source software you need before this advocate asks you to define your instructional and student outcome goals in measurable terms, run, don’t walk to the nearest exit. Such a person may be a zealot, not a solid and reliable resource. Recommendations from zealots are by definition, “suspect.”
Ready for Prime Time?
Open Source advocates also might tell you that Open Source Solutions are ready for “prime time.”
This is true of some Open Source products, but it is not true of lots and lots of them.
“Buyer Beware!” is always true, even if you are “buying for free.”
So, ask the Open Source advocate to define “ready for prime time” in instructional terms, and specific, measurable goals. The Open Source advocate should be able to spell out specific instructional benefits…benefits that you can count, measure and record. Providing “operational definitions” of “ready for prime time” will strengthen the case for adopting Open Source Solutions.
Specific answers received from Open Source proponents will separate the educators (who know what teachers and students need) from the zealots who desire to prescribe what educators should get.
What generally happens is that teachers just ignore the hype and fluff that Open Source zealots peddle. This in turn, diminishes the perceived value of Open Source Solutions (or causes Open Source Solutions to become invisible), because teachers learn to ignore messages that fail to communicate that the teacher’s best interest is what motivates the recommendation.
Zeal, passion and commitment are hallmarks of genius and great marketing. Just be sure that our Open Source promotions are balanced with specific, honest claims and a vision of the issues as seen through the eyes of the teachers and students that we wish to serve.
