Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Nathan D. Miller
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The Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Open Source
Software and Technology Solutions in Secondary Schools
strains, which our public schools are under today. Open source
technologies have opened many doors to schools that lack the funding
these technologies first hand and I know that schools that are aware of
for the individuals that develop and distribute this technology. There is
only the satisfaction of knowing that they have filled a need for
someone who could not afford it themselves. This spirit is what makes
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This article is basically a laundry list of examples and reasons why open source
technology is so beneficial. The author specifically cites examples from her experience
internationally in Africa and several other countries. The article outlines how open
source technology takes that monetary and proprietary pinch out of upgrading
technologies. The author goes on to talk about the development of new open source
technologies and how it is likely to continue to change the face of education in the future.
Open Source Software in Teaching Physics: A Case Study on Vector Algebra and
http://www.tojet.net/articles/518.htm
This article was a bit more technical in nature, but did an excellent job
teachers to “custom build” programs for their own use. Octave is the
name of the program used in this article and it was created in 1994 by
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Curtis, B. & Guohua, P. (2007, March). The International Review of Research
in Open
I chose this article because it does a really good job of highlighting the
this article focuses on a derivative of Linux that the Chinese call Red
Linux because they fear that the U.S. government could be embedding
open source technology for many of the same reasons that we in the
west have the flexibility, compatibility, cost savings, and the ease of
http://www.samag.com/documents/s=10108/sam0701a/0701a.htm
This article focused on the flexibility of Linux and in particular, the ability to use Linux
easily on not only servers, but on desktops and network devices as well. This article had
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lab for just over $3,000 as opposed to over $30,000 if we had used traditional Windows
based workstations. The article then moved to the flexibility of Linux on servers and
how a Linux file server is compatible with virtually every version of Windows ever made
whereas these different versions of windows were not even compatible with each other.
This article was about Moodle, and open source course management
system. Once again, this is a technology I get to deal with daily in our
theory. The author stated that this was done via journals, private discussion
boards, chat rooms, assignment, workshop and file exchange areas, quiz and survey
support, mail integration and more. Like the other open source solutions we have looked
Computer Science
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Education. Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges, 18(3), 1-7.
http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=771712.771716
This article began with a brief introduction to open source technology and then went into
a detailed discussion of several of the more prominent licenses used in open source
software. The article then addressed the topic of open source software in education in
general, including the K12 Linux Project, of which the K12LTSP later became a part.
The article then moved to address the used of open source technology in science
education in particular. Here the author addressed both large open source software
packages as well as open source programs that allow the instructor to develop their own
work.
Pfaffenberger, B. (2000, March 2). Linux in Higher Education: Open Source, Open
Minds, Social Justice. Linux Journal. 1-10. Retrieved April 20, 2007 from
http://www.linuxjournal.com/node/5071/print
This article began with a brief introduction and quickly turned to questioning closed
source software. The point was that when a piece of open source software is released,
you essentially have thousands of people “proofreading” your work and making
corrections. The author then entered a lengthy argument that the concept of computer
literacy is now becoming more or less “Microsoft literacy”. The author then addressed
the potential for open source software to help close the digital divide. With its greatly
reduced cost and incredible hardware independence, open source software could be the
answer to this problem. The author then expanded this idea to the idea of social justice
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worldwide and then promoted Linux as the new international computing standard.
Sharp, J. & Huett, J. (2006, October 6). The Use of Open Source
Software in Education.
This article was basically a culmination of a large amount of literature on open source
technologies in education. This article was the only one that really addressed the
negative aspects of open source in education. This article even went so far as to contrast
the pedagogical strengths and weaknesses of open source technologies. The article then
moved into different examples of the applications of open source technology. The author
educational environments.
These articles really did a great job of restating what I have been learning since I
have been working at the Jeff Davis County school system. We contract part of our
technology work to a group called Linux Solutions Providers and they are the
embodiment of the ideas that these articles refer to. There is virtually nothing that we
have needed that there has not been an open source solution for. As a matter of fact, the
only real instance we have of using proprietary, commercial software is on our desktops
The general consensus of these articles was that open source technology is the
direction in which the world is headed. It is just an all-around better solution than
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anything the world has ever seen. It offers unparalleled flexibility, scalability, cost
savings, reliability, and security. I guess you could say that the only reason that people
are not fully adopting open source software today is that it is not what they are used to.
Windows has become the de-facto desktop operating system but with Linux and Mac
steadily chipping away at their market, we could see a drastic shift in the software world
over the next few years. I can only look forward to what the future will bring with
regards to open source technology, not only in education, but in the life of everyone on
this planet.