Preparing for the Virtual Workplace in the Educational Commons

2011 ◽  
pp. 334-344
Author(s):  
Gary Hepburn
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environment ◽  
Student Learning ◽  
Open Source ◽  
Open Source Software ◽  
Online Communication ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Potential Contribution ◽  
Business World ◽  
Virtual Workplace ◽  
Use Of Resources

This chapter explores the potential of an educational commons to help schools better prepare students for the virtual workplace. Together with the formation of stronger linkages between schools and the business world, making greater use of resources such as open source software in both school and business would greatly reduce costs and enable students to be better prepared to participate in the virtual workplace. With the virtual workplace’s emphasis on online communication technologies as a primary tool for completing day-to-day tasks, schools must acquire the hardware and software as well as explore ways of incorporating these tools into the student learning. To reduce the expense of doing so and to ensure that the environments in which students learn reflect that of the workplace, both organizations should consider using more accessible software and working more closely together. Conceptualizing the ideal learning environment as an educational commons, this chapter will explore open source resources and their potential contribution to education and some of the opportunities as well as the challenges that will be encountered as open source resources are introduced to education and business.

scholarly journals Merging a Remote Microscope and Virtual Worlds: Teaching Kingdom Plantae on Basic Education

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (04) ◽  
pp. 27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Porto Antonio ◽  
João Paulo Lima ◽  
João Bosco Alves ◽  
Juarez Bento Silva ◽  
José Pedro Simão
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environment ◽  
Open Source ◽  
Science Teaching ◽  
Open Source Software ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Basic Education ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Virtual Learning Environment ◽  
Educational Tool ◽  
Plant Parts

This paper presents an educational tool based on open source software and low cost hardware to supplement science teaching, merging concepts of remote experiment, virtual worlds and virtual learning environment. Using an avatar, students can move around in an enriched environment and access a remote microscope that enables visualization of plant parts and interaction with the available samples.

Developing a Dynamic and Responsive Online Learning Environment

2011 ◽  
pp. 92-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet Buchan
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Open Source ◽  
Open Source Software ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Appropriate Technology ◽  
Online Learning Environment ◽  
Institutional Level ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Community Source

Charles Stuart University adopted the open source software, Sakai, as the foundation for the university’s new, integrated Online Learning Environment. This study explores whether a pedagogical advantage exists in adopting such an open source learning management system. Research suggests that the community source approach to development of open source software has many inherent pedagogical advantages, but this paper examines whether this is due to the choice of open source software or simply having access to appropriate technology for learning and teaching in the 21st century. The author also addresses the challenges of the project management methodology and processes in the large-scale implementation of an open-source courseware management solution at the institutional level. Consequently, this study outlines strategies that an institution can use to harness the potential of a community source approach to software development to meet the institutional and individual user needs into the future.

Free Software Implementation Experiences for the Promotion of the Liquid Society

2010 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 36-47
Author(s):  
C. De Pablos Heredero ◽  
D. López Berzosa
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Climate ◽  
Open Source ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Open Source Software ◽  
Digital Literacy ◽  
Organizational Factors ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Political Support ◽  
Organizational Complexity ◽  
Information And Communication

Information and communication technologies have changed the way in which citizens interact with Public Administrations. Digital literacy is key for the development of the Liquid Society, and Public Administrations must take the lead in promoting more efficient, universal, and user oriented public services. The migration to open source standards allows Public Administration to offer more democratic, universal, and efficient channels for establishing relationships with citizens. In this article, the authors present international experiences that show how certain Public Administrations have migrated to open source software to promote digital literacy in the contexts they are operating. The final results depend on contextual and organizational factors, including the need to change, the political support and the existence of available technological resources, the organizational climate, motivation levels of human resources, and the kind of leadership for the project or the organizational complexity. Change efforts have strategic and organizational impacts that the organization must evaluate beforehand.

Engaging the Students in Activity Based Learning for Future Employability

2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 38-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret Ross ◽  
Geoff Staples ◽  
Mark Udall
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environment ◽  
Lifelong Learning ◽  
Open Source ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Open Source Software ◽  
Group Work ◽  
Learning Approach ◽  
Professional Issues ◽  
Direct Benefit

The paper discusses the introduction of Activity Based Learning for professional issues for undergraduate students in the School of Computing and Communications at Southampton Solent University. Its aim is to assist the students with their final year project and future employability. The use of the university’s learning environment, based on the Moodle open source software as a key component of the Activity Based Learning, the preparation by the students prior to the tutorials, and the group work within the tutorials are described. The views of the students on this approach are discussed. The paper describes how the students become more self reliant and self motivated in their learning approach. This will be of direct benefit to them in maintaining lifelong learning in their future profession.

scholarly journals Bionitio: demonstrating and facilitating best practices for bioinformatics command-line software

GigaScience ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Georgeson ◽  
Anna Syme ◽  
Clare Sloggett ◽  
Jessica Chung ◽  
Harriet Dashnow ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Software Development ◽  
Open Source ◽  
Open Source Software ◽  
Command Line ◽  
Use Of Resources ◽  
Excellent Starting Point ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Bioinformatics Software ◽  
Programming Practices

Abstract Background Bioinformatics software tools are often created ad hoc, frequently by people without extensive training in software development. In particular, for beginners, the barrier to entry in bioinformatics software development is high, especially if they want to adopt good programming practices. Even experienced developers do not always follow best practices. This results in the proliferation of poorer-quality bioinformatics software, leading to limited scalability and inefficient use of resources; lack of reproducibility, usability, adaptability, and interoperability; and erroneous or inaccurate results. Findings We have developed Bionitio, a tool that automates the process of starting new bioinformatics software projects following recommended best practices. With a single command, the user can create a new well-structured project in 1 of 12 programming languages. The resulting software is functional, carrying out a prototypical bioinformatics task, and thus serves as both a working example and a template for building new tools. Key features include command-line argument parsing, error handling, progress logging, defined exit status values, a test suite, a version number, standardized building and packaging, user documentation, code documentation, a standard open source software license, software revision control, and containerization. Conclusions Bionitio serves as a learning aid for beginner-to-intermediate bioinformatics programmers and provides an excellent starting point for new projects. This helps developers adopt good programming practices from the beginning of a project and encourages high-quality tools to be developed more rapidly. This also benefits users because tools are more easily installed and consistent in their usage. Bionitio is released as open source software under the MIT License and is available at https://github.com/bionitio-team/bionitio.

scholarly journals Canadian Public Libraries and their Interest in Open Source Software (OSS)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dinesh Rathi
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Open Source ◽  
Open Source Software ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
Evaluation Criteria ◽  
Prise De Décision ◽  
Use Of Resources ◽  
Insight Into

This study presents findings of research conducted in the Open Source Software (OSS) domain in a Canadian public libraries context. The findings from the survey will provide insight into various facets such as use, benefits and challenges of OSS from Canadian libraries’ perspective, OSS evaluation criteria, use of resources to learn about OSS, and decision-making associated with OSS in Canadian libraries context.Cette étude présente les résultats de recherches menées dans le domaine des logiciels libres (Open Source Software - OSS) dans le contexte des bibliothèques publiques canadiennes. Les résultats du sondage fourniront un aperçu de diverses facettes telles que l'utilisation, les avantages et les défis des logiciels libres, du point de vue des bibliothèques canadiennes, des critères d'évaluation des logiciels libres, de l'utilisation des ressources pour en apprendre davantage sur les logiciels libres, et la prise de décision associée aux logiciels libres dans le contexte des bibliothèques canadiennes.

Wikis as an Exemplary Model of Open Source Learning

2011 ◽  
pp. 681-689 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Fitzgerald
Keyword(s):  
Open Source ◽  
Open Source Software ◽  
Knowledge Creation ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Information Communication Technologies ◽  
Web Pages ◽  
Information Communication ◽  
Free Spirit ◽  
Exemplary Model

In their simplest form, Wikis are Web pages that allow people to collaboratively create and edit documents online. Key principles of simplicity, robustness, and accessibility underlie the wiki publication system. It is the open and free spirit of Wikis fundamental to open source software (OSS) that offers new contexts for learning and knowledge creation with technology. This chapter will briefly consider the role of technology in learning before discussing Wikis and their development. The emerging literature on the application of Wikis to education will be reviewed and discussed. It will be argued that Wikis embody an exemplary model of open source learning that has the potential to transform the use of information communication technologies in education.

Engaging the Students in Activity Based Learning for Future Employability

2012 ◽  
pp. 169-180
Author(s):  
Margaret Ross ◽  
Geoff Staples ◽  
Mark Udall
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environment ◽  
Lifelong Learning ◽  
Open Source ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Open Source Software ◽  
Group Work ◽  
Learning Approach ◽  
Professional Issues ◽  
Direct Benefit

The paper discusses the introduction of Activity Based Learning for professional issues for undergraduate students in the School of Computing and Communications at Southampton Solent University. Its aim is to assist the students with their final year project and future employability. The use of the university’s learning environment, based on the Moodle open source software as a key component of the Activity Based Learning, the preparation by the students prior to the tutorials, and the group work within the tutorials are described. The views of the students on this approach are discussed. The paper describes how the students become more self reliant and self motivated in their learning approach. This will be of direct benefit to them in maintaining lifelong learning in their future profession.

Developing a Dynamic and Responsive Online Learning Environment

2010 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet Buchan
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Open Source ◽  
Open Source Software ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Appropriate Technology ◽  
Online Learning Environment ◽  
System Research ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Community Source

Charles Stuart University adopted the open source software, Sakai, as the foundation for the university’s new, integrated Online Learning Environment. This study explores whether a pedagogical advantage exists in adopting such an open source learning management system. Research suggests that the community source approach to development of open source software has many inherent pedagogical advantages, but this paper examines whether this is due to the choice of open source software or simply having access to appropriate technology for learning and teaching in the 21st century. The author also addresses the challenges of the project management methodology and processes in the large-scale implementation of an open-source courseware management solution at the institutional level. Consequently, this study outlines strategies that an institution can use to harness the potential of a community source approach to software development to meet the institutional and individual user needs into the future.

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