Technology for Learning

photo credit: Todd Baker << technowannabe

Recently I responded to a colleague’s question as he pondered whether to introduce open source to his school district. I recalled that advice as I commented a few days ago on Dave Snowden’s blog Cognitive Edge on a related issue. Dave’s post was that open source is not the same as freeware. Navigating the maze of open source, free ware, open content and all other social learning tools is just that – a maze for many responsible for delivering technology solutions in K-12.

So here is my take on the issue, and the advice I gave to my colleague.

First, I think it’s important to consider where standards are most important. Teachers say that when they turn it on they want it to work. Well, much of what “makes it work” is the lower layers where standards are critical – in the network, the switching gear, the operating system and, to a certain extent, the browser (even FireFox has a standard platform you can count on).

Second, we need to be clear about what we mean when we say “open source”. There is lots of open source software that IT departments know well and do support. Often written in PHP, IT staff learn and support these environments in much the same way they support Visual C and Basic. Moodle and Drupal fall into this category. That’s one kind of open source.

The other kind of open source I would prefer to call open tools. This would include things like VoiceThread, Ning, Googledocs and Wikispaces. These are tools that have a free version available for use, and often an ad-free version for K-12. Open tools are provided as long as the provider chooses to do so, usually as long as the business model continues to be profitable (they’re supported by ads on the “free” versions and paying customers on enhanced services). Open tools typically have a simple user interface that is designed for a novice user.

So does open source have a place in education? Absolutely, in my opinion. I recommend using commercial components at the lower layers (network, switches, OS, browser) where standards provide a stable reliable platform. At the application layer, choose open source or proprietary software (or a mix) on the basis of the functionality and total cost effectiveness for your situation. (Looking at the total cost of ownership, the district size may be a determinant in choosing where open source or proprietary is the right choice. A mix is always possible.) Then you can consider open tools to support personalized learning models for your students. One way to create reliability/availability of the tool is to put the code on your own servers (wordpress, for example) and this has the added benefit of keeping the student data inside the district wall as well (there is a security issue to consider). It’s still an open tool even if you run it yourself.

We also must remember that even proprietary software is subject to change, often significant (as the change to Office 2007 and Vista), and we must all learn to adapt to an ever-changing technology landscape. Part of using the technology today is learning how to be adaptive.

Finally, I often think that Google wouldn’t exist without the proliferation of Windows laptops on which to run it. It’s not an either/or, it’s a both/and.