FLOSS (Free/Libre Open Source Software)

People say that Open Source Software may be the future in software development. I say, it is already here. Just some names: php, Apache, MySQL, wiki, linux, mozilla, perl, doom, moodle, e-class...

News:

3 July 2007: The Summer University of the FLOSScom project is launching, supported by Ubuntu! Participate, its free! See here!

Answer to the questions as regards what does learning in FLOSS feel like, a part which I moderate... (you have to subscribe first, its also free!)

31 May 2007: We organized (with success!) a workshop:

Learning with/in FLOSS
(Free / Libre Open Source Software)

A one day workshop was organized by the Software Engineering Group (SWENG) of the dept. of Informatics of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

• After a few short presentations on the scope of the workshop, emphasis was given to an extensive discussion with the participants, in order to elicit opinions and to answer questions regarding learning characteristics in FLOSS online communities.

An overview of the workshop is provided below.

Aims of the workshop:

• To investigate the educational impact of participation in online communities.
• To understand the way FLOSS environments function in terms of learning, teaching, instructional materials used, and technologies used.
• To analyze the learning processes within these communities and the learning outcomes.
• To identify the factors that contribute to successful knowledge construction in such communities.

Profile of the participants:

• Students of ICT
• Academic staff
• Software programers – Software managers
• Any kind of FLOSS participants
• Anybody interested in FLOSS development and participation.

Presentations:

• S. Sowe – The definition and working framework of FLOSS environments: stucture and roles.
• G. Zaphiriou – Five aspects of online cooperation.
• A. Karoulis – Learning in a FLOSS context: possibilities and questions.

Points of Discussion:

1. Parameters of learning in FLOSS
2. Boundaries of learning in online communities.
3. Learning responsibility in online learning and studying.
4. Learning roles in online cooperation.
5. The learning impact of the “gurus” and mentors in online communities.
6. FLOSS communication tools: do they facilitate or hinder learning?
7. Participation in mature or fresh projects: which is better for novices?
8. Feedback on learning outcomes in an online setting.
9. Generalization from what has been learned online to other domains: dream or reality?
10. FLOSS productivity and learning procedure: do they keep pace?
11. How is learning in FLOSS different from learning in a school/university?

Below are some photos from this workshop:

Audience	assos. prof. Ioannis Stamelos	Sulayman Sowe
Audience	S. Sowe	Vice-rector of Univ. of Macedonia K. Margaritis
Margaritis - Stamelos	Sowe - Zapheiriou	Zapheiriou - Karoulis - Antoniadis
Georgia Zapheiriou	Audience	Audience
G. Zapheiriou	Video: Introduction to the workshop (in Greek). ATTENTION 50 MB!	Audience