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Sunday, October 22, 2006
Getting Open Source Software into Schools: Strategies and Challenges - Gary Hepburn and Jan Buley, Innovate
This article focuses on the sociopolitical aspects of implementing open source software (OSS) in schools. Supporters of such implementation make a compelling case for OSS based on the clear advantages it offers over commercial applications—advantages such as its low cost, its freedom from cumbersome usage restrictions, and its ethical value in promoting a more democratic form of technological practice (e.g., BECTA 2005; Hart 2003; Hepburn 2004, 2005; Open Options 2005; Tong 2004). However, while these benefits make the transition from commercial software to OSS attractive, actually making the change is a complicated process. Below we will briefly describe some approaches that may be used when integrating software change; we will then indicate several sociopolitical factors that may act as barriers to such change and discuss how these barriers may be addressed in the decision-making process. Our intention is to provide suggestions for leadership and research to support schools as they consider moving to OSS-based computing environments.
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