Computers have been used in education for over a decade, and while the scope of their usage has changed over the years, they are still largely restricted to be used as instructive media. This usage stems primarily from the use of closed systems that are unavailable for study. With FOSS, students get to experience a whole new way of learning - by doing. This not only takes a large load off of an instructor's shoulders, but also prepares students for an industry that moves too fast to jump on to. This talk will cover how FOSS helps in education, and also touch upon the role of computers in education. We will also list real world examples where students have benefited from an open curriculum. Blog post: http://tech.bluesmoon.info/2005/11/why-foss-in-education-makes-sense.html

1. Why Foss in Education makes sense
Philip Tellis / philip@bluesmoon.info
Yahoo!
FOSS.IN/2005 – 2005/12/01
FOSS.IN/2005 – 2005/12/01 Why Foss in Education makes sense

2. $ whoami
Philip Tellis
philip@bluesmoon.info
@bluesmoon
yahoo
geek
FOSS.IN/2005 – 2005/12/01 Why Foss in Education makes sense

3. What this talk is not about
Educational tools under linux
Free educational tools
Cost benefits of using foss in schools
FOSS.IN/2005 – 2005/12/01 Why Foss in Education makes sense

4. What this talk is about
Foss as a means of fostering education
Foss as a means of validating research
The fossification of education
FOSS.IN/2005 – 2005/12/01 Why Foss in Education makes sense

5. The role of computers in education
Computer Education
Other Education
Academic related
Administrative
FOSS.IN/2005 – 2005/12/01 Why Foss in Education makes sense

6. The role of computers in education
Instruction delivery
Instruction enabling
Administration
FOSS.IN/2005 – 2005/12/01 Why Foss in Education makes sense

7. Instruction delivery
Throw information at students until they know it all
Don’t let them go ahead unless they pass all tests
Throw data at students and let them process it
Let the student derive information
FOSS.IN/2005 – 2005/12/01 Why Foss in Education makes sense

8. Instruction delivery
Throw information at students until they know it all
Don’t let them go ahead unless they pass all tests
Throw data at students and let them process it
Let the student derive information
FOSS.IN/2005 – 2005/12/01 Why Foss in Education makes sense

9. Instruction delivery
Throw information at students until they know it all
Don’t let them go ahead unless they pass all tests
Throw data at students and let them process it
Let the student derive information
FOSS.IN/2005 – 2005/12/01 Why Foss in Education makes sense

10. Instruction delivery
Throw information at students until they know it all
Don’t let them go ahead unless they pass all tests
Throw data at students and let them process it
Let the student derive information
FOSS.IN/2005 – 2005/12/01 Why Foss in Education makes sense

11. Instruction enabling
The computer as the laboratory
C programming can only be taught on a computer
Playing with Math and Science on the computer
FOSS.IN/2005 – 2005/12/01 Why Foss in Education makes sense

12. Do we want the computer to program the child or the child to
program the computer?
FOSS.IN/2005 – 2005/12/01 Why Foss in Education makes sense

13. Language learning is natural
Natural languages are learnt through living
Learning is inherited from ones surroundings
Create virtual lands where the mother tongue is the topic
to be learnt
Mathland, Physicsland, Poetryland
FOSS.IN/2005 – 2005/12/01 Why Foss in Education makes sense

14. Language learning is natural
Natural languages are learnt through living
Learning is inherited from ones surroundings
Create virtual lands where the mother tongue is the topic
to be learnt
Mathland, Physicsland, Poetryland
FOSS.IN/2005 – 2005/12/01 Why Foss in Education makes sense

15. Language learning is natural
Natural languages are learnt through living
Learning is inherited from ones surroundings
Create virtual lands where the mother tongue is the topic
to be learnt
Mathland, Physicsland, Poetryland
FOSS.IN/2005 – 2005/12/01 Why Foss in Education makes sense

16. Language learning is natural
Natural languages are learnt through living
Learning is inherited from ones surroundings
Create virtual lands where the mother tongue is the topic
to be learnt
Mathland, Physicsland, Poetryland
FOSS.IN/2005 – 2005/12/01 Why Foss in Education makes sense

17. Debugging ones mistakes
Don’t punish children when they make mistakes
Teach them to debug
Teach them to read other peoples’ problems and debug
them too
FOSS.IN/2005 – 2005/12/01 Why Foss in Education makes sense

18. This is where Foss shines
FOSS is great for learning because the source code is
available. Not just for reading, but for modification, and
experimentation.
FOSS.IN/2005 – 2005/12/01 Why Foss in Education makes sense

19. Use FOSS tools instead of proprietary ones
Should we teach students specific tools or give them the
ability to learn any tool?
Should we NOT teach the current popular tools?
Throw responsibility into the hands of students
FOSS.IN/2005 – 2005/12/01 Why Foss in Education makes sense

20. Popularity begets Obsolescence
FOSS.IN/2005 – 2005/12/01 Why Foss in Education makes sense

21. Academics and FOSS
Academia spreads knowledge by publishing papers,
results and findings.
Foss is a solid implementation of these ideas
Foss allows one to build on another’s knowledge
Foss allows verifiability – the basis of all scientific
publishings
FOSS.IN/2005 – 2005/12/01 Why Foss in Education makes sense

22. We need to foster this at the school level
Students of higher classes can build tools for lower classes
Students work in a virtual world for the topic they study
Programming expertise is not required, but domain
expertise is built
Students learn by collaborating and studying others’
implementations
FOSS.IN/2005 – 2005/12/01 Why Foss in Education makes sense

23. Doing, teaching, collaborating
Learning is fostered by doing, teaching and collaborating
This is why Foss makes sense for education
We have plenty of examples in computer science and
bioinformatics
Let’s apply this to other fields too
FOSS.IN/2005 – 2005/12/01 Why Foss in Education makes sense

24. Education needs to be Free and Open
FOSS.IN/2005 – 2005/12/01 Why Foss in Education makes sense

25. Education wants to be Free and Open
FOSS.IN/2005 – 2005/12/01 Why Foss in Education makes sense

26. Thanks
http://tech.bluesmoon.info/2005/11/why-foss-in-education-makes-
sense.html
FOSS.IN/2005 – 2005/12/01 Why Foss in Education makes sense