Free / Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) communities as an example of successful open participatory learning ecosystems

Meiszner, Andreas; Glott, Rudiger and Sowe, Sulayman K. (2008). Free / Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) communities as an example of successful open participatory learning ecosystems. UPGRADE, The European Journal for the Informatics Professional, 9(3) pp. 62–68.

URL: http://www.upgrade-cepis.org/issues/2008/3/upgrade...

Abstract

This paper examines participatory knowledge creation and transfer in the Open Educational Resource (OER) movement from the viewpoint of the Free / Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) community. In more recent years FLOSS communities gained attention for their community production and support models and regarding their way of knowledge creation and learning. From the "FLOSS perspective" it becomes obvious that the OER movement falls short in some points. Most strikingly, the traditional way of resource creation using the traditional role distribution models that clearly distinguishes between educators as creators and learners as consumer is still predominant. As a result even the most prominent examples within the OER movement are rather static repositories than open participatory learning ecosystems (OPLE). This paper illustrates how FLOSS communities function as open participatory learning ecosystems, focusing on the aspects content, support and underlying tools. We will also try to show differences between the FLOSS case, current OER initiatives and education at large.

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