Open Source Software Making Decisions for K12 Education

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Open Source SoftwareMaking Decisions for K-12
Education

• Seymour Hanfling
• Basha Krasnoff
• Northwest Educational Technology Consortium
• at
• Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory
• www.netc.org/openoptions
• with thanks to Kym Buchanan, who developed
  OpenOptions

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IntroductionWhy did we do this project?

• NETC/NWREL provides information technical
  assistance
• Starting about 5 years ago we received questions
  about free software Linux
• 2002 brought software licensing audit requests to
  schools budget shortfalls more questions
  about open source software open courseware
• Research and survey, Sept. 2002 July 2003
• Updates, Feb. 2004 July 2004

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The Open Options Web site...www.netc.org/openopti
ons
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Agenda

• Introduction / Your Needs
• What is open source?
• Is it right for you?
• Needs goals
• Capacity
• Leadership planning
• Support
• Change morale
• Conclusion

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What do you want to know?

• How many people already know about open source?
• How many people are already using open source?
  What are you using?

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What is open source?

• Two kinds of software
• Proprietary
• Open source
• Open source software is any computer program with
  accessible source code. Anyone can change or
  share any open source program for free (legally
  technically) .

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Most people use proprietary software

• Proprietary cant open hood, not clear what
  happens, cant change it
• Open source can open hood, can see what happens,
  can change it

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Why should you care?

• Software is constantly being improved updated
• Proprietary - only the company can make change
• Open source - anyone can make changes open
  process

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Open source is like...

• Changing sharing curriculum
• Education resources
• Learning Leading with Technology, May 2003
• Changing sharing cooking recipes
• Experimenting
• Improving
• Customizing

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Open source is community-driven
community-serving

• Many programmers are corporate employees, but the
  community thrives on volunteers
• Non-programmers help by filing bug reports,
  writing documentation, or answering questions on
  email lists
• Current users in K-12 report a sense of belonging
  cooperation

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Examples

• Mozilla
• Dansquardian, Squidguard
• Spam Assassin
• OpenOffice.org
• The GIMP
• Moodle
• Apache
• MySQL
• Linux

• Web browser
• Web Filtering
• e-mail Filtering
• Office suite
• Image editor
• Course Management
• Web server
• Database
• Operating system

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Were using open source for this presentation

• Created in MS Office 2002
• on MS Windows 2000 Pro
• Updated and Running in OpenOffice.org

BestBuy.com, 6/18/03
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Why / not?

• Why?
• Cost
• Quality
• Independence
• Community

• Why not?
• Legacy issues
• Specific applications
• Migration
• Uncertain future

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Can open source help you?
http//www.netc.org/openoptions/appendices/handout
s.html
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Dont use open source, unless...

• Good needs assessment
• Thorough planning
• Stakeholder involvement
• Administrators
• Teachers, staff
• Students, parents
• Community, etc.
• Aware of the implications

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Needs goals

• What technology do you actually need to support
  learning goals your staff, your students?
• Do your needs or goals demand a specific,
  proprietary solution?
• Are you trying to support advanced curricula in
  technology?
• Are you trying to foster awareness of the larger
  issues in technology?

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The total cost of open source is lower.
Maybe

• TCO Total cost of ownership
• TCO is complex not always easy to measure

http//www.netc.org/openoptions/images/jpg/map_tco
.jpg
Current OSS users believe TCO is lower,
especially on the backend
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Lower cost?
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The salient issue is expertise
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Capacity

• Are you willing and able to search for solutions
  rather than buy them?
• Would you rather buy certainty or invest in
  capacity?
• If you lose an important staff member, will you
  have a backup? Or does your technology
  infrastructure stop functioning?

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Open source makes license management easier

• Install any number of copies
• No risk of illegal copies or license audits
• No anti-piracy measures (e.g. CD keys, product
  activation)
• Doesn't eliminate software management, of course

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Open source is a compromise

• Why you should understand about software licenses
• Sustainability
• Risks
• Philosophy
• A license represents values rights

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Open source is a compromise
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Open source is a compromise
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Advice about licenses

• Licenses govern tech (delivery) not content
• Content is never in jeopardy
• Most licenses arent viral dont bleed
• Visit the Open Source Initiative
• www.opensource.org

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Exception Courseware

• Blurs the content / delivery distinction
• Be careful if you want to market

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Proprietary formats lead tovendor lock in.

• Lock in dependence on a specific program from a
  specific vendor
• Example Microsoft Word .doc format
• Curricula or data lock in is risky

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Open source can be more customized

• Tailor software to needs
• On the backend extraordinary power to customize
  any aspect of a network (e.g. firewalls, spam
  filtering, email filtering)
• Current users in K-12 see significant benefits
  from others' access and customizing

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Mature enough? Yes

• Some open source software has 15 years of
  development
• Example Linux is the most popular operating
  system
• Linux is based upon Unix
• Unix has 25 years of development
• Adopted by government agencies outside U.S.

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Sustainable? Yes

• Business government are choosing open source
• Software companies are creating supporting open
  source (e.g. IBM, Sun, HP)
• Exception Microsoft vigorously opposes open
  source
• Thriving subpopulation of educators

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Business government choosingopen source

• Amazon.com
• Credit Suisse First Boston
• E-Trade
• Goldman Sachs
• Merrill Lynch
• Morgan Stanley

• Australia
• China
• Germany
• Mexico
• Peru
• Venezuela
• Israel

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Schools are not in the software business

• Software is created improved for business
  government
• Free to download
• May be a windfall for schools
• Many programs run under Microsoft Windows or
  Apple Macintosh
• Users can experiment migrate slowly
• May meet some needs immediately

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Leadership planning

• Can you convene a tech planning committee with
  diverse, open-minded stakeholders?
• Are you willing and able to consider and
  experiment with several solutions?
• Can you incubate an open source solution long
  enough to evaluate its actual effectiveness?
• Are you willing to re-plan and use data to make
  changes?
• Can you build or shift capacity over time?

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K-12 users are more familiar comfortable with
proprietary software. 

• New software (or new version) has a learning
  curve
• Some open source software mimics proprietary
  software
• Some open source is user hostile
• Remember does it meet teaching learning needs?

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Support

• Can you maintain or build capacity for support?
• Will your technology staff be willing and able to
  get help from the community?
• Can you risk depending on the open source
  community for help or do you need more certainty?

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Support (contd)

• Can you afford training?
• Will your advanced users be willing and able to
  help other users?
• Are some educators already using open source, at
  work or at home?

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Change morale

• Have you recently made major changes in
  technology?
• Will you be making major changes soon?
• Are you struggling with budget limitations?

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Change morale (contd)

• Are you able and willing to experiment?
• Do your stakeholders crave some short-term
  success in technology integration?
• Will your needs and goals compel stakeholders to
  endure hardships and adjust to new solutions?

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Focus on your stakeholders

• Develop proof of concept first
• Backend
• Transparency
• Adapt the sample memos
• See Appendices at www.netc.org/openoptions
• Discuss total cost of ownership (TCO)
• Use the Open Options site
• www.netc.org/openoptions
• Independent tools for educators

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Before moving on to survey results...

• Do you have questions or comments?

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What are educators using?

• Online survey (November 2002 -February 2003 , 85
  complete responses) New survey at
  www.netc.org/surveys/oss until April 21, 2004
• Interviews and Site Visits
• General research literature review
• Complete results at www.netc.org/openoptions

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Who are they?

• Majority work for school districts (rather than
  schools)
• Serve student populations of 2000 or more
• Districts are urban, suburban, or rural
• Those who work for schools serve student
  populations of 100-499 students, most work for
  high schools

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Who (contd)

• Most don't teach students
• Many have administrative responsibilities most
  choose software for other people's desktop
  computers

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What are they using?

• Primarily on the backend, for Web hosting, Web
  filtering, email, and similar solutions
• Prefer Linux
• Many use recycled hardware
• Rely on list servs community Web sites for
  advice support

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What (contd)

• Many use open source operating systems for their
  own desktop computers
• Many are using open source thin clients for their
  stakeholders

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What percentage of your solutions are open source?

• Server operating system 40
• Desktop operating system 15
• Backend solutions 57
• Frontend solutions 20

Average
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Why do they choose it?

• Reliability
• Desirable features
• Price
• Security
• On the frontend interoperability

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Why (contd)

• Most believe it wasn't easier or harder to use
• Most are satisfied or very satisfied
• Few had resistance from supervisors or users

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Why (contd)

• By using Linux instead... we've been able to
  double the value... Not only do we deploy the
  clients and servers, but we're also able to
  purchase a laser printer and also a projector in
  each of these labs.
• Trevor Larson,
• Portland Public Schools

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Why (contd)

• The only real path that I could see with
  virtually no budget to move was toward Linux.
• Why pay more for something that is that robust
  right now?
• Students go home burn them for their
  friends.
• I wish I had known about this sooner.

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Interviews 2004 Changes in Last Year

• Maturing Applications
• More Applications (enterprise)
• More people using OSS more examples and support
  for you
• Increased awareness of student need to be able to
  use classes of tools (e.g., - wp, ss, db), not
  specific vendors versions.

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Interviews 2004 Lessons Learned

• Any new innovation must work as well, if not
  better than current app.
• Small scale implentations may not scale well in
  multi-platform/system environment. Must balance
  cost, time, expertise, support, etc.
• To go to the desktop must have strong
  administrative support.
• Most important must focus on the goal of what
  tools/applications best meet or enhance the
  education of children.

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General advice

• Think in terms of Strategic Planning
• Define needs in terms of capabilities, not
  software packages
• Think long term where possible
• Look for low threshold opportunities
• Experimenting is free easy
• Consider hybrid solutions

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General advice (contd)

• Use open file formats define criteria for
  document exchange
• Avoid upgrade for upgrades sake
• Consider the total cost of ownership
• Consider emulation software
• Include stakeholders

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Questions?

• If you are using Open Source software, does
  your experience match what we have learned?

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OSS Resources Focus on K-12 (a)

• http//k12os.org - Helps to install and configure
  Linux for K12
• http//schoolforge.net - Unifies independent
  organizations that advocate, use, and develop
  open resources for primary and secondary
  education.
• http//sourceforge.net - World's largest Open
  Source software development Web site, with the
  largest repository of Open Source code and
  applications available on the Internet. Free
  services for Open Source developers.

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OSS Resources Focus on K-12 (b)

• http//k12ltsp.org/contents.html - Linux Terminal
  Server Project is based on open source software
  packages that are free, and easy to install and
  configure
• http//www.osafoundation.org - Goal of the Open
  Source Applications Foundation is to create and
  gain wide adoption of Open Source application
  software of uncompromising quality.
• http//www.tech-geeks.org - Supports a very
  active mailing list for educational technology
  professionals

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OSS Resources Focus on K-12 (c)

• http//k12linux.org/contents.html - Provides
  instructions, samples and links to resources for
  Linux projects
• http//librenix.com/?inode2188 - Information for
  Linux System Administration
• http//www.redhat.com/opensourcenow - Provides
  technical support and a high traffic e-mail list
  of active and supportive members.

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Have fun exploring Open Source!

• Seymour Hanfling
• NETC NWREL
• hanflins_at_nwrel.org
• 503-275-0650

Basha Krasnoff NETC NWREL krasnofb_at_nwrel.org 503
-275-9643