[school-discuss] New-and-different approach to OSS in Education

[Leon Brooks <leon@brooks.fdns.net>]

One aspect of OSS which I have not seen discussed here and think is a vitally 
important difference the the access to source - actually the key attribute of 
OSS and part of the name - and how that impacts schools and education.

    Have any of the schools on this list got their older children writing
    and modifying software for each other and the younger children?

A simple question with far-reaching ramifications. If you are involved with a 
school, I'd like you to read this whole email, and comment on the 
applicability of each point, and propose ways of presenting the points or 
adapting them to your own situation in order to make them more effective for 
you.

As much as you have done any educating this way, please report here in detail 
on what you tried and how well it worked.

One of the things which Western society lost with the demise of the one-room 
schoolhouse was a continuous and synergistic spectrum of knowledge and 
abilities. Older children would teach younger children, and in the process 
would discover whether they truly new their stuff or not. Younger children 
would be getting material from people only a little bit older than them, who 
still carry a lot more of their context and values than an adult teacher 
would. Everyone in the school would be learning to relate well with people of 
different ages and experience.

This is one of the factors which puts homeschool students ahead, typically 
well ahead, of their institutional counterparts, and I believe OSS has the 
potential to close that gap for at least some students.

Another advantage touted - with good reason - for homeschooling is that the 
students are applying their learning to real problems in real-time and real 
life. Thoughtful use of OSS would also enable at least some students to 
employ their talents in similar real-world real-time situations.

In bulleted form:

 * The ability to start with a complete, working item of software to prod
   and poke is of enormous benefit.

 * The ability to contribute to a real, valuable project which will be
   used by others worldwide is of incalculable motivational benefit.

 * The potential for a student to enter the workforce with `coauthored
   Xxx program, now in use on at least 20,000 sites worldwide' or
   `designed artwork for Yyy system, now part of the official curriculum
   in country, country and country' in place of `drove LOGO turtles
   around' on their CV is worth...? (and: `the source is available for
   inspection at http://www.gabblegabble.edu/~myname/').

 * The ability to have software, artwork and systems designed by people
   who share significant context with the intended audience is priceless.

 * The ability of a school to generate their own real, useable software
   as part of the curriculum is a real, hard saving that will delight
   even the most unsympathetic cost accountant.

 * The ability of a school to gain world reknown by publishing something
   useful to all schools is unthinkably `cool' compared to the current
   situation.

 * The impact on students of knowing that they can influence the systems
   they use, rather than being a passive traveller through the process
   is profound.

 * The ability to direct the energies of at least some students into
   creative and worthwhile work instead of makework, fiction and
   pointless exercises should have a directly measurable effect on
   overall morale.

 * The lesson in sharing, making the whole pie bigger rather than working
   to enlarge your slice - at least in principle at the expense of
   others - is one not yet wholeheartedly taught and difficult to find a
   more widely applicable means of expression for. This should be
   singularly attractive to parochial schools.

 * The enormous range of already-working examples of software to start
   from will suit all temperaments and preferences, and can in principle
   be used with any student developed enough to understand the processes
   involved.

 * Through becoming involved in feedback, students can become useful
   contributors from Grade 1.

 * Through contact with students in other places and cultures in the
   natural course of collaboration, much real-life social studies will
   happen en passant (although I foresee difficulty in grading this;
   perhaps an RPL*-like process is appropriate).

 * Skills potentially required in the natural course of designing,
   building or modifying a software system include mathematics, logic,
   art, language, dexterity/motor-skills, typing, spatials, negotiation,
   scheduling, note-taking, trialling/scientific-method, name it.

 * What can you see that I've missed...?

Cheers; Leon


*RPL: Recognition of Prior Learning - formal accreditation validated by simple 
tests or working examples rather than through a formal course with 
assignments, class attendance requirements et al.