background image (c) Ian Britton - FreeFoto.com

Open Source Practices and Technical Communication

Programs

Brent FaberJohndan Johnson-Eilola

Clarkson University

4 October 2002 Faber and Johnson-Eilola CPTSC 2002 2

background image (c) Ian Britton - FreeFoto.com

Open Source Practices and Tech Comm Programs

• Open source represents – transition away from commodified information – an approach to software creation

• Open source products– Linux, Apache, StarOffice, Zope, Gnome, KDE

4 October 2002 Faber and Johnson-Eilola CPTSC 2002 3

background image (c) Ian Britton - FreeFoto.com

Transitioning Away from Commodified Information

• Commodified information structures communication as anonymous receipt of mass, discrete, and proprietary pieces of information

• OSS structures information as communal, co-developed, localized spaces for ongoing work

• Implication: demonstrate a more complex model of communication and technology in use.

4 October 2002 Faber and Johnson-Eilola CPTSC 2002 4

background image (c) Ian Britton - FreeFoto.com

A Framework for Education

• Structural differences among different resource formats impede efforts to develop a learning community

• With OSS, education issues/critique include media, medium, and message. OSS complicates framework issues.

4 October 2002 Faber and Johnson-Eilola CPTSC 2002 5

background image (c) Ian Britton - FreeFoto.com

Crateware

4 October 2002 Faber and Johnson-Eilola CPTSC 2002 6

background image (c) Ian Britton - FreeFoto.com

Crateware

• Based on an OSS content management system called "Zope," Crateware includes classes of standard learning modules that can be shared among different courses (and institutions).

• http://www.clarkson.edu/~odriscej/cratewaretest/theorytoolssidebar.html

4 October 2002 Faber and Johnson-Eilola CPTSC 2002 7

background image (c) Ian Britton - FreeFoto.com

Crateware

4 October 2002 Faber and Johnson-Eilola CPTSC 2002 8

background image (c) Ian Britton - FreeFoto.com

Crateware

• Simulation-based, activity-based learning

• On-line modules support activity learning

Course demo: www.crateware.org

4 October 2002 Faber and Johnson-Eilola CPTSC 2002 9

background image (c) Ian Britton - FreeFoto.com

Implications

• Design and share new content modules with the Crateware community

• Design and share architecture• Crateware helps to break down the

distinction between "textbook" and "syllabus"

4 October 2002 Faber and Johnson-Eilola CPTSC 2002 10

background image (c) Ian Britton - FreeFoto.com

Potential Connections

• MIT OpenCourseWare: focus seems to be on MIT materials

• Open Knowledge Initiative: Open Source Framework. Not project based, but Crateware may either adapt OKI or be interoperable

4 October 2002 Faber and Johnson-Eilola CPTSC 2002 11

background image (c) Ian Britton - FreeFoto.com

Building Communities:Integration of Producers and Users

• The OSS model, because it goes beyond commodified information and requires users and developers to become a part of a community.

• The OSS model provides a much broader and richer environment for learning.