technologies: empowering or restricting? the responsibility of education

Technology:empowering

or restricting?The responsibility

of educationTechnologie: bevrijdend of beperkend?

De verantwoordelijkheid van het onderwijs

Prof. dr. Frederik Questier

Samen werken aan de leraar van morgenStudie- en ontmoetingsdag IDLO

Vrije Universiteit Brussel, 4 mei 2011

Copyleft Frederik Questier, Vrije Universiteit Brussel 2

This presentation can be found atThis presentation can be found athttp://questier.com http://questier.com

http://www.slideshare.net/Frederik_Questierhttp://www.slideshare.net/Frederik_Questier

Werken met portfolio's04/10/05 | pag. 3

Frederik QuestierMay 2011

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My background


My research interestsMy research interests



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Research and Innovation Director



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Our social responsibility:how open is the future?



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Would you accepttools with these rules?

➢ You are forbidden to

➢ modify this paper-clip

➢ let other people use your hammer➢ use this hammer for removing nails

➢ tell others what is written in this book



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Why do we accept such rules for software tools?

➢ You are forbidden to

➢ copy➢ reverse engineer➢ modify➢ use in certain circumstances➢ use in certain countries➢ ...



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Electronic books?

➢ Would you buy or advise your students➢ electronic versions of (educational) books➢ if they were 30% cheaper than paper books➢ maybe many books on a good reading device ~ paper?

➢

➢ Be aware: often➢ limited to 1 year

➢ no access in the higher years of study➢ limited to buyer

➢ no second hand buying or sale➢ no library

➢ no extensive printing



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Expensive and incompatible



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Text To Speech softwareon e-books

➢ Blessing for the blind

➢ 'Copyright violation' according to 'Author's Guild' (publishers)

→ TTS disabled in Amazon Kindle 2 Remote kill flags discovered!



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DRM:Digital Rights Management or Digital Restrictions Management?

➢ Restricted➢ export

➢ copying➢ printing➢ Text To Speech

➢ in time➢ to buyer (no second hand market)

➢ biometric identification➢ user info “inscribed” in the work (Microsoft Reader)➢ access info sent back to publisher

➢ to certain hardware (e.g. Mac OS X - Apple hardware)➢ to geographic regions



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Regional lockout(DVDs, Videogames, UMD, ...)



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DRM

➢ is killing innovation➢ can prevent legal rights such as

➢ fair use private copying➢ time shifting➢ lending services (library)➢ 2nd hand resale of works➢ donation➢ access for disabled➢ archival➢ public domain➢ …



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Limiting your control



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The horror of'Trusted' computing

➢ DVD User Operation Prohibition➢ HD-DVD key revocation system (disable your player)➢ Broadcast flag (no TV recording)➢ Advanced Access Content System (AACP)➢ High-Definition Content Protection (HDCP)➢ Image Constraint Token (ICT)➢ MS Next-Generation Secure Computing Base (NGSCB)

➢ not protecting➢ users against viruses and malware,➢ but media companies against users



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DRM in cars



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Side effectsof DRM

➢ extra cost➢ extra waste➢ lower quality➢ less competition➢ less innovation

Digital Rights Management:A failure in the developed world,a danger to the developing worldhttp://www.eff.org/IP/DRM/itu_drm.php



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The computerof the future?

➢ # mobile phones = 3 x # PCs

➢ powerful performance

➢ positive mobile e-learning studies!➢ P. Thornton & C. Houser, Using mobile phones in English

education in Japan, 2005, Journal of Computer Assisted Learning 21, pp217–228



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→ Dead of themulti purpose computer !

➢ (Initially) forbidden to➢ run your own programs➢ use other phone company

➢ Unlocked iPhones remotely destroyed

➢ Now➢ software requires

➢ approval➢ non disclosure agreement

➢ no approval for 'duplicate software'➢ e.g. no iTunes competition

➢ remote software kill switch



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iPad tablet-pc



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➢ Apple customers➢ “We want porn, if necessary with parental control”

➢ Steve Job, CEO Apple➢ “Folks who want porn, can buy an Android phone”


But maybe (this porn) filteringBut maybe (this porn) filteringis good for schools?is good for schools?


Well first of all,Well first of all,there is something rottenthere is something rotten

about what they do filter and do not filterabout what they do filter and do not filter


Schools for years had an emphasis on office softwareSchools for years had an emphasis on office software

Some of the popular devices todaySome of the popular devices todayare designed to makeare designed to make

commercial consumers of its userscommercial consumers of its users

In schools we need software and devices that invite In schools we need software and devices that invite and inspire kids to and inspire kids to learn and to learn and to be creative!be creative!



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My fear

➢ (Media and software) companies

will do everything possible

to limit your possibility to copy their works,

or to maximize their profits,

even if it means that user freedoms and privacy

are reduced in internet, technologies and law,

to an unworkable level.



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Effect on education?

➢ Computers without programming environment➢ Black box devices and software➢ Point and click courses

→ less students study computer science


If you train people on a specific software product,If you train people on a specific software product,they will need to be retrainedthey will need to be retrainedwhen the product changeswhen the product changes

Give them the opportunityGive them the opportunityto explore programsto explore programs



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Is parental supervisiona protection against the unknown?

➢ Internet literacy of parents➢ Low

➢ → high parental supervision➢ High

➢ → trust their children and hardly regulate Internet usage.

➢ Lou et al., 2010 S.-J. Lou, R.-C. Shih, H.-T. Liu, Y.-C. Guo and K.-H. Tseng, The influences of the sixth graders’ parents’ internet literacy and parenting style on internet parenting, Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology 9 (4) (2010), pp. 173–184



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Is supervision effective?

➢ There is no simple direct relationship between➢ parental supervision➢ and the (un)safe Internet usage by their children

➢ S. Livingstone, M. Bober and E. Helsper, Internet literacy among children and young people: Findings from the UK Children Go Online project, LES Research Online, London (2005)



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Yearly “Speak Up” survey among 300.000 US students

➢ Number one complaint about the technological school infrastructure:

➢ 2005➢ “internet at school is too slow”

➢ 2010➢ “school filters and firewalls block websites that

we need for our schoolwork”



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2010 “Speak Up” survey among 300.000 US students

➢ Major obstacle to better technology use in schools?➢ “The ban of personal devices”



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2010 “Speak Up” survey among 300.000 US students

➢ In terms of streamlining or increasing the effectiveness of their traditional school processes, high school students say that they would use their mobile device at school to:➢ check grades (74 percent)➢ take notes in class (59 percent)➢ use the calendar (50 percent)➢ access online textbooks (44 percent)➢ send an email (44 percent)➢ learn about school activities (40 percent)



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BYOD?

➢ (How) are we evolving to the “Bring Your Own Device” model at school?



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1 computer per user?

➢ Esperenza Computer Classroom➢ with software

sponsored by Microsoft



45One library catalog computer per user?



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1 computer per user?

Computer access for every personis a nice goal !

But is there really a needfor one computer per user?

The typical commercial model:“maximum one concurrent user

per license (computer)!”



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Free yourselffrom dogmas!



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K12LTSPLinux Terminal Server Project

Networked classroomsFat server

runs the applicationsThin clients

visualize the applicationsneed no hard diskcan be 15 years old PC's

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"The most fundamental way of helping other

people,is to teach people

how to do things betteror how to better their

lives.

For peoplewho use computers,this means sharing

the recipesyou use on your

computer,in other words

the programs you run."

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Free Software

➢The freedom to

➢ use

➢ study

➢ distribute

➢ improve

the program

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The software Freedomsrequire access to the source code

→ “Open Source Software”Free Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS)

Source code: if encrypt(password) == encryptedpassword, then login=1, end

Compiled code: 001001011101010011001100001111011000110001110001101


Vrije software voor scholenVrije software voor scholenLees en reflecteerLees en reflecteer

➢ LeesLees➢ L. Welther, L. Welther, Scholen met lef kiezen vrije softwareScholen met lef kiezen vrije software,,

➢ Didaktief jaargang 37 (juni 2007) Nr. 6Didaktief jaargang 37 (juni 2007) Nr. 6

➢ Reflecteer en beantwoord:Reflecteer en beantwoord:➢ Waarom belangrijk voor onderwijs?Waarom belangrijk voor onderwijs?

➢ Maatschappelijk belang?Maatschappelijk belang?

➢ UitdagingenUitdagingen

➢ Vragen rondom het onderwerp?Vragen rondom het onderwerp?


http://www.ond.vlaanderen.be/http://www.ond.vlaanderen.be/publicaties/default.asp?nr=261publicaties/default.asp?nr=261



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Desktop



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Linux

➢ GPL unix-like kernel➢ 1991 Comp Sci student Linus Torvalds -> 1000 dev, 100 professionals➢ GNU/Linux distributions

➢ (K)ubuntu (35K programs), Debian, Redhat, Mandriva, Suse, ...➢ With user friendly window managers (KDE, Gnome, ...)➢ Support for many languages, also the non-commercial profitable



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➢ Free Open Source version of Sun's StarOffice➢ Compatible with MS Office➢ Cross-platform (Win, Linux, Mac, ...)➢ Open document Format (ODF)

➢ XML based, OASIS & ISO standard➢ >50M users, 170K community members, 12500 developers➢ 60 languages➢ PDF & Flash export➢ Bibliographic manager

➢ Platform independent web browser (Win, Linux, Mac, PDA, ...)

➢ 40 languages

➢ '101 reasons why Mozilla is better than MS IE'

➢ Standards compliancy, popup-blokkers, tabbed browsing, ...

➢ in contrast with MS IE which

➢ Security problems!➢ Only for Windows. (no longer for Mac)➢ Development was stalled for many years➢ MSHTML violates W3C standards

➢ Try validator.w3.org !



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FLOSS characteristics

➢ User friendly ← written by users for users

➢ Cross-platform ← recompile source code

➢ High development pace ← reuse of best modules

➢ High quality ← peer review, reuse = survival of the fittest

➢ High security ← peer review, Unix origin, modular, encryption

➢ Many business models



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Study on Economic impactStudy on the Economic impact of open source software on innovation and the competitiveness of the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) sector in the EU, 2006, R.A. Ghosh, UNU-MERIT, NL. et al., 287 pp.



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Android



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Why is FLOSSnot used more?

➢ Anti-competitive behaviour of closed source companies➢ Monopoly abuse➢ Secret formats & protocols

➢ Data lock-in➢ Vendor lock-in

➢ Not a lot of advertising➢ Not a lot of teaching



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Who canbreak the monopoly?

➢ Education➢ We teach MS because that is what companies use

➢ Companies➢ We cannot use OSS because our employees don't know it

➢ Employees➢ Growing number starts using OSS at home ➢ Not happy with inferior software at work



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Why for education?

➢ Social responsibility➢ freedom and user rights➢ home use for students without costs or piracy !

➢ Savings➢ Zero cost of software acquisition➢ Less administration effort➢ No license management effort

➢ Study of internal workings of software➢ Student projects

➢ experience international online collaboration➢ FLOSS knowledge = competitive advantage



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Why for education?

➢ Social responsibility➢ freedom and user rights➢ home use for students without costs or piracy !

➢ Savings➢ Zero cost of software acquisition➢ Less administration effort➢ No license management effort

➢ Study of internal workings of software➢ Student projects

➢ experience international online collaboration➢ FLOSS knowledge = competitive advantage



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The possible effectsExample: extremadura

➢ poorly developed region → economic revival➢ based on FLOSS (customized GNU/LinEx)

➢ computer access for every student➢ saved >18M € on initial 80,000 school computers➢ total software cost: 1.08 Euro/PC/year

➢ bigger project➢ stimuli for companies, centres for citizens

➢ economic revival -> European regional innovation award



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Where to find more FLOSS?

➢ Use your software package manager

➢ if your are using a Free and Open Operating System!

➢ Sourceforge.net➢ Hosting and tools for >240K Open Source projects➢ >2M registered users (contributors)

➢ Freshmeat.net➢ >40.000 projects, mostly Free Software

➢ Google: x AND GPL OR “open source”



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Where to find more FLOSS?

➢ http://livecdlist.com/

➢ If you want to test software without installing

➢ http://www.theopendisc.com/

➢ High Quality OSS for Windows: Firefox, Openoffice, Inkscape, Scribus, Clamwin, GIMP, Audacity, Filezilla, 7-zip, PDFCreator, Freemind, ...

http://livecdlist.com/

http://www.theopendisc.com/



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Total Cost of Ownership

➢ Free Software is about freedom, not price➢ In practice: zero cost acquisition

➢ Support is similar or cheaper because of competition➢ No license management / procurement needed➢ Cheaper hardware can be used➢ Less administration work➢ Bandwidth savings (local central update/software repository)➢ Training

➢ Usability tests➢ {MS Windows XP → Vista} = {MS Windows → Linux}➢ {MS Office 2003 → 2007} > {MS Office 2003 → OpenOffice}


What should we teach our What should we teach our students about copyright?students about copyright?

How and why to avoid plagiarism?How and why to avoid plagiarism?

How to share and reuse!How to share and reuse!


Information and Communication Information and Communication TechnologiesTechnologieshave amplifiedhave amplified

the possibilities forthe possibilities formass collaborationmass collaboration

and (incremental) innovationand (incremental) innovation

But laws are far from perfect for itBut laws are far from perfect for it

Copyright18th century vs 21st century

➢ “for the encouragement of learning”

➢ “to promote the progress of science

and useful arts”

➢ Protection on request of author

➢ 14+14y

➢ Protect authors against publishers

➢ If you give copy to every library

➢ Private and non-commercial reproductions

allowed

➢ Economic motives

➢ Protection automatically

➢ Till 70y after death author

➢ Publishers demand the copyrights

➢ “Private copiers are pirates”

➢ Protection for DRM



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Creative Commons

➢ www.creativecommons.org

➢ 6 combinations of➢ Commercial – no commercial use allowed➢ Modifications – no modifications allowed➢ Sharealike – not sharealike

Share what you want,keep what you want



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Why Open Course Ware?

➢ Increase quality➢ Teachers working together➢ Best course modules are

➢ reused most often➢ getting most feedback➢ getting better again

➢ Saving time & costs➢ Teachers can start building course from existing material➢ Creation of animated or interactive learning objects is

often too expensive for development/use by only one institution



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(Firefox) Creative Commons Search



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www.gutenberg.org (public domain)



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ocw.mit.edu (CCPL)



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www.merlot.org



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cnx.org



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wikibooks.org



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Example made with my studentsnl.wikibooks.org/wiki/Onderwijstechnologie



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Recommendationsfor teachers

➢ Publish your teaching material using➢ Free Licenses➢ Open repositories

➢ Teach students FLOSS and give Free CD/DVDs➢ Don't ask your students to give their home work in

➢ a secret format➢ from software that is

➢ not Free➢ closed source➢ non-cross-platform



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Recommendationsfor schools

➢ Start with pioneers and sensitization➢ Consider migrating in phases

➢ servers / (multiplatform) desktop applications / desktop OS➢ starting with new computers

➢ Policy: FLOSS, except if no good alternative➢ Ask argumentation and which alternatives considered

➢ Policy: open formats➢ Share experiences



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Questions? Comments?



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Credits

➢ Photo Keys CC By-SA-NC By BlakJakDavy➢ Photo Gears: Ralphbijker @ Flickr (CC-by)➢ Screenshot http://www.olsonbroserv.com/autorepair.htm ➢ Screenshot http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/05/right-repair-law-pro➢ Screenshot http://www.openhandsetalliance.com/➢ Screenshot Google➢ Share matches CC-by-nc-nd by Josh Harper

http://www.olsonbroserv.com/autorepair.htm

http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/05/right-repair-law-pro

http://www.openhandsetalliance.com/


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