| The higher education sector is quite unlike other | | | | As with any "open source" activity, open source |
| industries. It has its own processes and a different | | | | curricula by its very definition is one that can be |
| set of demands. Most commercial proprietary | | | | freely used, distributed and modified. A model like this |
| application vendors develop their applications focused | | | | would seemingly be antithetic to the concept of |
| on a wider domain spread across industries. This, | | | | higher education as it strikes at the credibility of the |
| academics complain, creates a distinct disconnect | | | | education environment. Campus education is designed |
| between software vendors and the end-users in | | | | to operate as a structured learning methodology. The |
| academia. | | | | concept of community collaboration involving |
| To overcome these shortcomings, the education | | | | academics and students on the same platform brings |
| industry started looking to "open source" as an | | | | a lot of unpredictability into the scenario |
| alternate model. Around a decade back, institutions | | | | However, FLOSS communities (Free/Libre and Open |
| started debating total cost of ownership in adopting | | | | Source Software) in education have proved to be |
| an open source based community approach | | | | quite successful. A key principle of this learning |
| vis-à-vis proprietary applications, viability of | | | | approach is its root in adapting it to the context of |
| open source based business models, sustainability and | | | | ones' experience. With its stress on learners and their |
| security issues. | | | | preferences, this learning approach focuses more on |
| The success of community developed open source | | | | learning by collaboration, communication and sharing. |
| software is quite well established. Linux and Apache | | | | Significant initiatives include the Connexions Project at |
| are ample proof of its success. A similar trend, | | | | Rice University, the OpenCourseWare project at MIT |
| though not that widespread in its reach, can be | | | | and the social learning medium of Wikipedia. |
| traced to the development of community projects in | | | | The FLOSS approach in higher education has been |
| education like the Moodle and Sakai. | | | | operating in combination with traditional teacher |
| Through the course of its formative years, the open | | | | centered approaches. The objectives of the FLOSS |
| source community based approach in education has | | | | approach are not to replace traditional methods but |
| developed several alternative models. Some of these | | | | to achieve synergies in combination and offer the |
| models and schools of thought have thrived and | | | | learner an enhanced learning environment. |
| been implemented successfully across a significant | | | | The 'FLOSS-like education transfer report' published in |
| spectrum of the industry. Progress and success in | | | | September 2008, as part of the FLOSSCOM project, |
| open source projects like the Sakai, Moodle, Kuali, | | | | notes that FLOSS communities can create effective |
| uPortal, Shibboleth, and many more are being closely | | | | learning environments. The study has also come up |
| watched by the industry. | | | | with three different approaches that could be |
| Community Source Model | | | | combined effectively with traditional teaching |
| One school of thought believes that open source | | | | approaches. |
| sharing is more a philosophical approach than a viable | | | | Economic Models of Open Source |
| alternative. The adoption of open source in higher | | | | One aspect that clearly marks the adoption of open |
| education seems to suggest otherwise. FLOSS (Free | | | | source as a winner is the fact that in this scenario, |
| Libre and Open Source Software) communities are | | | | the developers are most often also the users of the |
| thriving well in learning environments too. | | | | software. This removes the perceived disconnect |
| The FLOSS model has been extensively used in | | | | between the developer community and the |
| initiatives like the MIT OpenCourseWare and Open | | | | end-users unlike in the case of proprietary |
| Source Biology. Project Gutenberg, the Wikipedia, | | | | applications. However, this is less evident in the case |
| The Open Dictionary project are prime examples of | | | | of administrative applications like payroll or HR. In |
| how open source has been successfully adapted to | | | | such cases, adoption of open source has to be a |
| education initiatives. | | | | directed process. |
| In a community source project, multiple institutions | | | | Initiatives like the Kuali project have proved that |
| come together to partner in the project. All partners | | | | open source can also build up sustainable models that |
| contribute financially as well as in employing human | | | | provide adequate support mechanisms. In such |
| resources for the effort. In the early stages, the | | | | models, there is active collaboration between the |
| partnering institutions provide all design and | | | | community that comprises not only developers and |
| development efforts and only in subsequent stages is | | | | end-users, but also an extended support group |
| the project opened to the broader community. This | | | | comprising commercial vendors. These support |
| way, the initial support is secured and the institutions | | | | groups are available to offer timely support to |
| have a substantial influence in deciding how the | | | | mission critical applications. The community approach |
| application is modeled and designed. | | | | also ensures that the code is not closed and that an |
| The initial focus of community source projects is on | | | | active community of interest ensures that |
| collaboration between institutions. The focus in the | | | | enhancements keep happening as necessitated. |
| crucial first stages is therefore to form a common | | | | Projects like uPortal have been developed with |
| economic outlook and an appropriate administrative | | | | minimal resources but are deployed across hundreds |
| framework rather than forming a community around | | | | of institutions. The community approach has proved |
| a shared code. Most community based open source | | | | sustainable as in the case of the Sakai project. In |
| projects slowly migrate to open source in the later | | | | terms of funding, the Sakai project garnered an |
| stages. | | | | investment of $6.8 million over two years. |
| The Sakai project, for example, started as a joint | | | | The viability of the open source, community based |
| effort between four institutions (Michigan, Indiana, | | | | model stems not from the monetary or cost aspects |
| MIT and Stanford). The initial agenda was to set up a | | | | but principally the adaptability that it offers. The |
| framework of common goals that would produce | | | | debate over cost of ownership between |
| appropriate software based on an agreed list of | | | | commercially available proprietary software and open |
| objectives. The scope for participation was later | | | | source applications is yet to be proved empirically. |
| increased by forming the Sakai Educational Partners | | | | However, the fact that the code is open means it |
| Program (SEPP), whereby other institutions can join | | | | can be easily adapted to suit new requirements and |
| and participate in the community for a small fee. | | | | does not involve significant investments in terms of |
| The Current Landscape | | | | customization or enhancements. This does make |
| An education enterprise like any organization has its | | | | significant economic sense in the longer term. |
| own needs ranging from resource planning to | | | | The case for open source in higher education is nicely |
| budgeting. Additionally, they have typical requirements | | | | documented in a study by the Alliance for Higher |
| like the need to integrate with financial aid programs | | | | Education Competitiveness. In a 2005 study report |
| of the government, multiple payroll cycles, and | | | | titled, 'Will Open Source Software Become an |
| student information systems (SIS) that handle | | | | Important Institutional Strategy in Higher Education?' |
| admissions, grades, transcripts, student records as | | | | Rob Abel notes how open source is a "great fit for |
| well as billing. All these call for robust ERP systems. | | | | higher education". The study, based on an analysis of |
| Until recently, colleges and universities mostly rely on | | | | open source projects in education, opines that the |
| either custom-developed systems that are more than | | | | community-based approach is an interesting model |
| 15 years old, or have transitioned to commercial | | | | that also helps reduce the inherent risks in adopting |
| products from vendors like Oracle, SAP, PeopleSoft | | | | an open source approach. |
| or vendors like SunGard that are geared towards the | | | | As for the cost model, the study notes that while |
| higher education market. | | | | open source has helped generate cost savings in the |
| Kuali Financials was borne due to the lack of open | | | | range of 20 to 30 percent for the commercial sector, |
| source solutions Enterprise applications in the higher | | | | the same may not be entirely true in education. The |
| education sector are comprised of a mix of some | | | | community-based approach, the writer notes, with its |
| proprietary application vendors and some key open | | | | associated participation fees, may prove only |
| source community initiatives. PeopleSoft, Oracle, | | | | marginally beneficial in terms of costs. Institutions that |
| SunGard and Datatel are some key vendors that | | | | have their own infrastructure and resources may |
| offer tightly integrated ERP packages for the | | | | however, benefit from substantially reduced costs |
| education sector. | | | | from their open source initiatives. |
| Recent consolidation in the industry, like the | | | | The Future |
| acquisition of PeopleSoft by Oracle and of WebCT, | | | | Open source has proved to be adaptable and a |
| Angel, etc by Blackboard, has caused considerable | | | | reliable platform for collaboration and learning. In their |
| unease in the education fraternity. The concern | | | | quest for ideal application software to handle |
| stems from the fear that the trend of consolidation | | | | administrative, operational and education platforms, |
| would lead to the monopoly of a few key vendors. | | | | most CIOs are looking at interoperability, reliability and |
| The plans of these vendors to offer tightly | | | | scalability of applications. Applications like the Sakai |
| integrated systems heightens the fear that this will | | | | and Kuali have proved beyond doubt that open |
| provide an unfair leverage to these vendors as it | | | | source applications offer great configurability. |
| would extend the community's dependence on them. | | | | Development communities and the support of |
| One area of concern about proprietary applications is | | | | commercial vendors, as in the case of Kuali and Sakai, |
| a seeming disconnect between the industry and | | | | fuel a greater rate of innovation. Moreover, the |
| software application developers. Institutions also have | | | | advantage that is offered by collaboration also |
| strong reservations about the currently available | | | | provides an impetus to continued improvement of |
| administrative software and course management | | | | the system. Support systems and enhancements for |
| systems. The feeling is that applications provided by | | | | future requirements are ensured. |
| vendors such as SAP and PeopleSoft are adapted | | | | On the question of how to approach or adopt open |
| from other industries and does not work well for | | | | source as a model, the answer would depend on the |
| educational enterprises. Moreover, the proprietary | | | | needs, the infrastructure and the means available to |
| nature of the applications implies that the source | | | | an institution. The community development model has |
| code is not available and customization efforts involve | | | | shown that costs can be broadly distributed amongst |
| substantial costs. | | | | participants. Experience shows that universities and |
| In the context of such a wide breadth of | | | | colleges can collaborate to produce open source |
| requirements, open source can prove to be a viable | | | | software that caters to their needs in a way that is |
| alternative. In fact, these constraints provided the | | | | superior to some commercial products. The |
| impetus for open source initiatives in higher education. | | | | collaborative model enables educational institutions to |
| Some of the success has helped provide a strong | | | | pool their financial and technical resources. Moreover, |
| foundation to building an alternative support model | | | | a larger community ensures that the applications are |
| for the education industry. | | | | tested in a variety of testing environments, thus |
| In the Sakai project, the participating institutions | | | | aiding in building robust solutions. |
| decided to integrate and synchronize their educational | | | | In term of core academics, learning systems will |
| software into a pre-integrated collection of open | | | | evolve to accommodate formative assessments and |
| source tools termed Collaborative Learning | | | | evaluation outside the classroom. Many higher |
| Environment (CLE). Sakai has active implementations | | | | education institutions have taken the lead of MIT and |
| running at multiple institutes including the University of | | | | are offering online course materials that are |
| Michigan and Indiana University. | | | | accessible by anyone, free of cost. It has been |
| In parallel, Sakai also established a set of activity | | | | adopted at Yale, Notre Dame, Tufts and Stanford |
| based communities that have spawned an active | | | | School of Engineering, to name a few. The United |
| cooperation between the industry and application | | | | Nations has launched an initiative that would leverage |
| vendors. The Sakai Educational Partners Program | | | | social media technologies and ideas to offer higher |
| allows educational institutions to participate in the | | | | education opportunities to people who would |
| program for a small fee. Besides, there are the Sakai | | | | otherwise not be able to afford the costs. |
| Commercial Affiliates, who offer fee-based services | | | | Commercially, open source projects have taken their |
| for installation, integration and support.. | | | | first steps in the marketplace. The model is evolving |
| Kuali, on the other hand, mainly addresses aspects of | | | | aided by some significant commercial vendor backing. |
| educational administration. The Kuali Financial System | | | | For the community-based open source approach to |
| (KFS) is the most prominent application. It handles | | | | prosper, substantial financial backing is an absolute |
| administrative and operational tasks like general | | | | necessity to prevent it from faltering and to avoid |
| accounting, purchasing, salary and benefits, budgeting, | | | | the pitfalls that arise form source code being easily |
| asset management and grants. The system is | | | | modifiable and rebranded by a different vendor. From |
| designed around modules that enable it to be | | | | the commercial perspective, projects like Sakai and |
| tweaked to work with existing commercial | | | | the Kuali Foundation are likely to thrive as they have |
| applications. For example, at Indiana University, Kuali | | | | substantial stakeholders from both the academic and |
| applications work together with PeopleSoft's HR and | | | | the corporate world. |
| student system. The Kuali Foundation is a non-profit | | | | What could derail further adoption? There are several |
| consortium of multiple universities and some | | | | potential risk areas: |
| hardware and software companies. The Kuali | | | | - Lack of understanding of entry points for adoption |
| Commercial Affiliate program operates on similar lines | | | | - Lack of support to adopt the applications |
| like its Sakai counterpart. The community has been | | | | - Minimal staff to support the applications |
| growing and now includes the University of California, | | | | - Lack of training / documentation to train staff |
| Cornell, Michigan State University, San Joaquin Delta | | | | - A "runaway" project that consumes much press |
| College (Calif.), and The University of Arizona. | | | | and develops a negative bias toward the project |
| Significantly, according to the 2008 Campus | | | | Many of these risks may be mitigated though |
| Computing Survey, around 13.8 percent of the | | | | co-operative initiatives between the foundations |
| survey participants have already identified an Open | | | | developing the open source solutions and commercial |
| Source LMS - either Moodle or Sakai - as the campus | | | | affiliates looking to support the solutions - and |
| standard LMS. | | | | develop complementation solutions. Some examples: |
| Besides these, several other projects offer SIS | | | | - Further publicity through conventional, non-education |
| functionality. For example, openSIS manages student | | | | related channels such as Google and industry-based |
| demographics, scheduling, attendance, grades, | | | | sites such as edu1world |
| transcripts, and health records, and its parent | | | | - Furrther innovation and cooperation - whether |
| company makes add-on modules to support additional | | | | through 'summer of code' collaborations; or |
| features like disciplinary tracking, billing, food service, | | | | community collaborations that will transform the |
| and bulk email/SMS messaging for emergency | | | | current listservs to more accessible forums |
| contact. | | | | - Commercial affiliates offering training and webinars |
| Other Key intiaitives are | | | | - Commercial affiliates offering ease of use entry |
| JaSig community developing uPortal, and CAS (Central | | | | points, such as pre-installed servers or virtual images |
| Authentication Services) two components serving as | | | | that can be downloaded and used out of the box |
| input to Kuali Rice. | | | | In conclusion, open source initiatives in higher |
| Internet2 - A consortium led by universities working | | | | education have a long way to go before they enter |
| in partnership with industry and government to | | | | the commercial mainstream in a significant fashion. |
| develop and deploy advanced network applications | | | | However, with industry and academic collaboration, it |
| and technologies including products such as Shibboleth | | | | has a great potential to change the higher education |
| and Grouper | | | | landscape in the longer term. |
| Open Source Curricula | | | | |