OSS and Open Source

I've been reflecting recently on the subject of open courseware and, more specifically, OpenCourseWare following the keynote for the Sakai conference in Amsterdam delivered confidently and enthusiastically by Hal Abelson (a podcast is available). In this post I'll briefly recap some of the core aspects as I understand them and then go on to explore this area, based on personal experiences and ideas I've been formulating at Oxford.

ELI recently came out with a new rendition of their "Seven Things" series.  This one is on screencasting.  I love screencasting and have learned a lot from some of the screencasts that I've consumed.  The article mentioned above has an instructional technology slant to it, but the area that interests me most about the potential for the technology is for demonstrating the features and functionality of open source software. 

Just recently, I used a screencast to get a preview of some new, open source functionality that some people in the drupal community are working on ... http://www.zacker.org/node/30

If you take a peek at it, you can clearly see that these are things that just don't translate well into text or audio only, and this seems like a really rich model for demonstrating open source products that can't provide sales teams to go out and hock their wares.  Furthermore, it is one thing to provide demos and community rankings of open source software like the great site over at OpenSource CMS or to provide really rich profiles of software that aid in decision support -- like what's been done over at EduTools, but I think it is another to provide guided tours of key features of software products.   I think screencasts can provide a really nice intermediary by enabling folks to get a feel for a product with out having to invest a lot of time blindly learning from a base install of software. 

This is the podcast of the third general session of EDUCAUSE's 2006 Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference. This session was recorded on Thursday, January 12, 2006. The session featured panelists Patty Gertz, Carl W. Jacobson and Tony Stanco and was moderated by H. David Lambert. Below is a brief synopsis.

"The higher education software marketplace is undergoing rapid change. Understanding the role of open source software in this volatile market is crucial. Panelists will bring the perspectives of higher education and the government sector as they discuss the pros and cons of open source licensing and collaborative, community development."