Open source for learning

Brand new publication on OS as method

I haven't had a chance to go through all of this, but what I have looked at is very relevant. Especially the "downsides of OS" and what OS is not.

Proposed General structure for interview

1. What prompted involvement in open source
a. How did it start, what kind of projects - components of larger project, documentation, seeking assistance, learning

2. How important were elements of open source
a. Collaboration
b. Access to community
c. Access to past exchanges
d. Artifacts - source code, documentation

3. Impact on professional/knowledge development
a. Education/knowledge level at start
b. Did it prompt further formal study
c. Networking (with other developers)

4. Validation
a. Certification
b. Recognition of qualifications
c. "Guru" status

Some resources

Open Source Software: A Conceptual Framework for Collaborative Artifact and Knowledge Construction, Eric Scharff dissertation

Constructivism and emerging online learning pedagogy: a discussion for formal to acknowledge and promote the informal, Shalni Gulati

Open source development: the case of Linux , John Seeley-Brown

Open Source Everywhere, Wired

Open Source and Academia, Laurie Taylor and Brendan Riley

Getting in on the (Inter)Action: Exploring
Affordances for Collaborative Learning
in a Context of Informed Participation, Hal Eden

Open Space Organizations, Michael Herman

Moodle--An Open Source Development Tool for Educators (including 60 languages)Martin Dougiamas

Educator Blogs Could Boost Respect for TeachersNora Carr

An interesting and necessary distinction

"While the term open source has been used loosely to refer to a number of software development trends, there's a big difference between open-source software development and open-source collaboration. Open-source software has succeeded in part because of its innate order and structure -- rules and standards that developers must adhere to so that their code will be readable by everyone. Wikis, in contrast, are based on words and perspectives, not code, and there are no barriers to entry."