SIGITE 2011 Home for 12th Annual Conference on IT Education

Free and Open Source Software Development of IT Systems

• • Presentation speakers
    • Mihaela Sabin, University of New Hampshire
  • Download presentation
    • session02-paper02.pdf

  IT system development, integration, deployment, and administration benefit significantly from free and open source software (FOSS) tools and services. Affordability has been a compelling reason for adopting FOSS in computing curricula and equipping computing labs with support infrastructure. Using FOSS, however, is just the first step in taking advantage of how FOSS principles and practices can impact student learning in IT degree programs. Above all, FOSS IT system development requires changes to how students, instructors, and other contributors work collaboratively and openly and get involved and invested in project activities. In this paper I examine the challenges to engage students in FOSS projects that benefit real clients.