Education

Bridging the Boxes: Hacker Matchmaking in Upstate New York, The Open Source Way

Collaboration in education, the open source way

Geographically, The FOSSBox at Rochester Institute of Technology and The SU Student Sandbox at Syracuse University are separated by less than one hundred miles. These universities represent the western and eastern epicenters of central New York. FOSS@RIT, center of gravity for all things free and open source at RIT and Syracuse University's student sandbox, a student business and startup incubator, put together a cross-university, multi-disciplinary collaborative code sprint for their respective summer programs. Here is a simple breakdown. » Read more

0 CommentsPosted 16 Aug 2011 by Remy DeCausemaker

Montessori and the open source way

open source education and Montessori

I read with delight Steve Dennings article Is Montessori The Origin on Google and Amazon?. His arguments are firm, they accommodate a wide range of scientific facts, and they show what remarkable results can be achieved when we "follow the child." He writes well enough and clearly enough that I need not reiterate his points here--you can (and should!) read his writings directly. But there is more that can be said, particularly in understanding how open source principles and philosophies fit so well with those of Montessori education. » Read more

4 CommentsPosted 12 Aug 2011 by Michael Tiemann (Red Hat)

In collaborative open source summer experience, professors forge community of practice

(This post is the third in the "Voices of POSSE" series, a collection of interviews conducted at this year's Professors' Open Source Summer Experience, held in Raleigh, NC on July 23-24.)
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0 CommentsPosted 8 Aug 2011 by Bryan Behrenshausen (Red Hat)

Teaching Open Source has a POSSE

Microphone static crackles.

Hi, everyone–Mel Chua here, reporting in. I'm recovering from POSSE, the Professors' Open Source Summer Experience, where we just kicked off our our 2011 cohort of professors over in Raleigh, North Carolina. Each of the faculty members here has committed to getting the students in at least one of their courses involved in open source community contribution during this coming school year, and they're off and running now after a weekend of intense cultural immersion. Let's recap the high points of POSSE Basics 2011, shall we?

Going-back-in-time sound effect, hazy visual shimmers. » Read more

0 CommentsPosted 4 Aug 2011 by Mel Chua (Red Hat)

At POSSE, professors discover the value(s) of open source

(This post is the second in the "Voices of POSSE" series, a collection of interviews conducted at this year's Professors' Open Source Summer Experience, held in Raleigh, NC, July 23-24.)

In a conference room bubbling with excited conversations between professors of computer science, software development, and information systems, Dr. Andrea Hickerson glimpsed journalism's future--one in which reporters will be more important than they've ever been.
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0 CommentsPosted 3 Aug 2011 by Bryan Behrenshausen (Red Hat)

Voices of POSSE, part 1: From theory to practice

(This post is the first in the "Voices of POSSE" series, a collection of interviews conducted at this year's Professors' Open Source Summer Experience, held in Raleigh, NC, July 23-24.) » Read more

0 CommentsPosted 28 Jul 2011 by Bryan Behrenshausen (Red Hat)

Logo creation the open source way: New POSSE logo announced

Whoa. Thanks for all the feedback on the POSSE logo from everyone who voted and chimed in. Your comments are very useful.

The final results, in order from favorite to least favorite, are below. Both the voting and comments overwhelmingly selected logo number one as the best logo. We tend to agree. So, without further ado,we declare Owl number one is the winner, and the final logo is: » Read more

2 CommentsPosted 20 Jul 2011 by Mel Chua (Red Hat)

What is the future of STEM education in the U.S.?

According to recent international comparisons, the US is ranked 35th in math education and 29th in science education worldwide. This downward trend is not a new revelation. Over the past several decades we've seen the quality of public primary and secondary education decline continuously due in no small part to an overall lack of financial and societal support.
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16 CommentsPosted 19 Jul 2011 by Lori Mehen (Red Hat)

Teaching open source in South Africa: Part I

Africa is the world's second-least developed continent--after Antarctica. If you look at a world map of computer science and open source contributions, you will be struck by the blank canvas that is Africa. We are quite isolated over here and don't really have the habit of open source participation. » Read more

1 CommentPosted 13 Jul 2011 by Grant Hearn

How open source tools can create balanced learning environments

"Free," "open" and "libre" software has been a buzzword in media and technology spheres alike. A lot of heat surrounds its implementation, especially in developing countries. While there is much confusion concerning how open source can be used to leverage the benefits of information and communication technologies (ICT) and its impact on the areas of implementation, there is one definite sector where open source can be guaranteed to produce magnificent results when properly used. » Read more

2 CommentsPosted 8 Jul 2011 by Abhishek Singh