Hello, Very interesting stuff, and really important insights. Where do we look within the “academy” to see what type of impact our activities in OSS and/or OER might have? It seems to me that the impact of projects like Bedework might ultimately be through creating community outside of the institution, to which the institution can later refer. For example the stated goal of the Rensselaer Center for Open Software 1 (this link points to a PDF):
This is the primary goal of The Center: to provide a creative, intellectual and entrepreneurialoutlet for students to use the latest open-source software platforms to develop applications thatsolve societal problems. Moreover, the Center expands upon our commitment in The RensselaerPlan to provide “ . . . an undergraduate experience that surpasses all others, combining theoryand hands-on experience as the means to educate tomorrow's leaders for technologically basedcareers.”
is predicated on the cumulative efforts (and occasional courage) of folks like you and many others to take up the lead on OSS projects in environments that might not see the inherent value of such efforts beyond the instrumental contributions it is making to their home institution. Obviously though, on some level, OSS activities strike at an important value within RPI in terms of the Centre's mission, which ties together OSS and support of civil society.
The mission of the RCOS is to develop and adapt open software platforms for knowledge andinformation management in the context of promoting civil societies, both here at home and acrossthe globe. (also from the Centre announcement)
Here is a sort of pragmatic question, has anybody, students or faculty, at RPI or outside, shown interest in contributing to the Bedework effort as part of their academic responsibilities (class, research agenda, internship, etc.)? Would that be seen positively by the Bedework project team at RPI? That is, I am wondering to what extend an “administrative” calendaring project (representing any OSS project) could also directly serve the academic mission of the host university.
- 737 reads
