Skip to main content

Analysis of FLOSS Communities as Learning Contexts

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Software Engineering and Formal Methods (SEFM 2013)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNPSE,volume 8368))

Included in the following conference series:

Abstract

It can be argued that participating in Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) projects can have a positive effect in the contributor’s learning process. The need to collaborate with other contributors and to contribute to a project can motivate and implicitly foster learning. In order to validate such statements, it is necessary to (1) study the interactions between FLOSS projects’ participants, and (2) explore the didactical value of participating in FLOSS projects, designing an appropriate questionnaire asking FLOSS contributors about their experience in FLOSS projects. In this paper, we illustrate how this questionnaire was designed and disseminated. We conclude the paper with results from 27 FLOSS projects contributors, determining that, not only they contribute and collaborate to the project and its community, but also that FLOSS contributors see that this type of activity can be regarded as a complement to formal education.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire (European Council for Nuclear Research).

  2. 2.

    https://docs.google.com/a/iist.unu.edu/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Akke8MV3ZtZidFpxdDRncTI3ekdjSlJzenFqNWVXNWc

References

  1. Anderson, P.: What is Web 2.0? Ideas, technologies and implications for education. http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/techwatch/tsw0701b.pdf (2007). Accessed 11 Nov 2012

  2. Fountain, R.: Wiki pedagogy. Dossiers Pratiques. Profetic. http://www.profetic.org:16080/dossiers/dossier_imprimer.php3?id_rubrique=110 (2005). Accessed 11 Nov 2012

  3. Chatti, M.A., Jarke, M., Frosch-Wilke, D.: The future of e-learning: a shift to knowledge networking and social software. Int. J. Knowl. Learn. 3(4/5), 404–420 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Downes, S.: Web 2.0 and your own learning and development. http://www.elearnspace.org/blog/2007/06/19/web-20-and-your-own-learning-and-development/ (2007). Accessed 10 May 2013

  5. Happ, S.: The changing world of e-learning. http://besser20.de/the-changing-world-of-e-learning/44/ (2008). Accessed Dec 2012

  6. Sclater, N.: Web 2.0, personal learning environments and the future of learning management systems. Educause Res. Bull. (13 Boulder, CO: Educause Center for Applied Research) (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Wilson, S., Liber, P.O., Johnson, M., Beauvoir, P., Sharples, P.: Personal learning environments: challenging the dominant design of educational systems. J. e-Learn. Knowl. Soc. 3(2), 27–38 (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Downes, S.: Knowledge, learning and community. http://www.downes.ca/post/57737 (2012). Accessed 10 Nov 2012

  9. Fernandes, S., Cerone, A., Barbosa, L.S.: FLOSS communities as learning networks. Int. J. Inf. Educ. Technol. 3(2), 278–281 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Cerone, A., Sowe, S.K.: Using free/libre open source software projects as learning tools. In: OpenCert 2010, vol. 33 of ECEASST (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Fernandes, S., Cerone, A., Barbosa, L.S.: A preliminary analysis of learning awareness in FLOSS projects. In: International Symposium on Innovation and Sustainability in Education (INSUEDU 2012). Springer, Thessaloniki (2012, in Press)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Times Magazine: http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,20061225,00.html (2013). Accessed 5 May 2013

  13. Brocco, A., Frapolli, F.: Open Source in Higher Education: Case Study Computer Science at the University of Fribourg (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Papadopoulos, P.M., Stamelos, I.G., Meiszner, A.: Students’ perspectives on learning software engineering with open source projects: lessons learnt after three years of program operation. In: Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Computer Supported Education (CSEDU 2012), pp. 313–322 (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  15. Magrassi, P.: Free and open-source software is not an emerging property but rather the result of studied design. In: ICICKM10 (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  16. Lundell, B., Persson, A., Lings, B.: Learning through practical involvement in the FLOSS ecosystem: experiences from a master assignment. In: Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Open Source Systems 2007, pp. 289–294 (2007)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work is funded partly by UNU-IIST and Macau Foundation in the context of the PPAeL project. This work is funded by ERDF - European Regional Development Fund through the COMPETE Programme (operational programme for competitiveness) and by National Funds through the FCT - the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, within project FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-010049.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sara Fernandes .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this paper

Cite this paper

Fernandes, S., Cerone, A., Barbosa, L.S. (2014). Analysis of FLOSS Communities as Learning Contexts. In: Counsell, S., Núñez, M. (eds) Software Engineering and Formal Methods. SEFM 2013. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 8368. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-05032-4_29

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-05032-4_29

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-05031-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-05032-4

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics