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Open Source and Open Standards

Rob Koper

Open University of the Netherlands, Heerlen, the Netherlands

CONTENTS

Introduction .....................................................................................................................................................................356
Open Source ....................................................................................................................................................................357
What Is Open Source?...........................................................................................................................................357
Open Source Development Model ........................................................................................................................357
General Open Source Applications .......................................................................................................................358
Open Source in Learning, Education, and Training .............................................................................................358
Open Standards ...............................................................................................................................................................358
What Are Open Standards? ...................................................................................................................................358
How Are Open Standards Developed and Which e-Learning Standards Are Available?....................................359
OSS/OS as a Means to Facilitate e-Learning Research.................................................................................................360
OSS/OS to Facilitate Technological Activity in e-Learning.................................................................................360
OSS/OS to Facilitate the Development of Technological Knowledge.................................................................361
OSS/OS to Facilitate the Development of Technological Artifacts .....................................................................361
Example...........................................................................................................................................................................361
The IMS Learning Design Model (Technological Knowledge)...........................................................................362
IMS Learning Design Open Source Software ......................................................................................................362
Conclusion and Some Practical Tips ..............................................................................................................................362
Acknowledgment.............................................................................................................................................................363
References .......................................................................................................................................................................363

ABSTRACT

The objective of this chapter is to create an understand-
ing of the importance of open source software and open
standards (OSS/OS) for e-learning research. Open
source is a fundamental new way to develop software,
and open standards are needed to make software com-
ponents work together. It is argued that OSS and OS can
improve the convergence of knowledge in the e-learning
field, improve the general quality and interoperability of
e-learning applications, and improve collaboration
between researchers and users. All of these are beneficial
and necessary requirements for e-learning research.
After a general introduction into basic OSS and OS
concepts, the following questions will be answered: (1)
How does OSS/OS facilitate the technological

activities

of the researchers in terms of methodology, collabora-
tion, and dissemination of results? (2) How does

Rob Koper
356
OSS/OS facilitate the development of technological

knowledge

in the field? (3) How does OSS/OS facilitate
the development of technological

artifacts

in the field?
The development and use of the open standard IMS
Learning Design (a formal design language for online
courses) and the open source applications that are devel-
oped to run and present IMS Learning Design courses
are used as an example to demonstrate the use of
OSS/OS in e-learning research. In the concluding sec-
tion, we provide some practical information for
researchers on how to get involved in OSS and OS and
how to use them in e-learning research.

KEYWORDS

IMS Learning Design:

A formal instructional design
language that is used to specify the design of a
teaching and learning process in a machine inter-
pretable way.

Open source software (OSS):

Software that has one of
the OSI Open Source Licenses attached. These
licenses state that the source code of a program
should always be available to everyone and that
everyone can change the source code.

Open standard (OS):

Commonly agreed upon and pub-
lished specifications of the conventions used in a
community to ensure the quality and interoperabil-
ity of products and services.

Technology-oriented research:

Research that aims to
develop new technological knowledge, methods,
and artifacts to change the world as it exists with
the final aim of improving the way we live.

Theory-oriented research:

Directed at the development
of theories about the world as it exists, with the
final aim of predicting or understanding events.

INTRODUCTION

The objective of this chapter is to create an understand-
ing of the importance of open source software and
open standards (OSS/OS) for e-learning research.
Open source is a fundamental new way to develop
software, and open standards are required to make
software components work together. Both stimulate
exchange, collaboration, interoperability, and conver-
gence of knowledge and these are beneficial require-
ments for future e-learning research.
e-Learning can be defined as the use of information
and communication technologies (ICTs) to facilitate
and enhance learning and teaching. e-Learning
research is aimed at the development of new technol-
ogies to improve learning, training, and teaching in
various ways:
• By making them more

accessible

to every-
one at any place and at any time
• By making them more

effective

by facilitat-
ing the implementation of advanced peda-
gogical and organizational approaches
• By making them more

efficient

by providing
advanced (partly automated) support mech-
anisms for learners and teachers to perform
their various tasks
• By making them more

attractive

to users by
providing adapted tasks and resources
e-Learning research is

technology oriented

instead
of

theory oriented

. Technology-oriented research, also
called

technology development

or

engineering

, differs
in fundamental ways from theory-oriented research.
These research approaches differ: (1) in how the prob-
lems are addressed, (2) in the ways in which research
activities are performed, (3) in the notation and com-
munication means that are used, and (4) in the results
that are delivered (see, for example, Gibbons, 2000;
Hannay and McGinn, 1980; McGinn, 1978; Rogers,
1995; Simon, 1969; Vincenti, 1990). Mitcham (1994,
p. 116) stated that: “Virtually all historians … use the
word ‘technology’ to refer to both ancient and modern,
primitive and advanced making activities, or knowl-
edge of how to make and use artifacts, or the artifacts
themselves.” A distinction can be made among (1) the
technological

activities

of the researchers (methods for
making an artifact), (2) the technological

knowledge

that is a result of these making activities (models and
specifications), and (3) the technological

artifacts

that
are the results of these activities. These distinctions
have been used to structure this chapter when we dis-
cuss the use of OSS/OS in e-learning research. The
following questions are answered:
• How does OSS/OS facilitate the technolog-
ical

activities

of the researchers in terms of
methodology, collaboration and dissemina-
tion of results?
• How does OSS/OS facilitate the develop-
ment of technological

knowledge

in the
field?
• How does OSS/OS facilitate the develop-
ment of technological

artifacts

in the field?
Before going into these questions, the concepts of open
source software (OSS) and open standards (OS) are
discussed more in general with an emphasis on the use
of OSS/OS as means to perform research on e-learning.