Exploring Open Source Software

Open source software is a way for educational information, courses, or applications to be distributed free of cost. Open source “is intended to be freely shared and can be improved upon and redistributed to others” (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2009, p. 256). The potential that open source has on the educational and/or business environment is vast considering many institutions have the ability and support to create and manage the open source software. The majority of institutions that optimize their exposure via open source software are capable to do so because they already have technical and support staff to manage the software without collaborating with a third party.

Upon exploring various open source software such as MIT (http://ocw.mit.edu/html ), Standard (http://itunes.standard.edu/ ), and Yale (http://oyc.yale.edu/ ) I found Yale’s site to be very appealing due to its simple, user friendly attributes. The site allowed me to navigate through Yale’s open source in an efficient manner. The instructional design is excellent. The font, contrasting colors and tabs are obvious and straightforward creating a confident and comfortable experience for a beginning user such as myself. The technology considerations, especially with the links and tabs, are easy to use. The consideration of the learner has been taken in to account. The learner is able to use the software. Yale’s site design and layout are done very nicely. Institutions such as Yale are able to offer and perfect open source for educational and personal gain. In addition, Yale can offer free open source because they already have technical support staff in place that can manage open source software applications”(Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2009, p. 256).

During my exploration of Yale’s open source, I put myself in to the shoes of a distance learner with a specific course such as Spanish-Portuguese. Distance learning is a unique and powerful learning experience that is possible through the Internet and World Wide Web. The instructional design is essential in bridging the gap between learner, instructor, content, and technology to create an effective and efficient learning environment. I discovered a very usable site that maximized the planning process of the instructional designer and most likely collaboration with SME (subject matter expert) in the Spanish-Portuguese department. The course homepage contains a brief disruption of the department in addition to an informative paragraph about the instructor. The user is able to navigate to the course with access links embedded into the description. As an instructional design, the use of hyperlinks built into the introduction allows the distance learner to immediately move to the next step without confusion or having to decipher the next step in utilizing the links. Thus, the instructional designer is planning for a variety of learners.

Overall, the instructional design seems to be the product of an in-depth and through planning process. In addition the open source, especially the Spanish-Portuguese course, has be through the ADDIE process, collaboration with SME and instructional designer to ensure the learning experience is effective. “Thus, an instructor who wants to create a quality learning experience for all members of the class, with the ultimate foal of learning as the outcomes, will be certain to account for these variables in planning” (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2009, p. 129).

Resources:

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2009). Teaching and Learning at a Distance: Foundations of Distance Education. NewYork: Pearson.