Open Source Software in Schools

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This paper provides an introduction to open source software in the context of Australian schools. It is intended to provide the basis for developing some shared understandings about what open source software is; its benefits; its limitations; and it provides a brief scan of what is happening in Australian schools and sectors. This paper may provide the basis for informing future discussions at state and national levels....

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Pedagogical reasons have been the motivation for introducing the use of open source software within some non government schools including Sydney Church of England Girls Grammar School in New South Wales;71 and Strathcona Baptist Girls Grammar School72 and Trinity College73, both in Melbourne. In doing so, students in these schools are able to develop an understanding of how to use technologies without assuming that the Microsoft® environment is the only one in which computing can occur. Consistent with the national goal of schooling 1.6, the approaches taken in these schools also facilitates the development of students’ understandings about the impact of technologies on
society, including the impact of multinationals on software development and use.
Teachers at Strathcona Baptist Girls Grammar School were initially concerned that by teaching students how to use open source software would be seen by parents and the local community as problematic. They were concerned that the view the school was not solely using Microsoft products would disadvantage students in their transition from school to work and further education and training. These concerns have not been realised and the use of open source software at this school is a ‘non-issue’.