F os sa2012-j.diggs-facilitating student participation in free software

Facilitating Student Participation in Free Software

within Academic Courses

Joanmarie Diggs

Facilitating Student Participation in Free Software within Academic CoursesJoanmarie Diggs | jdiggs@igalia.com

Topics

● Win-Win Solutions that Don't JustWork™

● Putting the Professors in the Driver's Seat

● Building a Better MouseTrap

● Getting Involved

Free Software + Academia

A Win-Win Solutionthat Doesn't JustWork™

Academic Institutions

• Unite theory and practice

• Provide real-world, marketable skills

• Be seen as “cool” and innovative

Free Software Communities

• More users

• More contributors

• More people who know about Free Software

Corporate Contributors

• More, and more-qualified, job applicants

• Get to be known by the candidates they want

• Work with candidates before hiring them

It Should JustWork™

• Everyone wins

• GNOME welcomes newcomers

• GNOME succeeds with student contributors:

✔ Google Summer of Code

✔ Outreach Program for Women

✔ HFOSS

(Where are all the professors???)

Barriers to Entry

1. Unfamiliar tools

2. Undetermined projects

3. Unidentified resources

4. Unanswered questions

5. Unforeseen obstacles

6. Unestablished curriculum

} Every semester!

Root Causes● Semesters have a fixed schedule

● Courses have fixed learning outcomes

● Faculty are expected to be in control

● Academia is a closed culture

● Faculty have limited time to teach

● Research is seen as a “better investment”

The “Season of Code” Problem

A(nother) Win-Win Solutionthat Doesn't JustWork™

● Real needs

● Great ideas

● Enthusiasm

● Time

How Could It Possibly Fail?

● Supportive mentors

● Backing organizations

● Infrastructure

● Financial support

New A11y Project Outcomes

• GNOME Voice Control – Abandoned

• MouseTrap – Abandoned

• VizAudio – Abandoned

• Dots – Severely neglected

• Compiz eZoom – Severely neglected

• Vedics – Severely neglected

• Simon – Thriving

Post-Mortem Results

• Students move on

• Accessibility is not “shiny”

• Accessibility is highly specialized

• Existing team members have full plates

• An entity to ensure continuity is essential

Outreach Program for Professors+ foss2serve

Putting Professors in the Driver's Seat

Educate the Educators

● Community norms

● Communication tools

● Issue trackers

● Version control

• Build tools

• Patch creation

• Localization

• Releases

Provide the Tools

• A module (new or existing)

• Infrastructure to maintain that module

• Ongoing mentorship

Give Professors Ownership

• They set their road map (i.e. projects)

• They allocate their resources (i.e. students)

• They perform code review (i.e. assessment)

• They control their module (and their semester)

Eliminate Barriers to Entry

1. Unfamiliar tools Steep learning curve

Academic Efforts

• TOS – teachingopensource.orgCommunity of academics and developers

• HFOSS – hfoss.orgHumanitarian-centered to attract more students

• foss2serve – xcitegroup.org/foss2serveNew NSF-funded series of projects

foss2serve's Main Goals

• Professional development for faculty in FOSS

• Small-group learning communities– Connecting academia with FOSS projects– Faculty become core participants– Creation and sharing of learning materials

• Increase student interest in computing

foss2serve's Participants

• Red Hat – POSSEFOSS immersion experience for instructors

• GNOME – Outreach Program for ProfessorsRamp-up and support for long-term participation

• (Your organization or institution here)

Eliminate Barriers to Entry

1. Unfamiliar tools Steep learning curve

Project Goals• Financially self-sustaining

• Not limited to computer science

• International collaboration

• Professors mentor new professors

• Modules gain communities

• Modules become core GNOME

• Students remain as contributors

• Expands to include high schools

Project Goals (cont.)

The Pilot Program

Building a Better MouseTrap

MouseTrap

● Standalone GNOME application

● Mouse control via webcam head tracking

● Written in Python, based on OpenCV

● Created during GOPA: 2008

● Contributed to during HFOSS: 2009

● Last non-localization code change: 2010

Short-Term Goals

• Make the module GNOME 3 compatible

• Define the module's road map

• Establish expertise in academic participants

• Explore/create course material for student involvement

Medium-Term Goals

• Regular releases

• Significant contribution by students

• Incorporation of the module into courses

• Increased visibility of students participation

Long-Term Goals

• Module being included as GNOME “feature”

• Users actively participating

• Students and faculty doing core development

• Many disciplines and institutions contributing

`Getting Involved

Program Participants Sought

• Computer Science

• Technical Writing

• HCI, Usability

• Special Education

• Art, Graphics Design

• Foreign Language

• Marketing

• Others

GNOME Accessibility Team Alejandro Piñeiro Joanmarie Diggs apinheiro@igalia.com jdiggs@igalia.com

Western New England University Heidi Ellis Herman L. Jackson ellis@wne.edu stoney.jackson@wne.edu

Drexel University Gregory Hislop Sean Goggins hislopg@drexel.edu sgoggins@drexel.edu

Nassau Community College Darci Burdge Lori Postner darci.burdge@ncc.edu lori.postner@ncc.edu

F os sa2012-j.diggs-facilitating student participation in free software

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