[DG: Teaching & Learning] Fwd: [INSTTECH] Call for Chapters: Free and Open Source Software for E-Learning

Tue Mar 24 13:30:54 PDT 2009

Cross posting from educause list. This seems relevant to a lot of what
is going on in this group.

-- Sean

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Betul C. Ozkan <betulozkan at hotmail.com>
Date: Tue, Mar 24, 2009 at 3:24 PM
Subject: [INSTTECH] Call for Chapters: Free and Open Source Software
for E-Learning
To: INSTTECH at listserv.educause.edu

CALL FOR CHAPTERS

Proposals Submission Deadline: 3/31/2009

Full Chapters Due: 6/15/2009

“Free and Open Source Software for E-Learning: Issues, Successes and Challenges”

A book edited by Dr. Betül C. Özkan, University of Arizona, South, USA

Introduction

Open source software describes programs whose source code is available
under a copyright license so users can edit, change, and improve the
software. Therefore, open source programs can be redistributed in
modified or unmodified form. Free software is similar in concept to
open source and it refers to the philosophy of freedoms users have on
accessing and modifying the software. Today, these two terms are used
together as Free and Open Source or FOSS. Some of the FOSS
applications commonly used in education are, but not limited to, Elgg,
Moodle, Sakai, Open Office, Flickr, YouTube, and various blog and Wiki
programs.

Open source software develops in a community of individuals or
companies. Because of the importance of user participation and
contribution to the development of the software, no discrimination
against individuals or groups is allowed, and users are considered as
co-developers. This feature also allows open source software to be
fluid and progress continually. Unlike beta-testing, open source
programs are not rolled out when "perfected".

Use of FOSS in education has increased significantly as a phenomenon
in the last decade. Thompson (2007) thinks that part of the reason can
be found in Net Generation's lives. "Most "social networking sites
such as MySpace and Facebook have had a particularly strong influence
in the lives of millions of students" (Thompson, 2007). It is a fact
that most "students today arrive at their universities as experienced
multi-taskers, accustomed to using text messaging, telephones, and
e-mail while searching the Internet and watching television" (Roberts,
2005 as cited in Thompson, 2007). Moreover, use of FOSS encourages
students to be active participants of the learning and teaching
process while giving them more control over the learning interface.

The implications of free and open software are even more striking for
E-Learning. While virtual learning spaces are more prevalent in
E-Learning, individual students become the center of E-Instruction;
changing the focus from institution to learner. Students adapt
distance technologies to meet their needs, rather than the students
adapting to the technologies. A new form of distance education
promotes "loosely coupled social software tools, mixed-and-matched and
combined together to support online learning communities" (Ozkan &
McKenzie, 2007). Thus, FOSS also asserts alternative pedagogies such
as constructivism and connectivism which focus on learner-centered
online communities rather than traditional forms of cumbersome and
expensive E-Learning courses. Traditional E-learning courses
structured around courses, timetables, and testing become
networked-environments where learners join and learnin a variety of
communities.

Although use of free and open source programs in education has the
potential to transform the learning and teaching environment, there is
little research and understanding of them for meaningful adaptations.
While technologies are out there for everybody to use freely, much
attention should be devoted to the pedagogy of FOSS.

Objective of the Book

The objectives of this book are:

-- Review open and free software that are used in E-Learning P-16

--Examine pedagogy behind FOSS and how that is applied to E-Learning

--Discuss best practices for FOSS through examples/cases and provide
guidelines for instructors and E-Learning designers who like to use
FOSS

--Discuss opportunities as well as challenges in the use of FOSS

--Discuss and project future trends for FOSS

--Examine on-going FOSS E-learning projects

Target Audience

The audience of this book will be educators, trainers, administrators,
practitioners, instructional designers, librarians, software
developers, and researchers working in the area of E-Learning in
various disciplines; in short, those who are using free and open
source programs to design, develop and manage educational and training
programs. This book can be adopted to support instructional technology
related subjects in advanced graduate degree programs.

Recommended topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
Some of the chapters will include but not limited to:

Part 1: Introduction

--History of Free and Open Source Software

--Understanding and conceptualizing FOSS

Part 2: Free and Open Source Software in E- Learning

--Open Source Operating Systems in E-Learning

--Open Source Course Management Systems

--Open Educational Resources (OER)

--Current Research on Educational Uses of FOSS

--Case Studies for FOSS projects

--Pedagogical Guidelines for FOSS (constructivism, connectivism, chaos
theory and other learning theories)

--Social FOSS, and social networking

Part 3: Opportunities, Issues, and Challenges

--Best Practices for Free and Open Source Software

--Barriers and Challenges to use Free and Open Source E-Learning

--Management and Support Issues with Free and Open Source Programs

--Digital Divide and Free and Open Software for Education

Part 4: Beyond Free and Open Source: Future Trends

--Pedagogy 3.0

--Future of E-Learning

Submission Procedure

Researchers and practitioners are invited to submit on or before March
31, 2009, a 2-3 page chapter proposal clearly explaining the mission
and concerns of his or her proposed chapter. Authors of accepted
proposals will be notified by April 15, 2009 about the status of their
proposals and sent chapter guidelines. Full chapters are expected to
be submitted by June 15, 2009. All submitted chapters will be reviewed
on a double-blind review basis. Contributors may also be requested to
serve as reviewers for this project.

Publisher

This book is scheduled to be published by IGI Global (formerly Idea
Group Inc.), publisher of the "Information Science Reference"
(formerly Idea Group Reference), "Medical Information Science
Reference" and "IGI Publishing" imprints. For additional information
regarding the publisher, please visit www.igi-global.com. This
publication is anticipated to be released in 2009.

Important Dates:

March 31, 2009: Proposal Submission Deadline

April 15, 2009: Notification of Acceptance

June 15, 2009: Full Chapter Submission

July 31, 2009: Review Result Returned

September 30, 2009: Final Chapter Submission

October 31, 2009: Final Deadline

Inquiries and submissions can be forwarded electronically (Word
document) or by mail to:

Dr. Betül C. Özkan

The University of Arizona South, USA

9040 S. Rita Road Suite# 2211

Tucson, Arizona 85747

Tel: 520-626-9381

Fax: 520-626-1794

bcozkan at email.arizona.edu

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