[TOS] Need volunteers - Re: Peer-Reviewed Open Source Journal

[Ross Gardler]

2009/3/19 Greg Wilson <gvwilson at cs.utoronto.ca>:
>> However, nothing gets done if we only look at the reasons why it should
>> not be done.
>
> I believe the biggest obstacle is lack of faculty time, and it's a
> showstopper. Every instructor I know is already maxed out, so asking them
> to put in extra hours isn't viable.  (Yes, a few people will always be
> willing to put in heroic effort, but they will always be exceptions.)
> Integrating open source into the classroom therefore means doing less of
> something else.  We must identify the something (or somethings plural) and
> persuade instructors who will be directly or indirectly affected by the
> loss of what's subtracted that the tradeoff is worthwhile, or we will
> never become mainstream.

I think this is mixing two issues. This thread is about a peer
reviewed journal and there are imemdiate payoffs to those doing
research in the open source arena in the creation of a peer reviewed
journal, even one that is not counting towards tenure. That benefit is
networking and reputation.

It's true that there is considerable effort involved, but there are
young researcher out there who have yet to carve their niche and build
their networks. The payoff for them is significant. These are the
workhorses. The clout comes from those who are further into their
careers and can act in advisory capacities.

Note, most universities have small project funds for new research
staff to get on their feet.

However, your reply appears to be talking about the problem of
integrating open source in the classroom. This is a different issue,
but I do agree that in this case the immediate pay-off is reduced. we
do need to find something to offset the time in creating the
materials.

But wait, lecturers already have to create materials for their taught
courses. They still will even when we have provided a whole raft of
support materials to draw from. These staff are already paid for this
time.

Furthermore, it is my belief that engaging students with open source
will reduce the overhead on project supervision. I used to be a CS
lecturer and was convinced of this at the time. However, I was never
able to put it to the test.

I believe the problem is not one of time, I believe the problem is one
of need. The sector does not believe that they need to teach this
stuff and so they put no effort into doing so. If someone decided to
put on an open source course tomorrow they could. The recommended text
would be Producing Open Source (Fogel) and the course structure would
map directly to that book.

IMHO, It's not time that is a problem it's opportunity.

Ross