Facilitating Student Participation in Free Software within Academic Courses (fOSSa 2012)

Facilitating Student Participation
in Free Software
within Academic Courses
Joanmarie Diggs

2

Topics
●

Win-Win Solutions that Don't JustWork™

●

Putting the Professors in the Driver's Seat

●

Building a Better MouseTrap

●

Getting Involved

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

Free Software + Academia
`

A Win-Win Solution
that Doesn't JustWork™

4

Academic Institutions
• Unite theory and practice
• Provide real-world, marketable skills
• Be seen as “cool” and innovative


5

Free Software Communities
• More users
• More contributors
• More people who know about Free Software


6

Corporate Contributors
• More, and more-qualified, job applicants
• Get to be known by the candidates they want
• Work with candidates before hiring them


7

It Should JustWork™
• Everyone wins
• GNOME welcomes newcomers
• GNOME succeeds with student contributors:
✔ Google Summer of Code
✔ Outreach Program for Women
✔ HFOSS


8

(Where are all the professors???)


9

Barriers to Entry
1. Unfamiliar tools
2. Undetermined projects
3. Unidentified resources
4. Unanswered questions
5. Unforeseen obstacles

}

Every semester!

6. Unestablished curriculum


10

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 Solution
that Doesn't JustWork™

12

How Could It Possibly Fail?
●

Real needs

●

Supportive mentors

●

Great ideas

●

Backing organizations

●

Enthusiasm

●

Infrastructure

●

Time

●

Financial support


13

New A11y Project Outcomes
• GNOME Voice Control – Abandoned
• MouseTrap – Abandoned
• VizAudio – Abandoned
• Dots – Severely neglected
• Compiz eZoom – Severely neglected
• Vedics – Severely neglected
• Simon – Thriving

14

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

16

Educate the Educators
●

Community norms

• Build tools

●

Communication tools

• Patch creation

●

Issue trackers

• Localization

●

Version control

• Releases


17

Provide the Tools
• A module (new or existing)
• Infrastructure to maintain that module
• Ongoing mentorship


18

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)


19

Eliminate Barriers to Entry
1. Unfamiliar tools Steep learning curve

20

Academic Efforts
• TOS – teachingopensource.org
Community of academics and developers
• HFOSS – hfoss.org
Humanitarian-centered to attract more students
• foss2serve – xcitegroup.org/foss2serve
New NSF-funded series of projects


21

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


22

foss2serve's Participants
• Red Hat – POSSE
FOSS immersion experience for instructors
• GNOME – Outreach Program for Professors
Ramp-up and support for long-term participation
• (Your organization or institution here)


23

Eliminate Barriers to Entry
1. Unfamiliar tools Steep learning curve

24

Project Goals
• Financially self-sustaining
• Not limited to computer science
• International collaboration
• Professors mentor new professors


25

Project Goals (cont.)
• Modules gain communities
• Modules become core GNOME
• Students remain as contributors
• Expands to include high schools


The Pilot Program
`

Building a Better MouseTrap

27

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

28

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


29

Medium-Term Goals
• Regular releases
• Significant contribution by students
• Incorporation of the module into courses
• Increased visibility of students participation


30

Long-Term Goals
• Module being included as GNOME “feature”
• Users actively participating
• Students and faculty doing core development
• Many disciplines and institutions contributing


32

Program Participants Sought
• Computer Science

• Art, Graphics Design

• Technical Writing

• Foreign Language

• HCI, Usability

• Marketing

• Special Education

• Others


33

GNOME Accessibility Team
Alejandro Piñeiro
apinheiro@igalia.com

Joanmarie Diggs
jdiggs@igalia.com

Western New England University
Heidi Ellis
ellis@wne.edu

Herman L. Jackson
stoney.jackson@wne.edu

Drexel University
Gregory Hislop
hislopg@drexel.edu

Sean Goggins
sgoggins@drexel.edu

Nassau Community College
Darci Burdge
darci.burdge@ncc.edu

Lori Postner
lori.postner@ncc.edu


Facilitating Student Participation in Free Software within Academic Courses (fOSSa 2012)

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