Early adoption of Free and Open Source
Software in a Higher School of Education:
students' views in the academic and future
professional contexts
Nelson A. F. Gonçalves
Maria P. Figueiredo
ESEV + CEETS/IPV

Overview of presentation
portuguese context
•
our school context
•
the study
•
results
•
– participants: software usage
– arguments for choosing software
• final thoughts

Portugal - Viseu
• minimum wage = 400€
• Windows Vista Home Basic = 219€
• Windows Office 2007 Basic (student) = 160€

Polytechnic Institute of Viseu: Higher
School of Education
• oldest higher school of education
• one of the biggest polytechnic
• undergraduate and postgraduate programs in
Teacher Ed., Plastic Arts and Multimedia, Media
Studies, Cultural Animation, Social Education, Sports
and Physical Activity and Environmental Ed.
• 1200 students and 75 teachers
• every program: at least one ICT course
• six computer labs = classrooms
+ one student lab

Higher School of Education of Viseu (HSEV)
FOSS landmarks - 2008
2005 – Moodle server for HSEV
•
2006 – Polytechnic buys WebCT
•
2008 – HSEV refuses shifting to WebCT
•
✔ Moodle as official e-learning platform for HSEV
✔ ICT courses that mainly use FOSS: Blender, Open Office,
Kompozer, Gimp, Cinelerra, Audacity, Gcompris, ...
✔ FOSS, CC and Open Access as learning topics in some
courses (residual)
✔ Final projects using FOSS (Arts and Teach. Ed.)

Higher School of Education of Viseu (HSEV)
FOSS landmarks - 2008
Teachers and students involved in the debate about usage
of FOSS in HSEV:
•spread ideas behind the potential of FOSS
•bring students and teachers to a dimension of debate
where software choices aren't based only in:
economic cost
–
software features
–
marketing strategies
–
brand awareness
–
...
–
•raise important ethical issues:
software choice as a statement about the world we
live in and how we choose to live in it

Higher School of Education of Viseu (HSEV)
FOSS landmarks - 2008
Stated goals:
• raise awareness about the range of choices and criteria for
choosing software (promote freedom of choice)
• foster the debate about a possible transition to FOSS
adoption by the school (official policy and/or school
identity)
• engage members of the school in the development of
FOSS tools and Open Content
• “spread the word” and provide support for the local
system of education's adoption of FOSS
(CD from the M. Ed. + PC w/ Open Office)

Purpose of research
• document the ongoing process, it's development
and results
– provide useful information to devise strategies of
intervention
– produce knowledge about change in higher education
institutions
– enable sharing of experience

Methodology
• field notes and informal interviews:
– decisions, arguments, views, debates, critical
incidents, official policies, ...
• questionnaires:
– patterns of software usage
– arguments for choosing software
– opinion about the importance of FOSS in the
academic context
– opinion about the importance of FOSS in future
professional contexts

Methodology: questionnaires
• 2 questionnaires
same dimensions, different future scenarios:
– Teacher Education version
– Multimedia and Plastic Arts version
• specifically designed + hosted online
• tested with 6 students
• invitation via Moodle + teachers

Data analysis
• descriptive statistic + content analysis:
• is FOSS used?
• how is FOSS interpreted by students?
– in their current academic context
– in their future professional practice
• is the ethical dimension relevant for software decisions?
• differences between the 2 programs?

snapshot of the programs...
• Arts • Teach. Ed.
– 3 yrs. – 4 yrs. (new 3+1)
– 40% ICT related – 2 or 3 ICT courses
– ICT as a learning + – ICT as a learning +
creation tool teaching tool

snapshot of the programs...
• Arts • Teach. Ed.
– usage of FOSS tools in 3 – usage of FOSS tools in 2/3
courses ICT courses
– final projects w/ Blender, – final projects w/ Audacity,
Cinalerra, Processing, Evolvotron, Squeak,
Gimp TuxPaint
(w/ children)

Results: participants + OS
90%
M & P Art s Ed u cat ion
80%
Population 51 190
70%
1º 0 17
60%
2º M 7& P Art s Ed u cat ion 80%
19
3º 13 10
50%
Fem ale 62 70%
4º Male 29 3
40%
10 M & P Art s Ed u cat ion
60%
# Responses 20 20 65 65
30%
# Responses Desktop PC outside school50%
Have a 85% 81%
39% 34%
20%
Have Laptop/notebook 80% 88%
40%
10%
Have Internet access outside school 90% 78%
30%
0%
20%
Win XP Win Vista Ubuntu XP+Vista XP+Ubuntu Win 98
10%
0%
Licensed Unlicensed

Results: top 10 used apps
• Arts • Teach. Ed.
– Adobe Photoshop (90%) – Microsoft Word (85%)
– Macromedia Flash (60%) – Microsoft Powerpoint (68%)
– Internet Explorer (50%) – Internet Explorer (66%)
– Microsoft Word (50%) – Microsoft Paint (62%)
– Corel Draw (40%) – Microsoft Excel (38%)
– Mozilla Firefox (40%) – Kompozer (32%)
– Adobe InDesign (35%) – Adobe Photoshop (25%)
– Adobe Illustrator (30%) – Microsoft MovieMaker (20%)
– Adobe Audition (30%) – Open Office Writer (11%)
– AutoDesk Maya (25%) – Mozilla Firefox (11%)

0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Adobe Photos hop
Adobe/Macromedia Flas h
Internet Explorer
Micros oft Word
CorelDraw
Mozilla Firefox
Adobe InDes ign
Adobe Illus trator
Adobe Audition
Autodes k Maya
Results: nature of copies (arts)
Licensed
Unlicensed
Don't know

100%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
Micros oft Word
Micros oft Powerpoint
Internet Explorer
Micros oft Paint
Micros oft Excel
Kompozer
Adobe Photos hop
MS MovieMaker
OpenOffice Writer
Mozilla Firefox
Results: nature of copies (t. ed.)
Licensed
Unlicensed
Don't know

Results: reported use of FOSS
Do you usually use FOSS?
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
No
50%
Don't know
Yes
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
M & P Arts Education

Results: reported use of FOSS
installed applications
• Arts • Teach. Ed.
– Blender (70%) – Kompozer (46%)
– Mozilla Firefox (40%) – Nvu (34%)
– Nvu (50%) – Firefox and Writer (22%)
– 2 students have none – 26% students don't have or don't
know if they have any FOSS
installed
– all 17 listed are installed at – 15/17 listed FOSS are installed at
least one time least one time

Results: criteria for choosing software
(present)
• Arts • Teach. Ed.
– Efficiency (31%) – Appropriate to task (29%)
– School work (23%) – Usability (20%)
– Usability (15%) – Efficiency (11%)
– Appropriate to task (12%) – Whatever comes w/PC (11%)
– Other: – Someone else chooses (5%)
• Price – Don't know (5%)
• FOSS – Other:
• Fashion • Price
• Whatever • FOSS
• Fashion
• Windows

Results: criteria for choosing software
- future professional scenarios
no restrictions
faced w/illegal situation
lack of financial resources
what would you do?
why?

Results: criteria for choosing software
- future professional scenarios
no restrictions
ARTS TEACH. ED.
65% (prop) 26% (???)
“the best”
proprietary 15% 38%
10% 18%
FOSS
✔ habit
✔ efficiency
✔ “standard”
✔ habit
✔ usability
(for children)

Results: criteria for choosing software
- future professional scenarios
faced w/illegal situation
ARTS TEACH. ED.
“no problem” 10% 28%
buy proprietary 50% 18%
25% 42%
FOSS
✔ 34% ethical
✔ 50% afraid
✔ 22% afraid
✔ 50% ethical
(FOSS when ethical)

Results: criteria for choosing software
- future professional scenarios
lack of financial resources
ARTS TEACH. ED.
available prop copy 20% 28%
buy proprietary 30% 18%
50% 42%
FOSS
✔ habit
✔ 57% money
✔ efficiency
✔ 17% free
✔ 11% ethical
✔ money
✔ ethical

Results: criteria for choosing software
- future professional scenarios
strongest arguments
TEACH. ED.
ARTS
efficiency 26% financial 31%
afraid ethical
17% 23%
15% 17%
habit efficiency
COMBINED
legal 35%
financial 25%
20%
efficiency

Results: in 12 months, will you use
FOSS?
FOSS OS
100%
80%
FOSS
60%
100%
40%
80%
20%
60%
0%
40%
None Low High 100%
20%
0%
None Low High 100%

Results: strongest ideas
Teach. ed.
- very little awareness of software choices
- basic software usage
- sensible to ethical issues and financial arguments
- concerns about future usage of children (usability,
“standard”, best educational software)
- “doorway” to school system

Results: strongest ideas
Arts
- very little awareness of software alternatives
- complex software usage but emphasis on tools not on
artistic processes
- sensible to efficiency demonstrations and financial
arguments
- concerns about industry

Our future settings...
Multimedia Lab > art students
ICT courses – only foss >all programs
Create content > teach. ed. students and teachers
Projects w/ children > teach. ed. students
continue to include foss topics in courses
invite other teachers to join
foster school identity – foss
establish partnerships, social networks (other projects, groups)
FOSS Day > school community
free Open Office + FOSS workshops >local community and teachers

Early adoption of Free and Open Source Software in a Higher
School of Education:
students' views in the academic and future professional
contexts
Nelson Gonçalves - nelson@intervir.net
Maria P. Figueiredo - maria@intervir.net
http://www.intervir.net/maria
ESEV + CEETS/IPV