TXLF: TexOS teaching open source

The third annual Texas Linux Fest (TXLF) hosted sessions on a range of technical subjects in San Antonio August 3-4 — plus some lesser-known projects that also centered around open source software. An example of the latter was the report from TexOS, a volunteer project that not only provides school kids with computers, but teaches them about open source as well. The project is gearing up for its third instructional cycle, and is looking to expand what it offers.

What it does

The TexOS session was led by Brian Beck, a faculty development staffer at Angelo State University (ASU), and Dr. George Pacheco, Jr, an ASU communications professor. Beck has previously worked with the HeliOS Project, an Austin-based initiative that restores and donates Linux computers to economically disadvantaged children. TexOS is based in San Angelo, but it differs from HeliOS in another way, too. While HeliOS's mission is refurbishing and supporting the donated computers (and doing so in large numbers), TexOS works with smaller groups of students, providing a multi-week training class that introduces them to Linux and open source.

TexOS gets hardware donations from businesses and colleges in the area and it receives referrals from teachers and local nonprofits about potential students. The students must apply to the program, however, and sign a contract. The terms boil down to "be respectful and show up", Beck said, and is primarily a means for the students to take ownership of their participation.

The first round of classes was held in September and October of 2011, and involved students in grades six through eight. The second round was held in February and March of 2012, and involved slightly older students, in grades eight through ten. That age range is a better fit for several reasons; Beck noted that the older students have greater need for a computer since their homework involves more research and writing. Pacheco also joked that the older students were "a little more receptive toward sitting still".

In both rounds, the curriculum is broken up into six sessions spread out over three consecutive Saturdays. An outline of the first round's curriculum is listed on the TexOS project site; it covers topics from installing Linux to using common desktop applications for homework, while exploring basic system administration and shell commands along the way. But there are also non-technical subjects on the agenda, such as collaborative learning, ethical use of root privileges, and fair use of copyrighted material.

About the curriculum, Beck said that it is a common misconception that schoolchildren of today are "digital natives" (meaning that they have been using technology practically since birth, and have no problems adopting it). While that might have been true ten years ago, he said he has found the kids of today function more like "digital zombies" instead: taking technology for granted, taking no interest in how it works, and not knowing what to do when flipping the "on" switch fails. Thus it is important to teach kids about the technology under the hood, hopefully encouraging them to start hacking on their own.

Extending the concept

Beck said that the project is currently setting up for its third round of classes, to be held in October. This time, the team hopes to bring back students from the 2011 sessions to act as mentors to the new class. It is also looking at expanding to four Saturdays, to cover more scientific applications in the lessons. He also asked for input from the audience about how else to expand the curriculum.

One area he would like to explore is introducing the students to programming, but, as he is not a software developer himself, he would prefer to find a quality curriculum developed elsewhere. A few members of the audience had suggestions for such material, but there are surprisingly few projects out there, particularly those designed for a classroom environment. The project would also like to find a viable solution for helping its students with Internet access, Beck said, given that most of the pupils are from lower-income households. As yet, TexOS has not found an affordable option.

Pacheco addressed the project's other new goal: developing a more formal way to assess the students' progress. He requires his own college students to participate in volunteer activities as part of the "service learning" model, and is interested in getting more of them to work with TexOS. Although the TexOS curriculum sets learning objectives for the complete course and for each session, Pacheco would like to see it develop a more structured method for measuring each student's success — both in learning his or her way around the operating system, and in the regular classroom.

Both metrics present challenges. It is difficult to measure a student's aptitude with technology, and privacy concerns mean that the project cannot simply look at a student's grades to assess academic success. But it is a critical step to take for the project, Pacheco said. The project needs to know where the students are and are not benefiting from the course. He did not yet have a plan for incorporating assessment into the curriculum, and was instead interested in hearing from audience members.

The question-and-answer portion of the session took up about a quarter of the allotted time. There were evidently more than a few educators in the audience, and many of them had suggestions for Beck and Pacheco. One of them suggested that teaching programming might be difficult to fit into a short-run weekend class, and that perhaps a continuing-education model might make more sense, with programming as a more advanced topic.

Price versus freedom

I have attended talks on open source in education at a variety of conferences in recent years, and while in some respects TexOS is pursuing a program akin to larger projects (such as HeliOS), it actually has a unique spin on the subject. Most of the projects that utilize refurbished computers fitted with Linux place the emphasis on access to the Internet and affordable software — in essence, making the argument for Linux and open source based on price.

But while it is certainly true that free software lowers the barrier to entry for software by eliminating (or almost eliminating) the price issue, making that the only selling point risks inadvertently teaching the student that open source is "okay for now," but can be dispensed with later when money is not as tight. The TexOS curriculum makes a stronger pitch, teaching the students about the principles behind open source.

Hopefully, in the coming years that curriculum will be expanded, perhaps even teaching programming. As Beck said, educating students about open source software is a "teach them to fish" operation: if they are trained not to hack on their technology, there are limits to what they will learn — whether Linux is under the hood or not.