Challenges of the Web

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Challenges of the Web

• Open Access

November 7, 2008 Tom Feist, Webmaster CIW
E-commerce Developer Tidewater Community College
College Communicators Association
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Overview

• Identify some popular open source apps
• Define Open and Open Access (OA)
• Examine why OA works (theory)
• Challenges of OA (model)
• Open computer networks (quick)
• Discuss common OA concerns and specific OA
  challenges for colleges

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Open Source

• Languages and databases (PHP)
• Directories (Open LDAP)
• Software (OpenOffice.org, FireFox)
• Operating systems (Linux)
• Web software (Apache/Tomcat)
• Think tanks (eclipse.org)
• Hundreds more

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For Colleges

• Course management systems
• Moodle
• Angel Learning (hybrid open/ proprietary)
• Flat World Knowledge free textbooks
• Connexions Rice University project
• iPaper MIT Open Education project

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What is OA?

• First, what is open?

SYSTEM X
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OA Component Parts

• Open applications
• Open devices
• Open services
• Open networks

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Why OA?

• Collaboration
• SARS
• Hannys Voorwerp
• Spirit of education
• OA academic journals
• OA to information for learning (MIT)
• Lower costs (e.g. open source software)
• Customization

A high school teacher from the Netherlands
discovered an unexplained astronomical object,
named Hanneys Voorwerp, when the public was
invited to classify millions of galaxy photos in
an open project sponsored by the Sloan Digital
Sky Survey.
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Why Does OA Work?

• How does open access even work in the first
  place?
• Norms social organizations
• Trust and trust networks
• Importance of diversity
• Aggregating wisdom
• How far can trust go?

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Firefox Ubiquity Case

• Explanation
• Est. 250,000 d/ls
• As many Ubiquity
• extensions as general
• Firefox ones
• No security, no verification, no problem
• HUGE security concerns
• Proposed solution trust network rating system

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OA Challenges A Model
Freedom
Functionality
Security
Privacy
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Privacy

• OA tipping point
• How much privacy to allow?
• Privacy anonymity
• Inversely related to open-ness

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Security

• Human nature inherently good or evil?
• Called sewer monitoring
• Improperly tested
• code has back doors!

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Functionality

• Does OA deliver everything we want it to?
• OA apps are customizable, (we never have to
  settle)
• OA plug-ins and add-ons raise security concerns
  (recall Ubiquity)

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Freedom

• Freedoms concerns
• Bandwidth
• Malware
• Ethical
• What to allow/ disallow?
• Filters, firewalls
• Total freedom chaos creativity

Source www.shannonburns.com
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Positive thought break
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Open Source Trivia

• What country was the first in the world to launch
  100 open source software in education and
  government?
• Hint It was also the first country in the world
  to have more cellular phones than landlines

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Hint This is a typical suburban schoolhouse
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Cambodia!

• Government and education are 100 open-source
• For Cambodia, its a question of resources

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XO Laptop Built for OA

• One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) open source XO
  laptops
• 433 MHz processor
• No hard drive
• Open networks are its specialty
• RSS news aggregator

The rugged, low-power XO laptop from OLPC is
entirely open source.
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Open Computer Networks

• Definition computer network that does not
  require user authentication (i.e. log in/pw)
• Unsecure (unencrypted)
• Convenient
• Safety numbers

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OA Concerns and Questions

• Expertise and support can be lacking
• Design flaws make security holes
• Are proprietary systems or OA systems a better
  value?
• Hidden costs
• Will proprietary systems integrate w/open ones?

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OA Challenges for Colleges

• CC Broader constituencies (open enrollment)
• College campuses change frequently
• Scarce resources (human and )
• Tight security policies take time to develop and
  even more time to maintain
• Whats best? often at odds with Whats
  feasible?

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Conclusion/Questions

• Open floor for questions
• Download the podcast and PowerPoint slides at
  www.tcc.edu/webservices
• Learn more about my Cambodian IT research at
  www.tomfeist.com