Author: Celestine Kleinesper

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Open source transformation: How products become community projects

In the dynamic world of software development, we are increasingly seeing commercial or proprietary software projects being opened up and made available as open source software. Microsoft’s Azure RTOS, for example, has been transformed into an open source project under the leadership of the Eclipse Foundation. This allows the software to be continued under a different legal and organizational umbrella. This means that hosting, administration and exchange platforms, for example, can be coordinated centrally and resources can be used more efficiently.

Community building as a key factor

This administrative effort behind a software project can take up a lot of time, which is why the trend of opening up software can be particularly groundbreaking for smaller projects. But even software projects that are already openly available can benefit from outsourcing the administration to a higher-level organization.

Our approach as a non-profit organization is to take over projects at external request and continue them as open source with a local coder community. Anyone involved in the development of software often invests a lot of time, money and brainpower. Enthusiasm for the project idea, the practice-oriented learning effect and cooperation are strong motivators, but not a reliable long-term strategy. That’s why we reflect on and analyze the framework conditions before migrating a software project and consider together where it should go and check whether a software fits our statutory purpose or whether the developers want to strive for a transformation in this direction.

In this context, opening up software projects means a culture of sharing and collaboration. Developers can learn from each other, share best practices and work together on new ideas. This leads to a more networked and cooperative coder community that is constantly working on a project over the long term.

Potential of open software

In general, opening up software or migrating open software to a higher-level organization opens up various opportunities: The transparency of the source code, for example, enables users to understand how the software works, check security aspects and ensure that their requirements are met.

Collaboration in an open developer community also promotes the resolution of problems (issues) and the rapid identification of errors (bugs). By involving a broad group of developers with different expertise, bugs can be identified and fixed more quickly, which improves the stability and quality of the software.

Open availability makes it easier to reuse and adapt software projects, which leads to a more efficient use of resources. This helps to extend the lifespan of software projects and reduce the ecological footprint.

The transformation to open source also offers opportunities for sustainable financing. Through crowdfunding, donations and other models, the community can support development financially. This creates independence from traditional business models and makes it possible for software projects to flourish even if they are not exclusively dependent on commercial sales.

Challenges of open software

In addition to the many positive aspects, the transformation or migration of a software project is particularly challenging, as existing structures may have to be changed instead of considering what needs to be taken into account right at the start of the project.

Open software licenses represent the greatest uncertainty here. In some cases, it is no longer possible to track exactly which developers have contributed what – or more precisely: on platforms such as GitHub or Codeberg, it is possible to track who contributed what and when, but for many code snippets, tried and tested recurring commands are used. This means that a certain composition of code snippets is unique, but the individual components are not necessarily, and it is difficult to differentiate copyrights precisely.

Copyleft licenses, such as the GNU General Public License (GPL), for example, require that derivative works be published under the same license. In addition, incompatibility between different free software licenses can make it difficult to integrate and share code. In particular, collaboration between developers with different license preferences can be impaired.

Another aspect concerns possible conflicts in connection with patents. Some free software licenses include patent clauses, while others explicitly exclude them. Managing license compliance therefore requires careful management to ensure that all parties involved respect and comply with the license terms.

Software migration as a transformation process

One of the ways in which we achieve this is through a semi-structured transformation process, which is structured by successive steps but is flexible enough to respond to the individual framework conditions of a software project. A key component of this is the transition workshop, in which worst and best-case scenarios are worked out.

The collaborative development of role descriptions allows the original developers to decide for themselves to what extent they want to be involved after the handover. Since we are a non-profit association, membership is an obvious choice. In addition, the developers can also be consulted on a regular basis or selectively. These roles are flexible and depend on the availability, values and needs of everyone involved.

Once the areas of activity, responsibilities and expectations have been defined, a formal handover follows. A framework agreement is signed and passwords and domains are transferred to our data protection-compliant servers in Germany. If available, there will be an onboarding for the community, during which roles will be clarified and those involved will be connected.

The relaunch includes a revision of the source code with regard to digital sufficiency optimization and the publication of the software as open source on Codeberg. Depending on the project and objectives, we consider suitable licenses such as the GPL, MIT or Apache License.

At the same time, fundraising is carried out to support further development. The entire process is documented, evaluated and optimized in order to establish the most pleasant and efficient process possible for future software projects.

The transformation of commercial software projects into open source therefore not only offers technical opportunities, but also creates a constructive, participatory and sustainable development environment that is supported by a broad spectrum of developers and users.

What do you think of this approach? What potential and challenges do you still see? Do you know a software project that needs a home? Feel free to leave a comment or write to us – your feedback is invaluable to us.

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“You may also like this” – Unraveling digital biases

In our daily online interactions, we encounter algorithms at every turn, whether we are scrolling through social media, browsing the web or catching up on the news. Algorithms are often referred to as black boxes because they quietly work behind the scenes. This secrecy serves multiple purposes, including protecting intellectual property and ensuring a seamless user experience. While algorithms seem to make our digital lives more convenient, they can also shape our online experiences and influence our way of thinking. This underscores the importance of algorithm transparency and responsible online behavior.

Drifting into the Filter Bubble

Algorithms are adept at sorting and recommending content based on our preferences and behaviors. Maybe the phrase “You may also like this” sounds familiar? Commercial platforms like Amazon, Netflix, and Spotify are constantly developing personalization technologies by tracking online activities. Data points include click behavior, browsing history, likes, purchases, location data, and many more. These information is used to predict our desires and intentions, all of which are matched with models in real time.

Artificial intelligence (AI) excels at sifting through vast amounts of data and curating online content and services to match our habits and interests. While this can save us time, it also creates filter bubbles. These bubbles reinforce our existing opinions by shielding us from different perspectives. Awareness of these filter bubbles can empower us to seek out alternative viewpoints and overcome this confirmation bias.

The Concept of Algorithmic Literacy

Algorithmic literacy is key in understanding and navigating the world of algorithms. It involves knowing how algorithms function, critically evaluating their decisions, and actively influencing algorithmic processes. Algorithmic contexts are inherently tied to data collection, processing, and exchange. Consequently, data protection has become a major concern in the age of algorithms. Questioning empowers us to navigate the digital landscape with responsibility and a critical eye, ensuring that we protect our digital privacy and become aware of potential pitfalls.

How can we unravel your digital biases?

Get informed. Becoming aware of biases can be a solid step to reducing them. We supported the Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society during the development of a digital platform to unravel myths about algorithms and AI. Experts around the world talk in CC-licenced videos and texts about frequently asked questions abound algorithms and AI.

Adjust settings. Another step can be to adjust the default settings on your phone and limit app authorizations. Practice clicking save and exit or reject all instead of allow all, when you visit a website and seek out different sources to keep your social media and news feed diverse.

Speak out. Discuss biases with others, share your story and learn about other perspectives. One project working to do this is UNESCO’s Algorithm & Data Literacy Project, which provides various interactive materials and discussion guides.

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Online Hackathon “We Hack the Summer Semester 2020!”

On May 6 and 7, 2020, more than 900 participants pooled their energy, ideas and skills and developed digital solutions for university teaching in Germany in working groups. The free format was organized by the Hochschulforum Digitalisierung, the KI-Campus and the DAAD and acts as a pilot for the DigiEduHack in November. In the roles of hacker and mentor, groups found themselves assigned to challenges that were assigned to one of the 15 topic clusters:

  1. Qualification & support of teachers
  2. Digital teaching in implementation
  3. Collaborative work and interaction (synchronous and asynchronous)
  4. Digital tools and data protection
  5. Digital Exams
  6. Digital student advising
  7. Digital campus life
  8. Peer support/help-seeking among students
  9. Internationalization & Virtual Mobility
  10. Practical study components & practical projects
  11. Research
  12. University management (e.g. change process & third mission)
  13. Digital student participation
  14. Educational equity & accessibility
  15. AI in digital higher education

A total of 76 projects came about, which can now be viewed publicly on incom. Communication took place via the mattermost platform, and there was a joint introduction and conclusion via Youtube livestream. OESA e.V. has developed the Toolbox, an independent and collaborative overview.

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Open education in schools- a case study from Germany

There are now various measures to bring schools into the digital age: We have the Digital Pact, and there are also a number of projects and associations. It makes you wonder why digitization in schools has been so slow to get off the ground.

But at least one school in Germany is getting the hang of it. Using the Realschule am Europakanal in Erlangen as an example, educational scientist Celestine Kleinesper explains how openness and digitization can be put to good use. In this case, this includes not only teaching how to use hardware and software, but also which teaching/learning contexts certain tools and formats are suitable for. Uniformity, capacity, and the willingness of school management, teachers, parents, and students are essential.

The presentation:

Although this example exists in practice, many schools are not (yet) so fit in terms of digitization. In the discussion after the input, a number of theories emerge as to which aspects have an inhibiting effect. One recurring finding: the cultural sovereignty of the states in Germany, i.e., the fact that each state. Among the participants in the discussion group, 4 federal states shared their experiences. It also became clear that digitization is often confused with mechanization; equipping every school with smartboards and tablets therefore only makes sense if the relevant skills are imparted to those involved.

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Shaping open education at universities

Flipped Classroom. What can you imagine by it?

Up to now, knowledge has been imparted during university face-to-face events and the application of the knowledge has been tested individually and outside the university. At the weekly input lunch in April 2020, the change in learning caused by digitization was examined in more detail, which is also becoming noticeable in the university context. For example, the learning locations of theory and application are swapped (‘flipped’): Students acquire the theoretical knowledge on their own before the course in order to then work together in a solution-oriented and case-based manner. In this way, the knowledge transfer is ideally designed, because the interactive work during the attendance time can increase the learning effect.

In this context, social scientist Katharina Mosene presented a number of possibilities for designing innovative university teaching, from live surveys to interactive presentation formats and collaborative tools. She drew on her wide-ranging experience and used teaching/learning concepts that had actually been implemented to illustrate the effectiveness and meaningfulness of open higher education.

In the discussion that followed, specific questions arose about individual tools. The consensus was that there are already a large number of extraordinary tools, but that most lack the knowledge of how to use them effectively or at least the time to deal with them in depth. This is less the case at universities with e-learning offices, eScouts or digital officers – an appeal to the universities!

The presentation on the input can be found here. We thank Katharina Mosene for her encouraging input.

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Why do we need open education?

“Open education can be defined as the [educational policy] effort to enable all people to participate in good education. In the Enlightenment tradition, ‘good education’ is defined as maturity: every person should be able to participate in society with his or her own mind and in an active way” [1] . So how must educational processes be designed in order to achieve this goal?

Vocational school teacher Astrid Wittenberg begins her input with this question. As an experienced expert in open education, she is an enrichment for the round of the weekly input lunch in April 2020, especially because of the current challenges posed by Corona. She points out the need for a change in teaching and learning based on digital development: Knowledge and ideas always exist, but the ways to disseminate, implement, and develop them are changing. The Internet makes it possible to exchange information worldwide and simultaneously. This also changes the nature and understanding of education away from a society that learns by heart from books to a digital transfer of knowledge. This also requires new competencies; in this context, Wittenberg introduces the 4Cs [2]: Communication, Collaboration, Creativity and Critical Thinking. On this basis, a discussion ensues about how these competencies can be learned and what opportunities and difficulties they entail. The participants in the discussion agree that the restrictions, not only, but especially, in state institutions such as schools and universities are often a hindrance. Certain guidelines on which programs to use, time and money as limited resources, and the lack of motivation to explore meaningful alternatives inhibit the move towards more open education. The conclusion of the discussion: much is still (or already) open. This is in part tedious, but for the most part gratifying, because there is much to be shaped. Therefore, it is important for the future to promote an awareness of open education and to conduct corresponding research.

The presentation on the input can be found here. We thank Astrid Wittenberg for her inspiring input.

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Input lunch format in April 2020: “Open- digitization as a yardstick”.

Since the outbreak of COVID 19, social life has been severely restricted, especially educational institutions face the challenge of suddenly and almost exclusively working online. To counteract social distancing somewhat and to keep the exchange alive, the Open Education and Software Association e.V. invites. (OESA) invites you to a digital input lunch format around digital education in times of COVID 19. Every Thursday in April 2020, from 12 to 1 p.m., a fifteen-minute input on a topic area will be given by us, and you will receive valuable advice on practical methods and programs, new impulses and contacts. On this common basis, an exchange with small discussions, questions and suggestions will take place afterwards.

Dates: 

02.4. Open Mind

The first day is there to get to know each other: The input serves to introduce the association and the format in more detail and the subsequent exchange should give space to place topics and questions that currently move the participants*innen.

09.4. Open Education

What does “digital education” mean, what does “open” mean? Why do we need it- and why not? How can this be implemented? What opportunities and difficulties does this present?

16.4. Open University

How can lectures and seminars be designed online? Which platforms and programs are suitable for this?

23.4. Open Schoolyard

How can class council be designed online? Which learning softwares with review functions are available? How can tests or similar be carried out?

30.4. Open Society – Let’s keep volunteering going!

Our last event is dedicated to the question of how volunteerism, community service and participation can continue and what opportunities can even arise as a result. How do we deal with the lack of Wi-Fi among children and young people in our care? What tools and tips are there for collaborative work? How can board meetings and general meetings be conducted online?

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PLAY 19- Creative Gaming Festival

Your spaceship is stranded on an unknown planet. You have to explore your surroundings to survive, but you quickly realize: danger lurks everywhere. Darkness. Ominous silence. And out of the silence, strange creatures burst forth and monsters!

Scenarios like these can be found in a number of games: Dungeons & Dragons, a classic pen-and-paper game, has delighted many game lovers since the 1980s, while role-playing games and first-person shooters add interactive graphics to the gaming experience. Virtual reality games go one step further.

VR glasses create a different reality in which it is possible to move and react. For the game scenario described at the beginning, the controls of the game were explained in a preparation room at the creative gaming festival “PLAY 19” in Hamburg. Afterwards you dive into the world in which you have to escape from your spaceship and put monsters to flight. For the person wearing the VR goggles, this creates a realistic game, intuitively dodging, taking a step back, ducking. All bystanders see only someone with a black box on his head, who staggers around in an absolutely unpredictable way and bumps into all kinds of objects and people. The game could also be controlled calmly and standing in one place, but the physical and emotional reactions are much more intense through the 3D experience than in computer games, for example.

Another game was about playing in a group and in a confined space: One person lies down in a coffin with a smartphone and headphones, and other players stand around him. The goal is to solve puzzles together with other players standing in front of the coffin and finally free oneself from the coffin. Creative Gaming is therefore by no means always the same, but enables very versatile experiences through a wide variety of methods.

More and more people are enjoying trying out such methods themselves. Tables and instructions on a wide range of topics were available in a makerspace: Graphic design, sound effects and small programming. A virtual figure could be programmed with the help of a low-threshold construction kit. In German language, one can thus learn the logic of programming languages and at the same time directly see the results of one’s own programming, which makes programming itself a kind of game.

Of course, the Speakers’ Corner is a must at such an event, as are the numerous training sessions, artist talks and workshops. On one of the four festival days, there was a special offer for schools, which was well attended. The highlight of the event was the Game Award, which is presented every year to innovative games, productions or prototypes. All in all, the PLAY is a versatile offer to get a taste, to inform and to try out, but also to deepen and to network. We are looking forward to the next PLAY…

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Successful pilot project at Hamburg vocational school

With a training preparation class (AVK) of the vocational school H13 in Hamburg- Eppendorf, the project week “Discover programming with the micro bit” took place in June 2017. During a three-day workshop to promote interest and potential in the field of computer science, the students were able to test their knowledge and skills. On the first day, most of them could hardly explain what python is, but at the final meeting, all of them were able to control a BBC: micro bit using the python programming language. The project offers educational institutions, regardless of age, origin and gender, free of charge, the opportunity to choose from various topics in computer science and to discover a new world with experienced and enthusiastic people and to network with an international community. An integral part of the project, which is supported by the Python Software Association, is, among other things, the critical examination of digitalization and openness. Further projects at Hamburg schools are being planned.