Adoption of free and open source software using alternative educational framework in college of applied sciences

TL;DR

This paper explores how an alternative educational framework can facilitate the adoption of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) in college IT courses, highlighting strategic considerations and resulting in a recommended list of FOSS tools.

Contribution

It introduces an alternative educational framework to identify and recommend suitable FOSS tools for IT courses in a college setting.

Findings

A list of FOSS tools for IT courses was identified and recommended.

The framework considers strategic areas, policies, and phased implementation.

FOSS adoption benefits include cost savings, legality, reliability, and pedagogical advantages.

Abstract

The adoption of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) in educational institutions is increasing day by day. Many countries are insisting the use of FOSS in their government sectors and few are in the process of adopting FOSS strategies. The reasons for adopting FOSS are: total cost ownership, free to make copies and distribution, software legality, reliability, availability, performance, security and other pedagogical and administrative benefits. In this research paper, the alternative educational framework has been used to identify the FOSS tools and software by considering the various strategic areas, polices and phased approach to identify the suitable FOSS tools for the courses of various specializations of Information Technology programme in College of Applied Sciences, Sultanate of Oman. As a result of this research, a list of alternative FOSS tools and software for the courses of IT programme has been identified and recommended.