Harold Jarche

Open Source Distribution

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I’m not for or against open source or proprietary software. I’m a pragmatist looking for the best all-round solution for my clients. Because of this mindset, I have been drawn to the open source model. I also prefer long-term solutions that address systemic needs, not quick fixes. Via Steve, I came across this post on the business model for open source distribution. This one really makes sense, and whether you are developing software, buying software or using software, you should read the entire article.

Copyright and patent are weighty protections, but they put the vendor in an adversarial relationship with the customer. Such traditional intellectual property tools hurt users as much (or more) than competitors. Open source allows me to lay waste to my competitors’ profit margins while simultaneously blessing my customers with increased IT flexibility and a more finely tailored approach to solving their business problems.

This is the kind of distribution model that I believe can make major inroads into the e-learning marketspace.

WebCT & Blackboard vs Moodle

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In Considering the Alternative, Matt Jadud makes a strong case for the use of open source learning management systems. Even when the institution has made an investment in proprietary technology (in this case WebCT) there are limitations to what you can do. While trying to integrate the existing WebCT platform with a Java application, Jadud found that the only viable options were to upgrade to WebCT Vista, for an additional >$65,000 investment, or leave the platform altogether. His research found that Moodle had all of the features and support of WebCT and Blackboard, for a tiny fraction of the cost.

Jadud concludes:

We believe there are few benefits to the community at large by investing in closed or proprietary solutions, especially when viable, open solutions exist. A course management solution like Moodle would have eliminated any question of whether our investment of integration effort would be possible (as we could easily use Moodle’s extensibility to our advantage) and valuable (as we would leverage one freely available educational product against another).

Why open source & standards are critical to our economic future

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Mark Federman once again shows the unintended consequences of extending copyright laws, by using McLuhan’s Laws of Media. As car manufacturers continue to use proprietary code for their chips, only brand-name mechanics will be able to work on your car, and thus spell the end of independent garages.

The U.S. Congress is considering specific legislation that would allow the corner garage to stay in business. So why should our cars be any different than our printers, our DVD players, our computers, and our future information-sucking gadgetry?

What kind of world do you want to live in?

Retention of Staff a Critical issue

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The Globe & Mail reported today in the careers section that “managers hold the key to keep staff happy”. It also reported on a survey conducted by Career Systems International that showed the top ten reasons why employees stay with an organisation. The number one reason was “exciting and challenging work”, but the number two was “career growth, learning and development”. Pay was only number four.

This is one more business-critical reason to pay attention to learning issues in the workplace. It’s also why learning should not be seen as “bolt-on” strategy, like adding a training program, but should be integrated into all aspects of work. As reported in this issue, retention of core staff is necessary to stay competitive, and learning plays a significant role. Learning is business, and business is learning – finally.

Consensus Building from the Oneida Nation

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In the book Systems Thinking: Managing chaos and complexity by J. Gharajedaghi, there are many concepts and examples of systems thinking. This is a book to read many times. One of the examples that Gharajedaghi provides is of the Oneida Nation. Their process used to solve problems is one that could be used for online communities, with three distinct roles to be performed in achieving consensus.

Using different attributes and characteristics for each of the three symbols of turtle, wolf and bear, the culture, to its credit, had identified and separated the three distinct roles of pathfinder, problem formulator, and problem solver. The role played by the wolves is that of pathfinder / synthesizer. Wolves display purposeful behavior by setting the direction, dealing with the “why” questions, identifying relevant issues, and defining the agenda and context before they are presented to the turtles, the problem formulators, to define them. The defined problems are, in turn, passed on by the turtles to the bears, the problem solvers. Bears generate alternatives and recommend solutions. Solutions are returned to the turtles to check on their relevance and potency before referring them back to the wolves to check on their relevance. Wolves are finally responsible for integrating the solutions, keeping the records, and ratifying and communicating the final agreements. Wolves keep the fire alive by motivating and monitoring others.

Like the Six Nations Confederacy from which this model comes, different individuals or groups can play different roles in order to find the best solution for an entire community of society.

The Learner’s Perspective

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I spent today as a student in a training program. It’s been a while since I’ve been on this end of the stick. Much of the day was put your mind in neutral and go with the flow. The demonstration & performance piece was very good – here’s how to do it, and now you do it. Could have had better feedback though.

This day as a learner reinforced what I know as a performance technologist. Training without clear performance objectives, that are relevant to each learner, is useless. Also; anything is better than death by PowerPoint (bulleted lists of the instructor’s notes). For many people it was a day outside the office. For me it was the loss of a day’s revenue, or even worse, an opportunity cost. When your own money is on the line, you become a more discerning buyer. This is the future of training – be relevant or be gone.

LEG Discussion Board

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Join in the discussion with the Learning Economics Group. The Discussion Board was recently set up, and this will be an excellent venue for looking into the business end of learning.

Our purpose is to discuss, understand and share with each other ideas about learning economics and high quality resources for the development of tools and database related to the study of learning economics.

Join LEG for free and get access to the documents that supported today’s discussion on optimizing learning value, given by Capital Works. Here’s a tidbit:

Learning is the key enabler of flows and exchanges in accelerating the performance of intangible assets.

Jay Cross said that this presentation has had more influence on his thinking than anything else in this field to date. Might be worth joining LEG, n’est-ce pas?

Open Source Community

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The atmosphere last night at the Moncton Cybersocial seemed to be a lot more charged than previous gatherings of the IT community in Moncton. My topic of open source brought out some people who usually don’t attend these events. Believe me, it was the topic, not the speaker, who brought them out, because there was a lot of expertise in the room last night. It was great to meet Nathalie, Steve and the folks from the Moncton Linux User Group. I was also impressed by the contingent from PEI, including Will, Jevon, Jacob and Iain. Sorry if I’ve missed some names.

The consensus last night seemed to be that we should get an open source conference organised for the region. I suggested an open source track for the LearnTec conference in Miramichi this Fall, and I will follow-up. There are a lot of competent people working with open source, from hardware to operating systems to applications, and I am sure that this region will become a recognised centre of open source innovation. It was good to have the President of NBIF in attendance, witnessing the focus and drive of this community.