Building eduCommons Sustainability Through Social Sourcing
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Building eduCommons Sustainability Through Social Sourcing Creating community around open source software Tom Caswell Project Manager OCW Consortium Photo by dirac3000
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A presentation on current efforts to move eduCommons (an open source OpenCourseWare content management system) from a grant-funded project to a community supported development model called social sourcing. This presentation was given at the OCWC Global 2009 Conference in Monterrey, Mexico on April 23, 2009.
Transcript of Building eduCommons Sustainability Through Social Sourcing
Building eduCommons Sustainability Through Social Sourcing
Creating community around open source software
Tom CaswellProject ManagerOCW Consortium
Photo by dirac3000
The Hewlett Funding Is Over…Now What??
Creating community around open source software
Tom CaswellProject ManagerOCW Consortium
Photo by dirac3000
History of eduCommons
• Started in 2004 at Utah State University• Hewlett funded project• Used by 50+ institutions
worldwide
eduCommons Today
Critical transition point:• Funding• Development• Stewardship
Risks
Product stagnates
No support No new features
Community splintersPhoto by maxymedia
Opportunities and Challenges
Opportunities:• Leverage existing user base• Collaboratively fund development• Broader open source community
Challenges:Find a way forward that ensures the well being of the project now and in the future.
Photo by Sunfrog1
What is social sourcing?
A project organizing approach that gets
diverse stakeholders to participate in creating
a sustainable community.
Photo by Wade from Oklohoma
What is barn raising?
A project organizing approach that gets
diverse stakeholders to participate in creating
a sustainable community.
Photo by Wade from Oklohoma
Principles of Social Sourcing
• Distribute the burden• Diverse perspectives enrich
the final product• Focus on creating value for
users• Give everyone a voice
Photo by km6xo
Social Sourcing Process
o Study the market (benchmark)o Put together a compelling plano Recruit the right peopleo Engage a wide base in refining requirementso Ask for moneyo Celebrate successeso Sustain it: fun, organization, motivationo Regroup, review, and restart...
Social Sourcing eduCommons
Goal:
Grow and sustain a vibrant, healthy community that shares in stewarding the product.
Distributed Leadership
• Development• Quality Control• Requirements
gathering• Planning process• Marketing• Support and
commercial services
Photo by on1stsite
Organized, Open Framework
• Information• Governance• Communication
tools• Feedback tools
Photo by Jeremy Brooks
Photo by foxypar4
Enabling Social Sourcing
Work with ifPeople • Collaboration Consulting• Code Review• Testing
Photo by yogi
eduCommons
Shift to community participation: • New educommons.com portal • Development wiki: how to contribute • Encouraging community contributions
o Feature Developmento Testingo Translations
Future Directions
Photo by quas
OCWC oversight and stewardship
Additional recruiting• Community sponsors• Developers• Testers• Translators
What role you want to play?
Get Involved!
Let us know your interests! [email protected]
Get the product! educommons.com
Facebook Group: Search "educommons"Photo by ecstaticist
