Open for Social: How Open Source Software for E-Learning can take a Turn to the Social

Online learning in K-12 and higher education has been growing rapidly, and open source software has the potential to improve the quality of e-learning. This chapter describes how FOSS enables turning e-learning from a potentially restrictive and narrow framing of the education experience to an emergent and social experience. The chapter will identify several key elements of the FOSS model that position open source initiatives to contribute to the emergent and social nature of experience in e-learning. The chapter also describes several challenges to developing FOSS in a community of educators for e-learning. These elements and challenges are illustrated in a brief case report about the development of an open source software system called Context-aware Activity Notification System (CANS). CANS (http://cansaware.com) is a notification system that integrates with collaborative work and learning systems and is designed around the importance of awareness of user activity, a user’s social context and personal notification preferences.