contributing to the open source ecosystem

Contributing to the Open Source Ecosystem

DUYEN NGUYEN

The term “open source” describes software—ranging from games to operating systems to educational tools—whose source code is publicly available for reuse, redistribution, and modification. Open source has also evolved into what some call a philosophy of collaboration and transparency that extends beyond technology. “These values have been part of the MIT culture for a long time,” says Peter Pinch, Associate Director of Engineering at Open Learning, “and have inspired Open Learning’s Engineering and Operations Unit since its founding.”

The engineering team is currently working on 12 projects, all of which are open source. In embracing this spirit of collaboration, sharing, and participation, the team is following in the footsteps of other pioneering MIT initiatives, such as the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL) and OpenCourseWare (OCW). Several of the open learning projects integrate with open edX, the open source MOOC platform developed by edX.

Founded in 2012 by MIT and Harvard University, edX is a nonprofit online learning initiative and hosts massive open online courses (MOOCs) to approximately 14 million users. It is powered by the free and open-source learning management system (LMS) Open edX. Developed by edX, the Open edX platform counts among its millions of users universities and corporations from around the world. Pinch believes that edX’s decision to become open source, which occurred within the initiative’s first year, has been not only immensely valuable to education but also key to edX’s success.

While edX itself has contributed the majority of modifications to Open edX, in 2017 MIT made a number of code contributions that have made Open edX more adaptable to other universities’ systems. Specifically, MIT’s code contributions allow Open edX to better support blended learning experiences. Students can now submit essays and homework online and receive feedback from faculty, rather than relying solely on automatic grading software that has not yet been perfected. The use of Open edX on the MIT campus—including in the Residential MITx platform—has been more experimental, with a significant impact on the student experience. For example, during class, faculty can pose questions to students using MITx which allows everyone to view and discuss results in real-time.    

These contributions exemplify the open source principles of collaboration, making Open edX integration with other campus systems smoother and more efficient. MIT’s open source contributions also reflect the Open Learning mission of transforming education and sharing learning research globally, by contributing to and making publicly accessible the research and efforts to improve teaching and learning.

Collaboration is a two-way street, and much of the software that Open Learning’s engineering team itself uses is open source. By keeping its projects open source, Pinch hopes that the engineering team’s work will not only be reused, but inspire other initiatives and organizations to embrace the principles of collaboration, transparency, and innovation that have long been a part of MIT’s culture.

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