I am currently in college. The facility I attend is a popular on-line school with a preference to closed source standards, such as Microsoft Office and their closed source document format for Word. In fact, several assignments even require Internet Explorer, which in my opinion sends the wrong message to the future IT people they are trying to mold. I’m sure that they are not the only ones, either.
For the most part, I have found a way around the closed source requirements of my college. I access the college website with Firefox, and I use Open Office to create my college papers and assignments with. With Open Office, I can save documents as Word documents which generally satisfy their requirements. The problem is that Open Office doesn’t work as well with the Word format (currently) as Microsoft Office itself would, and there are compatibility problems that I sometimes have to deal with. (Disappearing tables that have caused me to redo entire assignments, for example).
It hasn’t been completely possible for me to co-exist in this environment though. One class I took required Visio. Another had labs that only worked in Internet Explorer. For that reason, I had to keep a virtualized Windows XP on my Linux laptop, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to complete my assignments. Even worse, one of the classes required me to create an infrastructure for a fictional business, and almost the entire book focused on Windows. (For that assignment I created an infrastructure with a mix of Windows and Linux machines anyway, so there!)
Anyway, let’s get back on target. Students being taught proprietary systems exclusively will come out of school knowing only those particular systems. They will lack the versatility needed to choose the proper system or tool for the job, and will likely purchase technologies for their businesses with a higher price tag because they simply won’t know any better. They will lack the skills needed to adapt to an ever-changing technological world.
The problem isn’t really just about closed source software, either. The same could be said about any technology, closed source or open. If you teach your students only one technology, they will go into the world knowing only that one technology. Where’s the versatility there? Who exactly would that benefit?
I personally feel that colleges should teach operating system and application theory. That way, the students would be educated on the common elements that are true across the board, regardless of the platform. They will be able to adjust to a Mac, Linux, Unix, even DOS, or whatever you throw at them. Just think about it, what’s more valuable to a company, a Windows guru, or a single person that can administer Linux, Unix, AND Windows servers? What about someone that is an expert in the entire Microsoft product line, or an applications specialist that specializes in all applications?
It really strikes me as weird when a college only accepts assignments in certain formats, and assumes that all of their students are using a certain type of machine. Colleges are supposed to teach diversity and acceptance, and that should hold true with computer systems as well. I believe at a minimum, students should be taught OS and application theory, and have to choose three different operating system classes to take in order to get a degree in IT. Am I being too hard? I don’t think so. It’s very important stuff to know. Microsoft may rule the roost right now, but will they rule it ten years from now? Maybe, maybe not, who knows! It’s important for students to be ready to adjust to whatever the future brings.
Now, I’m a pretty lenient guy. Sure, I prefer Linux, but I’m not going to preach to you on why I prefer it. Whatever operating system you use is your business. That’s the entire point: It shouldn’t matter which OS you use, things should just work. That’s what makes me valuable to my company. I can use whatever operating system you throw at me, and the application logic I have learned over the years enables me to use almost all applications after a few minutes of clicking around. I can tell you from experience that diversity matters to businesses, even the Microsoft-centric ones. I’m not necessarily saying you must be a master of Windows, Unix and Linux, but at least know the basics of each!
I believe that focusing on teaching students the underlying components that are true across platforms, and how to use multiple operating systems, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of each is the best way to prepare them for the future. Things are changing, and our future IT guys and gals need to be able to adjust to current trends, not be awestruck when the entire industry changes around them and they don’t have the training to cope.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that there shouldn’t be any classes specific to one platform. Afterall, sometimes companies send their workers to school to learn a particular product or technology. I just feel that there should be some required classes for those going for a degree that will open them up to all of the differing technologies, closed and open.
As sad as it is, when I look at the required classes in my own college course schedule, I do not believe that it alone will accurately train the future of IT.
Jeremy is a Certified IT Technician that blogs at ITNewsToday.com in his spare time. He has over ten years of industry experience, and studies the IT industry every single day. Jeremy has become an open source enthusiast over time and is studying for his Linux+ certification. He lives in Waterford MI with his wife Krystal and son Alan.
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I am impressed with this particular article . As a former college student I had my run-ins with my papers only being accepted in a certain format. I do believe that they should open themselves up a little more and accept more file extensions. I too use open office and have to rename the file extensions for one reason or another. It is not just the colleges though it is websites too. I use a program called GIMP to edit and create photos, I find myself constantly having to rename the file extensions so that my photos will be accept to well known websites like myspace. I hope one day that will change. Thank you again for a great read
nice article, my school has open office installed on most of their computers for when the “not normal” student submits that odt format. But being taught is something different. They teach on ms office, i am in IT, and so they teach us how to use novell Netware! instead of how to use cisco routers etc…, hmm whats being used more, cisco routing or netware os. for network administration. for web development it was an intro course that pissed me off. guess what we used, dream weaver and adobe flash!, flash has nothing to do with how to program up a web page. dream weaver is the worst thing in the world to teach some one how to make a decent web page. On the other hand when we get to programming we use eclipse which is a great ide. but when i take a class and see software that isnt available to the avg user for free or at least under 50 bucks it makes me upset. My school is infested with the ms and novell bug and i have no idea why we use and learn novell. especially in a networking administration class. I am glad i am not the only one who see’s this in colleges.
My school has always had Microsoft Office products, I didn’t want to buy office for home use so I used openoffice too. I ran into quite a few problems at school, I ran everything from my flash drive, I didn’t go as far as having a full fledged qemu opperating system on there but I did have portableapp versions of Firefox, OpenOffice, and a putty client.
I am of the opinion that schools teach proprietary software because the SOCIETY itself is reliant on proprietary software. If you have more and more households, parents, and governments using alternative computer systems and apps other than proprietary, you will in time have students begin to question why all they are being taught is MS or Apple or some other proprietary standard. I believe the educational system must be more open and teach people to THINK rather than just follow in terms of technology. But that should start at the individual or family level, then it will automatically move up to the societal level then will there be real technological education for us the young ones.
Schools (and teachers) do not know enough in computer science to teach it to childrens. (for exception of computer science specialized schools). Most of the teachers will teach what they know (almost nothing) about computer science.
So our children are shown what the worst of computers users know, and in the wrong way. It is a relief that our children be able to understand more than their teachers, so evolution is possible. DO NOT COUNT ON SCHOOL TO TEACH COMPUTER SCIENCE, they will teach windows/word/excel at most.
I am so sorry for my daughter, at least her father will compensate. (30 years IT)
What will you do?
“The problem isn’t really just about closed source software, either. The same could be said about any technology, closed source or open.”
I remember the time, long ago, when AT&T was the telephone monopoly in the US. It was broken up by the government and lots of people lamented that fact. It was efficient. It maintained consistent standards. It controlled the hardware standards. US phone service was ‘the best in the world’.
But here’s the thing: if AT&T had not been broken up, we would not have the internet today.
There is an old Quote by Robert Heinlen, rather long, about all the things a human being should be able to do. Some were, change a diaper, cook a good meal, program a computer, build a house to name a few.
He sums it all up by stating that Specialization is for Insects!
I got an associates degree in Linux Networking Administration from Mesa Community College in Phoenix, AZ. It is a Cisco Network Academy, so the networking side was Cisco. The core requirements for the degree included an A+ class and a Windows XP administration class. I wanted to let the author know that there are some colleges that do try to provide a mix of technology for their students. In fact, the Networking Administration degree also required A+, Window XP, and Intro to Linux, in addition to the CCNA and CCNP programs. They believe all IT professionals should have a basic understanding of all relevant technologies, whether they go into Windows, Linux or Network Administration.
They are purposely holding everyone else back. In todays economy do you really think they can let everyone get a high paying job? If every person that went into their college made $200000 a year what would that do? Right! Destroy America!
Employers would pay their employees so much the whole economy would fail. Why do you think the stock market crashed in 1929? It was because everyone was making too much money. Buying stock on margin was quite possibly the best idea ever, until all you commoners figured it out. When will you people realize MONEY IS FOR THE RICH!!
They can only let certain people get the $200000 pay check, and you sir are one of those select few. Let’s all hope you take it to your grave.
Sharing == Communism
Well, my college was mixed. All the labs on the 3′rd floor were W$ and all the labs on 6′th floor were Linux. That’s because the sysadmin (who was on 6′th floor) was a linux evangelist. This isue was strong that 3′rd floor separated it’s network from the rest. The good point in this is that it made sysadmin’s life easyer
Very nice article. I have made this same point on various talk back forums and its often taken as just FOSS fanboyism. But the truth is that as you said it doesn’t matter what technology or FOSS vs MS. Its about understanding general principals when leaving college. Too often students are taught MS only.
Its also happening in MIS, CIS, and computer science. I’ve met folk that know nothing but C# and because they haven’t even touched another language they refuse to learn anything else. The lack a good understanding of programming principals but understand how to work Visual Studio like its an extension of their arm. You place another tool in front of them and they become completely lost. That goes for server OS’s too. I’ve had a guy ask me every step of the way what to do to change the IP on a Linux box. He simply would not even click what looked like it could be the right thing such as the System menu in Gnome. It wasn’t Windows so he was programmed to not understand.
I seriously fear the future for IT. Where are the thinkers going to come from if everyone is being programmed to click next and wait for intellisense to tell them what to do after they hit the “.”. …..quite frustrating.
Over in the UK we tackled the Open University on this very issue. It’s helpful to have some idea of the reasons for founding the university in the 1960s.
Here are some links
http://www.opensourceconsortium.org/content/view/83/1/
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1049499/university-challenged-ditch-microsoft
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1050051/ou-opens-crack-for-open-source
The article was well written and reflects the current situation in the majority of schools. I am currently working on a MS in Information Assurance and Security through an online University and the “official policy” dictates the use of IE or Firefox on Windows. With a user agent switcher, I can get by with Mac or Windows.
Several professors I’ve had so far have wanted assignments turned in formatted in MS-Word. I’ve sofar got away with using OpenOffice.org with no real problems. Some of the more in tuned professors have allowed PDF submission of assignments.
With more universities going to online submission, I don’t believe its too much to ask to be able to accept formats such as .odf or .pdf. While they may not be willing to officially support these yet, a lot depends on the professor and how in tune he/she is with the changes happening right now in the software industry.
Another important point to mention is that increasingly countries OUTSIDE the USA are moving to OpenOffice instead of MS Office. Clearly with the “global economy” and international companies, it could give students a competitive edge if they can work in something other than MS Office.
Where I work currently, we have three different office suites installed on the computers in my department. OOo, MS Office, and Lotus Smartsuite. Thankfully, Lotus is being phased out!
Personally, ill use as much open source software as possible, but professionally I need to adapt to what is thrown at me. If the colleges can’t see this, the students will start voting with their tuition dollars. It may also reduce the amount of donations from Alumni!
What do we expect from a broken educational system?
The whole system needs to be restructured or rebuilt. We spend vast amounts of money on salaries and facilities but we give no thoughts to what we are getting in return.
Remember: Change for the better doesn’t come from the top, it comes from the ground up. If change doesn’t come, we can blame no one but ourselves.
the problem goes beyond the OSS vs prop. problem. Several students are actualy thinking when then click some webstuff together they are programming. And teachers are supporting there believes, but noone tells them about then need of a revision control system or propper documentation.
the fact that teachers think that the world ends after excel,word does not help.
The University of Washington is the same way, unfortunately. A lot of it has to do with big donations from Microsoft. For a short time in the ’90′s, the CompSci dept. moved their C Programming class from UNIX/cc to Windows and Visual C++. They only went back to UNIX and cc because hiring managers started complaining about their CompSci students not knowing how to program!
The business school there is slavishly devoted to MS. Most departments, including the business school, require submitting in MS Office formats. They teach Visual BASIC for Applications (VBA) in the business class. They don’t teach databases, they teach MS Accsucks–er, Access.
This is all because MS is just across the lake, and Bill Gates regularly gives HUGE donations to the school. It used to be called the University of Boeing. It’s now the University of Microsoft.
–SYG