Volume 6, No. 1, Winter 2002

The Open Source Library for Educational Tools: OSLET

by Robert Tinker

OSLET TOOLS

All the OSLET tools are available free for any use. The source code for these is also available at no cost under a modification of the standard open source copyright, the GNU Public License (GPL). This allows anyone to modify the software, but only if they also release their modifications under the GPL copyright. We hope users will add new language support, add features, change scripts, and contribute new tools. Our only restriction is that these changes be added back to OSLET under the terms of the GNU Public License, so that the collection will continue to grow.

Pedagogica is the software interface that provides guidance and assessment.

BioLogica is a model for teaching genetics. It enables students to manipulate processes dynamically at the level of molecules, genes, and individuals. Like its predecessor program GenScope, BioLogica has associated modules and student activities that embody increasingly elaborate models of the parts, processes, and mechanisms of genetics.

Molecular Workbench is a rich computer-based environment that makes the atomic level familiar, predictable, and connected with the macroscopic world. By exploring models of atomic-scale situations, students learn about this world through guided exploration of the model.

CCProbe is data collection and analysis software that includes an electronic lab notebook. Currently CCProbe requires a lab interface that is under development at CC, but it can easily be adapted to other interface hardware. CCProbe runs on handhelds as well as desktop computers. CCProbe lessons are available for energy conversions and motion (see page 7).

CC Client manages Pedagogica scripts and associated tools. It can download and store locally the appropriate software and automatically update this software over the Internet.

The Concord Consortium has recently launched an online library of free software called Open Source Library for Educational Tools (OSLET)*. We are seeding the library with several powerful applications and associated materials developed at the Concord Consortium. In time, we plan to add more tools as well as contributions from other sources. The library is intended only for software that was developed through research and has proven educational value. We believe that OSLET could become the basis of an entirely new approach to integrating technology into education.

OSLET should be of great interest to professionals in all areas of education:

For faculty, teachers, and administrators, OSLET provides high-quality, research-based educational software. These are tools that have been proven to enhance student learning. And they cost nothing.
School and college system administrators, as well as commercial technology providers, will appreciate having so much value packed into just a few titles. And because the software is free, there are no licenses to track.
For educational researchers, the OSLET software can easily be modified for specific experiments and used to collect feedback from students in remote classrooms.
For professional developers, OSLET creates many opportunities for inexpensive, effective, technology-based teacher enhancement and action research.
Computer science professionals and students will like the structure of the OSLET code. Furthermore, OSLET presents an opportunity for developers to contribute their own compatible software, providing it has significant educational merit.
For publishers, the free OSLET components can be the basis of proprietary curricular materials that are far more sophisticated than any single publisher could generate on its own.

OSLET Software Criteria

Our library starts with five titles. We don't expect it to grow to include the thousands of titles usually associated with the term "library." This is because we are restricting the library to high-capacity modeling software and tools (applications for sensors and probes) that are research-based and written in specific software languages.

Oslet Schematic The educational reason for restricting OSLET to these applications is that we believe they have the greatest long-term impact on education. Models and open-ended tools could result in breakthroughs in student learning because they provide an alternative and more accessible way of understanding abstract concepts. If students are struggling to grasp fundamental ideas through complex formal methods, they can more easily gain an understanding of the same material by interacting with a suitable tool or model. By exploring a model of atomic structures, for example, students gain a better understanding of the subject than they would through reading about them. All students can expect a deeper learning experience in any field, whether it is genetics, macro-economics, chemistry, evolution, climate change, epidemiology, or urban planning, to name a few.

There are other, more practical, reasons for restricting the OSLET holdings. The library fills a need that is not being met by commercial distribution channels, which are unable to support larger, more complex, educational tools. Conversely, there is no point in having OSLET compete with the thousands of smaller educational packages that are commercially available. When educators log onto OSLET, they are not confronted with a daunting array of products, but rather a select group of tools with high impact.

Guided Exploration and Student Assessment

All the tools and models available through OSLET are interfaced with Pedagogica. At present, Pedagogica can be interfaced only with applications written in Java, Waba, and Flash. As a result, OSLET holdings will be restricted to applications written in those programming languages.

Pedagogica is a software environment that converts tools and models into hypermodel inquiry-based lessons, providing guidance to students and assessing their progress (see page 16). We see Pedagogica as the key to taming powerful software tools and models and making them practical, effective educational curricula. It does this by controlling the appearance of the tools as well as the options that are available. Pedagogica is itself controlled by a script that can be easily modified and delivered over the Internet. This means that Pedagogica scripts are an effective way of delivering tool-based curricular materials and tracking student progress.

We have found that the easy modification of Pedagogica scripts allows us to make quick improvements to our curricular materials. Classroom testing on one day can reveal the need for changes that can be made in time for the following day's class. The changes can be propagated easily to all students over the Internet using CC Client. This rapid cycling of testing and revising allows anyone using OSLET materials to quickly generate effective, classroom-tested lessons.

Different Pedagogica scripts addressing the same content can be easily developed. We will soon be able to target students with different versions of material that have the same learning objectives. We will use this capacity in our research, but it could also be used to address the needs of students with different learning styles or special needs.

Contained within the library are Pedagogica scripts for BioLogica and the Molecular Workbench that provide guided exploration and student assessment. BioLogica scripts support learning of Mendelian genetics. The Molecular Workbench scripts support standards-based learning in physical science, chemistry, and biology. CCProbe has not yet been integrated with Pedagogica, but has another mechanism for guiding computer-based lessons.

Platform Compatibility

Our goal is to have OSLET tools run on the widest feasible range of computers. The table below summarizes the current platform compatibility:

Platforms Currently Supported by OSLET
Oslet Tools	Windows	Mac Classic	Mac OS X	GNU/Linux	Handhelds
Pedagogica	yes	yes	yes	yes	no
BioLogica™	yes	yes	yes	yes	no
Molecular Workbench	yes	soon	yes	yes	no
CCProbe	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes
CC Client	yes	yes	yes	yes	no

Users are naturally concerned that any software they acquire will be supported. In the case of free software, the question of who will provide the maintenance often arises. Because the source code is available to all, we expect that a community of users will fill this need. This certainly has been the case for GNU/Linux and its compatible open source applications. GNU/Linux, which has always been open source, is the most stable, compact operating system now available, and it runs on more hardware platforms than any other system. If enough users depend on OSLET tools, there is a good chance that the community will maintain them.

Advantages for Developers

Although OSLET holdings are open source, publishers and other companies can base proprietary products on them. For instance, a publisher of a genetics text could develop its own Pedagogica script that was keyed to the treatment in the text. If developed from scratch and not from modifying an OSLET script, the script could be copyrighted and used exclusively by the publisher. This is true even if the proprietary script required open source components from OSLET. The result could be an outstanding learning tool that would be far more sophisticated than anything the publisher could develop on its own.

The OSLET library contains code objects that can greatly simplify software development projects. These objects can be linked to other code and controlled by Pedagogica, yielding sophisticated tool-based lessons economically. Suppose, for instance, that you want to develop educational software tools in statistics. The core tool might be a simulated urn from which samples could be drawn in various ways to illustrate statistical concepts. If this tool was developed in Java, then Pedagogica could control how the urn tool was used in any one lesson and link it to graphing and other tools already in the library. The only software coding required would be the development of the software urn tool. As a result, a complete software learning package, based on guided inquiry could be created quickly and economically.

Better Assessment

Pedagogica scripts can provide detailed feedback on student progress. The time spent at each step, the screens viewed, the options explored, and the tools used can all be noted automatically. Open-ended responses can be requested, predicted graphs sketched, and other kinds of student input can be elicited as the lessons are underway, giving detailed, embedded assessment of student learning. This assessment data can be sent over the Internet to the student, teacher, or researcher, as appropriate. This creates the possibility of better assessment that is less obtrusive and requires less class time. Embedded assessment provides a richer picture of a student's ability to solve problems and understand a domain than can be obtained from typical tests consisting of a series of short, unrelated questions.

Many of the advantages of OSLET accrue primarily to researchers, developers, and publishers. While educators are welcome to obtain the tools and scripts directly from OSLET, many will find our nonprofit affiliate The EdTech Exchange (ETX) to be a more supportive environment where the same software is available. By next year, ETX users will be able to create, deliver, and share Internet-based instructional activities based on a variety of technologies, including all the OSLET software. Thus, we hope ETX will become the user-friendly point of access to the OSLET holdings.

The Future

Over the next year, we hope to add additional tools and scripts to OSLET. These will include software tools developed for past projects. All future software developments at the Concord Consortium will become OSLET holdings. We invite developers to contribute educational models and tools as well.

We are especially interested in international contributors. Certainly, educators in developing countries are not going to want to buy expensive commercial software and should not be undertaking parallel, duplicative efforts to create similar free software for each country. It will be far faster and more economical to use OSLET tools and then localize the lessons based on these tools by modifying Pedagogica scripts.

We are also in contact with a growing number of "early adopter" schools that are willing to experiment with new releases and give us feedback on software and scripts as they emerge.

If this idea takes off, at some point OSLET will reach a critical mass. At that time, it should be far easier for anyone developing inquiry-based educational software to use OSLET components than to create their own software. By drawing from OSLET code, each developer will then have to contribute their new components, fixes, and enhancements. Even publishers with copyrighted scripts would be motivated to help maintain the open source software their scripts require. This sharing and mutual interdependence will strengthen the OSLET collection, making it even more attractive to subsequent developers and users.

The sooner we can reach a critical mass of interested schools, developers, and authors, the sooner the OSLET collection will begin having an impact on education. Whether you are a developer, researcher, or educator, if you would like to get involved, go to our OSLET Web site and register your interest.

Robert Tinker (bob@concord.org) is president of the Concord Consortium.

* In the Spring 2001 issue of @CONCORD, we wrote about our research involving a molecular and atomic modeling engine that we had named Oslet. This software is a component of the Molecular Workbench project and is still under development. Future versions of that application will be released under a new name, since OSLET is the acronym for the Open Source Library for Educational Tools.

The projects described in this newsletter are supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Education, the Noyce Foundation and others. All opinions, findings, and recommendations expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the funding agencies. Mention of trade names, commercial products or organizations does not imply endorsement.

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