the social sourcing of educommons
DESCRIPTION
A presentation on moving a centrally developed, grant funded project towards a community development model called social sourcing. This presentation was given at the Connexions 2009 Conference at Rice University on Feb. 6, 2009.TRANSCRIPT
The Social Sourcing of eduCommons
Creating community around social source software
Tom CaswellProject ManagerOCW Consortium
Christopher Johnson Cofounder and CEO
ifPeople
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 splinters
Photo 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 the
software making process, thus creating
sustainable community.
Photo by Wade from Oklohoma
Principles of Social Sourcing
Distribute the burdenDiverse perspectives enrich the final productFocus on creating value for usersGive everyone a voice
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Example: GetPaid
Ecommerce product for Plone Provides payment processing and simple store www.plonegetpaid.com
Social Sourcing Process
Study the market (benchmark) Put together a compelling plan Recruit the right people Engage a wide base in refining requirements Ask for money Celebrate successes Sustain it: fun, organization, motivation Regroup, review, and restart...
Social Sourcing GetPaid
Initial release: central development, distributed funding
Now distributed development and funding Over 40 contributors 10,000+ LOC
Social Sourcing eduCommons
Goal: Create a vibrant, healthy
community that shares in stewarding the product.
Distributed Leadership
• Development• Quality Control• Requirements
gathering• Planning process• Marketing• Support and
commercial services
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Organized, Open Framework
• Information• Governance• Communication
tools• Feedback tools
Photo by Jeremy Brooks
Photo by foxypar4
Current State
What is the experience of a new user?• Finding product information• Understanding what it does• Get the product working• Get help• Get involved
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Current Work In Progress
Overview of current phase of work• educommons.com portal • software distribution setup • features and bug fixes• testing and quality control
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Tear Down Old Infrastructure
• Outdated information• COSL project site• Old URLs • Redirects
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Future Directions
It depends on YOU!
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• Currently consulting stakeholders
• Preparing plan for OCWC Global Conference
• We want to know 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
Questions?
Contact info:eduCommons [email protected] Tom [email protected]
Christopher [email protected] Photo by Tch0la :)