Free and open source software in computer education: exploring the current situation in greek secondary schools
Sakellariou Panagiota · Digital Library (University of West Bohemia) · 2016
Free and Open Source Software is recently gaining attention, especially due to its primary characteristics – it is free of charge and can be freely and easily obtained. While Information and Communication Technologies (ICT’s) assist education, schools are more than ever in need of quality software solutions to assist the act of teaching. Especially in Greek primary and secondary schools, which have limited financial resources, the use of FOSS can help lower the cost barrier and support the use of ICT’s in classroom. The purpose of this study is to explore the extent of FOSS’s use at computer courses in Greek secondary schools, focusing not only to the operating systems installed to the computer labs, but also to the specific applications used by teachers to improve students’ computer literacy and advanced computing skills. In addition, the reasons for and against the use of FOSS in education are explored, according to the teachers’ views.