Making Open Source education an integral part of the curriculum in Computer Science programs (froscon2024)

The students of today are the decision-makers of tomorrow. Hence, professors in computer science and connected disciplines should raise awareness for topics such as digital sovereignty or free and open source software. This talk reflects on attempts to include these aspects in the curriculum - not only by specific lectures but also by motivating students to make the results of their projects and theses available to the general public under open source licenses. The talk showcases some "lighthouse projects" but also discusses challenges - especially when it comes to maintaining work once it has been graded. Vendors of proprietary software invest substantial time and money to win teachers and professors as lobbyists for their products. But how can members of the free and open source communities counter these attempts? And how can we provide students with the ability to make fair and well-balanced decisions about licenses and technology later on? While many computer science students use open source software during their studies and later at work, important basics about licensing or open source communities are often not part of the curriculum. However, since the students of today are often the decision makers of tomorrow it seems crucial to enable students to make well-informed decisions - not only regarding technological aspects but also incorporating ethical issues and sociological goals connected to digital sovereignty. I have spent more than 15 years with teaching activities at various universities. During this time, I made several attempts to raise open source awareness and achieved remarkable progress in making results of student projects available as open source software to the general public. This talk reflects on possible strategies with their pros and cons. Furthermore, it discusses challenges that often arise - such as selecting proper technologies or motivating students to continue their work after their project has been graded. about this event: https://programm.froscon.org/2024/events/3130.html