Perspectives on Teaching Humanitarian Free and Open Source Software (Abstract Only)

There is a growing community of faculty members who support student participation in Humanitarian Free and Open Source Software (HFOSS) projects in a variety of courses at a range of different institutions. HFOSS can provide a plethora of learning opportunities for students that ranges from design to code to test to documentation and more. Involvement in an HFOSS project allows students to gain professional skills while also gaining an understanding of the social impact of computing. However, experience has shown that supporting student involvement in HFOSS can pose some challenges to instructors including identification of appropriate assignments, creation of rubrics, grading, and managing interactions with the HFOSS community. The organizers of this BoF are faculty members who have a spectrum of experience in supporting student involvement in HFOSS. The organizers will share tips for structuring such student participation as well as discuss challenges that they've experienced and approaches for overcoming those challenges. Attendees will be encouraged to ask questions about how to get started, selecting an appropriate HFOSS project, structuring assignments, and more. This BoF will provide faculty members the opportunity to network with instructors with experience in this area.