Student’s Awareness of Free and Open-Source Software (FOSS) in Higher Education: A Descriptive Survey

Abstract

The study explores students' awareness based on their familiarity with different types of free and open-source software (FOSS). It also explored the factors influencing their connection with free and open-source software (FOSS). The concept of free and open-source software might be the alternative to high-cost software. Purposive sampling techniques were used for data collection along with a descriptive survey method. The research took place between January and April 2019 at two Odisha state universities. The samples comprise 80 post-graduate students from two Odisha state universities Viz Ravenshaw University, and Utkal University. Included sample from each university selected randomly. The data were analyzed by percentage and frequency of responses of respondents. The results show that most students were well knowledgeable about how to use and benefit from free and open-source software (FOSS). While lack of awareness, a lack of institutional support, a lack of orientation and training on the use of FOSS tools, and lack of institutional support are the major factors causing FOSS adoption, social media, course curricula, and conferences/seminars are the major factors influencing student awareness of free and open-source software. The results also suggest that FOSS tools can be used for educational purposes such as research, teaching and learning, data gathering, interpretation, and representation, among others, and that they are an alternative to proprietary software. Teachers and curriculum developers should reconsider and reframe the higher education curriculum with this area in consideration.