path: root/md/article/education.md

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# Educational Institutes should use exclusively freedom-respecting software

We urge educational institutes to [use free (as in freedom)/swatantra
software that respects students' freedom and
privacy][free-sw-edu]. For example, the Department of Scientific
Computing, Modeling, and Simulation, Savitribai Phule Pune University
[has been using free/swatantra software tools for more than 20 years
and it's currently helping other departments at Savitribai Phule Pune
University adopt free software][cs-unipune]. Free software [is readily
available][free-sw-edu] for all activities in the digital classroom
and should be preferred over their proprietary counterparts.

[free-sw-edu]: https://www.gnu.org/software/free-software-for-education.html
[cs-unipune]: https://fsf.org.in/case-study/unipune

## What is Free/Swatantra Software?

[Free/Swatantra software][free-sw] means that you, as user, have the
freedom to run, study, modify, and redistribute the program.  Thus,
&ldquo;free software&rdquo; is a matter of liberty, not price. To
understand the concept, you should think of &ldquo;free&rdquo; as in
&ldquo;free speech&rdquo;, not as in &ldquo;free meals&rdquo;. With
these freedoms, the users, both individually and collectively, control
the program and what it does for them.  When users don't control the
program, we call it &ldquo;nonfree&rdquo; or &ldquo;proprietary&rdquo;
program. Proprietary software is an injustice to the user because it
puts its developer or owner in a [position of power over its
users][free-sw-imp]. The developer uses this power [to spy, restrict,
censor, and abuse the user][gnu-malware].

[free-sw]: https://gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html
[free-sw-imp]: https://gnu.org/philosophy/free-software-even-more-important.html
[gnu-malware]: https://gnu.org/malware

## Why should educational institutes use free software?

Any computer user should use free software for their own freedom, but
educational institutes have [additional reasons to insist only on free
software][gnu-edu].

[gnu-edu]: https://www.gnu.org/education/edu-schools.html

Some reasons are listed below:

- Software should [respect the user's freedom][gnu-sbf].

- [Proprietary software is often malware][gnu-malware].

- Educational Institutes have a moral responsibility to respect
  students' freedom and teach students to appreciate it &mdash; for
  their own future and their country's future.

- Educational institutes often expose students to [privacy-invading
  technology][eff-sp] without any real choice to escape from
  it. Educational institutes should respect students' privacy. Free
  software is controlled by its users and therefore it can protect
  them from surveillance.

- Students cannot learn from proprietary software because it is
  secret, and it prohibits learning as well as sharing while free
  software encourages learning and sharing which align with the
  mission of the schools.

- Proprietary software makes the institute dependent on the owner of
  the software while free software allows the institute to be in
  control.

[gnu-sbf]: https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/shouldbefree.html
[eff-sp]: https://www.eff.org/wp/school-issued-devices-and-student-privacy

Free software can save schools money, but this is a secondary
benefit. Savings are possible because free software gives schools,
like other users, the freedom to copy and redistribute the software;
the school system can give a copy to every school, and each school can
install the program on all its computers, with no obligation to pay
for doing so. Schools can also do necessary modifications as per their
requirements without further cost.

## Problems with commonly used proprietary tools for education

A lot of institutes rely on Google's Gmail and Microsoft's Outlook for
their email communications. Offering Google or Outlook accounts is an
injustice because:

a. Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, Apple, and AOL are [surveillance
systems][prism].

b. Gmail [makes psychological profiles][alternet-gmail] not only of
Gmail users but of everyone who sends mail to Gmail users.

c. Microsoft Outlook is known to block incoming mails from other email
service providers [without providing a reason][disroot-msh].

[prism]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PRISM_%28surveillance_program%29
[alternet-gmail]: https://www.alternet.org/2013/12/google-using-gmail-build-psychological-profiles-hundreds-millions-people/?paging=off
[disroot-msh]: https://disroot.org/en/blog/microsoft_hostility

Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams are proprietary software
generally used in live classes and webinars. All of them use their
power over the users to collect personal and location data. Zoom
[collects a lot of data][spm-zoom] on students. Microsoft Teams and
Google Meet also [snoop on their users][verge-mz].  We urge teachers
to help their students in resisting against proprietary
videoconferencing platforms; some ideas are [listed here][gnu-rz].

[spm-zoom]: https://studentprivacymatters.org/what-you-need-to-know-about-zoom-for-education
[verge-mz]: https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/1/21244058/google-meet-microsoft-teams-webex-personal-data-collection-privacy-policy-concerns
[gnu-rz]: https://www.gnu.org/education/teachers-help-students-resist-zoom.html

A lot of times, students are asked to join a WhatsApp group for
important announcements which is an injustice to the student because
WhatsApp is a nonfree program. Further, WhatsApp [does not respect
user's privacy][forbes-wa].

[forbes-wa]: https://www.forbes.com/sites/carlypage/2021/01/08/whatsapp-tells-users-share-your-data-with-facebook-or-well-deactivate-your-account/

Google Classroom is another commonly used nonfree program which is an
[assault on student's privacy][gm-gc]. Google Forms are used for
filling personal details which sends data to Google, [a surveillance
company][rms-gs] known to track and profile users. Google Drive
[mistreats users][vice-gd] as well.

[gm-gc]: https://gomindsight.com/insights/blog/privacy-with-google-classroom-education-industry-news/
[rms-gs]: https://stallman.org/google.html#surveillance
[vice-gd]: https://www.vice.com/en/article/9kgwnp/porn-on-google-drive-error

Chromebooks for schools [collect far more data on students than is
necessary, and store it indefinitely][eff-sp].

Many exam websites, institute and webinar websites report all their
visitors to Google by using the Google Analytics service, which [tells
Google the IP address and the page that was visited][pw-ga].

Further, educational institutes are [invading student's privacy][dw-p]
through cheating-detection systems. Requiring students to install a
proprietary monitoring software in their own computers is an
injustice. Monitoring software, by design, runs even when the owner of
the computer tries to stop it from running long after the exam is
finished and takes full control of the computer which [subjects users
to abuse][twtext-doctorow]. These monitoring apps [collect a lot of
data on students][eff-pa] such as: Recorded patterns of keystrokes,
facial-recognition, microphones and cameras record students'
surroundings such as biometric data, full name, date of birth,
address, phone number, scans of government-issued identity documents,
educational institution affiliation, and student ID numbers, records
of operating systems, make and model of the device, as well as device
identification numbers, IP addresses, browser type and language
settings, software on the device and their versions, ISP, records of
URLs visited, and how long students remain on a particular site or
webpage etc. The algorithms of these monitoring software could easily
flag students who don’t have control over their surroundings as
&ldquo;suspicious&rdquo; [which could further penalize them][wp-op].

No student should be forced to make a choice between getting
surveilled or to fail the exam.

[pw-ga]: http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/article/434164/google_analytics_breaks_norwegian_privacy_laws_local_agency_said
[dw-p]: https://www.dw.com/en/anti-plagiarism-tools-a-new-age-of-truth-at-university/a-45475465
[twtext-doctorow]: https://twtext.com/article/1252225044861693954
[eff-pa]: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/08/proctoring-apps-subject-students-unnecessary-surveillance
[wp-op]: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/04/01/online-proctoring-college-exams-coronavirus

## Free Software Recommendations

If you're a parent, talk to your child's school about the importance
of using free software that respects the freedom and privacy of
students and push for its adoption. If you're a student, team up with
your peers and write collective letters to the school raising
awareness about free software and urge them to provide a free software
infrastructure for your school. You can learn from people who
[successfully resisted][gnu-sr] the use of nonfree software in the
institutes.

[gnu-sr]: https://www.gnu.org/education/successful-resistance-against-nonfree-software.html#content

Here's a list of freedom-respecting software that can be used in
education:

Operating system: [GNU/Linux distros][gnu-fd]

Online Classes: Jitsi, BigBlueButton. See [this][fsfi-zoom] for more
details

Instant Messenger: Element, Quicksy, Conversations. See
[this][fsfi-wa] for more details

Uploading videos: [PeerTube][peertube]

E-learning platform: [Moodle][moodle]

Recording Lectures: [OBS][obs]

Sharing notes, lecture videos etc. : [Nextcloud][nc], [Lufi][lufi]

Digital writing pad: [Xournal][xournal]

Document editor: [LibreOffice][libreoffice]

Form filling: [KoBoToolbox][kobotoolbox], [NextCloud Forms][nc-f]
&mdash; [Disroot][dr-nc-f] provides NextCloud Forms.

[gnu-fd]: https://gnu.org/distros/free-distros.html
[fsfi-zoom]: https://fsf.org.in/article/better-than-zoom
[fsfi-wa]: https://fsf.org.in/article/better-than-whatsapp/
[peertube]: https://directory.fsf.org/wiki/PeerTube
[moodle]: https://directory.fsf.org/wiki/Moodle
[obs]: https://directory.fsf.org/wiki/Obs-studio
[nc]: https://directory.fsf.org/wiki/Nextcloud
[lufi]: https://framagit.org/fiat-tux/hat-softwares/lufi
[xournal]: https://directory.fsf.org/wiki/Xournal
[libreoffice]: https://directory.fsf.org/wiki/LibreOffice
[kobotoolbox]: https://www.kobotoolbox.org
[nc-f]: https://apps.nextcloud.com/apps/forms
[dr-nc-f]: https://disroot.org/en/services/nextcloud

Email: Institutes can hire a free software consultancy to run their
own mail server. For self-hosting mails, [Mail-in a-Box][mib] ,
[iRedMail][irm] and [Freedom Box][fb] are good options.  Further, the
users of the mail server(students, teachers, other staff etc) can use
end-to-end encryption so that only the participants of a communication
can read the mails.  Furthermore, PGP or pEp may be used to encrypt
emails to recipients. For information about using PGP see the FSF's
[Email Self-Defense guide][fsf-esg]; for pEp see
[pep.security/docs][pep]. For most users, pEp might be more
straightforward to use.

[fsf-esg]: https://emailselfdefense.fsf.org
[mib]: https://mailinabox.email
[irm]: https://www.iredmail.org
[fb]: https://www.freedombox.org
[pep]: https://www.pep.security/docs

The GNU website [lists free software that can be used in schools and
educational institutions of all levels][free-sw-edu]. The Free
Software Foundation keeps a comprehensive database of educational
software at the [Free Software Directory][fsd-edu].

[Freeduc-USB][freeduc] is a bootable USB
stick that contains useful applications for the classroom.

When an educational institute provides laptops to students, they
should choose laptops which can run fully free software-- check [RYF
laptops by FSF][ryf-l] and [LibreTech](https://libretech.shop/). For
other hardware which can run fully free software, check
[h-node][].

[fsd-edu]: https://directory.fsf.org/wiki/Category/Education
[freeduc]: https://usb.freeduc.org/index-en.html
[ryf-l]: https://ryf.fsf.org/categories/laptops
[h-node]: https://h-node.org

## Educational resources should be 'free' as in freedom

<div class="file is-centered" style="margin-bottom:5px;">
   <img src="/assets/img/blackhole.png" alt="[ Don't let proprietary limitations stand in the way of discovery - Image ]" />
</div>

In today's age, free sharing of scientific knowledge has become the
[worst conceivable crime][pia] one can think of. Scientific journals
like Elsevier lock up academic research behind paywalls and prohibit
sharing with others. Since, the academic research is funded by public
money, it should be available free of cost as well as free in
freedom. For arguments on how the principles of software freedom apply
to academic papers, please read [this essay][gnu-pca]. Educational
resources-- like videos, recorded lectures, academic papers [should be
released under free/swatantra licenses only][rms-oe]. The [GNU Free
Documentation License (GFDL)][gnu-fdl] is a free license that can be
used for educational works. Creative Commons has two free licenses:
CC-BY and CC-BY-SA for this purpose. If you release your academic
papers under a free license, it will give everyone an opportunity to
learn from you. Some free (as in freedom) learning resources are
mentioned [here][gnu-lr]. We must not allow scientific knowledge to
get locked.

[pia]: https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/blog/how-did-the-free-sharing-of-scientific-knowledge-and-culture-become-the-worst-crime-our-justice-systems-could-think-of
[gnu-pca]: https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/push-copyright-aside.html
[rms-oe]: https://www.stallman.org/articles/online-education.html
[gnu-fdl]: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/fdl.html
[gnu-lr]: https://www.gnu.org/education/edu-free-learning-resources.html

## Free Software adoption in Indian education

IT syllabus of class XI in Maharashtra [now includes free
software][fsfi-mh].  The state of Kerala [migrated more than 2,600
public schools to free software][kite]. Unfortunately, Kerala is the
only state in India where IT education is [imparted over a Free
software operating system][ae-k] and other states should also take
initiative in this direction.  A free software named [Tux
Paint][tux-paint] used at VHSS Irimpanam school, Kerala, where 11 and
12 years old students exercised the freedom to learn how the program
works and modify the program, which demonstrates that even non
programmers or children, [can actually influence and improve
information technology][gnu-tp] when software freedom is
granted. School-age children were able to effectively and quickly
exercise software freedom with Tux Paint in the [PC-in-the-Village
Experiment, Goa][de-k].

[fsfi-mh]: https://fsf.org.in/news/mh-schools-floss
[kite]: https://kite.kerala.gov.in/KITE
[ae-k]: https://www.academia.edu/10236947/IT_at_SCHOOL_PROJECT_OF_KERALA_A_LANDMARK_IN_ICT_INITIATIVE_IN_GENERAL_EDUCATION
[tux-paint]: http://directory.fsf.org/wiki/TuxPaint
[gnu-tp]: https://www.gnu.org/education/edu-software-tuxpaint.html
[de-k]: https://web.archive.org/web/20070203150611/www.digitalequalizer.org/kids.htm

Some of the educational institutions in India that are using
exclusively Free Software:

- [Ambedkar Community Computing Center (AC3)][gnu-ac3].

- [Vocational Higher Secondary School Irimpanam (VHSS
  Irimpanam)][gnu-vi].

- Department of Scientific Computing, Modeling, and Simulation,
  Savitribai Phule Pune University &mdash; [Statement
  here][cs-unipune]

If you know of other institutes which use free software, please let us
know, we would like to add them in this list. If you need help in
switching your institute to free software, feel free to [contact
us][fsfi-contact], we would be very glad to help you.

[gnu-ac3]: https://www.gnu.org/education/edu-cases-india-ambedkar.html
[gnu-vi]: https://www.gnu.org/education/edu-cases-india-irimpanam.html
[fsfi-contact]: https://fsf.org.in/contact


## Some Related Links:

- Remote education does not require [giving up rights to freedom and
  privacy][fsf-re].

- Richard Stallman on [why schools should use exclusively free
  software][rms-sina].

- [Sign Free Software Foundation's petition][fsf-gsu] to call on
  school administrators around the world to stop requiring students to
  run nonfree software.

- [Free software enables free science][lp-fs].

- [Guri][guri] &mdash; a project for free software in education.

- Ways in which technology used in education [puts students under
  surveillance][eff-ps].

- Schools are [deploying massive surveillance on their
  students][eff-st] as if they are dissidents of an authoritarian
  regime.

- [Join Students and Scholars In Speaking Out About the Effects of
  Mass Surveillance on Campus][eff-ms].

- [How Much Surveillance Can Democracy Withstand?][gnu-svd]

- [Don't Let][eff-ks] Science Publisher Elsevier Hold Knowledge for
  Ransom.


[fsf-re]: https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/remote-education-does-not-require-giving-up-rights-to-freedom-and-privacy
[rms-sina]: https://audio-video.gnu.org/video/richard_stallman_speech-sina.com-2005-09.ogg
[fsf-gsu]: https://my.fsf.org/give-students-userfreedom
[lp-fs]: https://media.libreplanet.org/u/libreplanet/m/free-software-enables-free-science
[guri]: https://guri.hipatia.net
[eff-ps]: https://ssd.eff.org/en/module/privacy-students
[eff-st]: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/02/schools-are-pushing-boundaries-surveillance-technologies
[eff-ms]: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2014/05/join-students-and-scholars-speaking-out-about-effects-mass-surveillance-campus
[gnu-svd]: https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/surveillance-vs-democracy.html
[eff-ks]: https://www.eff.org/id/deeplinks/2019/10/dont-let-science-publisher-elsevier-hold-knowledge-ransom