Name of Student or Student Organization: English 420 & 421 Students, c/o:
Dr. David Blakesley
Address: Purdue University, Department of English, 500 Oval Drive West Lafayette,
IN 47907
Phone: (765) 494-3740 E-mail: blakesle@purdue.edu
Title of Project/Services: Open Source Development and Documentation Project
(OSDDP)
Proposed Starting and Ending Dates of Project: Sept. 6, 2004 – December
18, 2004 (ongoing)
Community Organization Partner: Drupal Open Source Development
Community, c/o: Charlie Lowe
Address: Purdue University, Dept. of English 500 Oval Drive West Lafayette,
IN 47906
Phone: (765) 494-3740 E-mail: cel4145@cyberdash.com
Purdue University Sponsor: Dr. David Blakesley
Address: Department of English, Purdue University, 500 Oval Drive, West Lafayette,
IN 47907
Description of Project/Service (250 words or less):
In a new initiative to foster networked learning and community engagement on
a wide scale, Purdue students and instructors in English 420 and 421 will
interact with new people and new technologies to provide valuable Open Source
Software Development and Documentation. Students in a variety of English
courses in the Professional Writing major and service courses will study
Open Source Software, talk to its designers and users electronically and
in-person, use the software themselves, then write and test user documentation,
help organizations promote their software in the wider community, and develop
action plans for deploying such software in nonprofit organizations locally
and nationally, new business enterprise, and academic contexts.
The project will be a major feature of English 420 (“Business Writing”)
and English 421 (“Technical Writing”), which currently enroll 1,100
students per semester. The project is modeled on the grand scale of EPICs.
At this early stage, we have developed a substantial project website and communications
hub for all students and instructors:
http://pw.english.purdue.edu/osddp/
We think students will benefit greatly from this experience of networking
with others in the lively spaces that support community development of Open
Source software solutions. We don't see this as traditional service learning,
but as networked learning, because students are insinuating themselves into
the ongoing conversations and processes that shape our culture, and becoming
actors in this broader network by producing something this network culture
values. Both service learning and networked learning are terrific ways to teach
business, technical, and multimedia writing because students learn transferable
rhetorical principles in interesting and complex situations. The project will
build from semester-to-semester and so contribute to the ongoing development
of Open Source for all.
Proposed Budget
Income: List expected revenue for the project (if any) including sources and
amounts. Community organizations or agencies receiving the service might choose
to participate in the cost of the project or service.
No income is expected from completing this project.
Expenses: List the expected expenses by expenditure type and amount. The following
areas are included as approvable expenditures: publicity, printing, postage,
transportation, supplies and materials necessary to complete the project, and
minimal refreshment costs where justified as necessary for the service or project.
• Printing/Duplicating Flyers and Brochures - $400
•
Colloquium on the OSDDP Project, with Guest Speaker (Open to Purdue Community)-
$600
•
Open Source Site Hosting of Project (for 2 years) - $265
•
Domain Name for Project (for 5 years) - $50
•
Books for Open Source Resource Library - $185
TOTAL = $1,500.00
Note: For the colloquium, we have made preliminary arrangements to bring in
Zach Rosen, the founder and director of CivicSpace. (See www.civicspacelabs.org).
Mr. Rosen is a principal architect of DeanSpace, the online community/environment
that revolutionized the process of political action in the age of the Internet.
We have also begun arranging for students to work on the future development
of CivicSpace, an Open Source software solution that nonprofit organizations
and civic groups can use to share their ideas and thus form a networked community.
____________________________________
Signature of Purdue Sponsor - Date
____________________________________
Signature of Student
or president of Student Organization - Date
_____________________________________________________
Signature of Community Organization Partner Representative-Date
Send to:
Purdue Office of Engagement
Hovde Hall, Rm. 232
610 Purdue Mall
West Lafayette, IN 47907-2040