Carolyn Fox

These are very good questions. 1) As far as I know, there aren't a whole heap of ways that parents, in particular, could contribute to project development or get their voices across. It's not easy, though it could be. Some parents have the confidence to contact people or sites directly, but I think many people don't bother. It's easier to continue to use a site and grumble rather than motivate yourself to actually do something.

2) Are people discovering open source materials? I've been wondering about this myself. I think many parents don't differentiate and that might simply be due to a time and effort factor to figure things out. You've got to be familiar with the concept of open source in order to differentiate from others. So that's an one issue, but there are many others. Bear in mind, about 90% of US children attend public schools and in school systems that don't differentiate between open source and non-open source. So how are these children going to figure these differences? Some will learn these differences on their own, but I strongly believe that's a small fraction of the population.

3) Prosumers. Thanks. That's an interesting term and concept. Yes, I think eventually we'll have a generation of children who will have or be familiar with a flipped classroom, a user generated education, and to a growth mindset mode of lifelong learning -- but the public schools are not there yet and thus the fixed mindset will continue. So I strongly believe that you've got to have people who embrace a growth mindset and are don't mind trying or fear failure. So part of it is finding people who are not risk averse. Less myopic thinking and more flexible and divergent thinking, agency, autonomy and empowerment are other qualities and aspects at play. It's really about realizing that folks have the ability to effect change and make a difference. The divergent thinkers will question why a company or organization isn't using open source. They can be those out-of-the-box, non-conformists who beat to a different drum.

Art schools are usually full of these types and ways of thinking -- because they're willing to experiment, try things out, and go against the grain. Money isn't usually the primary motivation for artists to make art. The desire and urge to make art (or music) usually goes deep.

With homeschooling, I come across a lot of the non-corporate producer/consumer since many homeschooling families are living on a budget, do not have much in terms of a disposable income, are highly educated, are skeptics of corporate America and the public schools, and have kids with allergies or ailments that prompted them to go on restrictive diets and question the status quo. Many of these families tend to move
away from formal leadership based on rank and title, and towards a more informal kind of followership, which is based on values, approaches and credibility.

Yes, there are numerous teacher sites. I did include professional teacher organizations and associations which offer free resources. But I wanted to write the article for other parents like me who do not have the luxury of school librarian. Many parents ask me where to find free or open resources and don't need where to start. That was my intention of the article. To say, look, here are a number of ways you can access free and open resources.