A little bit of a ramble here, but hopefully the concepts are clear. It probably depends on circumstances, but using specialist software such as stats and GIS, as an example
R and QGIS allow students access to these programs at home, and not as is the case with the commercial alternatives force students into the University to work on tasks that need these programs. Something the students like, and given transport/fuel costs and a desire to reduce carbon footprints this saves students trips into Uni just to use specialist software. (some stats programs offer free copies to students, but see below) This has a knock on effect in reducing skills redundancy, as, in theory at least they can take both their skills and the software to any job they go to. I also know of employers who don't have any stats or GIS capability because the software is too expensive, giving a useful twist to getting a job as the graduate can offer not only to bring their skills, but also the software. There are of course issue. QGIS isn't an industry standard and this is often a real disadvantage, but for Stats, R is quickly becoming the standard across all industries, and even where it isn't, R skills are still in demand because of its cutting edge capability. Something else I find useful, is that with Open Source, I can introduce students to tools that doesn't require them or the University to spend any money. This gives a freedom to explore new areas of teaching and learning that would otherwise have to be avoided because of the cost. Most Open Source programs work on Linux, Macs and Windows, so again it opens these tools up to a wider range of students (not many use Linux, but an increasing number are using Macs). Graham
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