What wowed me this week comes from Chapter 6 of the assigned reading, Developing Personal Learning Networks for Open and Social Learning. The author states that most educators who are members of FOSS communities are “strongly influenced” by the “dominant philosophical views” in said communities. While this does not necessarily surprise me, I chose it as my Wow for the week because the influence of these communities is really interesting and intriguing.

My weekly wonder comes from the same idea–why are FOSS communities so influential? The article implies that they are more influential than other sources of information or community that educators may use. I have to wonder why this is; is it because the views in these communities are so strong? Is it because they emphasize things that make sense, like sharing and openness? I think that these are really important things to people, but I know that there are other things that encourage and foster openness as well. Perhaps it is because FOSS communities put such a strong emphasis on these principles that they are so influential.