The Dangers of Proprietary Systems in Online Teaching

Come build a better world with us!

Please don't scroll past this. We've been building a better world with free software since 1985. Today, we ask for your support. Only with your help can the FSF continue to be the cornerstone of a more just digital society! Donate to help us reach the goal of USD $400,000 by Dec 31.

Donate

$44,093

$400,000

Since March 2020, educational institutions all over the world have been forced to migrate their daily activities to online teaching due to the COVID-19 sanitary emergency. For many schools, this constituted a first important step towards digitalization. However, the transition to remote teaching has brought an unwelcome guest: nonfree software for classes online.

Many schools have adopted video conferencing programs and Learning Management Systems (LMS) that are proprietary software. These nonfree programs are used by software development companies as weapons against students' and teachers' fundamental rights to computer freedom and privacy. Nonfree software is the antithesis of education since it forbids the sharing of knowledge and is specifically designed to prevent it. There should be no place for nonfree software in educational environments.

Freedom-respecting software is readily available for all activities in the digital classroom and should be chosen instead of their proprietary counterparts.