Adoption of free and open source software using alternative educational framework in college of applied sciences

The adoption of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) in educational institutions is increasing day by day. Many countries are insisting the use of FOSS in their government sectors and few are in the process of adopting FOSS strategies. The reasons for adopting FOSS are: total cost ownership, free to make copies and distribution, software legality, reliability, availability, performance, security and other pedagogical and administrative benefits. In this research paper, the alternative educational framework has been used to identify the FOSS tools and software by considering the various strategic areas, polices and phased approach to identify the suitable FOSS tools for the courses of various specializations of Information Technology programme in College of Applied Sciences, Sultanate of Oman. As a result of this research, a list of alternative FOSS tools and software for the courses of IT programme has been identified and recommended. Index Terms FOSS, CAS, Alternative educational framework, Tools and Software.