Finland en Roemenie werken aan edu software

http://ec.europa.eu/idabc/en/document/7253/469

RO: Open Source to create tools and material for teachers
Open Source News - 23 October 2007 - Romania - General

Teachers in Romania are increasingly using Open Source software and Open
Source based applications to create e-learning opportunities, says the
Romanian IT company Timsoft. Its Open Source e-learning application is
already being used by some seventeen schools.

The company is developing an e-learning application using only Open Source
tools, such as the operating system GNU/Linux, the web server Apache, the
database MySQL and the programming language PHP. The application is built
in cooperation with the Politehnica University in Timisoara and the
University of Helsinki.

The three aim to create an Open Source e-learning application to improve
Romanian educational tools. The software allows teachers to produce, store
and share their on-line courses. Students and teachers can participate in
learning communities, managed by teachers.

The three organisations hope the project will also result in educational
content, courses and projects that can be shared, using a Creative Commons
license.

The Open Source tools should save teachers time and effort, says Carmen
Halotescu, project coordinator at the Polytechnical University of Timisoara
and director of Timsoft. As part of the approach, participants are
encouraged to use blogs, wikis and social networks on the Internet to
develop their own educational programmes, share results and experiences.

Open Source approach provides lowers the overall costs and makes schools
independent from specific software vendors, she says in an interview
published in September on Checkpoint, a web portal on e-learning. "It
positions the software as a public good, increases interoperability and is
safer (than proprietary software)."

The Romanian collaboration project is supported by the Unesco's Open
Educational Resources Programme.