News

FOSS in Education related news

Old computers good as new in Linux labs by Khairil Yusof — last modified 2004-09-20 12:51 AM

With help from the nonprofit Hawai'i Open Source Education Foundation, a dozen schools and organizations have opened PC labs using recycled computers loaded with free software for about $3,000, much less than what a lab using off-the-shelf computers and commercially-available software could cost — up to $30,000.

Leading Universities Establish .LRN Consortium by Khairil Yusof — last modified 2006-07-10 03:02 PM

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Oct. 12, 2004 -- Members of a multi-university project on open source software for collaborative education today announced formation of the .LRN ("Dot-Learn") Consortium to accelerate and expand development of an open source application suite currently used by a quarter million students and educators at institutions of higher education and research around the globe.

Free Software for use in Higher Education in Africa by Khairil Yusof — last modified 2004-12-08 07:35 AM

The University of the Western Cape (UWC) announced today that it had received a R3.7 million grant from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada for the establishment of a network of African universities to build Free Software for use in Higher Education on the Continent. The project, known as the African Virtual Open Initiatives and Resources (AVOIR), is working on a second-generation learning management system suitable for the bandwidth environment of Africa but that is at the cutting edge of e-learning. The group will also be developing applications for use in managing student enrollment as well as other aspects of university administration. An important part of the AVOIR project is also research into processes of collaboration and Free and Open Source Software development in the African context, as well as research into the design of e-learning systems.

Linux gets warm reception in Chile by Khairil Yusof — last modified 2006-07-10 03:02 PM

Linux has secured another role in the education sector through a government initiative in Chile. Nearly 10,000 computers in Chilean schools will be turned into thin clients running Linux and applications such as OpenOffice.org and Mozilla.

IOSN Releases Primer on Free/Open Source Software and Education by Khairil Yusof — last modified 2006-08-08 02:41 PM

IOSN has produced a primer on Free/Open Source Software and Education and a publication copy of the primer is now available for download.

UK Government: Open source could halve school IT bills by Khairil Yusof — last modified 2005-05-11 09:54 AM

Research, carried out by the British Educational Communications and Technology Association (BECTA), concluded that primary schools could cut computer costs by nearly half if they stopped buying, operating and supporting products from software vendors such as Microsoft, according to the Times Educational Supplement.

Google Backs Colleges' Open-Source Efforts by Russell John — last modified 2005-10-27 04:22 PM

Anything that puts competitive pressure on rival Microsoft is a good thing, Google says. Google Inc. donated $350,000 to two Oregon universities Tuesday as part of the company's efforts to back open-source software development. The grant to Oregon State University and Portland State University is Google's first academic donation specifically directed toward supporting open-source development, Google said.

Macedonia Deploys 5,000 GNOME in Public Schools by Khairil Yusof — last modified 2005-12-04 04:25 PM

When the Republic of Macedonia decided to deploy Linux in 468 schools and 182 computer labs nationwide, they chose GNOME on an Ubuntu distribution. Arangel Angov met with Darko Arso, Technology Integration Manager at the Education Development Center, to find out more about their reasons for using GNOME.

Hoosier Daddy? In Indiana Schools, It's Linux by Khairil Yusof — last modified 2006-08-17 05:53 PM

More than 20,000 Indiana students are now Linux-enabled under a state grant program to roll out low-cost, easy-to-manage workstations, which are running various flavors of the open-source operating system.