Discussing international perspectives on Open Learning in Brazil: educational politics and pedagogical principles

This paper aims to present some of the new tendencies in Open Learning in the context of international online higher education. These tendencies work as a basis for a discussion of the role of e-learning in online higher education in Brazil. The use of open source technologies and the constant search for quality and innovative pedagogies in the teaching and learning process constitute a new trend in international distance education. The main concern nowadays seems to be with ‘quality’ and ‘widening participation’, which result in initiatives such as ‘Open Educational Resources’. In Brazil, the creation of the Brazilian Open University (UAB) would appear to be consistent with these tendencies. The challenge now is to be able to set up a system that attends to national needs while being open to international tendencies. This paper aims to explore some of these issues, and also to present the most recent freeware technologies used for the purpose of enhancing open learning initiatives

Digital Democracy: Episode IV—A New Hope*: How a Corporation for Public Software Could Transform Digital Engagement for Government and Civil Society

Although successive generations of digital technology have become increasingly powerful in the past 20 years, digital democracy has yet to realize its potential for deliberative transformation. The undemocratic exploitation of massive social media systems continued this trend, but it only worsened an existing problem of modern democracies, which were already struggling to develop deliberative infrastructure independent of digital technologies. There have been many creative conceptions of civic tech, but implementation has lagged behind innovation. This article argues for implementing one such vision of digital democracy through the establishment of a public corporation. Modeled on the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in the United States, this entity would foster the creation of new digital technology by providing a stable source of funding to nonprofit technologists, interest groups, civic organizations, government, researchers, private companies, and the public. Funded entities would produce and maintain software infrastructure for public benefit. The concluding sections identify what circumstances might create and sustain such an entity

The usability of open source software: analysis and prospects

Open source communities have successfully developed many pieces of software although most computer users only use proprietary applications. The usability of open source software is often regarded as one reason for this limited distribution. In this paper we review the existing evidence of the usability of open source software and discuss how the characteristics of open-source development influence usability. We describe how existing human-computer interaction techniques can be used to leverage distributed networked communities, of developers and users, to address issues of usability

Open educational resources : conversations in cyberspace

172 p. : ill. ; 25 cm.Libro ElectrónicoEducation systems today face two major challenges: expanding the reach of education and improving its quality. Traditional solutions will not suffice, especially in the context of today's knowledge-intensive societies. The Open Educational Resources movement offers one solution for extending the reach of education and expanding learning opportunities. The goal of the movement is to equalize access to knowledge worldwide through openly and freely available online high-quality content. Over the course of two years, the international community came together in a series of online discussion forums to discuss the concept of Open Educational Resources and its potential. This publication makes the background papers and reports from those discussions available in print.--Publisher's description.A first forum : presenting the open educational resources (OER) movement. Open educational resources : an introductory note / Sally Johnstone -- Providing OER and related issues : an introductory note / Anne Margulies, ... [et al.] -- Using OER and related issues : in introductory note / Mohammed-Nabil Sabry, ... [et al.] -- Discussion highlights / Paul Albright -- Ongoing discussion. A research agenda for OER : discussion highlights / Kim Tucker and Peter Bateman -- A 'do-it-yourself' resource for OER : discussion highlights / Boris Vukovic -- Free and open source software (FOSS) and OER -- A second forum : discussing the OECD study of OER. Mapping procedures and users / Jan Hylén -- Why individuals and institutions share and use OER / Jan Hylén -- Discussion highlights / Alexa Joyce -- Priorities for action. Open educational resources : the way forward / Susan D'Antoni

Usability and open source software.

Open source communities have successfully developed many pieces of software although most computer users only use proprietary applications. The usability of open source software is often regarded as one reason for this limited distribution. In this paper we review the existing evidence of the usability of open source software and discuss how the characteristics of open-source development influence usability. We describe how existing human-computer interaction techniques can be used to leverage distributed networked communities, of developers and users, to address issues of usability

Eight Things you should Know about Open Source Integrated Library Systems.

Open source library management systems are free alternative to costly commercial library systems. It helps to automate library functions and give a tremendous savings on library automation expenses. User ’s participation in all stages of software project ensures the development of the features that the library really wants. Lack of awareness and knowledge in open source technology among library professionals restrict wide adoption of open source library management system. This article gives an insight into the use and maintenance of open source library management systems

e-Democracy driven by civil society: Developing a theoretical basis to design for bottom-up participation

This short paper outlines initial ideas for a programme of research related to e-Democracy which commences in October 2008 and will be undertaken over the next three years. The research specifically intends to focus on factors in the architecture of online discursive spaces which may affect sustained and meaningful participation. It begins by describing the context as it relates to Community Informatics (CI). It then outlines the nature of one of the online communities that will be at the centre of the enquiry. Finally, it outlines four theoretical perspectives which seem to offer a route to analysis and sense-making, suggesting how a synthesis of these perspectives might contribute to original insights for CI

Click Here for Change: Your Guide to the E-Advocacy Revolution

Describes how organizations are using state-of-the-art technology to engage supporters and improve their advocacy efforts. Includes case studies and lessons on how to incorporate electronic approaches in campaign strategies