Free Technology Academy : a Joint Venture of Free Software and OER

The decision to publish educational materials openly and under free licenses brings up the challenge of doing it in a sustainable way. Some lessons can be learned from the business models for production, maintenance and distribution of Free and Open Source Software. The Free Technology Academy (FTA) has taken on these challenges and has implemented some of these models. We briefly review the FTA educational programme, methodologies and organisation, and see to which extent these models are proving successful in the case of the FTA

Clustering Projects for eLearning Interoperability

[ES]Desde el principio de la disciplina, el eLearning ha sido un campo novedoso que ha generado nuevo software, sistemas, contenidos y herramientas con los que se está experimentando. la interoperabilidad se convierte, en este contexto, en un problema. Los sistemas consolidados y empleados regularmente tienen que ser capaces de interoperar con otros nuevos. Este artículo trata sobre cómo varias investigaciones y lproyectos de desarrollo se reunieron para encontrar una solución a este problema, proporcionando especificaciones abiertas y normas, además de ibre, implementaciones de referencia de código abierto.[EN] Since the beginning of the discipline, eLearning has been about innovation. New software, systems, contents and tools are being created and experimented with and in constant evolution. But when systems, contents and tools become successful and part of the regular infrastructure of educational institutions, interoperability becomes an issue. Systems that are consolidated and regularly used need to be able to interoperate with new ones. And the new tendencies need to fit within the current infrastructure. This paper states how several research and development projects with heterogeneous funding sources and locations worldwide, gathered together to find a solution to this common problem, providing open specifications and standards, plus Free/Libre, Open Source reference implementations

Science, Education and Learning in Freedom (SELF)

Presentation of the SELF project, which aims to facilitate the sharing of knowledge about Free Software and Open Standard

Liuc papers

Digital Do-It-Yourself techniques, from 3D printing to micro-sensors, allow people to construct and reproduce complex objects, from drones to milking machines, with reduced costs and skills. Digital DIY can contribute to feasible, practical solutions for economic and social sustainability of rural areas. Digital DIY can help making agriculture and farming economically and environmentally sustainable, thanks to machinery and crop/livestock monitoring systems that greatly reduce both the costs of equipment, and the time and skills required to build and manage them. Digital DIY can also be applied to provide crucial services for rural areas, from Internet connectivity to telemedicine. At both levels, Digital DIY solutions can be reused, and completely adapted to the actual local needs of each community, at the smallest possible costs. In this paper we will first define Digital DIY, Open Source Hardware and their impacts and challenges in agriculture. Next, we will look into how Digital DIY enables people to build civic and social services bottom-up, also in rural areas. We argue that solutions based on Open Source Hardware and Digital DIY can and should be applied in rural areas, thus contributing to a sustainable society, from an environmental, social and economic point of view

Digital do-it-yourself fabrication practices and legal challenges

In recent years, an extraordinary growth in activities among legal scholars and legal practitioners at the crossroads of law and digital fabrication has been noted. It shows in[nite application possibilities in mass-reproducing both daily life objects and design prototypes through CAD software and tools. Various trends can be observed, each having their particular impact on and challenges for current legal systems. )e [rst trend, the rise of the Open Source Hardware movement, poses challenges in terms of how one can protect the sharing of collective works in the domain of hardware designs, typically governed more by patents and design rights than copyright. Most Open Source Hardware works are shared under copyright-based licenses, which may only protect part of the work. )e second trend, the lowering of costs of digital fabrication tools, is correlated to the [rst, by sharing R&D through open communities in combination with patent expiration. )e third trend, Digital DIY, refers to the growing group of people who engage in making and hacking their own machines and products to extend their life and usefulness. However, the replication of patented or otherwise protected products might lead to a rise in counterfeit products. Nonetheless, the practice of Digital DIY is typically for private, non-commercial use and therefore maybe exempt of certain exclusive IP rights. And there may be concerns in the assignment of liability in the event of defects in product design, planning and realisation, especially in areas such as biomedical products, food, and mobility. )e purpose of this article is to examine how the legal discipline in the [eld of online platforms of CAD and digital fabrication can respond to these trends, in particular in terms of intellectual property and liability of amateur manufacturers of goods that can be used by third parties.7-8 July 201

Clustering Projects for eLearning Interoperability

Abstract: Since the beginning of the discipline, eLearning has been about innovation. New software, systems, contents and tools are being created and experimented with and in constant evolution. But when systems, contents and tools become successful and part of the regular infrastructure of educational institutions, interoperability becomes an issue. Systems that are consolidated and regularly used need to be able to interoperate with new ones. And the new tendencies need to fit within the current infrastructure. This paper states how several research and development projects with heterogeneous funding sources and locations worldwide, gathered together to find a solution to this common problem, providing open specifications and standards, plus Free/Libre, Open Source reference implementations