May 22
2007
It took a little while but finally I updated the ROSI- Romanian Open Source and Free Software Initiative presentation page. We planed to release the full portal but although me and Roberto are putting a lot of efforts in that directions, it seems that our busy schedule is not allowing us to advance as we wish.
Anyway, we took a step forward: after the last two months of discussions we had on Basecamp where ROSI members and supporters discussed the initiative, I wrote together all the ideas and now we can provide a clear reflection about how this project started, what are we doing, our goals, and what we plan to do for the future.
For all of you who are interested in Open Source, Free Software, Digital Civil Society, open business models and more, you are invited to find more details about ROSI on its website www.rosi.ro.
Finally, thanks to Dave who helped me to give a nice English shape to the copy there :)
May 22
2007
Carmen Holotescu, one of the first ROSI members, is talking about Open Source and Romanian education in an interesting interview with CHECKpoint eLearning/INFObases GmbH:
“The main benefits of open source software as concluded by UNESCO’s International Institute for Educational Planning are adaptable functionality, lower overall costs, vendor independence (increases choice, competition and transparency), adherence to open standards, the software’s position as a public good, interoperability, and security.
The recommendations of the EU for educational policies are to avoid lifelong vendor lock-in in educational systems by teaching students skills rather than specific applications and by encouraging participation in FLOSS-like communities. This adds value to the skills learnt by students, such as a positive attitude towards information technology that favours the ability to create and actively participate and collaborate rather than just consume. ”
“…teaching students skills rather than specific applications…” – very good point; maybe somebody from Romanian government will get the idea..
Read the whole article: http://www.checkpoint-elearning.com/article/4467.html
