[wos] open schoolbook project

[Paolo Pumilia]

Hi, 

During the last months, i have been discussing about that subject
with some italian and finnish teachers.
Now it seems that there could be a possibilty to apply for including
our 'open schoolbook' project withing (EU) Minerva action. 
Here enclosed is the answer from Guri Skoklefald.

We have to define the proposal yet.
In short, our plan should consist in a _feasibility study_ to produce
an open source knowledge data base suitable for schoolbooks to be 
taken out. 

Could you please suggest any istitution available as a partner?
Experienced people in ontologies are particularly needed.
Here enclosed, our tentative summary of the proposed project.
We should be able to provide a pre_proposal within november 1st. 


Thank you 
--
Paolo Pumilia

AICA OpenSource WorkGroup Coordinator
email: paolo.pumilia@acm.org
cell: +39 347 2315 496
Website: http//www.linfe.it/AICA-OpenSource

AICA - Associazione Italiana per l'Informatica ed il Calcolo Automatico
piazzale Rodolfo Morandi, 2 I-20121 Milano
tel. +39 02 784970 - +39 02 76014082
fax. +39 02 76015717
e-mail: segreteria@aicanet.it
Website: http://www.aicanet.it


-- enc 1. ---- from Guri Skoklefald --------------

From: Guri.Skoklefald@cec.eu.int
To: paolo.pumilia@inwind.it
Subject: RE: open schoolbook project
Date: Wed, 23 Oct 2002 14:38:38 +0200
X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.5.2653.19)

Dear Paolo Pumilia,

Your project seems very interesting, and there are few actors in the field                 
of ICT who do something concerning Open Source for schools.
In order to set up a Minerva or eLearning project you need to be at least                  
three partners, of which one has to come from a Member State.
You will find more information about how to set up projects on the Minerva
and eLearning websites. The deadline for submitting proposals for Minerva
is
November 1, so you better hurry, if you want to launch a Minerva project in
2003.
You are welcome to call me for further information.

Best regards,
_____________________________________________
Guri Skoklefald

European Commission -
Directorate General for Education and Culture

Unit C4 Multimedia
* +32-2-296.99.22
* +32-2-296.69.92
*  http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/education/elearning/index.html
*  http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/education/socrates/minerva/ind1a.html

----


--- enc. 2 ----- project summary ----------------------------
Open Source Knowledge Base for Schholbooks             
Summary of the proposed project. 

In the multicultural context of the european societies and witnessed
the rapid advancement of science and technology, access to reliable
and updated knowledge sources, already framed as schoolbook topics, is
going to represent an increasingly appreciated support to educators.

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) will be of help with
those requirements, by providing means to collect, elaborate and
distribute ready-for-use schoolbook chapters both to be browsed on line
or printed out by teachers and students and to be included in commercial
products by publishing houses. 
Open Source Knowledge Base (OSKB) should feature free acquisition and 
modification of database objects and provide facilities to elaborate and
package contents according to users' preferences. 
Open schoolbooks (OSB) can be taken out of OSKB to fit the requirements
of different classes, allowing teachers to tailor ad hoc lessons
(documentation and homeworks). Moreover, it will be possible to make
OSB contents update also thanks to contributions, corrections and
improvements from teachers themselves. 

In our view, several OSKB, managed by authoritative boards of directors,
could coexist and rival, in the future.

Our effort at this stage is directed to set up a suitable ontological
database and to study relationships between OSKB directors and teachers.
----