Open Platform to create and share learning materials

As Internet penetration increases, new perspectives for collaboration are opened. The web has made FOSS viable and highly innovative. In similar ways a number of other communities have been formed around common interests. Among others, there are many port als for sharing learning materials. However, as of yet, we do not see much activity on portals designed to facilitate development and sharing of such materials. A recent Norwegian survey1 indicates that many teachers are themselves authors of learning ma terials and, given a practical solution, would be happy to share them. Currently most Universities have some learning management system in operation. The proposed platform would enable new ways to collaborate and share among Universities in Norway In a wider perspective the same solution could support the global partnership for development where schools and universities in the developed world can collaborate, on an equal footing, with the same institutions in the developing countries. Therefore, we i n this pre-project propose to explore the potential and the requirements for an open platform to develop and share learning materials nationally and also internationally as a component in a national development aid portfolio. The consortium and the findi ngs from the pre-project will provide a basis for implementation of a working platform for creating and sharing learning materials in a main project.