edu-sharing | Network | educational cloud | share contents | open education | community | open source | charitable | E-Learning
The network for digital media in education.
Share contents, tools & patterns in educational clouds
With modern free technologies, we network educational organizations to share learning content, software tools and educational templates. In our non-profit association, users, developers and education experts pool their resources. Together, we create secure, networked education clouds and unlock learning content and e-learning tools.
Work areas of the association
Networking of educational- and IT experts
Networking of educational clouds
Concepts for innovations in education
Collaboration and workshops in the community
Support for exchanging metadata
Open software for managing educational material
Open up open educational resources (OER)
Collaborating for metadata generation
Support of metadata harmonization
Support of collaborating editorial teams
Current activities
Networked education infrastructures - we promote investments
IT experts developed recommendations for connecting and networking existing IT infrastructures in education sector so that learning content can be exchanged between education institutions. Also content sources can be opened up more easily.
Together, they investments in these networking projects. This does not only mean to support programs and investments at federal and state level, but also private and personal commitment.
The association acquires funding and collects donations to support cooperating operators and developers of educational software in the implementation of developed networking concepts.
More open learning resources - Recommendations for decision makers
We need more open learning material in our educational system. Because open educational resources (OER) can be used freely and can be modified. Teachers can adapt them for different learning levels and special conditions of single learners. Resulting materials are reusable by other teachers.
Therefore a new sharing culture, further education for teachers, new legal conditions and connected technologies and more are needed.
What needs to be done has been summarized and published by experts of OER projects. A first approach was the development of a document and a set of slides as basis for further cooperation with decision makers and experts.
Slides → Document →
Opening up content sources
Since 2011, we're collaborating with partners and members of the educational sector to deliver quality content. We're opening up sources with free and commercial educational content. The open source software "edu-shring" developed in our network is used in several federal states. The developed connectors and plugins are a part of those educational infrastructure as open source software. edu-sharing ensures that the developed content can be used directly in the learning and authoring tools of educational institutions.
We are in constant contact with providers of free and commercial content and are working in modern content delivery solutions.
Cooperation in "Bündnis für Freie Bildung" (DE)
(Association for open education)
In order to create education for an open, digital society, educational materials should ne accessible, usable and changeable without legal and technical hurdles. Open teaching and learning practices should be promoted, software and infrastructure should be free and open.
We support the vision of the "association for open education" ("Bündnis für Freie Bildung"). We participate in the development of recommendations for actions, working groups and the monthly virtual calls.
Vision document of "Bündnis für Freie Bildung" →
Making open software innovations agile
Big IT Concepts and processes that require long periods of voting are often out of date when developed. That's why we' working agile:
Experts are working (online or offline) first little concept ideas. These are collected and testes in hackathons.
Developer and operators of educational infrastructure organizations gather in Weimar at our IT spring- and summer camps. Together we're working on software products that are going to be used in educational practices. What has been proved as good on the camp will usually be used in production environments of educational organizations in a timely manner.
Also Startups and new software projects of F&E organizations are supported on the camps, to connect their products to typical educational infrastructure components. They receive feedback from operators on practical issues, such as privacy, load capacity for large amount of users and quality assurance processes.
Documentation of our IT summer camp 2018 in Weimar →
Playground for developers, demo platform for innovators
As part of the BMBF-funded project "JOINTLY", our association is running a so-called "OER tool playground"
Here we're combining existing open software solutions that are waiting for their tranfer to educational practice. Multipliers can use the playground as a demo environment to convince their decision makers.
You can also play in the playground :-) Developers are working on innovative ideas and technologies hands-on even in times between our spring- or summer camps. Thanks to artificial intelligence we e.g. generate metadata or creating an assistent for licensing material, which will allow teachers to relieve annoying legal obligations when publishing and using free learning materials.
About edu-sharing.NET association
Contact
edu-sharing.net e.V
Am Horn 21a
99425 Weimar
DE - Germany
Our board
Axel Jindra
Annett Zobel
Sven Morgner
Prof. Dr. Christian Erfurth
Florian Rampelt
Membership and donations
Becoming a member
We are a community of insitutions, teachers, authors, researcher, content provider, open source developer and other actors in the educational sector. As members, we mainly recruit operators and developers of educational infrastructures, such as educational centers in federal states, operating in educational clouds and higher education networks. Our members combine their resources and create open, networked infrastructures.
- Single non-commercial organizations (fee per year: 300 Euro)
- Single commercial organizations (fee per year: 800 Euro)
Membership application and statute (Only available in german) →
Donations
Thanks to donations we're financing projects for innovation and networking. You Mit Spenden finanzieren wir Vernetzungs- und Innovationsprojekte. Specific donations may support or finance certain activities. The Board decides about the acceptance of donations according to statute conformity. A donation receipt will be created after the acceptance of the donation.