Students line up for new free software master at open universities
The FTA will begin on 25 January 2010. The first two courses tutored are 'the concepts of Free Software and Open Standards' and 'The GNU/Linux Operating System'. The programme for the second semester lists 'Web applications development', 'Software development' and 'Economical models'.
Courses are in English and the first courses will be taught by teachers from the open universities. "We are of course still looking for other teachers, and many free technology experts have expressed being interested to help."
Much of the current learning material is taken from a previous project on free software training materials by the Free Knowledge Institute and from the current master in free technology at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya. Tebbens: "We are working to get more of the courses currently offered in Spanish and Catalan translated into English."
The FTA is also developing new course material, he says. "And we are looking for opportunities to work with other organisations to offer additional courses."
Discounts
The educational materials used for the FTA will be published on-line under free licenses that allow them to be used, modified and distributed for any purpose. The tuition fees for the tutored courses are kept low, the FTA explains on its site, "to make participation in its tutored courses accessible to everyone."
The tuition fee for a course in the FTA is set at 380 euro. Scholarships can be requested for the first courses and the FTA is also giving discounts for those who register early, up to 50 percent for those who sign up before 7 December.
More information:
Free Technology Academy
FTA announcement
Course programme
Course registration