The active group for the promotion and dissemination of free computing Pica Pica HackLab claims the use of free computing in the educational system. They appeal all the agents involved: Government, Ministry and Ministries of Education, rectors, directors, heads of studies, defenders of students and teachers; because they consider that it is now more necessary than ever due to the generalized scenario of distance learning.
The university centers are designing what the return to the classrooms will be like next September. It will undoubtedly be a different beginning of the academic year, marked by the demands of the “new normal” due to Covid-19.
The Carlos III University of Madrid (UC3M) is already preparing to adopt the necessary security measures to face the Coronavirus. Among them, they have decided to reduce as much as possible that students have to go to the computer rooms located on campus. In order to do this, most of the applications needed to carry out their teaching practices will be available through virtual desktops with UDS Enterprise.
UDS Enterprise has always been closely linked to educational environments. So it is not surprising that many students choose this software as the cornerstone of their projects. This is the case of three students who have completed the Administration of Computer Network Systems course at the Nicolau Copèrnic Institute, in Terrassa (Catalonia). Cristian Gallardo, Manuel Farfán and Marc Sisó have used UDS Enterprise for their Final Degree Project, which they have titled MCM & CLOUD. They have documented how to offer virtual desktops and applications through a web browser with UDS Enterprise and XCP-ng, the Open Source hypervisor based on XenServer.
The Code for Romania community is preparing a new initiative: they are going to create Open Source educational software for deafblind and multi-sensory disabled students using game elements. The first developments of the e-Sense project will start this July and it is planned that by the end of summer the first tests with alpha versions can begin.
The Covid-19 health alert has promoted distance learning in all countries. Most organizations had to make the transition to online teaching. And many of them have chosen Moodle as an eLearning platform. In order to share experiences, success stories and best practices facing the new reality, all edtech experts and Moodle users are invited to participate in the largest online event on this learning online platform.
