Announcement on Scholarships in 2010

The Free Technology Academy (FTA) is a joint initiative from several educational institutes in various countries. It aims to contribute to a society that permits all users to study, participate and build upon existing knowledge without restrictions.

The FTA offers an online master level programme with course modules about Free Technologies. Learners can choose to enrol in an individual course or register for the whole programme. Tuition takes place online in the FTA virtual campus and is performed by teaching staff from the partner universities. Credits obtained in the FTA programme are recognised by these universities. The full master programme can be concluded at one of the universities.

Scholarships

The first phase of the FTA is financially supported by the Lifelong Learning programme (LLP) of the European Commission. While the FTA has already reached the target for the European Commission, we can provide a limited number of scholarships to learners who wish to enhance their knowledge but are not in a position to raise the required tuition fee of 380 euro.

The third and last course round during this phase runs from September 6 2010 to December 6 2010. Three modules are being tutored:

1. The concepts of Free Software and Open Standards
2. Legal aspects of the Information Society
3. Network Technologies

These modules are each 5 ECTS credits long, which corresponds to a workload of 125-150 hours per module for the learners.

Of course the FTA continues in 2011. The tentative programme can be found at this link. No scholarships for 2011 are being scheduled at this time.

The scholarships for 2010 are meant especially for people who wish to contribute to the FTA with substantial voluntary work and for people coming from "Emerging and Developing Economies" (see Wikipedia); both within our main target groups. These are:

• ICT professionals: systems engineers, software developers and ICT managers who need to update their skills on specific areas of knowledge related to Free Software and Open Standards.
• Educators: as the demand for ICT professionals with the aforementioned skills grows, educational institutions will be compelled to include these skills in their learning trajectories.
• Decision makers: the use of Free Software and Open Standards has become the topic of many local, regional, national and international policies. Decision makers at all levels will need to develop competences in the main features and implications of these technologies.
• ICT learners: until educational institutions have adapted their curricula to the needs of the market concerning Free Software and Open Standards, many ICT learners have to find this specific training outside their regular studies.

To be eligible to attend, you will need to answer the questions in the online Scholarship Application Form. The application deadline is August 15th, 2010.

It is no longer possible to send in scholarship applications.

Available Modules

• The concepts of Free Software and Open Standards
  

  Free software is increasing its presence in mainstream media and in debates among IT professionals, but it is still unknown for many people. And even those who are familiar with it lack specific knowledge in some important areas. What is free software? What are the implications of using a free license? How are free software projects organised? Which are the main business models associated to them? What motivates developers, especially volunteers, to become involved in free software projects? Who are these developers? These are the sort of questions that we will try to answer in this course.

• Legal aspects of the Information Society
  

  "Legal aspects of the Information Society" is a fundamental module for those who want to understand Free Software and how to contribute and benefit from it in a safe and legal way. Concepts like existing legal systems of software protection - copyright, patents, trademark and key concepts like Copyleft and free licenses - will be studied to get a general background in those topics and to develop practical skills to use them in different contexts. In this module the social and political implications of the new technologies will be studied from a legal point of view.

• Network Technologies
  

  Modern computer networks are formed by a combination of devices and protocols that have been in constant evolution since the first communication networks in the late 19th century. This course will cover the basic knowledge necessary for the configuration and management of TCP/IP networks and the most commonly used communication applications. Learners will also become familiar with more specific topics such as audio/video streaming and IP telephony.

Requirements

Applicants are required to be proficient computer users, have been involved in at least one NGO/technology/education project before and to have some awareness of the concept of Free Software. The working language is English.

The module 'Network Technologies' has the requirement to have basic knowledge in the field of networking and Internet. The other two modules have no further requirements.

Applications from women are highly encouraged by the FTA. It adds to your eligibility to set up a rich profile in the FTA Community Portal. Include a link to that in the application form.

As we have limited funds, we regret to say that we cannot accept all applications.

The applications will be reviewed by a committee consisting of representatives of the FTA Consortium Partners. Between September 1st and September 4th 2010 we will personally inform each applicant by email if we are able to invite him/her to join the Campus.

The application deadline is August 15th, 2010

It is no longer possible to send in scholarship applications.

Scholarship Application Form

Please answer the following questions and send them by email to scholarships[AT]ftacademy.org

You do not need to write long responses, but please provide us with enough information to understand your skills and interests, to have a sense of why you want to follow an FTA module and what you can contribute to the continuous learning process. Please provide answers to all the following questions.

1. Basic personal information: Please fill out the FTA registration form at http://campus.ftacademy.org/login/signup.php and let us know your FTA Campus username. If you are already registered for one or more courses in September 2010, please include your FTA Registration number here.
2. What is your experience of working with Free Software? What kinds of projects and initiatives have you worked on?
3. Have you been involved with any technology projects for non-profit, civil society or educational organisations? If so please briefly explain them.
4. Where are you from, where do you live now, and what is your current professional affiliation (organisation you work for, mission of the organisation, position you have in the organisation, is your organisation a non-profit, etc.)?
5. Which module would you choose to be part of? Please select:
   • The concepts of Free Software and Open Standards
   • Legal aspects of the Information Society
   • Network Technologies
6. How would you classify your area of expertise, e.g. education, legal, or technical, etc.?
7. Please describe your current technical expertise and ability.
8. How would you like to contribute to the FTA as a volunteer?
9. Why are you interested in following an FTA module and what do you hope to learn?