Work Packages of the original FTA project

WP1 - Project Management

The objective of this workpackage is to manage the project in line with the contract agreed with the Commission and ensure overall compliance with agreed project objectives and workpackages as defined by the project proposal in liaison with project partners. The project leader will manage the project in line with stated objectives and following agreement with the Commission. That implies 7 main activities:

• 1. Coordination of the workpackages and deliverables according to the project plan.
• 2. Overall legal, contractual, ethical, financial and administrative management.
• 3. Coordination of knowledge management.
• 4. Overseeing the promotion of gender equality in the project.
• 5. Overseeing science and society issues related to the activities conducted within the project.
• 6. Obtaining audit certificates by each of the participants.
• 7. Maintenance of any Consortium Agreement.

WP2 - Virtual Campus

The objective of this workpackage is to set up and maintain a complete virtual campus. This campus will be based on Free Software applications in order to guarantee its sustainability and the transfer of the technology and expertise to all present and future partners. The base for the FTA campus will be the University Campus (UC) project, a complete virtual campus developed by a consortium of Catalan universities in cooperation with the MIT that is published under the GPL license.
The FTA campus will cover all basic needs including virtual class rooms, forums, chat, messaging, question banks and video conferencing. It can use learning materials stored in the SCORM open standard format, allowing for the exchange of Open Educational Resources (OER) with a great number of sources. The development of the FTA campus will be divided into two phases:

Phase 1: Definition and implementation of the Virtual Campus, including:

• Definition of the exact architecture of the system;
• Selection of the specific modules to be used in the pilot courses;
• Adaptation of the default UI templates;
• Testing and implementation of the FTA virtual campus;

Phase 2: Knowledge transfer and maintenance of the platform, including:

• Transfer of knowledge to the FTA Consortium; and
• Maintenance and improvement of the platform during the pilot.

WP3 - Course Development

The objective of this workpackage is to create, translate into English and adapt an initial set of educational modules on:

Phase 1:

• Module 1: The concepts of Free Software and Open Standards
• Module 2: The GNU/Linux Operating System
• Module 3: Network Technologies
• Module 4: Web applications development

Phase 2:

• Module 5: Economic models
• Module 6: Legal aspects of the Information Society
• Module 7: Software development

Phase 3:

• Module 8: Case Studies.

WP4 - Certification & Recognition

The purpose of this workpackage is to set up the procedures necessary to ensure that the qualifications and learning outcomes offered by the FTA are recognised by all participating universities while ensuring coherence with the Bologna process. This will enable FTA learners to get a certification for the completed FTA modules and get a waiver in case of continuing a complete cycle of study at one of the universities.

WP5 - Pilot Programme

The main objectives of the workpackage are to develop a detailed exploitation plan and set up, run and evaluate a pilot programme. The pilot programme aims to reach between 30 and 70 learners of ages ranging between 20 and 60, and will offer six course modules in English.

WP6 - Dissemination and Network Building

The objective of this workpackage is to position the FTA among the two main target groups:

• 1. learners (mainly IT professionals, educators, decision makers and IT students) and
• 2. potential associate partners (mainly HEIs, schools, vocational education and training organisations, ICT companies and governmental institutions).

Expanding the network of associate partners will help to:

• 1. attract more learners through their networks;
• 2. receive direct contributions to the FTA programme (in terms of materials, staff or infrastructure) and/or develop jointly organised activities; and
• 3. channel feedback from interested parties, particularly from industry, on the FTA educational programme.

The strategy of this workpackage will consist of two different but mutually reinforcing approaches. First, a general dissemination strategy will be developed. This includes:

• 1. positioning the FTA website among the target groups;
• 2. publishing press releases, announces and articles in on- and off-line media (general purpose and professional media, inter-HEI channels and academic publications); and
• 3. participation in conferences and workshops. Moreover, the publishing of FTA educational materials as Open Educational Resources will help both to disseminate the materials and to attract new learners.

Secondly, direct contact will be sought with potential associate partners in order to extend the FTA network. This second approach, which constitutes the heart of the network building strategy, includes:

• 1. visits to the representatives of the potential partners;
• 2. road shows of the FTA including a demonstration of the virtual campus and show cases of its distance learning modules; and
• 3. partnerships (through MoU's) with strategical players. The dissemination strategy will start from the beginning of the project. This is essential to assure sufficient learners for the pilot. The network building strategy has already started (see associate partners section) to connect the project to real needs.