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Open SourceIs your university the next to adopt?

The entire university education fraternity is lending their voice about the benefits open source enterprise applications will have on students. The day is not far where we can see students all over the globe contributing to the development of open source and also enriching their pedagogy through a number of applications.

The transfer costs for open source applications to juxtapose with the curriculum might be exceedingly high, but the return would be beneficial for both the parties involved. Important subjects such as financial accounting systems, IT applications, etc. can very well be taught on the open source which would result in the formation of an online community among its users. The ideas developed through these community users could very well be implemented in the course curriculum and thus open source applications need to be taken seriously.

The methodology of imparting education to university graduates would for sure change in the next decade, with non-traditional approaches being widely accepted. The connection with the real time scenario of the future can only be met if students are allowed to study via distant programs which brings in the concept of virtual labs and data visualization tools. Their access to large online resources and the facility to virtually interact with anyone from their home would not only make them excited but also technologically competent.

This could very well result in the cultural changes of how businesses work in the present. Building up of many types of software, support services, vendor management, ERP systems, cloud computing systems etc. will bolster the increased usage of technology in the upcoming digital learning age. The risks are lessened in this case; and proper deployment and optimal usage of resources would make the difference.

The proper promotion and development of open source applications among university students will also result in technology transformations among the various disciplines. The only problem cyber learning will probably face is apprehensions from various funding sources who might think it to be premature. But with time, businesses would realize that it is a profitable venture for them as it is cost effective in the long run and the mutual benefits are enormous.

Thus the time has come for faculties and students to adopt the open source applications in their educational institutions as it will not only systematize the current practices but will also broaden their horizons in the cyber learning space.

UPDATE:

Opera Web Standards Curriculum

Shwetank Dixit of Opera updated us via Twitter that Opera have an extensive collection of Web Standards Curriculum. The new Curriculum, released in association with the Yahoo! Developer Network, is a complete course to teach you standards-based web development, including HTML, CSS, design principles and background theory, and JavaScript basics. It already has support from many organizations (including Yahoo! and the Web Standards Project) and universities.

Visit Opera Web Standards Curriculum.

Praval, the author of this article is a freelance writer/blogger and evangelist. He writes reviews and stuff related to Cloud computing, Office 2.0, Startup ecosystem, Wordpress, Linux, Open Source Software, Life hacks and technology in general.