SELF --- Science, Education and Learning in Freedom

Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE), TIFR is participating in an European Commission funded project No. 034595 on Science, Education and Learning in Freedom (SELF) from July 1, 2006 to July 2008. The SELF platform is initiated by an international consortium of seven partners --- three universities: Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Spain), University of Gothenburg (Sweden) and Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (India); and four non-profit organisations active as Free Software advocates: Internet Society (Netherlands), Free Software Foundation Europe (in all European countries), Internet Society (Bulgaria) and Fundación Via Libre (Argentina). The SELF project aims to provide a platform for the collaborative sharing and creation of open educational and training materials about Free Software and Open Standards. The SELF project website is http://selfproject.eu.

HBCSE's involvement in the project is to develop a graphical web based platform for e-learning. The main deliverable of HBCSE is to develop a SELF Platform for the project. The SELF Platform is an on-line web-based e-learning system which is being developed using Plone for creating interface and GNOWSYS for storing the knowledge base. The SELF Platform is being generated by adopting the standards of LOM, SCORM. The SELF Platform would serve as providing a central access for educational materials alongwith a community participation in a multilingual environment. The SELF Platform comprises of modules for authors, instructors, students. The SELF Platform will provide information, educational and training materials in the form of course material, e-books, instructional and educational videos, manuals, etc. The platform caters to the target groups such as---universities and schools, training organisations, publishers, industrial manufacturers, free software communities, government bodies, public and non-profit organisations, private organisations. The website of the SELF Platform development is http://dev.selfplatform.eu.

I represent India as one of the Board members of the SELF project. In addition, I am also a committee member of the Technology Group, Communications Group, Executive Committee of the SELF project.