Edu-sharing

edu-sharing is mainly targeting educational applications. In this context it is used to:

• extend the document management functionality of connected learning management systems by offering a dedicated ECMS for educational content
• publish content stored in edu-sharing and connected sources by means of didactical search engines
• connect e-learning tools across the borders of organisations

Content can be managed using a web-based user interface or via WebDAV. The system offers different search options such as a faceted search. edu-sharing supports arbitrary metadata sets such as LOM and Dublin Core. For the usage of content stored in the repository in an educational scenario, the system offers interfaces to systems such as Moodle, ILIAS, OLAT and MediaWiki. A novel rendering service enables the usage of content that is not naively supported by learning management systems. Examples for such content items are: SCORM-courses, QTI-compliant tests and drills, H5P-objects audio and video files or courses of specific learning management systems. To facilitate the re-use of content, users may attach licenses (e.g. Creative Commons) to their content. Compared to other repository systems for learning content, edu-sharing offers some outstanding features:

• autonomy (Each repository is managed independently (for instance by an educational institution) Each installation forms an independent content-pool.)[1][2]
• secure working spaces (Single users or groups can cooperatively manage content in private environments. The publication of content is optional)[3]
• so called "collections" for the organisation of content in structures independent from their storage location in order to map syllabi etc
• interfaces to learning environments
• interfaces to tools such as Etherpad, which can be instantiated via LTI
• Solr open source enterprise search
• media transcoding for cross-platform usage of audio and video files

The edu-sharing network is coordinated by the edu-sharing association, which is based in Weimar, Germany. The association also runs offices in Chongqing, China, and Krems, Austria. The association was founded in February 2010 by key members of the DFG-funded project and competence center in e-learning, CampusContent,[4][5] supporters from IT industry who are involved in the project’s technology development, and members of the system's user community. The association's mission is to drive the future development of the open source software through a growing network of stakeholders, including IT-service providers, content owners from various domains, educational experts, and content and methodology users. As part of the yearly summit, the members of the association vote for the community roadmap, which accounts for 25% of the total roadmap votes.

The edu-sharing technology is the outcome of the project “CampusContent” that was initiated and directed by Bernd Krämer at FernUniversität in Hagen. CampusContent received a major grant from the DFG from 2004 to 2009. Originally, CampusContent targeted academic education and promoted the idea of open educational resources. Early during the funding period, however, schools raised an increasing need for technology supporting the sharing and re-use of educational content and codified teaching know-how, which explains why the technology was widely used in schools before substantial applications in universities were seen.

To emphasize the widening of the technology's target population, the founders of edu-sharing.net decided to further promote the technology under the name edu-sharing.

The edu-sharing repository is based on the Alfresco document management system. The GUI uses Angular JS. The rendering service uses PHP.

• Michael Klebl, Bernd J. Krämer, Annett Zobel: From content to practice: Sharing educational practice in edu-sharing. British Journal of Educational Technology, 41(2010), Nr. 6, S. 936-951 ().
• Bernd J. Krämer, Michael Klebl, Annett Zobel: Sharing Educational Knowledge and Best Practices in Edu-sharing. In: Second International Conference on Mobile, Hybrid, and On-line Learning, Saint Maarten, The Netherlands, Antilles, 2010, ISBN 978-0-7695-3955-3, S. 53–59 ().
• Bernd J. Krämer, Michael Klebl, Annett Zobel: edu-sharing – das Portal zur Vernetzung von Anbietern und Nutzern digitaler Lernressourcen. Waxmann Verlag GmbH, Münster 2010, ISBN 978-3-8309-2326-8, S. 20–36 ().

• official project webpage (multilingual)
• homepage of the edu-sharing association (multilingual)