Archive notice: This article was originally published on December 14, 2007. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
In future, a large number of Austrian pupils will learn with video2brain’s video training! An expanded and adapted version of the OpenOffice training was delivered in large quantities to the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, the Arts and Culture.
The »desktop4education« (d4e) project came about on the initiative of the Federal Ministry
of Education, the Arts and Culture (BMUKK) and Sun Microsystems Austria. The framework for this is formed by the e-learning and e-government initiative, for which the Ministry of Education is also responsible.
This initiative promotes numerous IT projects and innovative e-education measures
for the Austrian school and education system. The initiative, launched in 2000, helps put the goals of the EU action plan i2010 into practice. The guiding idea of lifelong learning propagated by the EU is to be supported and supplemented in the best possible way through the use of new media and information technologies.
The promotion and establishment of open source at Austria’s schools forms an essential focus. And desktop4education makes a very successful contribution to this. The school desktop is based on openSuse Linux as its operating system and Sun’s StarOffice 8 office package.
video2brain has made it its task to support teachers and lecturers in conveying knowledge on current topics through didactically tested video training.
The video training is based on a simple concept: Renowned experts, well-known authors and certified trainers convey first-hand knowledge – video2brain ensures a professional result in preparation, structure and production. Practical relevance and lively learning are in the foreground. Incidentally, no installation is necessary to view video training, and it works on Linux, Windows and Apple computers.
In addition to the colourful range of video training, video2brain provides additional
teaching material for the video training. This includes, for example, summaries and a multiple-choice quiz for each learning chapter.
Pupils and students are given the opportunity to learn to implement creative ideas with the help of suitable, modern software technologies. Already existing
knowledge is deepened and expanded through the numerous practical tips and tricks from first-class trainers.
The Goal Is Comprehensive Training
The driving force in the development of »desktop4education« was the »Content Cluster South«, an association of committed teachers for whom the spread of open source in schools is a matter close to their hearts. Special thanks should be expressed here by name above all to Director Hans Adam of BORG Monsbergerstraße in Graz, Prof. Mag. Helmuth Peer of BG/BRG Weiz and Prof. Mag. Bernd Steiner of BULME Graz.
Within the ministry itself, Ministerial Councillor Dipl.-Ing. Dr. Robert Kristöfl, the IT head of the BMUKK, is the driving force behind the open-source initiative.
Access Your Online Content Free of Charge!
To retrieve online content free of charge, the user simply registers at http://www.video2brain.com. Under the MY VIDEO2BRAIN section, users receive numerous further benefits that video2brain makes available to its registered users. These include a broad range of films on a wide variety of topics. In this way, video2brain enables its customers to convince themselves of the quality and educational value of the video training even before purchasing.
Free StarOffice for Educational Institutions
With StarOffice, Sun provides schools free of charge with a complete, professional office package consisting of word processing, spreadsheets, presentations and many other applications together with training materials.
