AMMAN (JT) - The Middle East's e-learning platform, EduWave™, is to be made available on the open source Linux platform following a deal between IBM and local IT company Integrated Technology Group, according to a statement released on Sunday
" We believe that it is critical that EduWave be made available on Linux. Government education authorities in the Middle East and elsewhere are evaluating and in many cases will be adopting open source platforms as they build national e-government and e-education initiatives. IBM will bring training and development resources to ITG's team, as well as providing strong co-marketing capabilities. We're delighted to be able to forge this important partnership," said Walid Tahabsem, chief executive officer of ITG.
As a result of the agreement, IBM will support ITG's development team with resources, training and facilities to develop, support and update EduWave on Linux. The move will allow EduWave to be offered on Linux-based servers and will support a choice of network clients on the desktop, allowing educational authorities to "mix and match" as they move away from legacy systems, the release said.
BusinessOne, a subsidiary of Jordanian software and services company STS, is to bring specialised skills to bear on the project, particularly in the development of capabilities based around IBM's WebSphere middleware.
"Being both an IBM partner and a partner in the e-learning consortium with ITG enables us to contribute to the success of EduWave by bringing software services and training support to the project to speed up its adoption on a regional level," Ramzi Zeine, CEO of BusinessOne and chairman of STS said.
"EduWave is key to the development of the Middle East's e-learning markets," according to Bashar Kilani, manager of IBM Software Group Middle East and North Africa. "With IBM's support, ITG will build a version of EduWave running on Linux in order to be able to offer the system to regional governments who are now demanding an open source alternative."
EduWave is a learning, schools management and content management system that provides a single, integrated resource for `e-learning.'
The system integrates financial and management information capabilities for schools management with curricular and classroom management. EduWave allows teachers to access curricular material and monitor student performance and attainment and gives online access to curricular content, school-related information and student attainments to parents.
The system has been deployed to serve over 3,000 schools in the Kingdom - some 1.2 million students, over 50,000 teachers and some 5,000 administrators. The system has been adopted by the government as its core national e-learning platform.
EduWave is also being deployed as the core e-learning platform in a number of school districts in the US state of New Jersey and is being evaluated by ministries of education in several Middle East countries as they move towards building national e-learning initiatives.
"The opportunities in the regional e-learning market are enormous and EduWave stands as a unique product," said Tahabsem. "It is the only comprehensive system being used `live' today in schools in the region, supporting English, Arabic and other languages. We have developed a vast range of curricular content from K1-12, designed specifically for the educational needs of this region. We believe that our partnership with IBM will consolidate that strong leadership position."