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 ====== Platform Description====== ====== Platform Description======
  
-===== Introduction ===== +==== 1. Introduction ==== 
-The Open eClass platform is a complete Course Management System and it is the solution offered by the Greek Academic Network GUnet to support asynchronous eLearning services. It has been designed with the intention to support the conventional educational process. It is actively supported by GUnet and is distributed for free as open-source software.+The Open eClass platform (http://www.openeclass.org) is an integrated Learning Management System (LMS). It follows the philosophy of open source software and supports a multitude of e-learning scenarios without restrictions and constraints. The service can be accessed using a simple web browser without the requirement of specialized technical knowledge.
  
-[{{:en:detail_description:eclass_main_page.jpg?500|The Open eClass platform}}]+[{{:el:detail_description:home_page.jpg?500|The Open eClass platform}}]\\
  
-The incorporation of asynchronous eLearning services offers new extensions in education, providing interaction and constant teacher-student communication. Also, the electronic organization, storing and presentation of educational material, is supported, forming the conditions of a dynamic educational environment. The user teacher can easily create practical and functional electronic courses, using the educational material provided (notes, presentations, texts, pictures, etc).  +The main orientation of the Open eClass Educational Platform is to enhance educational activity through the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), through an easy-to-use cutting-edge technological environment. Operationally, the Open eClass platform aims to implement e-learning actions that reinforce existing educational structures. The main design features are adaptability to requirements, flexibility, ease of use, upgradeability and extensibility, free availability without the need for licences and maintenance, low functional requirements, independence from the underlying operating system, use of open standards, integration of the platform with other network services, clear functional structures (registration, access, course creation, course participation, management, etc.), interoperability and security, as well as the ability to integrate the platform with other network services, interoperability and security. 
-Finally, the Open eClass platform supports all asynchronous eLearning services. The access to those services is achieved via a simple web browser without any demand of specialized technical knowledge.+ 
 +The GUnet Academic Internet's Asynchronous Telelearning team has been actively supporting the platform since March 2003 while at the same time it is constantly designing and developing new and improved versions that incorporate new features and improve existing ones. The presence of the Open eClass platform in the open source software space began on 13 February 2003, as a result of the design and development of GUnet's Asynchronous Teleducation (Teledu) team. The goal was to create a common educational platform for the entire Academic and School Community of the country that would be freely distributed and actively supported by GUnet. 
 + 
 +Today, 20 years later, 3 + 1 generations of the Open eClass platform (1.x, 2.x, 3.x + 4.x in development), 43 new versions, 136 sub-versions have been developed and distributed, with an ever-increasing impact at all levels of education. The Open eClass platform is one of the most important Greek products in the field of Open Software, providing integrated Learning Management services competitive with similar platforms from abroad. The expressed strategic orientation of GUnet Academic Internet in supporting e-learning activities combined with the dynamics of the Open eClass platform (hundreds of installations in Greece and internationally) guarantee the active and continuous support and maintenance of the platform while ensuring its future course. 
 + 
 +The development of the Open eClass platform is based exclusively on open standards and technologies and is supported by an open version control system (http://hg.gunet.gr/openeclass) in which developers from all over Greece participate, always under the guidance of GUnet's central Asynchronous E-learning team, which has overall responsibility for the design, development and distribution of new versions. At the level of the educational process, the Open eClass platform provides integrated e-learning services supporting all possible scenarios (distance learning, blended learning and education, reinforcement e-learning, synchronous and asynchronous e-learning, collaborative e-learning and self-learning). It is used by almost all the Academic Institutions in the country, successfully supporting the e-learning model both as a stand-alone action and as a supportive tool for conventional (face-to-face) target-based education: 
 + 
 +  - strengthening conventional education and introducing learners to the new digital culture      
 +  -  the continuation of education and access to educational content beyond the narrow time limits of school hours 
 +  -  the adoption of innovative educational practices     
 +  - creating an easy-to-use and dynamic learning environment that supports continuous and two-way communication between teachers and learners. In particular, it allows instructors to easily and quickly create electronic courses in which they can organise the educational material in a structured way in order to enhance the educational process, while offering trainees an alternative educational environment independent of time and space constraints. 
 + 
 +The current active version of the platform is Open eClass 3.14 (available May 2023). In parallel, the fourth generation of Open eClass 4.0 is being systematically developed. It should be noted that this new generation of the platform incorporates new user interface, new functionality, new API, enhancing interoperability and accessibility. It is expected to be officially announced in the next six months. 
 + 
 +The Open eClass platform has detailed functional and technical documentation both in Greek as the main language and in English as an alternative language. The technical documentation of the system concerns the detailed description of the database and the code. The functional documentation of the system concerns the detailed operation manuals and user manuals. In particular, the user manuals refer to the students, the trainers and the administrators. The platform documentation is hosted on the documentation wiki (http://docs.openeclass.org/) but is also available in printed or printable form.
  
 ===== Platform Philosophy ===== ===== Platform Philosophy =====
-Open eClass is a mature open source e-learning platform. Its basic goal is to enhance and support educational activity, for both teachers and students, through a technological peak environment. The teacher is offered a dynamic knowledge feeding environment, while the student is offered an alternative channel of autonomous learning, which is independent of place and time limitations. Finally the administrator is offered an open, secure and trustworthy system.  
  
-Moreover, adaptability, multilingual support, flexibility, ease in usage, enhancement and upgrade capability, free distribution without the need of usage and maintenance license, small operational requirements, independence of the server’s Operating System, use of open models, incorporation with other network services, modular structure (user and course registration, access control, course creation, learning objects manipulation, administration, etc), as well as continuous technical support by GUnet, are the basic design principles for the Open eClass platform. +The Open eClass platform is in a phase of operational and design maturity. The main orientation remains the enhancement and support of educational activity through an easy-to-use cutting-edge technological environment. The aim is to support integrated e-learning activities by offering the trainer a dynamic environment for the organisation and dissemination of knowledge, the trainee an alternative channel for personalised learning independent of spatial and temporal constraints, the administrator an open, secure and reliable system and finally the educational organisation efficiency, utilisation of accumulated experience, economy of scale and constructive use of the existing network infrastructure. 
 + 
 +At the same time, important design aspects are adaptability to requirements, flexibility, ease of use, the possibility of upgrading and expansion, free availability without the requirement of licenses and maintenance, low functional requirements, independence from the underlying operating system, the use of open standards, the possibility of integrating the platform with other network services, multilingual support, clear functional structures (registration, access, course creation, management, etc.), as well as continuous support for the development of the platform, and the ability to use the platform in a variety of different languages.
  
 =====  Goals - Benefits ===== =====  Goals - Benefits =====
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 Finally, the platform Administration area includes a number of administration tools for the registered users, the platform eCourses, the Server, the Database, as well as a series of supportive tools. In this area only platform Administrators have access. Finally, the platform Administration area includes a number of administration tools for the registered users, the platform eCourses, the Server, the Database, as well as a series of supportive tools. In this area only platform Administrators have access.
  
-[{{ :en:detail_description:admin_tool.jpg?200 |Admin Tool}}]+[{{ :en:detail_description:admin_tool.jpg?150 |Admin Tool}}]
  
 [{{ :en:detail_description:admin_tool_b.jpg?500 |Admin Tool}}] [{{ :en:detail_description:admin_tool_b.jpg?500 |Admin Tool}}]