Masterlevel Programme in Free Software (a.k.a. Open Source or Libre Software), MSc

Free Technology Academy, Free Software

Disciplines:

Computer Science & IT
Informatics & Information Science

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Quick facts

Country:	Netherlands	Duration:	3 Months
City:	Amsterdam	Start Date:	January, April, September
Educational Form:	Taught	Languages:	English
Education Variants:	Part Time Virtual
Application Deadline:	January; April, September
Annual Tuition Fee:	€ 380 - Details

Programme Description

The Free Technology Academy (FTA) is a joint initiative from several educational institutes in various countries. It aims to contribute to a society that permits all users to study, participate and build upon existing knowledge without restrictions.

The FTA offers an online master level programme with course modules about Free Technologies. Learners can choose to enrol in an individual course or register for the whole programme. Tuition takes place online in the FTA virtual campus and is performed by teaching staff from the partner universities. Credits obtained in the FTA programme are recognised by these universities. The full master programme can be concluded at one of the universities.

Programme

The Free Technology Academy starts to run in the last week of January 2010. The following courses are scheduled:

* The concepts of Free Software and Open Standards
* The GNU/Linux Operating System
* Web applications development
* Economic models
* Software development
* Legal aspects of the Information Society
* Network Technologies
* Case Studies

Check back on the FTA website for detailed information about the programme, courses and materials.

Tuition Fees

The FTA is committed to make all software and educational materials openly available under free licenses, so access and reuse is maximised. The FTA charges tuition fees to cover only the marginal costs of running the courses and tries to keep costs as low as reasonably possible to make participation in its tutored courses accessible to those interested. In case that tuition fees are an unsolvable problem for participation, please suggest a solution through the contact form and we can consider alternatives. For 2010, the standard tuition fee for a standards 5 ECTS course is defined as EUR 380. Scholarships (in the form of discounts) can be obtained for early registrations for the first courses.

Go to the registration form.

Contents
Requirements
Accreditation
Funding details
More

The Free Technology Academy aims to establish a full educational programme on Free Software and Open Standards. This programme can be followed as a whole or only partially, and these studies can be expanded at one or more of the partner universities.

These are the educational modules included in the initial programme of the FTA, together with the competences they provide:

* The concepts of Free Software and Open Standards

* Know the fundamental and introductory aspects of Free Software
* Know the main Open Standard formats for different types of contents

* The GNU/Linux Operating System

* Use the GNU/Linux operating system at user level
* Manage GNU/Linux systems

* Network Technologies

* Configure and manage networking services in Free Software environments
* Configure and manage services and advanced networking protocols such as wireless networks, broadcast systems, voice over IP, real-time applications, ad-hoc networks and sensor networks

* Web applications development

* Install and configure a web server
* Know the languages and standards of the web
* Design and implement web applications

* Economic aspects of Free Software

* Know and apply the business models of Free Software and their associated economic aspects

* Legal aspects of the Information Society

* Know and apply the legal and exploitation aspects related to the use of Free Software

* Software development

* Design and develop applications with Free Software tools and resources
* Work with the different virtual cooperative environments for Free Software development
* Know how to reuse and search source code to build new applications

* Case Studies

* Compare real cases of implantation of Free Software systems and plan new implantation cases
* Analyse the more relevant Free Software projects

It takes about 3 months to complete a module in the FTA, after which the student is entitled to be granted a number of ECTS credits at any of the partner universities. Most modules are 5 ECTS credits long, which corresponds to a workload of 125-150 hours for the student.

You are normally required to take an English Proficiency Test if you come from a non-English speaking country.

Most European Universities recognise the IELTS test.

More information

Requirements

Each educational module in the FTA is an independent course that can be followed separately, provided that the learner has the required previous knowledge. Introductory courses require almost no previous knowledge, besides the basics necessary to access the FTA campus itself, while more advanced modules are meant for IT professionals seeking to acquire specific skills. To be sure about the requirements, please read the information about each course on the FTA website.

Accreditation

The FTA is a consortium of various universities and other organisations that jointly organise a course programme about Free Technology through a distance learning methodology in the FTA online campus. The FTA courses are co-organised by the FTA partners and are a complement to their existing master programmes. After completing a course successfully, the learner can obtain an FTA certificate for that particular course. These certificates are recognised by the partner universities as is explained in this page.

Quality Assurance

The courses in the FTA build upon courses and course materials that have been in use for a long time. In fact, large part of the courses has been part of the UOC's Master Programme in Free Software since 2003. In the context of the FTA, these courses and course books have been updated and translated into English and adapted to meet the requirements of the various partners. The competences and learning outcomes for each course module have been defined in relation with the European eCompetence Framework and the ACM Computing Classification System.

The different parts of the FTA receive extensive quality reviews and quality procedures are built in by the Quality Assurance team. The FTA Board has established a joint Scientific Council with recognised international specialists to oversee QA procedures in relation to: the curricula and learning materials , learner performance, tutors, learning facilities and outcomes assessment. Quality aspect are assessed and improved before, during and after the running of courses in the course programme.

Certificates

The FTA offers a modular programme and for each of the individual course modules learners can obtain an FTA Certificate. The FTA certificate is only issued for those learners who complete successfully the necessary activities and assessments for a certain course.

The certificates are recognised by the participating universities and enable learners to extend their study options in the area of Free Technologies as a complement to the existing curriculum of the universities. It also means that learners can continue at the partner universities where they can get a waiver for the FTA courses.

Towards a complete Master Programme

The initial course programme of the FTA contains 8 course modules at master level of each 5 ECTS credits. As a complete Master Programme comprises at least 60 ECTS, the FTA currently offers only a part of that. The FTA is seeking to expand its programme and the network of universities that recognise and make use of the FTA. Currently, the FTA is working on the development of a full Master Programme in Free Software and invites interested universities to become partner in its Associate Network and participate in the task force for such joint curriculum.

Obtaining a full degree

For people who are registered as a student of one of the participating universities the FTA courses can be used to fill in or complement their curriculum. The universities recognise the credits obtained at the FTA as is explained below for each of the universities.

People who are not studying at one of the universities but consider the option of getting a full degree at some point in time might best start at the FTA and get their certificates at the FTA. And when desired, they can register for one of the Master or Bachelor programmes of the universities below and get a waiver for those ECTS credits that are already completed at the FTA.

As each university has its own specific conditions, below we list the current partners and their particular compatibility with the FTA. It is very well possible that other universities also recognise the credits obtained at the FTA, but the consortium cannot provide any guarantee for that.

Open Universiteit Nederland

Learners from the Open University Netherlands (OU.NL) may register for one or more courses in the FTA (see announcement in Dutch). Supervision and examination is made by the participating institutions in the joint course programme of the FTA.

After completing courses at the FTA, learners can use these as part of the study programme they are following, which is currently arranged for electives learners can choose in the Master of Computer Science (or in more detail in Dutch). They can also bring these in in the free space (electives) in the Bachelor of IT (if complying with the prior knowledge requirements of individual courses). This goes under the general arrangements for "Aanschuifonderwijs" as contained in the OU.NL Study Regulations. Learners who wish to use these option need to submit this request to the Faculty Review Committee. See here in Dutch.

The OU.NL aims to offer a full time Masters Programme in Free Software in the near future; the FTA will form an essential part of that programme.

Universitat Oberta de Catalunya

The Open University of Catalunya (UOC) runs its own Master Programme in Free Software since 2003 in Spanish and Catalan. The FTA builds upon that programme and can be considered the international version in English. All FTA courses in the current programme are recognised by the UOC.

Universitet i Agder

The University of Agder (UIA) has a long history of teaching about Free Software. They offer two courses on Systems Administration with Free Software in their Bachelors Programme of the Department of Information Systems. The learners who obtain FTA certificates can get the corresponding credits recognised within the electives space in the UIA's Bachelor and Master Programmes.

The UIA participates in the development of a complete Master Programme in Free Software.

Funding details

Scholarships (in the form of discounts) can be obtained for early registrations for the first courses. See for more information: http://ftacademy.org/courses/programme