GELC Improves Global Education by Providing Free, Open Content and Best
Practices; Forges Strategic Partnerships with California Secretary of
Education, European SchoolNet and Curriculum Corporation
ORLANDO, Fla., EDUCAUSE Booth #903, Oct. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- In a
significant corporate move to bring the benefits of open source to education,
Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW) today announced it will spin off the
Global Education and Learning Community (GELC) as a nonprofit organization
serving the needs of the education community. The move helps to improve
education through the sharing of open content and best practices through
online access. The GELC provides an online portal for teachers to share
resources and knowledge that would otherwise go undiscovered, breaking new
ground in free and open source computing and helping educators meet the needs
of students by sharing best practices around the globe. As a nonprofit, the
organization will have access to more resources, including participation from
other major corporations and governmental entities as well as benefit from
independent direction from a seasoned advisory board and an executive
director.
"Technology is changing our daily lives, yet significant work remains in
providing teachers, students and parents access to the educational resources
they need," said Scott McNealy, CEO and Chairman at Sun Microsystems. "Sun
started the GELC to drive knowledge sharing, and now we're giving it to the
education community to continue the development of resources they need to
improve the quality of education worldwide."
The GELC is a growing community for developers, teachers and Ministries of
Education (MoE), who are collaborating on 324 projects. Leading project
examples include recent contributions made by the Curriculum Corporation of
Melbourne, Australia, and the Monterey Institute for Technology and Education.
Coupled with curriculum contributed by the Curriculum Corporation, the GELC is
initiating a pilot with the Shuttleworth Foundation to utilize these materials
in South African math and science middle school classrooms. The GELC is
focused on curriculum in the math and science area for middle school and high
school students.
Sun CEO and Chairman Scott McNealy announced this news during Educause,
the leading IT conference focused on higher education. Decreasing education
budgets are met with higher demand for quality education today, and as leaders
in open standards and technology sharing, Sun makes a powerful statement for
bringing open source to t he classroom.
"We share Sun's vision for open, affordable and easily accessible content
that evens the playing field," said Susan Mann, CEO, Curriculum Corporation.
"We are actively contributing to the education community through the GELC and
in coordination with the Shuttleworth Foundation to help improve learning
environments for students around the world."
International Education Luminaries Join Community Effort
Not only will the GELC operate as a non-profit, but it added significant
national and international representation to its Industry and Education
Advisory Committee. Recently, Alan Bersin, California secretary of education,
Ulf W. Lundin, director of the European SchoolNet, and Susan Mann, chief
executive office of the Curriculum Corporation have each joined the Advisory
Committee. The committee plays a key role in guiding direction and content for
the community.
"The Monterey Institute for Technology and Education (MITE) is dedicated
to an open knowledge society where quality education is free to everyone,"
said Gary W. Lopez, executive director of Monterey Institute for Technology
and Education. "We are proud to be contributing our content to the GELC as it
is doing something unique and powerful for education by driving a global
community and the adoption of open source content."
Globally, the community has been working with partners, including the
Peoples Republic of China's Ministry of Education, responsible for 871, 960
institutions and 21 million teaching professionals, and Korea's Education and
Research Information Service (KERIS), home to 11,350 institutions 501,000
teaching professionals. By joining the GELC they help raise the bar on
education with projects that will tap local resources and bring excellence to
the world stage.
"GELC is a thriving community, where individuals are coming together with
teachers to share content as well as receive training, resources and tools
that can help student achievement, potentially more effectively and cost
efficiently, so that boundaries created by economic or social means don't
affect that sharing of knowledge," said Kim Jones, vice president of Global
Education and Research at Sun Microsystems. "In the Participation Age,
technology has made it possible for more and more people to connect with one
another, and we encourage people to join the GELC to help the community
thrive."
Sun encourages education organizations to participate in the GELC, at
https://edu-gelc.dev.java.net/nonav/index.html
About Sun Microsystems, Inc.
A singular vision -- "The Network Is The Computer"(TM) -- guides Sun in
the development of technologies that power the world's most important markets.
Sun's philosophy of sharing innovation and building communities is at the
forefront of the next wave of computing: the Participation Age. Sun can be
found in more than 100 countries and on the Web at sun.com.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Melissa Pereira
Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Phone: 408.884.4980
email melissa.pereira@sun.com
Stacey Burbach
Bite Communications for Sun
602.279.1137
email stacey.burbach@bitepr.com
NOTE: Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo, Solaris, Java and The Network
Is The Computer are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems,
Inc. in the United States and other countries.
GELC has been incorporated as a California nonprofit public benefit
corporation and has a pending application to the Internal Revenue Service for
exemption under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
SOURCE Sun Microsystems, Inc.
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Related links:
http://sun.com
CONTACT:
Melissa Pereira of Sun Microsystems, Inc.,
+1-408-884-4980, or melissa.pereira@sun.com; or Stacey Burbach of
Bite Communications, +1-602-279-1137, or
stacey.burbach@bitepr.com, for Sun
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