Mission

The .LRN Consortium is a tax-exempt, not-for-profit corporation focused on creating and supporting a freely available suite of web based educational applications to support learning communities. Our mission is to convene a global community of innovative people and organizations in educational technology to share knowledge and applications using open source principles.

Our goal is to:

• provide the premier toolkit for innovation in educational technology and research collaboration
• support education and research communities with advanced collaboration tools
• provide a scalable architecture based on open industry standards
• create a sustainable and affordable platform adaptable to local languages and cultures

Governance

The .LRN Consortium is governed by member institutions and supported by public and private sponsors. In consultation with Consortium members, the Board of Directors sets strategic direction and provides financial and operational oversight. In its operations, the Consortium:

• coordinates software development
• ensures a reliable release process
• supports quality assurance and certification
• provides framework for legal due diligence
• acts as a clearing house for communication
• shares best practices with the community
• undertakes marketing and promotion

Membership

Membership in th Consortium is not required in order to use the .LRN software or to participate in the worldwide community dedicated to developing innovative educational software. The principal benefit of membership is the ability to set priorities and influence consortium operations and goals. Any organization, regardless of its size or capability, may join the consortium for a very modest fee or contribute as a long term interested organization. See the membership page for more information.

Current .LRN Consortium members:

• University of Bergen, Norway
• UCLA Health Sciences - David Geffen School of Medicine, USA.
• Galileo University, Guatemala
• Harvard JFK School of Government - E-Government Executive Education Project, USA
• University of Heidelberg, Germany
• University of Mannheim, Germany
• University of Valencia, Spain
• Spanish National University for Distance Education (UNED), Spain
• Carlos III de Madrid Univerisity, Spain
• University of Sydney, Australia
• Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration, Austria
• Solution Grove, USA
• Viaro Networks, USA, UK, Latin America
• Costa Rica Technological Institute (ITCR), Costa Rica
• Istmo University, Guatemala
• OpenSistemas, Spain
• Oasi Software, Italy