The significance of locally developed educational software in the process of schools’ computerization

Abstract

The first steps towards a large scale computerization of Macedonian schools began with the NationalProgramme for Development of Education in Macedonia 2005 – 2015. It presents a long term plan forinterventions in the education sector addressing issues across all levels from pre-school to tertiary education.A part of this strategy was dedicated to integration of technology in the classroom. In this vision of thedevelopment of an IT oriented society some of the targets set were: ICT literacy for all teachers, Internet inevery classroom, and development of digital content.In 2007, the realization of the vision started with the Government initiative Computer for every childand Internet in every school. The Government of Macedonia decided to follow the example of a few Europeancountries and use Open Source Software, which is not only free, but can easily be adapted and modified tosuit the Macedonian educational needs with a relatively small investment compared to providing a proprietarysoftware for every computer. The decision to use open source software proved to have been a good choicebecause a large number of educational applications that complement the learning process were identified andlocalized. The selection procedure involved the subject advisors from the Bureau for Development ofEducation (BDE) whose responsibility was to cross reference the applications to the Macedonian curriculumand provide an easy to use guide for teachers.Although the development of educational applications is more time consuming and requiressignificantly more money than just taking something that has already been developed and translating it intolocal languages, this paper will present the significance of locally developed educational software withuniversal design which follows the national curriculum aims and objectives.