About the Project

BAZAAR is an initiative sponsered by the eLearning Programme of the European Commission. 

Objectives:
Drawing from years of experience the consortium members clearly see the need for developing and supporting a community for teachers and trainers. The project will provide information and services for teachers and trainers in the development, creation, exchange and use of e-learning materials.
Particularly addressing the issues of standards and licenses, pedagogy, and tool selection. A sandbox will provide an opportunity for teachers and trainers to immediately use their new knowledge of e-learning. The sandbox is expected to be an innovative mechanism for exchanging and transferring good practices for e-learning.
The web presence (www.bazaar.org) and a series of seminars will support end-users and propose coherent and practical recommendations and services for teachers, trainers and learners to deal with the practical aspects of e-learning. In order to exert large scale influence the project will enhance social networking between teachers and trainers as well as among European projects and initiatives. It will also provide opportunities for discourse and communication between developers and users of e-learning applications.

Approach:
Tools and technology are a necessary condition for e-learning but experience clearly indicates that it also takes accomplishment in soft factors to be successful. Pedagogy is culpably neglected in many cases. These soft factors are most effectively and efficiently built by peer interaction and guidance by more experienced peers.
The projects approach is one of informal learning by providing opportunities to explore and share experience and practice, to benefit from a network of projects and initiatives in the field.
Building competence in e-learning requires both easy access to try and test a variety of tools to pick the one that fits best the needs of the teachers and trainers as well as face-to-face contact with experienced peers demonstrating their practices.

Expected results:
The project will facilitate and assists the teachers and trainers decision on tools and processes by delivering:
- Sandbox of tools for creating, repurposing, using and modifying e-learning content.
- Show-me days will allow face-to-face consultancy in the field of e-learning concerning tools and processes.
- Access to peer group advice via the projects‘ web based information and social networking service on content creating, exchange and use for e-learning particularly with regard to IPR and licensing, open standards and tools.