Case study
University Paris-Est Créteil (UPEC)
The French University Paris-Est Créteil (UPEC) uses OpenProject as a practical example to teach their students about project management.
www.en.u-pec.fr
University Paris-Est Créteil uses OpenProject to teach project management
UPEC is a multi-disciplinary university that trains students in rich and varied knowledge across the spectrum of fundamental, experimental and medical sciences, humanities and social sciences, and constantly produces new knowledge thanks to its intense research activity.
To teach the use of project management tools, some teachers chose OpenProject as the example project management software. Lecturer Emmanuel Polonowski is convinced: “I fundamentally believe that the open source model should be the reference in the digital community.”
Some students at the University of Paris-Est Créteil use OpenProject to learn how to operate tools for planning project tasks. In this way, OpenProject acts as a good practical complement to the theoretical aspects of the project management course.
Successful training: Managing a project of a fictitious local authority
One of the projects involved the students planning an ecological transformation project for the facilities of a fictitious local authority. Although it was an exercise and the project was not actually carried out, the exercise project was a success, as it completed the students’ training.
The students have appreciated being able to experiment with the tool and see how they can apply what they’ve studied in class. The simplicity of using the tool was a key factor for them.
By experimenting with a professional open source tool, students can see how simple it is to define tasks and resources, plan and distribute work between project members, etc..
Open source
OpenProject is an open source software. It is secure, transparent and is developed in a user-centric way. OpenProject fosters collaboration with the open source Community.
User friendliness
With OpenProject, students of University Paris Est-Créteil learn how simple it is to define tasks and resources, plan and distribute work and so on.
Feature variety
When teaching project management, the chosen software should offer feature variety. OpenProject comes with a wide range of features that are relevant for both project managers and project members.
IT transparency
OpenProject ensures that IT supports human activities in a transparent manner. OpenProject has made the entire development cycle public and accessible to everyone. It is proudly licensed under the GNU GPL v3.
Gantt charts
Overall project planning.
University Paris Est-Créteil uses OpenProject’s Gantt charts module to teach students how to plan and track projects effectively.
Work Packages
Coordination and planning of tasks.
University Paris Est-Créteil uses OpenProject’s work packages module to teach students how to coordinate and plan tasks.
