<s>
Fle3	B-Application
is	O
a	O
Web-based	O
learning	O
environment	O
or	O
virtual	B-Protocol
learning	I-Protocol
environment	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
More	O
precisely	O
Fle3	B-Application
is	O
server	B-Application
software	I-Application
for	O
computer	O
supported	O
collaborative	O
learning	O
(	O
CSCL	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Fle3	B-Application
is	O
designed	O
to	O
support	O
learner	O
and	O
group	O
centered	O
work	O
that	O
concentrates	O
on	O
creating	O
and	O
developing	O
expressions	O
of	O
knowledge	O
(	O
i.e.	O
</s>
<s>
Fle3	B-Application
supports	O
study	O
groups	O
to	O
implement	O
knowledge	O
building	O
,	O
creative	O
problem	O
solving	O
and	O
scientific	O
method	O
in	O
an	O
inquiry	O
learning	O
process	O
,	O
for	O
example	O
theprogressive	O
inquiry	O
method	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Fle3	B-Application
user	O
interface	O
is	O
translated	O
to	O
more	O
than	O
20	O
languages	O
including	O
most	O
of	O
the	O
European	O
languages	O
and	O
Chinese	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Fle3	B-Application
is	O
used	O
in	O
more	O
than	O
70	O
countries	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Fle3	B-Application
is	O
a	O
Zope	B-Language
product	O
,	O
written	O
in	O
Python	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Fle3	B-Application
is	O
open-source	B-Application
and	O
free	B-Application
software	I-Application
released	O
under	O
the	O
GNU	B-License
General	I-License
Public	I-License
Licence	I-License
(	O
GPL	B-License
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Fle3	B-Application
provides	O
various	O
tab-accessed	O
screens	O
affording	O
functionality	O
considered	O
important	O
for	O
progressive	O
inquiry	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Fle3	B-Application
WebTops	O
the	O
interface	O
that	O
scaffolds	O
students	O
 '	O
storing	O
,	O
organizing	O
and	O
sharing	O
their	O
own	O
knowledge	O
resources	O
including	O
documents	O
,	O
files	O
,	O
links	O
and	O
notes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Fle3	B-Application
Knowledge	O
Building	O
the	O
interface	O
that	O
scaffolds	O
students	O
 '	O
knowledge	O
building	O
(	O
and	O
associated	O
)	O
discourse	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Fle3	B-Application
Jamming	O
tool	O
is	O
the	O
interface	O
that	O
scaffolds	O
members	O
of	O
a	O
group	O
to	O
collaboratively	O
construct	O
and	O
improve	O
digital	O
artifacts	O
such	O
as	O
pictures	O
,	O
text	O
,	O
audio	O
and	O
videos	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Development	O
of	O
Fle3	B-Application
software	O
was	O
started	O
in	O
1998	O
in	O
a	O
Future	O
Learning	O
Environment	O
research	O
and	O
development	O
project	O
in	O
Media	O
Lab	O
,	O
Helsinki	O
,	O
Finland	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Fle3	B-Application
software	O
is	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
Future	O
Learning	O
Environment	O
concept	O
promoting	O
learning	O
process	O
,	O
which	O
differs	O
from	O
traditional	O
teacher	O
and	O
didactic-based	O
teaching	O
by	O
emphasising	O
students	O
active	O
role	O
in	O
a	O
learning	O
process	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
results	O
of	O
this	O
work	O
culminated	O
in	O
the	O
progressive	O
inquiry	O
learning	O
model	O
and	O
in	O
the	O
Fle3	B-Application
software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
history	O
of	O
virtual	B-Protocol
learning	I-Protocol
environments	I-Protocol
shows	O
how	O
the	O
e-learning	O
and	O
Learning	O
Management	O
Systems	O
(	O
LMS	O
)	O
,	O
with	O
course-centred	O
outlook	O
and	O
focus	O
on	O
delivery	O
of	O
learning	O
content	O
,	O
was	O
,	O
and	O
is	O
probably	O
still	O
,	O
the	O
mainstream	O
approach	O
to	O
use	O
of	O
ICT	O
in	O
education	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
in	O
mid-2000	O
the	O
growing	O
popularity	O
of	O
blogs	O
and	O
wikis	B-Protocol
and	O
the	O
consideration	O
how	O
they	O
could	O
be	O
used	O
in	O
teaching	O
and	O
learning	O
has	O
led	O
the	O
mainstream	O
research	O
and	O
development	O
community	O
of	O
virtual	B-Protocol
learning	I-Protocol
to	O
re-consider	O
the	O
existing	O
e-learning	O
paradigms	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
From	O
the	O
very	O
beginning	O
FLE	O
has	O
been	O
web-based	O
system	O
,	O
and	O
has	O
taken	O
in	O
use	O
all	O
the	O
advantages	O
the	O
flexible	O
platform	O
is	O
offering	O
,	O
whereas	O
the	O
original	O
CSILE	O
was	O
a	O
client-server	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
prototype	O
server	B-Application
with	O
FLE	O
software	O
was	O
set	O
up	O
in	O
1998	O
and	O
announced	O
in	O
early	O
1999	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Fle-Tools	O
was	O
described	O
to	O
be	O
:	O
(	O
1	O
)	O
www-based	O
service	O
for	O
computer	O
supported	O
collaborative	O
learning	O
(	O
CSCL	O
)	O
;	O
(	O
2	O
)	O
on-line	O
learning	O
community	O
and	O
teamwork	O
environment	O
;	O
(	O
3	O
)	O
collection	O
of	O
server-based	O
applications	O
and	O
databases	O
and	O
(	O
4	O
)	O
cross-platform	O
for	O
end	O
users	O
(	O
www-browser	O
in	O
Linux	O
,	O
Mac	O
,	O
Win	O
PC	O
,	O
WebTV	O
,	O
Nokia	O
Communicator	O
,	O
etc	O
.	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
tools	O
of	O
Fle3-Tools	O
were	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Fle2	O
was	O
built	O
on	O
top	O
of	O
the	O
BSCW	B-Protocol
-	I-Protocol
Basic	I-Protocol
Support	I-Protocol
for	I-Protocol
Cooperative	I-Protocol
Work	I-Protocol
software	O
developed	O
by	O
the	O
Fraunhofer	O
Society	O
in	O
Germany	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2002	O
the	O
design	O
and	O
development	O
team	O
in	O
Helsinki	O
realized	O
that	O
BSCW	B-Protocol
was	O
not	O
the	O
right	O
platform	O
for	O
developing	O
the	O
FLE	O
software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
main	O
reason	O
for	O
giving	O
up	O
the	O
development	O
of	O
Fle2	O
on	O
top	O
of	O
the	O
BSCW	B-Protocol
was	O
the	O
fact	O
that	O
BSCW	B-Protocol
was	O
not	O
an	O
Open	O
Source	O
/	O
Free	B-Application
Software	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Fle3	B-Application
is	O
the	O
third	O
and	O
the	O
latest	O
version	O
of	O
FLE	O
software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
version	O
of	O
Fle3	B-Application
was	O
released	O
on	O
February	O
15	O
,	O
2002	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Fle3	B-Application
was	O
largely	O
developed	O
in	O
the	O
Innovative	O
Technology	O
for	O
Collaborative	O
Learning	O
and	O
Knowledge	O
Building	O
(	O
ITCOLE	O
)	O
project	O
,	O
funded	O
by	O
the	O
European	O
Commission	O
in	O
the	O
Information	O
Society	O
Technologies	O
(	O
IST	O
)	O
framework	O
's	O
'	O
School	O
of	O
Tomorrow	O
 '	O
program	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
technical	O
development	O
partners	O
included	O
the	O
developers	O
of	O
BSCW	B-Protocol
–	O
Basic	B-Protocol
Support	I-Protocol
for	I-Protocol
Cooperative	I-Protocol
Work	I-Protocol
in	O
Fraunhofer	O
Society	O
and	O
Department	O
of	O
Computer	O
Science	O
of	O
the	O
University	O
of	O
Murcia	O
in	O
Spain	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
first	O
Fle3	B-Application
was	O
developed	O
in	O
Media	O
Lab	O
in	O
Helsinki	O
as	O
a	O
user	O
interface	O
and	O
interaction	O
demonstration	O
for	O
the	O
main	O
software	O
development	O
taking	O
place	O
in	O
Fraunhofer	O
and	O
based	O
on	O
their	O
BSCW	B-Protocol
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
University	O
of	O
Murcia	O
's	O
main	O
task	O
was	O
to	O
develop	O
the	O
synchronous	O
communications	O
tools	O
,	O
which	O
were	O
then	O
integrated	O
experimentally	O
to	O
BSCW	B-Protocol
and	O
Fle3	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
software	O
based	O
on	O
BSCW	B-Protocol
was	O
named	O
at	O
first	O
Synergeia	O
and	O
later	O
BSCL	O
(	O
Basic	O
Support	O
for	O
Collaborative	O
Learning	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
During	O
the	O
course	O
of	O
the	O
project	O
Fle3	B-Application
was	O
found	O
user	O
friendly	O
,	O
accessible	O
,	O
and	O
technically	O
reliable	O
for	O
a	O
wider	O
use	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Finally	O
Fle3	B-Application
became	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
main	O
results	O
of	O
the	O
ITCOLE	O
project	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
has	O
been	O
no	O
noticeable	O
development	O
in	O
the	O
Fle3	B-Application
project	O
since	O
2006	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
,	O
the	O
ubiquitous	O
open	O
source	O
web	O
server	B-Application
system	O
.	O
</s>
