Michelle Thorne at Creative Commons is announcing a call for case studies. In particular they are looking for real-world examples of CC material being integrated into classrooms in innovative ways. From the blog post:
The top community curated stories will be featured on our website and in the next printed volume of Creative Commons Case Studies. You’ll also collaborate with our CEO, Joi Ito, whose doctoral work focuses on select case studies about CC and the sharing economy.
Posted in Open Education
Tagged cc, CC licenses, commons, Open Education, openness
Grainne Cole, a Professor of E-Learning at The Open University, has posted her notes on a keynote given at the University of Limerick. The presentation discusses a wide range of topics including design issues and pedagogical implications. From the article:
We are interested in exploring how explicit designs might be used to help learners and teachers. How existing designs – available through sites like Cloudworks, via OER repositories such as Openlearn or via Pattern communities like Planet – might feed into an evolving network connected researchers and users of OERs.
Posted in Open Education
Tagged e-learning, higher education, ocw, oer, Open Education
David has a series of blog posts discussing what he’d like to see a hypothetical open textbook bill look like. Posts are available in Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3. Also, Stephen Downes posts (Part 1 and Part 2) short responses with more promised on the way. From Wiley’s Part 1:
All grant recipients would have to meet a handful of requirements:
- A content-complete version of the open textbook must go online with all text, images, and other features of the printed version available to the public for free, unrestricted, unfettered access
- The online version of the open textbook must clearly display it’s open license and include appropriate embedded license metadata to allow search engines like Google and Yahoo to index it as an openly licensed resource
Darren Draper has a recent blog post chiding David Wiley and Stephen Downes for not acknowledging the possibilities of open textbooks in K-12 settings. From the blog post:
Surely there must exist some progressive district(s) out there willing (financially forced?) to take a gamble on what many of us see as a very possible future for textbook creation and distribution. Or is it really a gamble? Frankly, to me it appears to be one of the best options out there. For I see the creation of open textbooks – by the very teachers that will be using them – as a way for teachers to finally get the textbook they’ve been hoping for. Not the text that teachers must endure, but the one that they collaboratively fashion.
Posted in Open Education
Tagged education, K-12, open content, Open Education, open learning, open textbook, textbook
Fred Benenson at Creative Commons is reporting that registration is now available. The conference will take place June 19-20 at NYU Law School. OEN reported on the call for proposals in March. From the blog post:
The Open Video Conference is a two-day gathering of thought leaders in technology, business, public policy, art, and activism from around the world to explore the future of the moving image.
David Warlick has posted his thoughts on open curriculum. He discusses the challenge of getting teachers to share and questions why some want that content vetted by a higher authority. From the article:
…one element of the open content conversation that I have to take some exception to is the repeated urging that repositories of teacher-submitted resources be vetted by a higher level of authority. I understand why this line is being delivered — why it is perceived as a selling point. As an institution, we are still tied to the stamp of authority that the publishing industry seems to represent — psychologically addicted to pre-packaged content with a users’ guide.
Posted in Open Education
American Public Radio has recently reported on the controversy surrounding the NIH open access policy. Both audio and transcript of the story are available. From the transcript:
Publishers might change their business model by making authors pay to have their own articles published. But some researchers might try to cover those fees with public funds. So an author-pays model could end up costing taxpayers more in the long run, than if they just paid to see the articles they’re interested in.
Thanks to Peter Suber at Open Access News for the link.
Posted in Open Education
Tagged higher education, Internet, journal, library, open access
Curt Bonk at Indiana University gives 10 reasons instructors share their courses online. Bonk also gives a list of notable OER and OCW projects. From the article:
They were also interested in why or how someone might want to use these contents; especially those who are unemployed or at risk of losing their jobs. It is a good question. Does anyone have an example of someone using OER or OCW to get a new job? Does anyone have an example of someone posting OER or OCW courses browsed or completed on his or her resume? I was asked such questions. Seems these questions will be asked more and more if the economy does not rebound. Even if it does, there will be many wanting to know the benefits of all this free and open content. Ok, again, here was part of my reply…read on…
Thanks to Success at Business for the link.
Fred Benenson at Creative Commons has a recent blog post on White House photos licensed CC-BY, instead waiving copyright protection as is typical for content created by the U.S. Federal government. From the blog post:
Why would the White House then choose Attribution for their Flickr stream? Simple, unlike communities like Wikipedia and Thingiverse, Flickr doesn’t allow their photographers to choose Public Domain as an option to release their work to the world. So the Obama team must have picked the next best option: Attribution only.
Posted in Open Education
Tagged cc, CC licenses, commons, copyright, creative commons, public domain
Stephen Downes has a new post on his blog Half an Hour about future of OER. The post was brought on by discussion on the UNESCO OER list. From the blog post:
Yes, I understand, that learning materials are being produced in some sort of packagaed format in order to adapt to lower bandwidth environments, where they will have to be distributed, not by internet, but by CD or even paper. But at the same time, it would be wise to plan for a world in which better bandwidth is becoming more widely available. And this means planning for a time when learning materials are not merely content packages, but rather, points in learning enviromnents that can be manipulated and exchanged.
