Monthly Archives: August 2009

Open Access Course on Open Education Announced

Posted on August 20, 2009 by | Leave a comment

Alec Couros has a new post announcing an open access course on social media and open education. The course will run Sept. – Dec. and there are a number of ways people can participate. From the post:

You could also help inform our reading list by tagging relevant articles & media as ‘eci831readings‘. You could respond to the weekly lectures through your blog, or whatever media/site you choose, and tag these as ‘eci831responses‘. Or, you could comment on student blog posts (feed/links will be available after Sept 8) and expect other participants to engage you in your writing spaces. And, I am sure there are many other ways to participate, create, and collaborate that we have yet to discover.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Open Education

Tagged , , , , ,

Three Million Articles for English Wikipedia

Posted on August 19, 2009 by | Leave a comment

CmdrTaco at Slashdot is reporting that the English version of Wikipedia now has three million articles. The Mail & Guardian Online posted an article a few days prior that considers the future of Wikipedia after this milestone. From the article:

In other words, a change by a casual editor is more likely than ever to be overturned, while changes by the elite are rarely questioned. “To power users it feels like Wikipedia operates in the way it always has — but for the newcomers or the occasional users, they feel like the resistance in the community has definitely changed.”

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Open Education

Tagged , , , ,

Tension Between Open Education and OER

Posted on August 19, 2009 by | Leave a comment

Mike Bogle has a new post on discussions about open education and OER at Open Education Conference 2009. Bogle suggests that OER is only part of a movement for openness. From the post:

Open education is a mind-set; it’s a way of working. You don’t produce openness, you are open.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Open Education

Tagged , , , ,

Talis Incubator Announced

Posted on August 19, 2009 by | 1 Comment

Meena Hwang has a new blog post about Talis Incubator. Talis Incubator is a grant specifically for open education projects. The amount of funding varies, but is between £1,000 and £15,000. From the post:

If you are one of those people who believe in the power of individuals to create, participate, and contribute to bring forth change in open education, you may want to take into consideration the Talis Incubator for Open Education.

Persons interested in the grant can learn more at the Talis blog.

→ 1 Comment

Posted in Open Education

Tagged , , ,

The Art of Selling Textbooks

Posted on August 19, 2009 by | Leave a comment

David Weliver has an article on his perspective as a textbook salesman. According to Weliver, textbook salesman are pressured to close sales with professors through free gifts and textbooks companies rapidly churn new editions to force old editions into obsolence. From the article:

Not only do textbook publishers manipulate professors and students on campus to minimize used book sales, they use all-expenses paid trips, dinners, and drinks to motivate sales reps, win over authors, and reward loyal professors who choose their books time after time.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Open Education

Tagged , , , ,

Peer2Peer University: Learn through collaboration, almost anything

Posted on August 18, 2009 by | Leave a comment

The sign-up phase of Peer 2 Peer University opened late last week, during the Open Education 2009 in Vancouver. What is P2PU? It’s “an online community of open study groups for short university-level courses. Think of it as online book clubs for open educational resources. The P2PU helps you navigate the wealth of open education materials that are out there, creates small groups of motivated learners, and supports the design and facilitation of courses.”

P2PU is launching its pilot phase in the fall with select courses ranging from “Behavioral Economics and Decision Making” to “Open Creative Nonfiction Writing” to “Poker and Strategic Thinking.”

The default for most course material is CC-BY, which means that anyone can use, adapt, build upon, and redistribute the courses after the pilot phase–including setting up for more advanced courses down the line.

Sign-up for courses closes on August 26, so be sure to apply soon, as not all courses can accommodate more than a certain number of participants. Courses begin on September 9.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Open Education

Tagged , ,

Rating Collaborative Textbook Development

Posted on August 17, 2009 by | 1 Comment

Brendan Borrell at Scientific American has a new article discussing how well collaborative textbooks fared in California’s recent selection of electronic textbooks (reported by OEN). Borrell’s conclusion is that the more ‘wiki-like’ the development, the poorer it did in California’s selection process. From the article:

So far, the front-runners were typically written by just one or several authors, and the one major organization that has fully embraced a Wiki approach failed to impress CLRN reviewers.

Thanks to Internet Savings Network for the link.

→ 1 Comment

Posted in Open Education

Tagged , , , , ,

More Opposition to Google Book Settlement

Posted on August 17, 2009 by | Leave a comment

The Baynewser is reporting that William Morris Endeavor, an entertainment rep. firm, and the National Writers Union (NWU) have both encouraged opposition to Google’s book settlement. Both organizations cite monopoly concerns along with others. From the article:

The NWU’s decision to oppose the settlement is especially timely. Individual writers, publishers, organizations or anyone else who wants to opt out of the settlement, object to the settlement, intervene in the case, or file a “friend of the court” brief, must file his or her objections, notices or legal briefs with the Federal District Court in New York City by the close of business on Friday, Sept. 4, 2009.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Open Education

Tagged , , , , ,

OER and Colonialism

Posted on August 17, 2009 by | 2 Comments

Leigh Blackall has a new post asking how OER promotes colonialism. Blackall discusses the assumptions that Creative Commons licenses make and its relationship to U.S. copyright. From the post:

In many respects, OER and the Creative Commons licenses help propel US centered ideas of copyright and intellectual property, indirectly inserting such ideas on the back of moral concepts such as sharing, freedom and openness, as though sharing, freedom and openness didn’t exist before, and that the only way to protect such notions is with legal instruments that recognise copyrights in the first place!

→ 2 Comments

Posted in Open Education

Tagged , , , , , ,

Cormier on Open Education 2009

Posted on August 17, 2009 by | Leave a comment

Commentary on Open Education Conference 2009 has continued on Twitter and blogs. Dave Cormier presents his thoughts on what he learned. From the post:

Open education is not about content, as I suggested in my presentation the OER part of open education is the foundation that we are standing on, its the common language that we are working from but THE PEOPLE are what make this community. Going to this conference and thinking with these people is a privilege I wish on everyone.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Open Education

Tagged , , , , , ,