Jeff Laird has a new post discussing the use of OCW as means of increasing enrollment. Laird argues that MIT OCW has not done much for its enrollment. From the article:
MIT OCW became widely known because they were MIT – they already had a significant global profile. Has the profile of the Dixie State College of Utah (also an OCW member) been raised since they started opening their online courses?
Posted in Open Education
Tagged higher education, ocw, oer, Open Education, openness
Mark R. Nelson has a new post pointing to an interview with Flat World Knowledge founder Eric Frank. Nelson discusses highlights in the post. From the post:
We do not know what the new models will look like yet. There is a lot of speculation, but we are at the early stage of an emerging technology. We know the future will look different, but exactly how it will look is not yet clear.
Posted in Open Education
Tagged e-learning, higher education, Open Education, open textbook, open textbooks, openness
Fred Benenson at Creative Commons is announcing that Software Freedom Day is tomorrow, Sept. 19. Benenson indicates that there will be several celebrations, and a widget is available for websites.
Gavin Baker at Open Access News has pointed out that Creative Commons has started a database of university copyright ownership policies. The database is part of ccLearn’s OpenEd portal and currently has 48 entries. From the database description:
UCOP (University Copyright Ownership Policies) is an interactive semantic database of university copyright ownership policies. The database pages specify who owns the copyright to various categories of work produced by university staff, faculty, and students; exceptions to those default rules; and overall policy clarity.
Posted in Open Education
Tagged copy right, copyright, creative commons, higher education, openness
Posted in Open Education
Tagged google, Google's Settlement, library, policy, public domain, research
Two days ago OEN reported on five U.S. universities announcing support for Open Access. Inside Higher Ed has more coverage of the story. From the article:
While the signatories to the pledge will work out their own systems, Leonard said that Berkeley’s experience to date has left him convinced that the transition away from paid journal circulation is doable. And looking at the work being supported, he said that open access is “completely compatible with the strictest forms of peer review.”
Thanks to Havard Gazette for the link.
Gavin Baker at Open Access News points to a new report on the state of open access in Portugal. The report also provides background on the history of academic publishing in Portugal. From the post:
… As revealed in this study, the number of Portuguese scientific journals is low, many are still published in printed form, and consequently the number of OA journals is also low. …
Posted in Open Education
Tagged higher education, journal, OATP, open access, research
Cameron Parkins at Creative Commons is reporting that the online audio editor Myna allows for CC BY and CC BY-NC licensing. Myna is part of the Aviary suite of tools, which has garnered some attention for its robust functionality (for an online tool). From Aviary’s description of Myna:
Myna, a powerful online audio editor, makes it simple and easy to upload, record, and remix audio clips online. Whether you are new to audio editing or a professional you can get started right away on Aviary.com.
Reuters is reporting that the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation is giving $320,000 to UC Irvine for OpenCourseWare efforts. From the article:
The grant from the Hewlett Foundation will support the staffing and planningnecessary for the University to grow its own OCW initiative, while also actively participating in the OCW and OER communities to further advance these movements.
Posted in Open Education
Tagged higher education, ocw, oer, open content, Open Education
Leigh Blackall has a new post on his efforts to measure open education’s return on investment. Blackall argues that a teacher engaged in openness saves $5011 per year. From the post:
I hope to be able to argue that at the very least, supporting teachers who produce and publish open educational resources on popular social media sites is good for the organisation at a very basic operational level. I might even go as far as to argue that these dollars should be turned into incentives and rewards for those engaging in such practice, and special support for improving the quality and design of some of the more popular resources that have been generated.
