Last week OEN reported on the release of a revised settlement for Google Book. Now that its been released, the Open Book Alliance argues that it is more of the same. ZDNet, Slashdot and New York Times coverage.
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Monthly Archives: November 2009
Open Textbooks in Texas
Karen Fasimpaur has a new blog post on a recent move in Texas towards open textbooks in Texas. Fasimpaur rebuts criticism that open textbooks will do nothing for those in poverty. From the article:
Will textbooks that are written in a way that is neither engaging nor even accessible, especially to children of poverty, help this situation? I think not. Engaging technology is certainly not the only answer, but it is one answer.
Posted in Open Education
Tagged K-12, oer, open content, open textbook, open textbooks, openness
Open Access Revolution
Roger Schmitz has tweeted about a presentation given by Richard Baraniuk at OWD 2009. Video is available. The conference took place Nov. 10-11.
Posted in Open Education
Tagged OATP, OATP.new, oer, open access, open content, openness
Open Source Needs Marketing?
The Times of India has a new article suggesting that open source software needs to market itself. From the article (quoting Professor Kannan M Moudgalya of the Indian Institute of Technology):
“Open source software has a distinct cost advantage over the expensive commercial software packages. However, a considerable marketing effort is required to secure a greater and wider audience of students for courses transmitted live using ICT tools based on open source software,”
Open Source Software Adopted in Indian State Education
Thaindian News and ExpressBuzz are reporting that the Kerala government in India is adopting open source software. From Thaindian News:
“The higher secondary sector is using software like Visual Basic, MS office package, Tally in the computer science and commerce streams. With the new curriculum committee decision, the entire higher secondary section will now changeover to FOSS,” said Anvar Sadath, executive director, IT@school.
100 Open Access Journals
The website Onlinecollege has a list of 100 open access journals for educators. From the post:
The following open access journals provide top-notch scholarly information available at no cost. Most of these journals are published just once or a few times a year, so subscribe to several so you can keep up-to-date on the latest research coming out of the field of education.
Thanks to Stephen Downes for the link.
Project and Potentials Presentation
Stephen Downes has posted slides and audio of his presentation “Open Education: Projects and Potentials.” From the post:
The internet offers society the opportunity to provide access to a free or affordable education for all. This concept is known as ‘open education’ and is the subject of various projects, such as ‘Open Education Resources’ (OER) or the Open Courseware Project (OCW). This talk will look at the principle of open education, talk about major projects, describe the role played by educational technology, and outline some of the challenges.
Aging and OER
Alison Johnson has a new post on aging and OER. Johnson speculates that OER may assist senior citizens in maintaining cognitive agility. From the post:
Are OERs one way for educational establishments to support later life learning?
Thanks to BERLiN Project for the link.
Posted in Open Education
Tagged e-learning, oer, online learning, open content, Open Education, openness
Webinar: Open Textbook Authors
Cable Green has a new post announcing an upcoming webinar with two authors of open textbooks. The webinar will take place on Wednesday, November 18. From the post:
What motivates someone to write an open textbook? How much of the editorial and production process is within reach of an individual? How is the experience different from writing a traditional textbook? What is different about teaching from an open textbook?
Posted in Open Education
Difference Between Free and Open Tools
Michael Hanley has a new post on the difference between free and open tools. From the post:
My view is that both categories of software enable me to meet my objective of developing courseware. Being of a practical disposition, I don’t really suffer an ethical dilemma in combining a range of tools if they assist me in achieving my goals.
