George Siemens has written a post arguing for a clearer understanding of what the ‘open’ in ‘open education’ means, and for greater idealism in the field. The following posts result:
David Wiley publishes a response. Stephen Downes comments: Post 1, Post 2. Jim Groom responds to Wiley and Siemens. David Wiley replies to Groom and Downes. Jim Groom responds to Wiley. Frances Bell responds to the posts so far.
Posted in Open Education
Nate Anderson at Arstechnica is reporting that the Obama administration may place a greater emphasis on copyright exceptions as a way to compensate for stricter copyright enforcement of non-exempted use. From the article:
Providing stronger mandatory copyright protections and enforcement mechanisms (think ACTA) is totally normal, right, and proper; providing stronger exceptions to copyright is “radical” and a “U-turn.” And in this context, a U-turn would be a Very Bad Thing indeed.
Jon Mott and David Wiley have published a new article in the latest issue of in education. The article discusses the relationship between course management systems (CMS) and personal learning environments (PLE). From the abstract:
The course management system (CMS) reinforces the status quo and hinders substantial teaching and learning innovation in higher education. It does so by imposing artificial time limits on learner access to course content and other learners, privileging the role of the instructor at the expense of the learner, and limiting the power of the network effect in the learning process.
Joseph Thibault has posted his position on openness in creation to his company, Coursefeeds.com. From the post:
This is the inherent design we based http://coursefeeds.com around. An open, social, educational platform that does not prevent students from seeking information, role models, teachers or content that they are interested in.
Posted in Open Education
Tagged e-learning, higher education, Internet, online learning, openness
Jared Moya is reporting that Argentina has now expanded copyright from 50 to 70 years. The move applies to works that were in the public domain, effectively closing once open works. From the post:
So who does it really benefit? Music producers and record labels whose business concerns are sure to outlive the artists they always claim to be so concerned with.
Posted in Open Education
Tagged copy right, copyright, openness, policy, public domain
Kirsten Stewart at the Salt Lake Tribune writes on the Open High School of Utah. The article discusses the school’s use of open educational resources and use of student-generated data. From the article:
The Open High School of Utah is believed to be the first school in the nation (perhaps the world) to use learning materials, textbooks, worksheets and quizzes that are freely available for anyone’s use, remixing and redistribution. Because the materials aren’t produced by commercial publishers, they can be tailored to meet students’ educational needs, free of copyright or licensing restraints.
Thanks to Sarah Weston for the link.
Posted in Open Education
Tagged K-12, ocw, oer, open content, Open Education, openness
Creative Commons has announced several matching donations. Post on Attributor and wikiHow matching $5500. Post on Digital Garage pledging $100,000. Heather Ford on why she won’t be contributing.
Posted in Open Education
Tagged cc, CC licenses, commons, copy right, copyright, creative commons, openness
Graham Atwell discusses mainstreaming open educational resources. From the post:
My prediction of trends for 1010 is that the crisis over the future role of institutional education will continue to deepen. The crisis, engendered largely by technological and social change, can only be exacerbated by the financial cutbacks facing higher education in many countries.
Commentary by Stephen Downes.
Posted in Open Education
Tagged e-learning, higher education, ocw, oer, online learning, open content, Open Education
Jonathan Rosenberg at Google has written a post defining openness. From the article:
Trust is the most important currency online, so to build it we adhere to three principles of open information: value, transparency, and control.
Judy Breck has posted on signaling cells in Biology and comparing them to open educational resources. Breck suggests that there needs to be signals within a network to indicate where quality OER might be found. From the post:
For OER, SEO is vital, but just a first step in the creation of signaling pathways.
Commentary by Stephen Downes.
Posted in Open Education
Tagged e-learning, ocw, oer, online learning, Open Education
