Monthly Archives: April 2011

Video and Openness

Paul Stacey has new, extensive, post on educational videos available on the Internet. Many of these examples are open. From the post:

It will be fascinating to see if contemporary video practices, such as those embodied by YouTube, transition into and make an impact on education. There certainly is lots of interest. At a recent BCcampus hosted gathering to explore interest in a video shared service for BC’s public post secondary system there was a standing room only packed room and at least 10 of BC’s 25 universities and colleges are interested in seeing such a service put in place.

OER Technical Mini Projects

Phil Barker has a new post on JISC CETIS OER Technical Mini Projects. From the post:

JISC has provided CETIS with funding to commission a series of OER Technical Mini Projects to explore specific technical issues that have been identified by the community during CETIS events such as #cetisrow and #cetiswmd and which have arisen from the JISC / HEA OER Programmes.

OER Matrix

Stephen Downes has a new post pointing to the Open Course Library’s “OER Matrix”.

Saving Money with Calibre and LibreOffice

John Spencer has a new post on how he saves money with Calibre and LibreOffice.

OER U: Institution or Consortium?

Sir John Daniel has a new post discussing the OER University. From the post:

First, I have always followed the advice of Lord Walter Perry, founding vice-chancellor of the UK Open University, that innovating on too many fronts at once scares off students. Second, I believe that radical innovations in higher education must be accompanied by particularly robust frameworks of accreditation and credentialing in order to reassure the public. It’s all very well for evangelists to promote do-it-yourself accreditation from the personal safety of CVs replete with reputable qualifications, but ordinary people want the ‘beef’ of proper recognition too.

Behind P2PU

Philipp Schmidt has a new post on how P2PU works behind the scenes. From the post:

P2PU currently relies on grant funding to cover its expenses. After a small start-up grant from the Hewlett Foundation in 2009, the Shuttleworth Foundation has been our main supporter and sponsor so far. The School of Webcraft is a little bit different – it’s a joint undertaking with the Mozilla Foundation.

Call for Papers on “Emergent Learning”

Tony Bates has a new post announcing a call for papers on “emergent learning.” The call does mention open educational resources.

SPARC OA April Newsletter

Peter Suber has posted the April 2011 SPARC open access newsletter.

Giving Credit for Open Participation

Tony Hirst has a new post on open accreditation. From the post:

The idea is simple: a recognised award offering body offers a module or course container that will allow participants in online courses to receive recognised academic credit points based in part on their participation in an open, online course, in part on their reflections about what they learned on the course.

Reasons Why Google Book Settlement Failed

Robert Darnton has published a new post summarizing why the Google Book Settlement has failed so far. From the article:

The cumulative effect of these objections, elaborated in 500 memoranda filed with the court and endorsed in large part by Judge Chin’s decision, could give the impression that the settlement, even in its amended version, is so flawed that it deserves to be pronounced dead and buried. Yet it has many positive features.