Tag Archives: education

BBC Announces Journalism Classes

Posted on December 16, 2009 by | Leave a comment

James Robinson at The Guardian is reporting that the BBC will be opening some of its journalism courses to the general public. Some internal training will be available for a fee. From the article:

The website is part of the BBC College of Journalism, which has been running for three years as an internal BBC resource. It teaches basic journalistic skills as well as ethics and values. The site will be available free within the UK, and by subscription elsewhere.

Thanks to Erica Friedman for the link.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Open Education

Tagged , , ,

Copyright and Accessibility

Posted on December 14, 2009 by | Leave a comment

Glyn Moody has posted on copyright holders arguing against a new international treaty regarding accessibility. From the post:

In fact, *nothing* is being taken, it’s simply that these people wish to enjoy their rights to read as others do – something that has been denied to them by an industry indifferent to their plight. And which author would not be happy to extend the pleasure of reading their works to those cut off from it by virtue of physical disabilities?

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Open Education

Tagged , , , , , ,

Open Source Software Adopted in Indian State Education

Posted on November 16, 2009 by | Leave a comment

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.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Open Education

Tagged , , ,

Introduction to Open Education

Posted on November 14, 2009 by | 1 Comment

The blog Literacy is Priceless has a new post on “the anatomy of open education.” The post defines open education and some of the issues it faces. From the post:

The benefits of open education are many (customization, cost-savings, freedom to innovate, etc.), but one of the primary advantages of the open education movement is that of access.

Thanks to RSS_Buzztracker for the link.

→ 1 Comment

Posted in Open Education

Tagged , , , ,

Open University’s Approach to Plagiarism

Posted on October 16, 2009 by | Leave a comment

Tim Hunt has a new post discussing efforts to fight plagiarism at the Open University. Hunt suggests that anti-plagiarism efforts need to be integrated throughout a course of study, rather than solved through technological means or afterthought lecture. From the post:

The real problem with plagiarism is that it breaks the link between what the student submits for assessment, what they have learned. If a student writes something in their own words, then that writing is good evidence of the extent to which they have taken in the ideas of a course. If they have just copied and pasted someone else’s words, you cannot assess what they have learned.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Open Education

Tagged , , , ,

Planning Mozilla Education

Posted on October 14, 2009 by | Leave a comment

Mark Surman has a new post on the plans for Mozilla education. Surman emphasizes the need for community in learning. From the post:

The first is straightforward: providing people with high quality, easy to access learning opportunities helps with Mozilla’s goal of promoting openness and participation as a part of Internet life.

Thanks to KnewtonInc on Twitter for the link.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Open Education

Tagged , , , , ,

U.S. Investment in Open Source Squeezes Local Devs

Posted on October 8, 2009 by | Leave a comment

Rebecca Wanjiku at InfoWorld is reporting that large technology corporations, such as Microsoft and Cisco are coming under fire for undercutting local open source development shops. The criticism comes as U.S. companies invest $9 million in Kenya. From the article:

As a result of its association with major brands, however, the government has been accused of failing to give equal opportunities to open source projects during bidding and implementation. In public-private partnerships, the government has been unable to dictate software specifications because the technology is mainly donated. However, the government hopes to incorporate more open source solutions in the projects it is financing.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Open Education

Tagged , , , ,

Zambian Open University Graduation Address

Posted on September 12, 2009 by | 5 Comments

The Zambian Watchdog has posted the Zambian President, Rupiah Banda, address to the Zambian Open University. The translation is a little rough, and is unfortunately presented entirely in upper-case, but the content is readable. From the address:

Education is a pillar that should drive economic success. The improved trends we have noted in our economy should be complemented by the right calibre of human resource.

→ 5 Comments

Posted in Open Education

Tagged , , , ,

Public Funding in Higher Education Pays Off, According to Report

Posted on September 9, 2009 by | 2 Comments

Aisha Labi at The Chronicle of Higher Education has a new article on benefits of public funding in higher education. The report (link unavailable at the time of writing) found that the benefits of higher education outweighed the costs in almost every country surveyed. From the article:

On average across the OECD, the net public return on the cost of providing a university education for a male student is in excess of $50,000. “In virtually every country, the public benefits of higher education outweigh the costs,” Mr. Schleicher said. “The traditional wisdom was that higher education benefits individuals most, but this was the first time we looked at public costs and public benefits in conjunction.”

→ 2 Comments

Posted in Open Education

Tagged , , ,

The Divide Between Ed. Tech and Curriculum

Posted on September 5, 2009 by | 1 Comment

Karen Fasimpaur has a new post on “the chasm” between education technology and curriculum planners. Fasimpaur is concerned how open textbooks will be adopted when curriculum developers aren’t being approached . From the post:

I’m really concerned about the chasm that exists in most K-12 districts between the ed tech folks and curriculum & instruction. Of course, this has always been a problem and is probably why technology has never reached its potential in enhancing learning.

→ 1 Comment

Posted in Open Education

Tagged , , , ,