Abstract: With 1,400 courses now available, MIT is delivering on the promise of MIT OpenCourseWare. We have heard from educators and learners around the world that they are benefiting from the materials offered freely and openly on the MIT OCW site. In order to understand how well MIT OCW is fulfilling its mission -- as well as to establish a thorough and continuous feedback process that guarantees its improvement over time -- we have developed a substantial evaluation program. The evaluation is focused on understanding specifics in three areas of user behavior: Access: Who is accessing MIT OCW, what are their profiles (educator, student, self-learner, other), what are their disciplines (or other interests), and where are they located? Use: How do educators and learners use MIT OCW and is MIT OCW designed appropriately to facilitate that use? To what extent and in what ways are MIT course materials adopted or adapted for teaching purposes? Impact: What effects -- positive or negative, intended or unintended -- are being realized through the use of MIT OCW? The evaluation was undertaken in 2005. Data collection employed an integrated "portfolio approach," as a combination of methods helped to achieve both breadth and depth in the evaluation.
Abstract: Sponsored by the Center of Inquiry in the Liberal Arts at Wabash College, Academic Commons shares these principles with the Center's exploration of liberal arts education: (1) Free exchange: open source technology and the free and open exchange of ideas, intellectual and creative work; (2) Heterogeneity: an understanding of, and sensitivity to, different modes of inquiry and their value for the larger academic enterprise; (3) Rational evaluation: a respect for evaluative processes that are anchored within professional expertise and are based on practices of open and rational deliberation.
Abstract: This paper discusses the concept of Open Educational Resources (OERs). The discussion then
shift to OER sustainability, a fundamental element essential for the success of OER. Special attention is given to the following as they relate to the OER sustainability: instructional design & presentation; cost of production and maintenance; support; and OER communities of practice as relate to scalability. The paper concludes with recommendations for OERs future research.
Issues in Informing Science and Information Technology 4. 2007
Abstract: The Arts + Open = Change conference is a participatory experience in innovative, peer-led engagement.
This event is about connecting to a network of artists and educators dedicated to change in these challenging times. Please join us for interactive storytelling, discussions, and workshop exercises focused on teaching and learning using the arts and creativity.
Abstract: Jim writes regularly about his work as an instructional technologist–in addition to several other interests of his such as film, literature, and media of all kinds–on bavatuesdays.
Abstract: Invent. Design. Discover. Share. This is the future of education today.
The Big Ideas Fest is the starting point for a movement that supports innovation in education at a time when the need to accelerate high-quality learning is truly essential for our country and our future. The goal of this unique three-day meeting of experts and creative doers and thinkers is to spotlight, challenge and change the ways in which education can be made relevant to learning in the post-industrial world. The goal is to increase relevance beyond the sidelines of society and within the unique classrooms of the world, while placing learning at the front and center of all that we do.
Subject:
Arts, Business, Humanities, Mathematics and Statistics, Science and Technology, Social Sciences
Abstract: A group of educators will meet at Foothill College this week to begin studying how to encourage widespread adoption of free online textbooks.
Funded by a $530,000 grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Community College Consortium for Open Educational Resources hopes to ease the burden on students who routinely pay $150 for clunky, hard-bound books, according to Judy Baker, dean of Foothill Global Access, an online-learning program.
The majority of grant money will go to the consortium's new Open Textbook Project, a collaboration with other schools and educational groups already using Web-based books to study the long-term feasibility of switching to online books, she said.
Abstract: Brewster Kahle is on a mission. He wants the whole planet to have access to human knowledge. All human knowledge. And he's striving to make that possible--one byte at a time.
Ten years ago, Kahle founded the nonprofit Internet Archive, with the goal of preserving the hitherto ephemeral pleasures of the Net for posterity. But, unsatisfied with limiting himself to the saving of Web sites, Kahle decided to broaden his scope and include existing collections of books, television programs, movies and music in the archive's massive digital repository.
Abstract: The CALIBRATE (Calibrating eLearning in Schools) project (October 2005 – March 2008) brings together eight Ministries of Education, (including six MoEs from new member states), to carry out a multi-level project designed to support the collaborative use and exchange of learning resources in schools.
Abstract: Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today (May 7, 2009) launched an initiative to make California the first state in the nation to offer schools free, open-source digital textbooks for high school students. The Governor directed his Secretary of Education Glen Thomas to ensure these resources are available for use in high school math and science classes by fall 2009, a critical first step in helping ensure digital textbooks are widely available to all California students.
Subject:
Mathematics and Statistics, Science and Technology
Abstract: The Cape Town Open Education Declaration arises from a small but lively meeting convened in Cape Town in September 2007. The aim of this meeting was to accelerate efforts to promote open resources, technology and teaching practices in education.
The first concrete outcome of this meeting is the Cape Town Open Education Declaration. It is at once a statement of principle, a statement of strategy and a statement of commitment. It meant to spark dialogue, to inspire action and to help the open education movement grow.
Abstract: The objective of Code v1 and Code v2 is to introduce and defend a particular way of understanding regulation, and to describe the trend that we should expect regulation in cyberspace to take.
While Lawrence Lessig himself has strong views about preserving important liberties that cyberspace originally protected, this book does not push any particular set of values. Unlike Lessig's other books, The Future of Ideas, and Free Culture, this book has no particular political agenda.
Subject:
Arts, Business, Humanities, Mathematics and Statistics, Science and Technology, Social Sciences
Abstract: The purpose of this site is to encourage librarians to discuss copyright concerns and seek feedback and advice from fellow librarians and copyright specialists. The Network is sponsored by the American Library Association Office for Information Technology Policy.
Abstract: Welcome to the website for the new CoSN K-12 Open Technologies Leadership Initiative.
The goal of this Web site is to help educators and technologists with the planning, evaluation, decision-making, and implementation processes associated with adopting Open Technologies in K-12.
Abstract: An article outlining some of the concerns and conflicts between Creative Commons and the Australian Copyright Owners Community, and discusses other publications regarding this conflict. The article is written by Delia Browne, an iSummit Scholar and the National Copyright Directory, Australian Schools and TAFEs.
Abstract: This paper addresses some of the licensing issues raised by creating and licensing Open Educational Resources. Flexibility and ease in accessing educational resources, remixing and embedding them in other, more culturally specific materials, is central to the OER movement. Flexibility can only achieved through a combination of resource design and licensing models. The most popular licensing model for OER content is the Creative Commons suite of licenses and most OER providers either use licenses taken from the Creative Commons suite or have developed a license closely modeled on a CC original but adapted to suit their needs, for example the Creative Archive in the UK.
Abstract: My name is Jennifer Maddrell. I am a graduate student at Indiana University studying in the Instructional Systems Technology department. I am taking the program "at a distance" so I can practice what I will one day preach.
This site is my working journal and personal learning environment related to the loosely joined topics of instructional design, technology and online education.
Abstract: On January 23-24, 2006, Intelligent Television hosts the Economics of Open Content symposium at MIT to bring together representatives from media industries, cultural and educational institutions, and legal and business minds to discuss how to make open content happen better and faster.
Topics include Collaboration and the Marketplace, New Models of Creative Production in the Digital Age, Keynote Address: Openness as an Ethos, The Wealth of Networks, The Economics of Knowledge as a Public Good, The Economics of Open Courseware, The Economics of Open Text, Convergence Culture: Consumer Participation and the Economics of Mass Media, The Economics of the Music Industry, If Only We Knew Yesterday What We Know Today, The Economics of Open Archives, Museums, and Libraries, The Economics of the Public Domain, The Economics of Film and Television, The New Economics of Gaming, Everything is Miscellaneous, Business Interests in Open Content, Next Steps: Cooperation Across Institutions and Industries