Browse:
OER Community Type: News Stories
(Complete Item Description)
- Abstract: A site about the ramifications of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, with news, discussion forums and other information on the DMCA.
(Complete Item Description)
- 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.
- Grade Level:
Post-secondary
(Complete Item Description)
- 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.
- Subject:
Science and Technology
- Grade Level:
Primary, Secondary, Post-secondary
(Complete Item Description)
- Abstract: Dr. Raymond L. Orbach, Under Secretary for Science of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), has signed an agreement with Lynne Brindley, Chief Executive of the British Library, to collaborate on the development of a global science gateway. The gateway would eventually make science information resources of many nations accessible via a single Internet portal.
- Subject:
Science and Technology
(Complete Item Description)
- 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.
(Complete Item Description)
- 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.
(Complete Item Description)
- Abstract: WikiEducator has received a donation of 100 Math and English lessons from the College of the Rockies in Cranbrook, BC. These learning materials will be freely available under a Creative Commons license.
(Complete Item Description)
- Abstract: The 1st international workshop "D4PL Designing for participatory learning - Building from open source success to develop free ways to share and learn" will take place co-located with the OSS2009, 5th International Conference on Open Source Systems, on June 6, 2009, Skövde, Sweden (http://oss2009.org).
The Open Source world shows how volunteer collaboration can lead to great products and to great learning. We want to further explore at this workshop what happens using approaches from that community to break barriers between teachers and learners for today's Internet-savvy young people to design and co-construct sites for participatory learning.
The aim of this workshop is to explore the barriers for this type of learning in higher education settings. Content creation, knowledge exchange, community dynamics, and the impact on the boundary between formal and informal education are key subjects of this workshop!
- Subject:
Science and Technology, Social Sciences
- Grade Level:
Primary, Secondary, Post-secondary
(Complete Item Description)
- Abstract: "Distance Learning for Development: Achievements, Trends and Plans" presentation was introduced at the International Institute for Educational Planning, UNESCO in Paris, France (7 February 2007) by Sir John Daniel from the Commonwealth of Learning. It introduces the COL and its "Learning for Development" programme, virtual university for Small States of the Commonwealth as well as general OER issues.
- Grade Level:
Primary, Secondary, Post-secondary
(Complete Item Description)
- Abstract: Martha Kanter, chancellor of the Foothill-De Anza Community College District and a nationally known champion of open educational resources, has been nominated by President Obama this month to be under secretary of education, the top postsecondary job at the U.S. Department of Education.
- Subject:
Humanities, Mathematics and Statistics, Science and Technology, Social Sciences
- Grade Level:
Post-secondary
(Complete Item Description)
- Abstract: This week I ventured to explore a number of OER projects and conduct a preliminary assessment of the reusability and remixability of the OER hosted in each. Based on earlier (albeit shallow) familiarity with some of these OER initiatives I am able to presume that the structure and technology of a selected sample OER from each is generally representative of all or most OER in the given project.
I undertook this task as Rogue Quest 1 for David Wiley’s Intro to Open Ed course. The Rogue character class that I’ve adopted focuses on content production with an emphasis on finding and releasing or untrapping "open" content to allow for reuse and remix. I have only theoretical experience with remixing OER, and so it is fitting that I begin at experience level 1.
Reuse/Remix Estimates
As I purview each of seven different OER projects I will give each collection a reuse/remix value rating based on my initial impressions and observations. These estimates may change as I move forward to release, reuse, or remix some of these OER.
My reuse/remix rating is a scale of 1 - 5, where "1" is extremely difficult or low value, and "5" is extremely easy or high value, referring to the act of taking CC content and reusing or remixing it on a separate server.
- Grade Level:
Post-secondary
(Complete Item Description)
- Abstract: This Monthly Insight to Interoperability reports on the European Learning Resource Exchange (LRE) meeting that took place in Brussels on 23 March 2006.
- Subject:
Science and Technology, Social Sciences
(Complete Item Description)
- Abstract: Founder of Textbook-Download Site Says Offering Free Copyrighted Textbooks Is Act of 'Civil Disobedience'
Publishers see Web sites like Textbook Torrents, which offer free downloads of textbooks without authorization, as part of a growing problem of piracy that could potentially threaten their industry. But the founder of Textbook Torrents calls his actions "civil disobedience" against "the monopolistic business practices" of textbook publishers.
- Subject:
Humanities, Social Sciences
- Grade Level:
Post-secondary
(Complete Item Description)
- Abstract: A "Christian Science Monitor" article about the OpenCourseWare movement, initiated by MIT in 2002.
- Subject:
Science and Technology, Social Sciences
- Grade Level:
Post-secondary
(Complete Item Description)
- Abstract: Insight is a service focusing on e-learning in schools in Europe. It is provided by European Schoolnet (EUN) in collaboration with its consortium members. We publish news and analysis on e-learning policies, school innovation and information communication technology (ICT) in education.
- Subject:
Science and Technology, Social Sciences
(Complete Item Description)
- Abstract: A C-Net news article on an open content initiative by the South Korean government in order to bring a homegrown open-source platform to 10,000 schools in the country.
- Subject:
Science and Technology
- Grade Level:
Primary, Secondary
(Complete Item Description)
- Abstract: The Maldives is part of a network of 30 countries developing a Virtual University for Small States of the Commonwealth (VUSSC), said State Minister for Education Dr Ahmed Ali Manik.
The countries have been developing this project since 2000 with Manik estimating the courses will be available online, free of charge, within the next couple of years.
"Through open educational resources, we will be able to access courses in other small states. It’s a network for higher education," said Manik, who participated in a five-day conference for Commonwealth Education Ministers earlier this month.
He added it was important "especially for small states, [where there are] not too many higher universities."
The Maldives has no university institution and many students are unable to study abroad because of financial obstacles.
- Grade Level:
Post-secondary
(Complete Item Description)
- Abstract: The building blocks provided by the Open Educational Resources movement, along with e-Science and e-Humanities and the resources of the Web 2.0, are creating the conditions for the emergence of new kinds of open participatory learning ecosystems that will support active, passion-based learning: Learning 2.0.
- Subject:
Humanities
- Grade Level:
Post-secondary
(Complete Item Description)
- Abstract: A new company called Academic Earth offers free online videos of lectures from universities participating in the Opencourseware project. Can a for-profit company do this? Read the story from the Chronicle of Higher Education and discussion posts that follow.
(Complete Item Description)
- Abstract: Can the University of the People, a new online institution, add teaching components to the growing body of free online materials and social-networking tools so that students get college credits? Read the story from the Chronicle of Higher Education and the discussion posts that follow.
Take a Survey
Take a quick survey to tell us about your unique needs for teaching and learning.
Click here to start »
