ATutor is an Open Source Web-based Learning Content Management System (LCMS) designed with accessibility and adaptability in mind. Administrators can install or update ATutor in minutes. Educators can quickly assemble, package, and redistribute Web-based instructional content, or conduct courses online. Students learn in an adaptive learning environment. The first Open Source LCMS to adopt the IMS Content Packaging specifications.
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.
Project-based learning in a technology rich environment can be effective in K-12 classrooms allowing students to negotiate understanding and construct knowledge in social situations. Benefits include connecting students in communities in and outside of their cultures, and meeting learning goals in non-institutional fashion, while educators share practices and resources using technology tools. When projects endure over time, characteristics of communities of practice begin to emerge in which shared content grows and is amended by participants, generating historical artifacts. Once instantiated, the project philosophy provides an ongoing basis for immersive learning, using wikis, blogs, and other social networking applications. A project-based classroom philosophy sets an engaging, attractive environment for students by meeting their needs to be socially involved, as opposed to being passive receivers. An example long term Internet learning event called the Monster Project is examined in this paper. Widespread use of project-based learning has been curtailed by a strong focus on traditional instruction to meet testing goals. Research shows that active participation in project-based education results in students being more intrinsically motivated, more likely to show conceptual understanding, and more well adjusted than students in traditional education modes. These characteristics are those of a community of practice, where members are informally connected by their accomplishments and by what they learn together. The range of academic content that can be integrated into project-based learning as the main approach in a classroom is bounded only by a teacher’s energy and creativity.
The Citizendium (sit-ih-ZEN-dee-um), a "citizens' compendium of everything," will be an experimental new wiki project that combines public participation with gentle expert guidance. It will begin life as a "progressive fork" of Wikipedia. But we expect it to take on a life of its own and, perhaps, to become the flagship of a new set of responsibly-managed free knowledge projects. We will avoid calling it an "encyclopedia," because there will probably always be articles in the resource that have not been vouched for in any sense.
The DSpace digital repository system captures, stores, indexes, preserves, and distributes digital research material.
Research institutions worldwide use this open source system in a variety of ways -- as an institutional repository, a learning object repository, for records management, and more.
Elgg is an open source social networking platform based around choice, flexibility and openness: a system that firmly places individuals at the centre of their activities.
Your users have the freedom to incorporate all their favorite tools within one environment and showcase their content with as many or as few people as they choose, all within a social networking site that you control.
Eduforge is an open access environment designed for the sharing of ideas, research outcomes, open content and open source software for education. You are welcome to use our community resources or start your own project space. Registration is free.
Edubuntu is an educational operating system that is a part of the Ubuntu family. It aims to make Ubuntu, the popular Linux-based operating system, a great choice for the computing needs of children, students, parents, teachers, and schools.
"Ubuntu" is an ancient African word, meaning "humanity to others". Edubuntu seeks to bring the freedoms and spirit of Ubuntu to children, parents, students, teachers, and schools.
EdNA Online is a service that aims to support and promote the benefits of the Internet for learning, education and training in Australia. It is organised around Australian curriculum, its tools are free to Australian educators, and it is funded by the bodies responsible for education provision in Australia - all Australian governments.
The Encyclopedia of Earth (EoE) <http://www.eoearth.org/> is an electronic reference about the Earth, its natural environments, and their interaction with society. The Encyclopedia is a free, fully searchable collection of content contributed by scholars, professionals, educators, practitioners and other experts who collaborate and review each other's work. The content is presented in a style intended to be useful to students, educators, scholars, professionals, as well as to the general public. Recognition is given to the woman scientist working within the spectrum of scientific disciplines that embody the Environmental and Earth Sciences.
Become an Author or Topic Editor: <http://www.eoearth.org/article/Become_an_EoE_Contributor>.
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.
Under certain conditions,U.S. Copyright Law provides for the educational use of copyrighted material without the permission of the copyright holder. To find out if your intended use meets the requirements set out in the law, use this free, online tool.
Subject:
Arts, Business, Humanities, Mathematics and Statistics, Science and Technology, Social Sciences
This manual provides practical advice to producers and users in selling, transferring, purchasing and acquiring materials. It is designed to facilitate the inter-institutional negotiation processes between producers and users and to identify the roles that COL may play in specific transfer and accreditation situations. Issues addressed include: types of transfer arrangements; copyright and intellectual property; adaptation and translation; costs, pricing, and remuneration; quality; and accreditation. (84 pages)
The Fair Use Evaluator is an online tool that can help users understand how to determine if the use of a protected work is a “fair use.” It helps users collect, organize, and document the information they may need to support a fair use claim, and provides a time-stamped PDF document for the users’ records.
Subject:
Arts, Business, Humanities, Mathematics and Statistics, Science and Technology, Social Sciences
* Help you better understand how to determine the "fairness" of a use under the U.S. Copyright Code. * Collect, organize & archive the information you might need to support a fair use evaluation. * Provide you with a time-stamped, PDF document for your records, which could prove valuable, should you ever be asked by a copyright holder to provide your fair use evaluation and the data you used to support it. * Provide access to educational materials, external copyright resources, and contact information for copyright help at local & national levels.
This free website allows teachers and students to create interactive Flash games and diagrams for learning and revising material. All diagrams created can be saved as data files or web.
The Free Curricula Center (FCC) helps students worldwide reach their educational potential by producing and distributing university level curricula that can be copied freely and modified cooperatively.
Specifically, FCC serves as a focal point for the development and sharing of textbooks, instructor guides, and other educational materials. These materials, called free curricula, are released at no cost into the public domain or under an "open source" style license. This license allows anyone to make and distribute copies without having to pay, and to modify the curricula as long as those modifications are released under the same terms.
The GNU Free Documentation License is a form of copyleft intended for use on a manual, textbook or other document to assure everyone the effective freedom to copy and redistribute it, with or without modifications, either commercially or noncommercially.
No restrictions on your remixing, redistributing, or making derivative works.
Give credit to the author, as required.
Your remixing, redistributing, or making derivatives works comes with some
restrictions, including how it is shared.
Your redistributing comes with some restrictions. Do not remix or make
derivative works.
Copyrighted materials, available under Fair Use and the TEACH Act for US-based
educators, or other custom arrangements. Go to the resource provider to see
their individual restrictions.
