Open Education News

Syndicate content
Monitoring news related to open education around the globe
Updated: 58 min 20 sec ago

FLOSS as Commons

Tue, 31/08/2010 - 8:09pm

David Bollier has a new post on FLOSS as commons. From the post:

Without such a language of the commons, market metrics and discourse tend to prevail. This is fine as far as it goes. But the conventional market narrative provides a misleading ontology and epistemology for describing FLOSS communities.

Thanks to Michael Bauwens for the link.


Categories: OER Blogs

How Faculty Can Implement Open Access at Their Institution

Tue, 31/08/2010 - 8:09pm

“tinh” has a new post announcing a white paper on how faculty can implement open access at their institution. From the post:

This excellent companion piece, providing a thorough overview and careful analysis of legal issues related to public access policies, is written by Simon Frankel and Shannon Nestor, who are lawyers at Covington & Burling, a prominent Washington D.C. law firm.


Categories: OER Blogs

Reasons for Open Courses

Mon, 30/08/2010 - 10:22pm

Dave Cormier has a new post on possible use cases for open courses. From the post:

I think there’s a middle ground somewhere where we can bring in people who aren’t exactly ‘opposed’ to the idea of openness to understanding the power of supporting networks and network creation.

Link and commentary by Stephen Downes. Gabi Witthaus expands on Cormier’s thoughts.


Categories: OER Blogs

Interview With Lewis Hyde

Mon, 30/08/2010 - 10:21pm

Mike Linksvayer has posted an interview with author Lewis Hyde, who has written a new book Common as Air. From the interview:

I am obviously someone who cares about gift-exchange and sharing in the creation of knowledge and culture but I am also a bit of a contrarian and thus find that sometimes I want to underline the complications that necessarily arise around gift-exchange in our current situation.

Robert Darnton at the New York Times reviews the book.


Categories: OER Blogs

Openness and The Chronicle of Higher Education

Mon, 30/08/2010 - 10:21pm

George Siemens reacts to an article on open courses that was placed behind a pay wall on The Chronicle of Higher Education website. From the post:

I haven’t read the article. I’m sure it’s good. But it’s against the grain of what I wanted to communicate about openness.

D’Arcy Norman posts similar thoughts.


Categories: OER Blogs

Interview With Richard Baranuik

Mon, 30/08/2010 - 10:21pm

Victor Yu has posted an interview with Richard Baranuik, founder of Connexions. From the interview:

In 1999, frustrated by the fact that there was no appropriate textbook for my class, I considered writing my own. But on careful reflection, i realized that
the educational publishing system was broken and that writing a new book and publishing it through this system would not make a meaningful impact.

Thanks to Daniel Williamson for the link.


Categories: OER Blogs

MIT OCW Listed by Time Magazine as One of the Best of the Web

Sat, 28/08/2010 - 12:02pm

Steve Carson announces that MIT OCW was listed by Time magazine as one of the best websites of 2010. From the post:

“It’s truly remarkable to see MIT OpenCourseWare listed beside these other well-known sites,” says Professor Shigeru Miyagawa, chair of OCW’s Faculty Advisory Committee. “It really speaks to the impact the site is having not only on the individuals who use it, but on the culture of the Web as a whole.


Categories: OER Blogs

P2PU Ready for Third Round of Courses

Sat, 28/08/2010 - 12:01pm

Jane Park has a new post noting that the Peer-2-Peer University is starting its third round of courses. One of the courses is “Copyright for Educators.” From the post:

Sign-ups for all other courses are available at http://p2pu.org/course/list. The deadline to sign up is September 8, and courses will run until October 27th.


Categories: OER Blogs

OER at the American University in Kosovo

Sat, 28/08/2010 - 12:01pm

Taulant Ramabaja has a new post on open educational resources at the American University in Kosovo. From the post:

Another big issue, or at least an issue for me, was the lack of coherent OER platforms and standards. Most of what has gotten out onto the web has s far been driven by personal initiative of some open minded intellectuals.


Categories: OER Blogs

Who Pays for Open Access?

Sat, 28/08/2010 - 12:01pm

Columbia Univesity has posted a panel discussion on paying for open access on YouTube.


Categories: OER Blogs

State of Open Education in Utah

Sat, 28/08/2010 - 12:00pm

David Wiley has a new post summarizing the state of open education in Utah. From the post:

Open education seems to be getting some traction here in Utah.


Categories: OER Blogs

Creative Commons for Educators Slides

Sat, 28/08/2010 - 11:59am

Rodd Lucier has posted slides explaining Creative Commons to educators.


Categories: OER Blogs

Yoza

Thu, 26/08/2010 - 8:30pm

Steve Vosloo has issued a press release announcing Yoza, a open content mobile library. From the press release:

Yoza’s goal is to get young people reading and writing, and in the ‘book-poor’ but ‘cellphone-rich’ context of South Africa, the phone is a viable complement and sometimes alternative to a printed book.

Thanks to Creative Commons for the link.


Categories: OER Blogs

Response to Amy Kinsel

Thu, 26/08/2010 - 8:28pm

A few days ago OEN pointed out an article by Professor Amy Kinsel, who gave a critique of open education. David Wiley has now posted a response. From the post:

I think it’s a terrible shame that our face-to-face courses end after 15 weeks. Just when you’re finally learning everyone’s personalities and preferences, and students are starting to really master the material, it all ends. In a traditional, physically-bound classroom setting, this may be inescapable. But again, if we step back and critically reimagine teaching and learning in the context of modern technology, there is no a priori reason that courses must work in this manner.


Categories: OER Blogs

Three Open Access Articles

Thu, 26/08/2010 - 8:27pm

A variety of open access articles:


Categories: OER Blogs

Looking for Mathematicians and Scientists

Thu, 26/08/2010 - 8:27pm

Mark Horner has a new post asking for scientists and mathematicians to help edit open textbooks.


Categories: OER Blogs

Adopting Open Textbooks Course

Thu, 26/08/2010 - 8:25pm

P2PU has posted a syllabus for a course on adopting open textbooks.


Categories: OER Blogs

OEN Reaches 2,000 Posts

Wed, 25/08/2010 - 10:32pm

This week Open Education News reached 2,000 posts. We would like to thank those contributors who help make this site what it is today. We also thank those we aggregate from regularly, like Stephen Downes and Peter Suber. OEN is extremely fortunate to have funding from Open Society Institute and the Shuttleworth Foundation. Without them we would not have made it this far. Above all, we thank you, our readers, for making us a part of your lives.


Categories: OER Blogs

Being on the Side of Open Access

Wed, 25/08/2010 - 10:32pm

Jason Hoyt has a new post addressed to researchers about open access. From the post:

We could choose to publish in only Open Access. We could choose to reward tenure for Open Data. We could choose to only reward publications or data that are proven to be reused and make either a marked economic or research impact. Instead, we choose to follow a model that promotes prestige as the primary objective…


Categories: OER Blogs

Mozilla Course for Journalists and Technologists

Wed, 25/08/2010 - 10:31pm

Stephen Downes notes that Mozilla and other groups are looking to create a course for journalists and technologists. From the post:

Each week the course will focus on a different topic, and each week the participants will be joined by a different subject-matter expert from the field of news innovation. The weekly course readings, online participation, and a seminar are expected to require roughly 4-6 hours.


Categories: OER Blogs