FLOSS In School - Open Source Software in the Education System

Steve Wheeler has a new post on the “ivory towers” in higher education crumbling. Though some of the links used are slightly dated, its sentiments may resonate with some readers. From the post:

The bottom line is this: If students find that an important text is protected, or even closed off, due to copyright restrictions (or even, perish the thought, pay walls), they will simply go elsewhere.

Timothy Vollmer has posted an interview with DeLaina Tonks, the Director of the Open High School of Utah. From the post:

We have discovered that the most effective way to ensure standards alignment is to use them as the organizing principle or framework for the course. Teachers can then gather existing OER materials, organize them accordingly and fill in any gaps with teacher created materials. The greatest challenge our curriculum writers face is wading through the available OER and determining which content to use in order to create a cohesive course.

Giuseppe Valiante is reporting on proposed legislation in Canada and how it might affect college students. From the article:

Critics say the proposed rules could force teachers to pay royalties for using hyperlinks to online articles in e-mails. They also say the changes could force students and teachers to pay for using material that is currently exempt from royalty.

Cathy Anderson tweets about Educah, a web site run by a student who is posting tutorials about whatever he/she is learning. From the “About” page:

Educah is not affiliated with any one college or university. The beauty of the idea is that it doesn’t have to be. All info I post on this site will site appropriate sources, or explain concepts that are free knowledge, like Gaussian elimination. Any examples used to reinforce material will be of my own creation, and not from any textbook/test/quiz what have you.

Victor Yu has posted an interview with Dan Colman, founder of Open Culture. From the post:

…as I cautioned on Open Culture last week, there’s more to getting a rounded education than simply watching lectures.

George Siemens has a new post reflecting on his experience with open courses. From the post:

In theory, we will be building on the right foundation if we shift our financial investment in education from creating content, and turn it to the learning process (fostering, guiding, directing, interacting).

Reuven Carlyle has posted a perspective by Amy Kinsel, a professor of History at Shoreline Community College. From the post:

Yet high-quality open-source textbooks don’t exist in many disciplines, particularly in politically-contentious fields like History. Until pedagogically-sound open-source texts are available in our disciplines, faculty like me will continue to assign commercially-published textbooks.

Amy Vernon has posted an interview with staff at Curriki. Thanks to MeFromTree for the link.

Scott Jaschik is reporting that Rice University Press is shutting down next month. Connexions will remain operational. From the post:

Many supporters of academic publishing had high hopes for the Rice project, which was launched in 2006 with the goal of merging the quality and rigor of scholarly peer review with the convenience and low cost of digital publishing.

Thanks to Publisher Guide for the link.

Stacey Alexander has posted slides and accompanying audio for a presentation on openness in higher education.

Amber has a new post on some of the questions facing the UK OER programme. From the post:

…the Key Lessons of the evaluation and synthesis report states: “There is a clear model emerging of resources being deposited in a local repository (institutional or subject centre) where trust and community engagement can be built, then surfaced through syndication to general open repositories such as JorumOpen, Merlot, and to third-party sites such as iTunesU, YouTube, flickr, scribd, slideshare”

Also, a call for OER case studies from JISC.

Ruth Suehle has a new post about a way for people to contribute to open source development. From the post:

OpenHatch is a place for developers who want to be involved in open source but don’t know where to start.

Ethan Watrall has a new post on creating OpenCourseWare. From the post:

For those who are thinking about getting onboard with OCW, now is a perfect time to think about how best to go about getting in on the game.

David Wiley has a new post listing articles on sustainability for open educational resources that have been published by David or BYU students.

David Porter has a new post discussing what needs to happen in order for open educational resources to become more mainstream. From the post:

I hope that in 2010-2011 we will see a rise in the generosity of spirit that is promoted in the OER community, through a new focus on the nurturing of successors with implementation, consolidation and sustainability skills.

Thanks to Stephen Downes for the link.

Maura Johnston has a new post weighing in on the assertion that TED can be compared to Harvard in some ways. From the post:

And you know, perhaps the breathless thesis laid out by that SEO-baiting URL is correct. Maybe TED is like an elite college in a way — you apply for the right to pay money and hang out with a bunch of people who were also able to pay money (and a few people who got in on just smarts)…

Thanks to Brian Lamb for the link.

Michael Geist has a new post on recent criticism he faces for using open materials. From the post:

The fact that I rely on openly accessible materials led Access Copyright supporter John Degen to describe my approach as a “shockingly arbitrary and irresponsible policy that will only place artificial (and highly political) limits on education.”

David Wiley has a new post noting an open education position in Washington. From the post:

As more and more job titles end up with “open education” in them, people are eventually going to want degrees with “open education” in them, too.

Dennis S. Karjala has posted a paper on the sustainability of traditional intellectual property rights. From the abstract:

The reason is that the only social policy justification for recognizing intellectual property rights at all is that they supposedly serve as an incentive to create socially desirable works of authorship and inventions. They are not and should serve as a reward for past achievements.

Cristina Costa notes that Brian Lamb has posted the first draft of a document introducing open education.