Commons-based Cases in EM

Research Questions

• Identify commons-based cases (the cases that we know will appear in the right part of the quadrants)
• Correlate them with their main outputs (Data, Narratives, Tools)
• How and to what extent they are “experimenting” or “adopting” commons-based approaches. Are they adopting OA policies, for instance? Are they adopting Socially Responsible License approaches?
• Identify these cases and treat them as entities that will also be placed in our mapping device (the quadrants)
• Identify what actors are participating on this and what actors are just observers. (Use the questionnaire to guide your research when appropriate - Carol will select specific relevant and helpful questions)

OER

Definition

"The development of the information society and the widespread diffusion of information technology give rise to new opportunities for learning. At the same time, they challenge established views and practices regarding how teaching and learning should be organised and carried out. Higher educational institutions have been using the Internet and other digital technologies to develop and distribute education for several years. Yet, until recently, much of the learning materials were locked up behind passwords within proprietary systems, unreachable for outsiders. The open educational resource (OER) movement aims to break down such barriers and to encourage and enable freely sharing content." (CERI 2007, 3)

Signatories to the Berlin Declaration state that “[t]he Internet has fundamentally changed the practical and economic realities of distributing scientific knowledge and cultural heritage. For the first time ever, the Internet now offers the chance to constitute a global and interactive representation of human knowledge, including cultural heritage and the guarantee of worldwide access.” (Berlin Declaration..., 2003)

An apparently extraordinary trend is emerging. Although "learning resources are often considered key intellectual property in a competitive higher education world, more and more institutions and individuals are sharing digital learning resources over the Internet openly and without cost, as open educational resources" (CERI 2007, 18).

The definition of OER currently most often used is “digitised materials offered freely and openly for educators, students and self-learners to use and reuse for teaching, learning and research” (CERI 2007, 38). "OER includes learning content, software tools to develop, use and distribute content, and implementation resources such as open licences" (CERI 2007, 10).

According to the Cape Town Open Education Declaration, OER "should be freely shared through open licences which facilitate use, revision, translation, improvement and sharing by anyone. Resources should be published in formats that facilitate both use and editing, and that accommodate a diversity of technical platforms. Whenever possible, they should also be available in formats that are accessible to people with disabilities and people who do not yet have access to the Internet." (Cape Town Open Education Declaration 2008)

Cases

Connexions

• History and Overview of Connexions

  In 1994, Burrus and other founders published a low-cost book of exercises/problems in digital signal processing for Matlab. Teachers/students could select problems that were interesting or useful for specific learning needs. This was offered early evidence of the potential for a "flexible, modular" approach to EM (Burrus 2007, 20). In 1999, Richard Baraniuk approached Burrus with idea to write electrical engineering text addressing the disparate but relevant issues math, design, applications, law, and business. Burrus challenged Baraniuk to "design a completely new teaching tool using modern computer and information technology"--what would become Connexions (Burrus 2007, 20). Connexions' historical moment coincided with XML popularization and Web 2.0 technologies, as well as the "new legal vision [...] to give an educational version of Larry Lessig's Creative Commons", inspired by Richard Stallman and Eric Raymond in open-source software (Burrus 2007, 21). "This environment not only supports but encourages a deeper level of collaboration than that of the multiply authored book or curriculum. Three parts to system (Burrus 2007, 21):

  1. Information organized in small, linkable, searchable modules using XML
  2. Web tools/interface to "help create, maintain, share, and use" modules
  3. Community that develops and uses tools and modules

  "The system has been used in many traditional courses over the past several years as a primary text or supplementary document. It is now being used to supply the only text book for the introductory electrical engineering course at Rice, where a 300-page book written by Prof. Don Johnson can be purchased online through Connexions from QOOP for $20." (Burrus 2007, 22)

• Main Outputs (modularized EM such as suggested by Benkler (2005, 7))

  (Narratives) "Connexions boasts over 4000 modules, more than 220 courses or books, approximately 550,000 users (96% non Rice University), 2000 author accounts, and approximately 200,000 hits per day from 198 countries." (Burrus 2007, 21) "It is now being used to supply the only text book for the introductory electrical engineering course at Rice, where a 300-page book written by Prof. Don Johnson can be purchased online through Connexions from QOOP for $20." (Burrus 2007, 22)

  (Tools) With National Instruments, Connexions is developing "interactive applets for embedded demos and labs" (Burrus 2007, 22).

• Adoption of OA Policies

  "The use of Connexions is free to anyone who has Internet access. The cost to develop Connexions is being paid by generous individuals, institutions, and foundations." ("FAQ" n.d.). The organization self-identifies as "OER" ("FAQ" n.d.)

• Adoption of Socially Responsible Licenses

  Connexions employs the Creative Commons Attribution license ("FAQ" n.d.), supported by the Site User Agreement

• Participating Actors
  • Rice University
  • William and Flora Hewlett Foundation (funding)
  • Teachers without Borders
  • UNESCO
  • QOOP (on-demand printing)
  • National Instruments

Wikiversity

"Wikiversity is a Wikimedia Foundation project devoted to learning resources, learning projects, and research for use in all levels, types, and styles of education from pre-school to university, including professional training and informal learning. We invite teachers, students, and researchers to join us in creating open educational resources and collaborative learning communities. To learn more, try a guided tour or start editing now."

Possible Cases

H2O Playlists

"H2O playlists are more than just a cool, sleek technology -- they represent a new way of thinking about education online. An H2O Playlist is a series of links to books, articles, and other materials that collectively explore an idea or set the stage for a course, discussion, or current event." (About H2O)

italki.com

"A place where you can find people and resources to help you learn a language."

Open Text Book

A community-managed subversion repository for in-progress open textbooks run by the Open Knowledge Foundation.

Smarthistory, a multimedia web-book about art

"Smarthistory.org is a free multi-media web-book designed as a dynamic enhancement (or even substitute) for the traditional art history textbook." The resource is licensed under a Creative Common Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 license.

Supercool School

Facebook App to facilitate requests for classes and teaching platform (see Video), with user-contributed multimedia teaching materials for self-started classes.

World University and School

Virtual university recently started by Scott MacLeod to offer completely free, open courses (some potentially hosted in Second Life) and course materials in the form of syllabi, coursework, videos. The underlying Wikia platform uses GFDL. MacLeod's vision includes seeking accreditation for the courses.

SIDE NOTE: Scott MacLeod taught "Society and Information Technology" (http://socinfotech.pbwiki.com) on Berkman Island in Second Life (fall, spring and summer of 2007-2008)

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