Open-Content

Our new article is out in IRRODL! Abstract below; read the whole article here: A Preliminary Examination of the Cost Savings and Learning Impacts of Using Open Textbooks in Middle and High School Science Classes. Proponents of open educational resources claim that significant cost savings are possible when open textbooks displace traditional textbooks in the classroom. Over a period of two years, we worked with 20 middle and high school science teachers (collectively teaching approximately 3,900 students) who adopted open textbooks to understand the process and determine the overall cost of such an adoption. The teachers deployed open textbooks in multiple ways. Some of these methods cost more than traditional textbooks; however, we did identify and implement a successful model of open textbook adoption that reduces costs by over 50% compared to the cost of adopting traditional textbooks. In addition, we examined the standardized test scores of students using the open textbooks and found no apparent differences in the results of students who used open textbooks compared with previous years when the same teachers’ students used traditional textbooks. However, given the limited sample of participating teachers, further investigation is needed.

Today the United Nations Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organization (UNESCO) published the UNESCO 2012 Paris OER Declaration. Here are the recommendations, but be sure to read the full document for all the context: The World OER Congress held at UNESCO, Paris on 20-22 June 2012… Recommends that States, within their capacities and authority: a. Foster awareness and use of OER. Promote and use OER to widen access to education at all levels, both formal and non-formal, in a perspective of lifelong learning, thus contributing to social inclusion, gender equity and special needs education. Improve both cost-efficiency and quality of teaching and learning outcomes through greater use of OER. ...

Jim Groom recently posted this great list of suggestions for students and teachers from John Cage. Jim says, I am posting it here for posterity, it very much describes the way in which we have tried to approach ds106, and I think I will be writing this into any and all future syllabi I create from here on out. 12 years into my experience as a professor working with graduate students, I can say this list is dead on. I wish all my students would adopt the recommendations on this list. And I recommit myself to “Pull everything out of my students.” ...

Wayne honored me with an invitation to introduce Session 2 of Wikieducator’s Open Content Licensing for Educators workshop. Session 2 is titled, What constitutes an open educational resource? Wayne asked for something informal - and as you’ll see below that’s what he got! Reposting here for your mutual enjoyment…

The Why Open Education Matters video competition closed today. Here’s our submission, which we got in just under the gun. I wrote the script and did the voice recording and editing. Degreed sponsored the animation, which was done by Mike Moon and produced by Haugen Creative. (Degreed is a new company I’ve co-founded with David Blake building on the ideas in my post The Trouble with Transcripts and David’s post Jailbreaking the Degree. If we win the competition, the award money will help get the company off the ground. Wish us luck!) ...

Notes for my talk at the University of Oregon A Very Brief History of Open Education 1840s: Distance Education eliminates time and place requirements 1970s: Open University of the United Kingdom eliminates most admissions requirements 1990s-2000s: Open content, then OpenCourseWare, open educational resources, and open textbooks eliminate registration requirements for access to course content Examples: MIT OCW, Flat World Knowledge, OpenStax 2000s: Open Teaching, then MOOCs, eliminate registration requirements for access to teacher and peer interaction and feedback, as well as credentials Examples: University of the People, Peer 2 Peer University, Change11, Udacity, Coursera, EdX ...

I’ve been greatly looking forward to Stephen’s explanation of his previous statement that his lifelong goal has been to work toward “reducing and eventually eliminating the learned dependence on the expert and the elite – not as a celebration of anti-intellectualism, but as a result of widespread and equitable access to expertise.” I questioned what that meant in an earlier blog post, and Stephen has now responded. I think I finally understand. Here are the salient points from the response: ...

I’ve said a number of times that I wouldn’t engage in discussions about the NC clause in the future. However, during the comment period for the 4.0 licenses I have to give some feedback - not about the NC clause, but about another section of the license that is critically important to the functioning of the NC clause, vague and imperfect as it may be. The current version of the Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license, Section 8, Subsection e, reads: ...

Just when you think maybe they’re starting to get it: You can see the contradiction here, but that’s all you’ll be able to see…

Readers of my blog know how much respect I have for Stephen Downes. He’s a pillar of morality in our community, with a never-swerving dedication to his idea of what is right. I love him for it. It’s that love and respect that makes me me sit up and want desperately to understand when Stephen says something like, “I’ve spent a lifetime pursuing this objective.” He clarifies this lifetime of work as follows: ...