Opengratitude

You should read this post by Cable Green before proceeding below. In 2001, MIT President Charles Vest’s annual report was titled Disturbing the Educational Universe: Universities in the Digital Age — Dinosaurs or Prometheans?. It is an absolutely seminal piece of writing in open education that is, sadly, underappreciated today. To most people, Prometheus is famous for stealing fire from the gods and gifting it to humanity, and this is the theme Dr. Vest follows in his address. However, when I hear the name Prometheus, my mind always turns immediately to his punishment. This is perhaps the only thing I remember from the weeks our high school English teacher spent dragging us yawning and snoring through Edith Hamilton’s Mythology. For his punishment, Prometheus was chained to a rock. And every day, day after day, an eagle came to tear out and eat his liver - which then regenerated overnight. How did the ancient Greeks know that livers regenerate? I always thought that was so cool… ...

This is another post in my series of posts showing gratitude and appreciation for members of the open education community. Today I’m going to focus on the Open Textbook Network. From their website: The Open Textbook Network (OTN) helps higher education institutions and systems advance the use of open textbooks and practices on their campuses. We maintain the Open Textbook Library, the premiere resource for peer-reviewed academic textbooks. All of our textbooks are free, openly licensed, and complete; their adoption creates a measurable, positive impact on student success. With our members, we move the open education conversation forward on local and national levels. ...

This is another post in my series of posts showing gratitude and appreciation for members of the open education community. Today I’m going to focus onBCcampus OpenEd. It’s difficult to fully wrap one’s mind around all the things they do. Their cornerstone project is amazing BC Open Textbooks Collection. They do unique and valuable work in the Trades and OER. They publish an Open Education Accessibility Toolkit as well as other student and faculty advocacy toolkits. They publish numerous Guides, including guides to OER adaption, using Pressbooks, self-publishing, print-on-demand, and OER authoring. They run mailing lists, award mini-grants, and coordinate a Faculty Fellows Program. They regularly recognize the great work happening in their community with the Excellence in Open Education Award. They provide support for Zed Cred initiatives. They organize the annual Festival of Learning. ...

This is another post in my series of posts showing gratitude and appreciation for members of the open education community. Today I’m going to focus on ISKME and OER Commons. From their website: ISKME’s OER initiatives aim to grow a sustainable culture of sharing and continuous improvement among educators at all levels. In 2007, ISKME launched OER Commons, its digital public library and collaboration platform, informed by the organization’s pioneering efforts in knowledge management and educational innovation. OER Commons offers a comprehensive infrastructure for curriculum experts and instructors at all levels to identify high-quality OER and collaborate around their adaptation, evaluation, and use to address the needs of teachers and learners. ...

This is another post in my series of posts showing gratitude and appreciation for members of the open education community. Today I’m going to focus on Creative Commons. From their website: Creative Commons develops, supports, and stewards legal and technical infrastructure that maximizes digital creativity, sharing, and innovation. Our vision is nothing less than realizing the full potential of the Internet — universal access to research and education, full participation in culture — to drive a new era of development, growth, and productivity. ...

This is another post in my series of posts showing gratitude and appreciation for members of the open education community. Today I’m going to focus on OpenStax. From their website: OpenStax is a nonprofit based at Rice University, and it’s our mission to improve student access to education. Our first openly licensed college textbook was published in 2012, and our library since scaled to more than 20 books for college and AP courses used by hundreds of thousands of students. Our adaptive learning technology, designed to improve learning outcomes through personalized educational paths, is being piloted in college courses across the country. Through our partnerships with philanthropic foundations and our alliance with other educational resource companies, OpenStax is breaking down the most common barriers to learning and empowering students and instructors to succeed. ...

This is the first in my series of posts showing gratitude and appreciation for members of the open education community. Today I’m going to focus on SPARC. From their website: SPARC is a global coalition committed to making Open the default for research and education. SPARC empowers people to solve big problems and make new discoveries through the adoption of policies and practices that advance Open Access, Open Data, and Open Education. ...

My daughter is on a mission to bring some positivity to her little corner of the internet. I recognize that I’m biased, but I’m constantly impressed by how she proactively looks for positive and uplifting things to post. Like this weekend: [caption id=“attachment_5549” align=“aligncenter” width=“660”] spring has just arrived bringing new life and new opportunities. now’s the time to reevaluate, change and become something better[/caption] She’s right. It is a wonderful time to contemplate new beginnings, making changes, and becoming something better. As I’ve pondered her challenge, I’ve recognized that something I can definitely do better at is showing gratitude to members of the open education community. ...