In March we hosted the second Institute for Open Leadership. In our summary of the event we mentioned that the Institute fellows would be taking turns to write about their open policy projects. This week’s post is from Fiona MacAlister, OER Specialist at Wits University in Johannesburg, South Africa. I was privileged to attend the…
In March we hosted the second Institute for Open Leadership, and in our summary of the event we mentioned that the Institute fellows would be taking turns to write about their open policy projects. By way of some background, I am currently the digital publishing manager at the African branch of Cambridge University Press (CUP),…
The guest post below was written by Peter B. Kaufman of Intelligent Television. — When the Open Courseware movement first started – its Big Bang probably took place in mid-June 2001, when Mellon Foundation president William G. Bowen, Hewlett Foundation’s president Paul Brest, and MIT president Charles M. Vest announced the initiative at MIT –…
In October we wrote that the U.S. Department of Education (ED) is considering an open licensing requirement for direct competitive grant programs. If adopted, educational resources created with ED grant funds will be openly licensed for the public to freely use, share, and build upon. The Department of Education has been running a comment period in which interested parties can provide…
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) published its latest Open Educational Resources (OER) report yesterday: Open Educational Resources: A Catalyst for Innovation, Educational Research and Innovation. (PDF) The report covers the following topics: OER in educational policy and practice OER as a catalyst for innovation Fostering new forms of learning for the…
Yesterday the Obama administration released an updated version of its Open Government National Action Plan. Ever since the launch of the global Open Government Partnership in 2011, participating nations have made commitments to work on initiatives “to promote transparency, increase civic participation, fight corruption, and harness new technologies to make government more open, effective, and accountable.”…
This is a guest post by Jan Gondol. Pencil by Mari Pi, Public Domain. In the midst of the European migrant crisis, the Czech Republic is showing the power of open educational resources (OER). EDUin, a non-profit organization based in Prague worked with the Czech organization of civic education teachers to address the current migrant…
Williamsfield video by U.S. Department of Education is licensed CC BY I’m pleased to announce two important updates from the U.S. Department of Education! #1: Williamsfield Community Unified School District embraces OER Today, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan visited Williamsfield Community Unified School District in Illinois to highlight the progress the rural school district…
I recently interviewed Dr. Phil Venditti, professor of communication studies at Clover Park Technical College in Washington State (USA). Phil teaches public speaking and other oral and written communication courses. In 2010 Phil learned about the Open Course Library project and became an enthusiastic adherent. Phil developed two courses in the Open Course Library, wrote…
Providing free learning with pathways to formal credit, the OERu officially launched on Friday November 1, 2013 at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops British Columbia. “In basing your learning and teaching on OER, you have an excellent opportunity to treat the minds of your students primarily as fires to be set alight rather than as…