July 2009
Free, open, and digital – oh my!
Posted by karen on July 13, 2009 in Uncategorized
With school budget crunches worsening, there is an increasing interest in free, open, and/or digital instructional resources. States like California, Texas, Indiana, and others are setting policies to allow and even encourage non-traditional resources to compete with traditional textbooks for funding dollars thereby prompting more wide-scale usage. These initiatives include various emphases on free, open, and digital materials.
The labels of free, open, and digital are very different though. Understanding the differences is important and is more than just nuance, though even the smartest of policymakers and leaders seem fuzzy on the differences.
I’ve spoken and written somewhat extensively already about the difference between free and open. There are many, many free tools out there that are not open. The implications of that are that 1) they may not always be free (or even exist); 2) you most likely can’t modify or redistribute them (which is essential for differentiating instruction); 3) you likely do not control your own data.
Conversely, all open resources have a free version. However, all versions of an open resources are not necessarily free. For example, while most open-licensed textbooks are distributed online free of charge, there could also be versions, especially, for example, physical products (printed or CD/DVD), that are sold (assuming no non-commercial license). Not only is this permissible, but it likely to be necessary if open textbooks are to gain wide adoption.
So now on to the difference between open and digital. Digital merely means that the materials are available in an electronic format. It does not imply that the materials are open or free. So, for example, a PDF file of a traditional textbook would qualify as “digital,” though it offers very few advantages over print. Most importantly, digital but proprietary resources are not able legally to be modified or remixed, which is an essential element of differentiating instruction (and what most policymakers are hoping for with digital resources, I think).
Nearly all open resources are available in a digital format. It is implicit, though not technically required, in the definition of open.
So why are these distinctions important? Because in order to redirect valuable funds from print to more flexible digital resources AND to be able to remix these resources to make them suitable for a wide range of learners’ needs, new initiatives need to focus on OPEN and DIGITAL resources. To do less is a disservice to our educational system.
Tags: free | open | digital | textbooks | differentianting instruction
Google Images can now search for open
Posted by karen on July 10, 2009 in Uncategorized
Google Images’ advanced search now supports searching for open licensed photos.
Two presentations on OER
Posted by karen on July 8, 2009 in Uncategorized
I did two well-received sessions on open content for education at NECC this year. (Curiously, while there were many sessions on open source software, these were the only ones on open content.) I was thrilled with how enthusiastic everyone was about the information and resources shared.
Here are the session videos and materials.
Open Educational Resources: Share, Remix, Learn
Full video, slides, and hands on activities here.
Open-Licensed Content: The Missing Piece
Full video, slides, and hands on activities here.
These materials are all licensed under CC BY. Please feel free to reuse, share, etc. and help spread the word! Thanks.
Tags: NECC2009 | licensing | creative commons | open | OER | textbooks
Open textbooks and wikibooks for K-12 schools
Posted by karen on July 3, 2009 in Uncategorized
I’ve been talking a lot to folks lately about the idea of open textbooks beginning to replace conventional textbooks, allowing both for more differentiation and for vast sums of money to be redirected toward more useful things (like professional development and customization).
People have asked me how they can start getting involved in open textbooks. Here are a couple ideas. First, go explore Wikibooks and especially Wikijunior. There are tons of open textbooks here that you can use, edit, contribute to, customize, or even create your own.
If you’re looking for a project to get your students involved in, look at the international collaboration In Our World: Portraits of Communities across the Globe. This text will be written by students around the globe with each class creating a chapter to tell about their community. What a great way to facilitate students writing for a genuine audience, while collaborating with other classes around the world. This project begins in August. If you’d like to participate, you can contact the coordinators at Old Dominion University by emailing jkidd AT odu DOT edu for more information.
Another bigger way to get involved in open textbooks is to talk to your district curriculum and instruction folks about open education and the potential of open textbooks. As our curriculum leaders begin to see the advantages, this movement will really start to gain steam.
[Textbook photo credit: caryatidxx / Emilie from Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/dearlydeparted/3657275396/]
Tags: textbooks | open | wikibooks
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Unless otherwise indicated, this work is licensed under a, Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License.
