Hi Kirby, Wow -- CS unplugged is very smart!!!
Any possibility of getting the course materials released under a license that meets the requirements of the free cultural works definition? A few essential freedoms missing in the current license being used :-(. ND & NC clauses restricting the potential here IMHO. Next time I travel to ChristChurch -- I'm more than happy to have a chat with the Computer Science department to see if we can get release of the materials under a free content license. Cheers Wayne 2009/11/15 kirby urner <kirby.ur...@gmail.com> > > On Sat, Nov 14, 2009 at 2:17 PM, Wayne Mackintosh > <mackintosh.wa...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Hi Kirby, > > > > You make a good point about the potential abundance of access to digital > > content. However, in reality I think we are a long way off from a world > > where we have access to digital content PLUS the permissions to adapt, > > modify and redistribute without restriction. Herein lies the > differentiating > > feature of OER -- namely a permission culture to remix content. > > > > For example, we're in the early phases of establishing a national New > > Zealand OER collaboration for the school sector > > (http://wikieducator.org/OERNZ). There is an abundance of material which > can > > be accessed -- for example, the Learning Federation > > (http://www.thelearningfederation.edu.au/copyright.html) or the NZ > Ministry > > of Education funded TKI project > > (http://www.tki.org.nz/e/tki/about/terms.php) --- In these examples > there is > > no cost associated with viewing or making copies for educational > purposes. > > However, the most important freedom for educators -- namely the right to > > adapt, modify and redistribute the content to better meet the needs of > the > > learners we serve are restricted :-(. > > > > We're applaud the 'CS Unplugged' curriculum, made a link to it from my > notes on one of our digital math meetings (a group of professional > educators, lobbying for State of Oregon to make 2010 a launch year for > some of our pilots): > > http://worldgame.blogspot.com/2009/08/education-planning.html (CS > Unplugged linked from 2nd paragraph FYI). > > > Good points with reference to the challenges and costs of internet access > in > > a wide variety of situations. A more perplexing challenge relates to > basic > > access to a school. For example, 76% of the children in sub-Saharan > Africa > > of the age for the last three years of the secondary schooling system > will > > not have the privilege of attending school or contact with a teacher. > There > > is simply not enough money to build enough classrooms or train enough > > teachers to satisfy the needs of the youth who are eager to learn. > > > > How can OER help these children? This is why we need to think creatively > > about technologies that can generate printed text books for children who > > will not have the privilege of attending school. WE need to think of > > creative solutions where we can combine the best of informal learning > with > > national accreditation systems -- in other word rethinking the > traditional > > models of educational provision. This is a tough challenge -- but with > > concerted effort I think we can make a difference. I sense that OER is > part > > of the solution. > > > > OER might want to consider Freedom Toaster as another way of > distributing content, perhaps a subset of WikiEducator site > specifically designed for off-line readers. > > http://www.freedomtoaster.org/ > > In the South Africa ecosystem, there's this notion of TuxLabs (free > access to computer labs), though not all of them are branded this way. > > One Laptop Per Child remains a relatively exotic approach, coupled > with its G1G1 marketing campaign (I have two XOs myself, which I loan > out to curious students -- there's a Python connection). > > In addition to printed textbooks, sometimes blank notebooks and > writing implements are in even scarcer supply. > > > That said, you allude and provide valuable insights into solving these > > challenges in that we need to think about the eco-system and how OER fits > > into the bigger picture. > > > > Cheers > > Wayne > > > > I'm glad this list is available for these sorts of discussions, > looking forward to more. > > I'm pleased to discover OER is such a committed and creative organization. > > Kirby > > > > -- Wayne Mackintosh, Ph.D. Director, International Centre for Open Education, Otago Polytechnic, New Zealand. 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