Hi Leo, that's a good question. Apology for the long email -- but lots of information to cover in answering your question.
The OER Foundation is an independent non-profit organisation responsible for raising the funds to run WikiEducator.org and very soon we will also launch WikiResearcher.org :-). We need money to pay for our infrastructure, for example: hosting the servers, technical support, software development and honoraria for our facilitators so we can continue to provide free training for thousands of educators in more than 115 countries around the world. As a non-profit all surplus funds we generate will be reinvested back into the development of OER courses, open text books etc. For example we will pay authors, learning designers and multi-media experts to create OER courses and open text books which we will be free to reuse, adapt and modify. The OER Foundation will ensure that WikiEducator.org, WikiResearcher.org will not carry advertising -- so we can't raise funding through advertising revenue on our OER sites. The OER Foundation will generate income and support from multiple sources, including: - Grant funding (from international donor agencies and international development agencies). For example, strategic projects currently funded by the Hewlett Foundation and the financial contribution from the Commonwealth of Learning to help pay for the hosting of our servers. - Institutional membership contributions from tertiary education institutions. We have a range of different membership categories ranging from a base line membership - to bronze, silver, gold and platinum membership levels. ( http://wikieducator.org/OERF:Join#Table_of_OERF_membership_benefits_-_Detailed_Comparison) . Each membership category provides a range of benefits and services. As a global project it is possible for the OER Foundation to design a model whereby the dollar value of services exceeds the cost of voluntary membership contributions :-) - Voluntary public donations -- WE will implement a donation button on our site for people who would like to support our international work. Every year we will run a global donation campaign with the first campaign scheduled for February / March 2010. - Government and corporate contracts, for example the work we are doing for the Ministry of Education in New Zealand to establish a national OER commons for New Zealand teachers. (see: http://wikieducator.org/OERNZ_News ) WikiEducator has extensive reach in the developing world and we recognise that many organisations may not have the money to become contributing members. Therefore we have a special category of membership called FTE4WikiEducator Members. These organisations will allocate dedicated staff time and the OER Foundation will seek to find sponsorship from platinum members and the international donor community to assist in covering the costs of membership. As you know, the OER Foundation subscribes to open philanthropy which means that all our planning documents are developed openly and transparently in the wiki :-). If you're interested you can review our strategic plans here: http://wikieducator.org/OERF:Planning OER is a sustainable and renewable resource -- and working together on an international scale we can achieve more than working alone! WE are about to start our recruitment drive for founding members. Any organisation who becomes a contributing member before 30 June 2009 will be recognised as a founding member. This is an opportunity for organisations to make the future happen and be recorded in history of transforming education for the better. So spread the word, blog about what we're doing and we will be able to tell our grandchildren how WE nurtured and succeeded in building a sustainable OER ecosystem. Cheers Wayne 2009/12/17 Wong Leo <[email protected]> > http://www.hudong.com/ is a wiki software are getting quite strong lately > in China ,where a lot of Chinese educator there to share and talk , > I am wondering if there is possiblity for wikieducator to make money in > the future ? or how for a OER turned into a > a http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_entrepreneurship ??( now China have > unblocked the Wikipedia for many months ) > > I would like to know your idea > > Leo > > -- > Leo Wong > -------------------------------------- > http://helpsuzhou.blogbus.com/ HELP > There is something very special and powerful about engaging directly with > the real teacher and real Kids > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "WikiEducator" group. > To visit wikieducator: http://www.wikieducator.org > To visit the discussion forum: http://groups.google.com/group/wikieducator > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected] -- Wayne Mackintosh, Ph.D. Director, International Centre for Open Education, Otago Polytechnic, New Zealand. Board of Directors, OER Foundation. Founder and Community Council Member, Wikieducator, www.wikieducator.org Mobile +64 21 2436 380 User Page: http://wikieducator.org/User:Mackiwg Skype: WGMNZ1 Twitter: OERFoundation, Mackiwg -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "WikiEducator" group. To visit wikieducator: http://www.wikieducator.org To visit the discussion forum: http://groups.google.com/group/wikieducator To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]
