Hi Wayne, Please add this as an exemplar to the WikiPublishing page - www.wikieducator.org/WikiPublishing, if not already done so.
Thanks, - Randy On Tue, Sep 14, 2010 at 11:18 PM, Patricia Schlicht < [email protected]> wrote: > This is really good news! and I salute HappyAbout for their openness, > ethics and integrity! OER rock > Cheers, > Patricia > > On Tue, Sep 14, 2010 at 6:42 PM, Wayne Mackintosh < > [email protected]> wrote: > >> Hi Everyone, >> >> Today is reason to celebrate and commend OER friendly publishers! The OER >> Foundation commends >> THINKaha<http://www.happyabout.com/thinkaha/opentextbooktweet01.php>and the >> Community >> College Open Textbook Collaborative <http://collegeopentextbooks.org/>for >> doing the right thing. >> >> Yesterday I was sad because of an oversight where my contribution to a >> great text was not licensed under a free cultural works approved license. >> Today I am happy! Mitch Levy <http://www.happyabout.com/about.php>, CEO >> of Happy About and THINKaha publishers scheduled a Skype conference with me >> yesterday evening to discuss a fix to this licensing oversight. I'm happy to >> report that the team at THINKaha worked through the night and posted a >> copyright notification amendment that the forward of the text is licensed >> under a CC-BY-SA license. >> >> Moreover, Happy About and ThINKaha publishers have released a CC-BY-SA >> electronic version of the text available on >> WikiEducator<http://wikieducator.org/Open_Textbook_Tweet>, >> which is now licensed under a free cultural works approved license :-). >> >> I strongly recommend that you consider purchasing a hard copy of Open >> Textbook Tweet: Driving Awareness and Adoption of Open >> Textbooks<http://www.happyabout.com/thinkaha/opentextbooktweet01.php>. >> This is an important juncture in our history of OER. Collectively we should >> support the foresight of an innovative publisher and the Community College >> Textbook Collaborative in seeing the potential of the open web and OER >> publishing. >> >> If you are looking for an OER friendly publisher -- I suggest you contact >> the Happy About <http://www.happyabout.com/about.php> team. >> >> *Thoughts on how can publishers earn a living in the (F)OER world?* >> >> Many publishers moving into OER markets protect their products and markets >> by restricting other publishers from selling the same text by applying the >> non-commercial restriction. This is a traditional and old-style business >> model which does not recognise the potential and opportunities of the open >> web and free (libre) content licensing. Publishers typically make an upfront >> investment and they recoup their investment through the sales of the text. >> By limiting other publishers from distributing and publishing the same text, >> the publisher who has taken the risk with upfront investment has greater >> control of the selling price and distribution rights to the text. >> >> The Free (Libre) and Open Resources for Education (FORE) movement >> advocates against the non-commercial restriction, because we believe in the >> essential freedoms and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights with >> regards to the right of individuals to earn a living. A publisher in Uganda >> should have the freedom to publish and distribute FORE and not be restricted >> from doing so because a publisher, for instance in the USA, has applied a >> non-commercial restriction on the text. OER should not be the reason for >> restricting anyone from earning a living. >> >> So how do we overcome the business dilemma for publishers in managing the >> risks associated with the upfront investment for a new OER text in an >> uncertain market? The solution requires us to tweak the business model by >> removing the need (and risk) for upfront investment by the publisher. >> >> The majority of educators working in the formal education sector are >> effectively paid by taxpayer dollars. There are a number of education >> institutions, governments and non-profits which are shifting intellectual >> policies to adopt free cultural works approved licences (for instance Otago >> Polytechnic<http://wikieducator.org/Otago_Polytechnic:_An_IP_policy_for_the_times>, >> New Zealand, the >> Wikiwijs<http://wikiwijsinhetonderwijs.nl/over-wikiwijs/english/>, >> Dutch Ministry of Education, Washington State Board for Community and >> Technical Colleges <http://creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/22712>, >> BCcampus <http://wikieducator.org/BCcampus/Case_study>, Canada, >> NZGOA<http://www.e.govt.nz/policy/nzgoal>L, >> New Zealand etc.). As the OER movement grows, this represents a huge >> development resource for authoring and creating FORE. Educators can develop >> and release materials under free cultural works approved licenses. >> Non-profit communities like WikiEducator, the Community College Open >> Textbook Collaborative, OCWC, Connexions etc can help co-ordinate and >> determine development priorities. Innovative wiki ==> >> print<http://wikieducator.org/WikiPublishing>technologies and platforms like >> Connexions have the capabilities to produce >> customised open textbooks based on a model of mass-customisation (as opposed >> to mass standardisation). >> >> So for example, a school or tertiary education institution may compile >> their own unique study guide or open text book from texts in WIkiEducator >> using the book collection editor. They can choose their own cover and add >> their institutional logo (derivative works are permitted). At this point >> users may request prices and quotes from a range of publishers who print >> FORE textbooks online in the wiki. Industry-scale printing technology means >> that publishers will be able to print and bind textbooks at costs which >> would typically be lower than the cost of printing this locally on your >> desktop printer. Publishers will incorporate a small commission (eg 10%) >> into their pricing which is paid back to the non-profit communities from >> which the texts are sourced as an "honesty box" contribution. The non-profit >> communities use the honesty box contributions to pay authors to develope >> FORE addressing gaps in the curriculum. In this model, publishers only need >> to commit cost once they have a confirmed order. >> >> This is potentially a win-win model and evolving OER ecosystem: students >> get cheaper texts, publishers can still make a profit, and authors can get >> paid for their work. All using licenses that meet the free cultural works >> definition. Augmenting existing publishing models to incorporate these >> approaches in parallel with the traditional publishing model will improve >> efficiency, and widen access to education materials around the world. >> >> The OER Foundation is working with progressive and forward looking >> publishers like Happy About and Pedia Press who have seen the OER futures >> which have already happened! >> >> >> -- >> Wayne Mackintosh <http://wikieducator.org/User:Mackiwg>, Ph.D. >> Director OER Foundation <http://www.oerfoundation.org/> >> Director, International Centre for Open Education, >> Otago Polytechnic, New Zealand. >> Founder and elected Community Council Member, >> Wikieducator<http://www.wikieducator.org%20/> >> Mobile +64 21 2436 380 >> 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] > > > -- > 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] -- ________________ Randy Fisher, MA, OMD Senior Consultant, OD/Change Management, Social Media, E-Learning, Collaboration & Performance Intersol Group, Canada Senior Consultant, Organization & Capacity Development International Centre for Open Education / OER Foundation, New Zealand Elected Member, WikiEducator Community Council, www.wikieducator.org +1 613.722.5577 (EST) Skype: wikirandy * Facilitating organizational learning, change, online collaboration and engagement * - Stakeholder/Community Engagement & Project Implementation - Change & Transition Management - E-Learning, Online Collaboration & Learning Communities - Social Media - Coaching & Facilitation - My Bio: http://www.communitybuildingexpert.com -- 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]
