In 2006, a group of small colleges was at a crossroads. The grant that the schools had received to pay for the license for its commercial Learning Management System (LMS) had come to an end, and the schools couldn’t afford to continue paying for it. One attractive alternative was an open source LMS. More...
One by one, the great institutions that bind Britain together are being allowed to fray, weaken and decline. They may do good and even vital work, but whatever their purpose – from the system of legal aid to the Open University – they are under siege. Britain might be substantially richer than it was 40 or 50 years ago but the national narrative is that organisations once energetic and growing are now unaffordable. More...
The Open University, one of the great successes of modern Britain, is facing a crisis. On the surface, this centres on the embattled vice-chancellor, Peter Horrocks, whom the staff want to resign. The UCU branch at the university has passed a motion of no confidence in him, and says he no longer commands the respect of staff. More...
Readers respond to a Guardian editorial on the continuing trials and tribulations at the Open University. More...
By Lindsay McKenzie. The governor of Virginia has approved a bill requiring all public higher education institutions in the state to take steps to adopt open educational resources -- freely accessible and openly copyrighted educational materials. More...
By Doug Lederman. The Open Educational Resources Degree Initiative established by Achieving the Dream has resulted in the creation of hundreds of new courses and dozens of degree pathways aimed at lowering students' costs and increasing their chances of earning credentials, the organization said in a news release. More...
Announcement: Spectrum goes Open Source!
Max Stoiber, Spectrum, 2018/04/05
I love rabbit-holes. Here's one. This post announces that Spectrum has gone open source. "Spectrum makes it easy to grow safe, successful online communities that are built to last." There's definitely a need for this, so I logged in, created my account, and started exploring. I created a community for MOOCs and joined a one-member community for e-learning. More...
5×5 R’s of Ours (An OER17 Flashback)
Brian Lamb, Abject, 2018/04/05
The premise is simple: "We knew that the 5 Rs were a useful and powerful shorthand to capture the permissions inherent with open educational resources… But were there other Rs that captured the messy, energizing, frustrating and life-affirming elements of being a live human being that is learning?" ooo, I want to play; here's a set for idealists: recognize, reclaim, restore, raise, reify. More...
Teachers and students create interactive STEM lessons that inspire, motivate, and teach others
Microsoft, 2018/04/03
In a conversation with Doug Belshaw this morning we discussed the idea of student-produced open educational resources (OERs), how they didn't have to be high-quality and glossy to be effective, and how the metaphor of 'learning exhaust' might not be the best way to describe them (what would be better: 'learning by-products'? 'learning productions'?). More...
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