What if Napster stocked textbooks? Engineering professor Richard Baraniuk talks about his vision for Connexions, an open-source system that lets teachers share digital texts and course materials, modify them and give them to their students -- all free, thanks to Creative Commons licensing.
Rice University professor Richard Baraniuk has a giant vision: to create a free global online education system that puts the power of creation and collaboration in the hands of teachers worldwide. He's realizing that vision with Connexions, a website that allows teachers to quickly "create, rip, mix and burn" coursework -- without fear of copyright violations. Think of it as Napster for education. Connexions' open-source system cuts out the textbook, allowing teachers to share course materials, modify existing work and disseminate it to their students -- all for free, thanks to Creative Commons licensing. Baraniuk envisions Connexions as a repository where the most up-to-date material can be shared and reviewed (it's far more efficient than waiting for a textbook to be printed); it could become a powerful force in leveling the education playing field. Currently encompassing hundreds of online courses and used by a million people worldwide, Baraniuk's virtual educational system is revolutionizing the way people teach and learn.
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2007.10.11
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School Project Case Studies
- Wooden Boat Factory: An Example of Project-based Learning
- Ordrup School in Gentofte Denmark is Designed for Personalized Learning
- Guerilla Educators engage young people in green school design
- Innovative Case Studies in School Design
- Hazelwood School For The Multiple Sensory Impaired
- Scotch Oakburn College's Middle School in Tasmania, Australia opens as excited students and teachers jump right into learning the 21st Century Way
Publications
Recent Posts
- A Study Looks at the Value of Kids Being allowed to Move in their Classrooms!
- Scotch Oakburn College's Middle School in Tasmania, Australia opens as excited students and teachers jump right into learning the 21st Century Way
- 10 Trends in School Facility Planning
- Siftables - Its a Toy, Its a Game, no, its a Tech Tool for Brain Development!
- Training Teachers to Create Effective Environments for Learning
- Randy Fielding on 21st Century Learning Spaces
- The First Green Charter Schools Conference!
- Incorporating Green Technology in Schools Now a Real Trend
- Sir Ken talks in depth on Creativity and the Power of the Imaginative Mind
- Hazelwood School For The Multiple Sensory Impaired
Collaborators
Links
- Artichoke
- Committed Sardines
- Connexions - Sharing Knowledge and Building Communities
- Constructivist Consortium - Home
- Creative Commons
- DesignShare
- EdVisions Schools
- Fielding Nair International
- Futurelab - Creating a new learning landscape
- Guerilla Educators
- National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities
- November Learning Communities
- PEEC Evaluation Reports
- Rambling Reflections
- School Design and Planning Laboratory
- School Design Research Studio
- SparkBugg
- Stephen Heppell
- Taco Lab
- Tanner Forecasting and Planning Group
Recent Comments
- dissertation topic on Scotch Oakburn College's Middle School in Tasmania, Australia opens as excited students and teachers jump right into learning the 21st Century Way
- marion on Holistic Education
- Christpher Blakemore on Goodbye, textbooks; hello, open-source learning
- Malc on Holistic Education
- Jeff lackney on Learning Improves with Exercise
- Rae Pica on Learning Improves with Exercise
- Max Elliot Anderson on Boys can make the grade, if they're not bored - hint: try hands-on learning and some old fashioned competition
- Artichoke on The schools-within-schools concept takes a hit, or does it?
- Artichoke on Ban or Embrace New Technologies?
- Jeff lackney on Learning-Driven Schools: A Practical Guide for Teachers and Principals
My Online Status
Pages
Articles
- Inventing Non-Traditional Collaborative Learning Environments
- School Design: An Architect's View
- Classrooms of the Future: Thinking Out of the Box
- Brain-Based Principles for Educational Design
- DesignShare: Exploring the Organizational Transformation in Education : DesignShare
- Environmental Quality & Student Performance
- The State of Post-Occupancy Evaluation in Schools
- Educational Facilities Planning: Leadership, Architecture, and Management: C. Kenneth Tanner, Jeffery A. Lackney
- 33 Principles of Educational Design
Categories
- 01. Maximize Collaboration in School Planning and Design (17)
- 02. Build a Proactive Facility Management Program (5)
- 03. Plan Schools as Neighborhood Community Learning Centers (2)
- 04. Embrace the Entire Community as a Place for Learning (7)
- 05. Create Smaller more Personalized Schools (21)
- 06. Respect Cultural Context while Providing Design Diversity (9)
- 07. Consider Home as a Template for School (6)
- 08. Vary Circulation Patterns while Ensuring Supervision (5)
- 09. Design Safe Schools (6)
- 10. Cluster Learning Areas for Effective Collaboration (10)
- 11. Provide Space for Sharing Learning Resources (9)
- 12. Accommodate a Variety of Learning Groups and Activities (9)
- 13. Keep Class Sizes Small (5)
- 14. Provide Well-defined Activity Pockets (3)
- 15. Integrate Early Childhood Education into the Community School (2)
- 16. Provide a Home Base for Every Student (3)
- 17. Regard Teachers as Professionals (3)
- 18. Provide Studios to Support Project-based Learning (12)
- 19. Encourage Adminstrative Leadership by Decentralizing Administrative Space (3)
- 20. Establish a Community Forum (4)
- 21. Design Conference Rooms that Can Be Used by the Community (3)
- 22. Create Privacy Niches (6)
- 23. Weave Virtual and Physical Learning Spaces Together (14)
- 24. Provide Opportunities for Job/Career Training (2)
- 25. Provide Information Centers for Parents (2)
- 26. Provide Health Care Service Centers (2)
- 27. Design with Respect to Scale and Developmental Needs (9)
- 28. Maximize Natural and Full-Spectrum Lighting (8)
- 29. Design Buildings that Promote Health (9)
- 30. Design for Appropriate Acoustics (4)
- 31. Allow for Transitional Spaces Between Indoors and Outdoors (4)
- 32. Establish a Variety of Outdoor Learning Environments (12)
- 33. Separate Children and Pedestrians from Vehicles and Service Areas (2)
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Hi, Nice blog! I've just started tutoring my neighbout's kid and I'm looking for teaching resources online. What do you think of first class?
Posted by: Christpher Blakemore | 2008.06.10 at 06:43