This is a guest post by Jan Gondol. Pencil by Mari Pi, Public Domain. In the midst of the European migrant crisis, the Czech Republic is showing the power of open educational resources (OER). EDUin, a non-profit organization based in Prague worked with the Czech organization of civic education teachers to address the current migrant … Read More “European migrant crisis: Czech teachers create and share resources”
Williamsfield video by U.S. Department of Education is licensed CC BY I’m pleased to announce two important updates from the U.S. Department of Education! #1: Williamsfield Community Unified School District embraces OER Today, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan visited Williamsfield Community Unified School District in Illinois to highlight the progress the rural school district … Read More “U.S. Secretary of Education highlights Schools using OER to #GoOpen”
I recently interviewed Dr. Phil Venditti, professor of communication studies at Clover Park Technical College in Washington State (USA). Phil teaches public speaking and other oral and written communication courses. In 2010 Phil learned about the Open Course Library project and became an enthusiastic adherent. Phil developed two courses in the Open Course Library, wrote … Read More “Professor spends sabbatical building "50 Wise Speakers" open videos”
Providing free learning with pathways to formal credit, the OERu officially launched on Friday November 1, 2013 at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops British Columbia. “In basing your learning and teaching on OER, you have an excellent opportunity to treat the minds of your students primarily as fires to be set alight rather than as … Read More “OERu Launches Worldwide”
European Commission Vice President Neelie Kroes and Commission Member Androulla Vassiliou today announced Opening Up Education, an initiative that looks to increase the use of digital technologies for learning and spur the development of Open Educational Resources and policies across the European Union. The Opening Up Education communication (PDF) indicates a strong support for Open … Read More “European Commission launches "Opening Up Education" initiative”
In January I blogged about Blackboard xpLor — a new cloud-based learning object repository that was being piloted at 70 institutions. Blackboard officially released it today, giving educators the ability to discover, create, and share resources across learning management systems (LMS). As part of its launch, xpLor has integrated support for CC license options for … Read More “Blackboard xpLor officially released with OER and CC license options”
On April 19, 2013 US Acting Secretary of Labor Seth D. Harris announced the third annual round of the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training Program (TAACCCT) grant program. The press release states that the current round of grants available is $474.5 million bringing the total 2011-13 program investment to nearly $1.5 billion. … Read More “Third Round of TAACCCT Grants Announced by US Department of Labor”