InfoCompanions » Education System http://www.infocompanions.com Brain spasms of an enthusiast who loves to live at the intersection of business, innovation, process and technology Sun, 26 Sep 2010 16:37:28 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 Goodbye, textbooks; hello, open-source learning http://www.infocompanions.com/goodbye-textbooks-hello-open-source-learning/ http://www.infocompanions.com/goodbye-textbooks-hello-open-source-learning/#comments Sun, 27 Jan 2008 07:00:00 +0000 Himanshu Sharma http://www.infocompanions.net/?p=80 What if stocked textbooks? Engineering professor 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 licensing.

Click here to view the embedded video.

About Richard Baraniuk:
Rice University professor Richard Baraniuk has a giant vision: to create a free global online 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.

]]> http://www.infocompanions.com/goodbye-textbooks-hello-open-source-learning/feed/ 0