OKMOOC

"If, as rumoured, google builds a platform for depositing unrefereed research papers for "peer-reviewing" via crowd-sourcing, can this create a substitute for classical peer-review or will it merely supplement classical peer review with crowd-sourcing?"

Two facts that makes me think, peer-reviewing via crowd-sourcing, at best would supplement the traditional peer-review process. Fact one, there are already open access repositories that allow "deposit first; review later", but those repositories have not taken over other journals. Fact two, Wikipedia is an example in that, though theoretically anyone can contribute and edit the articles, there is definite number of people who would do it. Therefore, I don't see crowd sourcing peer review would really substitute the traditional route.

I appreciated that this source was framed outside of dichotomous thinking by not pitting more traditional and open access peer review models directly against one another, carrying the assumption that a particular publishing process must choose one or another. Although, I think I would challenge Harnad to take this thought process further. Rather than supplementing or complementing one another, traditional and open peer review models are distinct enough to also be applicable in different types of contexts, without necessarily needing to rely on one another. That is not to disagree with Harnad that the two do not "substitute" one another, but precisely because they cannot substitute one another indicates that they serve different purposes and could thus be useful in different contexts…. Or, as Harnad suggest, supplement each other in the same context. I think this very well parallels the context of taxonomies and folksonomies.

"Journalists, as 2013 ended, were busy declaring the death of MOOCs, more formally known as massive open online courses. Silicon Valley startup Udacity, one of the first to offer the free Web-based college classes, had just announced its pivot to vocational training - a sure sign to some that this much-hyped revolution in higher education had failed. The collective sigh of relief from more traditional colleges and universities was audible."

"Who will attend to the skills gap and create stronger linkages to the workforce? This book illuminates the great disruptive potential of online competency- based education. Workforce training, competency-based learning, and online learning are clearly not new phenomena, but online competency-based education is revolutionary because it marks the critical convergence of multiple vectors: the right learning model, the right technologies, the right customers, and the right business model."

These are some of my favorite comics. Do you agree with the cartoon? Is that applicable to your experience with Twitter/social media?

"The first 30 minutes of a panel that included Joi Ito, Chris Dibona, John Seely Brown, Larry Lessig, Yochai Benkler talking about openness at Joi's inaugural sponsor's meeting as the new director of the Media Lab"

Here there is another Joi Ito interesting video about Openness and crative commons (I liked it specially as it was recorded in Spain :) The Power of Open. Joichi Ito http://youtu.be/LcXV__aKSP8

"The edupunks are on the march. From VC-funded startups to the ivied walls of Harvard, new experiments and business models are springing up from entrepreneurs, professors, and students alike. Want a class that's structured like a role-playing game? An accredited bachelor's degree for a few thousand dollars? A free, peer-to-peer Wiki university? These all exist today, the overture to a complete educational remix."

Getting connected with others in Australia around Open Knowledge - what it is, communities to join, and a great list of resources and websites to visit under their Communities tab.

Always useful to have a definition to work with. "A piece of data or content is open if anyone is free to use, reuse, and redistribute it - subject only, at most, to the requirement to attribute and/or share-alike."

The Open definition, formerly Open knowledge definition, mentioned by Wiley in "Defining 'Open'"

Great website. Everybody must read it and share it.

Great article that talks about the very nature of openness! In this article the author argues that openness in education has been successful in establishing itself as an approach. However, this initial victory should be viewed as part of a larger battle around the nature of openness. Drawing lessons from history and the green movement, a number of challenges for the open education movement are identified as it enters this new stage. The value of openness to education is stressed in that it relates to opportunities for development and the role of the higher education in society.

Thanks for sharing this, Marieke. It provides a wonderful overview of the central issues of "openness". This is one that should definitely be bumped up into the course reading list.

Hola Marieke. Coincido con Kevin en que el artículo es muy ilustrativo, con datos y una interesante reflexión sobre el acceso abierto. Pero me parece que la comparación con el movimiento verde requiere matizarse, principalmente el de los verdes porque era un movimiento político de transformación civilisatoria (eso se proponía, al menos) y terminó bastante desinflado (http://newleftreview.org/II/81/joachim-jachnow-what-s-become-of-the-german-greens). Igual, el texto vale la pena. Danke

The report gives some critical background information and history on the French public research environment and the French Open Access movement up to 2010. The report is concluded by giving some suggestions on how the French Open Access policy should be executed. Some great French digitisation programs are included such as couperin.org, Persée, Numdam etc for further use.

From the site: "Digital Storytelling (also affectionately known as ds106) is an open, online course that happens at various times throughout the year at the University of Mary Washington... but you can join in whenever you like and leave whenever you need." I took part in the open ds106 course for a while. I am impressed that it keeps going and morphing over time. The dedication to openness - both the the tools used and the content being produced by the participants - is also impressive. Concepts taught in this course included remix, reuse and re-share are core to the concepts of OER and open knowledge.

This article highlights the battle of convenience vs security when it comes to personal data sharing. The Cloud's security has been called into question after nude photos of a number of celebrities leaked on the web a few days ago. With the allure of taking data and information with you everywhere, on any device, comes the sacrifice of security and often privacy, as cloud systems make data more vulnerable to the outside world. But the author of this article argues that, interestingly enough, it is not the Cloud that is too open, but hardware and devices themselves, as Cloud operators have imposed "two-factor authentication" to provide better security for their users.

The inventor of the world wide web believes an online "Magna Carta" is needed to protect and enshrine the independence of the medium he created and the rights of its users worldwide. Sir Tim Berners-Lee told the Guardian the web had come under increasing attack from governments and corporate influence and that new rules were needed to protect the "open, neutral" system.

Private space: Author Cory Doctorow in his study. Here's a story you've heard about the Internet: we trade our privacy for services. The idea is that your private information is less valuable to you than it is to the firms that siphon it out of your browser as you navigate the Web.

Hi I'm Christina Chavez-Reyes. The account listed is a work account. I found this piece insightful about the trade-offs to privacy for using internet services. The author frames the issue as a "war" between "the rebels and the empire" to maximize the value of our privacy. We are often led to believe consumers (the rebels) are powerless against internet corporations (the empire); however, the author suggests a solution to empower consumers that is embedded in the very open source culture which created the issue. It demonstrates the potent innovation that open source culture possesses over other models of production that are explained in course videos.

As a tradesperson working in the skill development landscape, I found this article about a group of passionate industry folks collaborating to build a knowledge base and fill a need not being addressed by formal educational channels quite compelling.