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Célestin Freinet
School Teacher in France. He believed in individuality and self-directed learning. Bought a printing press in 1923 and began to print his own newspaper and texts and provide them for free to students. Students were free to print their own study guides and encouraged to share them with other students in class and outside the classroom. His students didn’t pay for the materials. - Learn More About Celestin Freinet -
Open University
In 1969, United Kingdom’s Open University was a start to distance learning where they would mail resources to students as well as talk over the phone with a tutor. This was the start of distance learning and more open universities were established throughout Europe and the rest of the world. Distance learning opportunities like an open university allows students to learn, who normally would not have access, using technology. Learn More -
David Wiley
Wiley started the term “open content” which referred to free and open educational material to include scholarly research, content, music, literature, and art. He followed Stallman in the belief that resources and software should be free, but he wanted that to include educational materials.This was the start of Open Educational Resources showing that content could be free and open to all using the internet and other technologies. Learn More -
Richard Baraniuk – OpenStax
Worked with Rice University on Connexions, to make textbooks and other materials accessible and reusable at no cost or low cost in digital and print to students and universities. In 2012, Connexions became OpenStax and began to print their own materials. All digital materials are free and print versions are heavily subsidized by their partnerships. While the materials are considered books, educators can remix, reuse, revise any of the pages in a book. Learn More -
MIT OpenCourseWare
Open CourseWare was developed to publish materials from both undergraduate and graduate subjects freely on the internet so anyone would have access. They provide content for over 1,600 courses and they want to provide content that supports education. OCW helped in starting the Open Educational Resources movement and other universities providing open materials. Learn More -
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a website that allows individuals to collaborate and share information on any topic. Contributors can correct and change what someone else has already written. Learn More -
Open Educational Resources
Open Educational Resources term was first coined at UNESCO’s 2002 forum on Open CourseWare. OER is not just defined as free educational resources but includes learning content, tools, and implementation resources. Learning content can include full courses and coursework, content modules, collections, and journals. Learn More -
Open Knowledge Foundation – Rufus Pollock
Rufus wanted everyone to have access to open data that can be used to help people and our society. Knowledge can be powerful and when information is open and available, it can be used for change. Open Knowledge uses open data that is accessible, meaningful, and able to help people solve problems. Open Knowledge also helps people learn how to use this information. Learn More -
Massive Open Online Content (MOOC)
MOOCs offer a chance to students all around the world to high quality education that might otherwise be too expensive for them to attain. It can also help students who are attending that college to review the MOOCs online. Instead of a 60 min lecture, these MOOCs can be broken up into smaller sections for easier scaffolding. One concern is the large dropout rates of these online classes. Learn More -
TED ED
Launched to promote collaboration between educators and students regardless of their geographical location and is free of charge. Topic ideas are submitted by subject matter experts and those ideas are developed into video content and lesson plans. Part of open learning is about remixing and redistributing and TED Ed allows teachers and to do just that. Learn More