Connexions (Rice University)
Connexions is a global repository of educational content provided by Rice University . The entire collection is available free of charge. Here, learners can explore the content they need. It was founded in 1999 by Richard G. Baraniuk .
Connexions was one of the first initiatives, together with other projects such as MIT OpenCourseWare or the Public Library of Science , pioneered the idea of Open Educational Resources , that educational content can and should be shared, reused, connected and continuously improved.
Subject
Connexions contains educational materials for all audiences, from children to students to professionals. The materials are divided into small modules that can be processed into larger courses. The materials are written by people of all kinds, with many being provided by professors. However, the collection also contains well-known musical content created by a part-time music teacher.
The teaching content is available in many languages, which results from the influence of the licenses of the open content .
copyright
In order to guarantee the legal reusability of the content, Connexions requires that the authors' materials are made available under the license of the Creative Commons Attribution License (currently: Version 3.0). This license ensures that the respective author retains the right to be named if the content is reused. The authors grant others the right to copy, distribute and show their content. In addition, the work may be reused and changed, provided that the original author is referred to.
Compared to other open education projects
- Connexions is a collection of data from all over the world in a constantly growing number of different languages. This does not only include content from a specific (university) school. It also collects materials ranging from school days to higher education to industrial training.
- Connexions can be used anywhere by anyone. Both the use of the materials and the adaptation and return to the repository are permitted and desired.
- Connexions is organized bottom-up, not top-down as is the case with many other educational projects. So anyone can join and take a leadership role.
Technical details
Three central properties enable the collaborative environment of Connexions:
- Copyright licenses that secure recognition for achievements, but allow sharing Creative Commons "attribution licenses"
- Semantic markup of documents in XML (extensible markup language) so that they can be searched for and combined. The corresponding markup language is called "CNXML".
- Work areas that support collaboration and provide shared space, as well as options for versioning content and deriving content from existing modules.
financing
The Connexions project was initiated in 1999 and was initially supported by individuals and Rice University . This support has been greatly enhanced by grants from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation .
See also
Web links
- Connexions homepage, cnx.org
- TED Talk dated 2006-02 Founder Richard Baraniuk discussing Connexions
swell
- ↑ a b Bringing open resources to textbooks and teaching . In: The San Francisco Chronicle , Jan. 22, 2008.
- ^ The Basic Elements of Music . Retrieved November 30, 2010.
- ↑ a b Throw away your school books: here comes textbook 2.0 . November 8, 2007.
- ↑ a b Don't Buy That Textbook, Download It Free . In: The New York Times , September 14, 2008.
- ↑ CNXML - Connexions Markup Language . Retrieved July 31, 2010.
- ↑ Open-source software developed and used by Connexions . In: Rhaptos Software Homepage . Archived from the original on July 24, 2009. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved July 4, 2009.
- ^ Connexions wins $ 2M from Hewlett Foundation , Rice University Press Release. May 15, 2008. Archived from the original on August 20, 2009 Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .
