Fans of Wikipedia, the popular online encyclopedia that anyone can edit, have proposed the creation of Wikiversity, an electronic institution of learning that would be just as open.
It's not clear exactly how extensive Wikiversity would be. Some think it should serve only as a repository for educational materials; others think it should also play host to online courses; and still others want it to offer degrees.
On a Wikiversity Web site, Cormac Lawler, a doctoral candidate in education at the University of Manchester, in England, says the mission of Wikiversity is to use the open-source model -- based on software that anyone is free to modify -- to develop learning materials, teach, conduct research, and publish. Collaborative learning would be stressed, and students themselves could determine course content and activities. Mr. Lawler, who is a lead proponent of Wikiversity, says he wants the project to focus on original research....The Wikimedia board last month asked proponents to clarify the project. It decided that Wikiversity would not be a host for online courses or promote itself as a degree-granting institution. But many hope the board will eventually reconsider its decision about courses. In the meantime, about 15 people have already created online courses on the Wikibooks Web site.
Posted by
Peter Suber at 12/16/2005 08:42:00 PM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
