Sun Microsystems is taking a cue from its successes with open source to help shape the future of education and bridge the digital divide, according to the company's chief executive, Scott McNealy. In a speech at Sun's WWERC (Worldwide Education and Research Conference) here [in NY] on March 7, McNealy said Sun has spun out its GELC (Global Education and Learning Community) effort into a nonprofit organization aimed at aimed at delivering self-paced, Web-based, free and open content --including curriculum, resources and assessment-- for the K-12 segment.
Or, as McNealy put it, GELC is "open-sourcing education."
McNealy said, "[The] opportunity here is to apply all the community development to textbooks, curriculum and assessment for K-12. So with the help of some folks at Sun we created the GELC, with 2,700 members worldwide and 370-plus projects."
Sun broke new ground in free and open-source computing in the
creation of this non profit which aims to meet the needs of students by
sharing best practices globally. The group named an executive director at the
conference, Dr. Barbara "Bobbi" Kurshan, formerly President of Educorp
Consultants Corporation, and co-CEO of Core Learning Group, Private Equity
Fund. The director will lead an advisory board with representatives from
nearly every continent to extend the vision for this group. The GELC Executive
Director directs all activities of the GELC, including managing the various
working groups, monitoring technical developments, overseeing the education
community process, managing the creation of GELC specifications and
representing the GELC to external organizations.
Posted by
Peter Suber at 3/08/2006 10:40:00 AM.
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.
I recommend the OA tracking project (OATP) as the best way to stay on top of new OA developments. You can read the OATP feed on a blog-like web page or subscribe to it by RSS, email, or Twitter. You can also help build the feed by tagging new developments you encounter.
