The NOSE

Open Culture

How can I find worthwhile "open content" out on the web?

You can google or go to the open culture blog, which "sifts through all the media, highlight the good and jettison the bad, and centralize it in one place. Trust us, you'll find engaging content here that will keep you learning and sharp. And you will find it much more efficiently than if you spend your time searching with Google, Yahoo or iTunes." Hear. Hear.

Open Culture's lead editor is Dan Colman,  Associate Dean & Director of Stanford's Continuing Studies Program. 

 

Tipping Point for Open Content?

I suck at languages. I can either blame it on my parents or make another go of it by mastering at least one FL before I croak. I am also cheap, lazy, and un-motivated. So, what to do?

I think this year we will reach the tipping point for open content in educational materials.

MIT's Open Courseware started the movement. UC Berkeley recently gave the movement a big boost by making available full video lectures for more than 50 courses. But we are also beginning to see significant contributions to open content by creative individuals.

On the top ten list of iTunes podcast is a delightful series called "Coffee Break Spanish" by two Scots named Mark and Kara. They are churning out a series of great podcast lessons and have also built a marvelous community web site around their content.

Thanks to Mark and Kara this will be the year I will finally become proficient in Spanish.

Amazing!: Webcast.Berkeley

UC Berkeley is making available a significant number of lectures in the form of a webcast/podcast through webcast.berkeley.  The recordings were aimed originally for Berkeley students to help them review key concepts and to study before exams. We have to commend though the visionaries and the faculty at UC Berkeley for making the lectures available to the world freely as open content.

The list of courses is amazing. Whether you want to brush up on general astronomy or listen in on the western civilization class you missed in college, this is a great resource. Thank you MIT for Open CourseWare. Thank you UC Berkeley for webcast.berkeley. Where are Harvard, Yale, Princeton, ....?

UC Berkeley on Google Video

Want a peek into UC Berkeley courses and events? Check out UC Berkeley on Google Video. It's nice to see one of the world's foremost public universities join the ranks of the open courseware movement.

I never thought I would have an interest in "Structural Aspects of Biomaterials". But after listening to master teacher Professor Lisa Pruitt, I am hooked.

I look forward to seeing the UC Berkeley collection develop over time. Great stuff!

Introduction to Probability - Free eText

Charles M. Grinstead (Swarthmore) and J. Laurie Snell (Dartmouth) have made available their textbook Introduction to Probability as free etext under the GNU Free Documentation License.

From the authors: "Thanks: We owe our ability to distribute this work under the FDL to the far-sightedness of the American Mathematical Society. We are particularly grateful for the help and support of John Ewing, AMS Executive Director and Publisher."

Via (BoingBoing)