Educational institutions continually work to balance between providing students with access to data and protecting copyright owner's exclusive rights. The Copyright Act of 1976, effective in 1978, provided exemptions for live and distance education. As digital technology grew in capability, its capabilities were incorporated in distance education,…

Reusable learning objects support packaging of educational materials allowing their discovery and reuse. Open educational resources emphasize the need for open licensing and promote sharing and community involvement. For both teachers and learners, finding appropriate tried and tested resources on a topic of interest and being able to incorporate…

This study reports findings from a year-long pilot study during which 991 students in 9 core courses in the Virginia State University School of Business replaced traditional textbooks with openly licensed books and other digital content. The university made a deliberate decision to use open textbooks that were copyrighted under the Creative…

In this paper we present a history of the idea of Open Educational Resources, overview the current state of the Open Educational Resources movement, report on critical issues facing the field in the immediate future, and present two new projects to watch in 2009.

Readers of "Language Learning & Technology" (LLT) are undoubtedly aware of the debate raging through the international research community about open (i.e., free) access to research and knowledge. As readers of the journal, they may not feel very concerned with this debate, because when LLT was established in 1997 (and "ALSIC" Journal in 1998) it…

This article traces the development of the OpenCourseWare movement, including the origin of the concept at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the implementation of the MIT OpenCourseWare project, and the idea's spread into the global educational community, ultimately resulting in the formation of the OpenCourseWare Consortium. The…

This paper describes the development of a World Wide Web site in an art history class at the University of Tennessee. The first section of the paper discusses digital technology in the art history classroom, including a comparison of the quality of digital images with slide projection. The second section describes a Web site created for a history…

Discusses peer to peer technology which allows uploading files from one hard drive to another. Topics include the client/server model for education; the Napster client/server model; Gnutella; Freenet and other projects to allow the free exchange of information without censorship; bandwidth problems; copyright issues; metadata; and the United…

Open educational resources (OER) include full courses, course materials, modules, textbooks, streaming videos, tests, software, and any other tools, materials, or techniques used to either support access to knowledge, or have an impact on teaching, learning, and research. At the heart of the OER movement is the simple and powerful idea that the…

Educational institutions are increasingly adopting "closed" learning environments that hide learning materials in password-protected areas. While this may be a logical solution to a range of problems, much is lost in this mode of course delivery. Although there are logical reasons for moving toward closed environments, we may be erring…

Examines issues involved in academic publishing on the Internet in the context of experiences with the listserv ITForum, which deals with theories, research, new models, and practices in the field of instructional technology. Discusses subscribers and opportunities for authors; developing a research community; and potentials and pitfalls of…

This paper considers questions related to the integrity and accessibility of new electronic information resources. It begins with a review of recent developments in networked information resources and the tools to identify, navigate, and use such resources. An overview is then given of the issues involved in access and integrity questions. Links…

This document reports the results of a study undertaken to explore the extent to which integration or convergence of campus information services was reflected in policy, with the goal of discovering whether or not such an analysis might possibly reveal instances where policy did not promote organizational goals. Investigated were information…

This document shows how education leaders nationwide--many of them part of the National School Boards Association's 345-district Technology Leadership Network--have addressed technology-related policy issues such as copyright, purchasing, network/Internet use, and ethics as well as technology planning topics including staff development, classroom…

"Chronicle of Higher Education" presents an abundant source of news and information for college and university faculty members and administrators. This January 30, 2004 issue of "Chronicle for Higher Education" includes the following articles: (1) "Fighting to Get out of a Rio Slum" (Lloyd, Marion); (2) "Against…