[Oer-community] Introduction to the discussion

[Jochen Jesinghaus]

Dear Susan,

Thanks for renewing the discussion. In the wake of the 2010 Millennium+10
Summit, we have updated the MDG Dashboard, now with the latest 60+ UN
Millennium Development Goals indicators for the years 1990-2008 and all ca.
200 UN countries. I imagine it could be a valuable "education resource" ;-)

Full version (for free download) is at http://esl.jrc.it/dc/mdg_download.htm
Browser-only version at http://esl.jrc.it/dc/mdg_unsd/

Best regards,
Jochen

This mail is strictly personal and does not in any way affect the European
Commission

-----Original Message-----
From: oer-community-bounces at athabascau.ca
[mailto:oer-community-bounces at athabascau.ca] On Behalf Of Susan D'Antoni
Sent: 04 October 2010 13:20
To: oer-community at athabascau.ca
Subject: [Oer-community] Introduction to the discussion

Dear Colleagues,

Welcome to the first interaction in our OER Community from Athabasca
University.  As I noted in my last message, we will hear about a number of
OER related meetings and this first discussion will be on the meeting of the
OpenCourseWare Consortium held in Vietnam this year.

A little background

In 1999, MIT Faculty considered how to use the Internet in pursuit of MIT's
mission-to advance knowledge and educate students-and in 2000 proposed OCW.
MIT published the first proof-of-concept site in 2002, containing 50
courses. By November 2007, MIT completed the initial publication of
virtually the entire curriculum, over 1,800 courses in
33 academic disciplines. Going forward, the OCW team is updating existing
courses and adding new content and services to the site.

The OpenCourseWare Consortium is a collaboration of higher education
institutions and associated organizations from around the world creating a
broad and deep body of open educational content using a shared model.  It is
a worldwide community of hundreds of universities and associated
organizations committed to advancing OpenCourseWareand its impact on global
education. The Consortium serves as a resource for starting and sustaining
OCW projects, as a coordinating body for the movement on a global scale, and
as a forum for exchange of ideas and future planning.

Our discussant

Mary Lou Forward, the Executive Director of the OpenCourseWare Consortium,
will lead our discussion and will be joined by several of her colleagues.

Mary Lou provides leadership for the organization's efforts to support
OpenCourseWare use and development globally.  Prior to joining the
Consortium, she served as Dean of African Studies for SIT Study Abroad.  In
that role, she provided academic and strategic leadership for 29 programs
across the African continent, leading SIT's incorporation of technology and
distance learning in international programming and developing innovative
opportunities to collaborate across countries and between diverse student
groups.  Prior to that position, Mary Lou served as Academic Director for
undergraduate programs in Madagascar, focused on Environmental Studies and
Cultural Geography.  She has also worked on community-based development in
Africa, with an emphasis on the incorporation of appropriate technologies
and sustainable resources in small-scale enterprise development.

Background paper

The attached paper has been prepared as a brief overview of the organization
of the conference and some of the key issues discussed.

I am looking forward to our ongoing conversation.

My best regards,

Susan