Collaborative Technologies Virtual Research Lab

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Collaborative Technologies Virtual Research Lab

• Faculty Research Forum
• January 27th 2006
• Tera

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Open Research?

• Free Software (Stallman, GNU - 1984)
• Open Source (Debian, Linux 1997)
• Open Courseware (MIT 1999)
• Open Knowledge
• Why not?

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IDEAL

• It is an ideal that flows from the MIT Faculty's
  passionate belief in the MIT mission, based on
  the conviction that the open dissemination of
  knowledge and information can open new doors to
  the powerful benefits of education for humanity
  around the world.

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OCW Who?

• 152 Chinese universities
• ParisTech OpenCourseWare project with 11
  Engineering institutions
• 6 Japanese univrsities
• MIT, John Hopkins, Utah State, Tafts

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Free Software and Open Source

• Stallman's premise is that people should have
  more freedom, and should appreciate their freedom
  (Bruce Perens, 1999)
• OSI - The basic idea behind open source is very
  simple When programmers can read, redistribute,
  and modify the source code for a piece of
  software, the software evolves. People improve
  it, people adapt it, people fix bugs. And this
  can happen at a speed that, if one is used to the
  slow pace of conventional software development,
  seems astonishing.
• We in the open source community have learned
  that this rapid evolutionary process produces
  better software than the traditional closed
  model, in which only a very few programmers can
  see the source and everybody else must blindly
  use an opaque block of bits.
• Open Source Initiative exists to make this case
  to the commercial world.

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Open Knowledge

• Wikipedia (Jimmy Wales, 2001)
• Merlot (California State University, 1999)
• MERLOT's mission is to improve the effectiveness
  of teaching and learning by expanding the
  quantity and quality of peer-reviewed online
  learning materials that can be easily
  incorporated into faculty-designed courses

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Open Research - CTVRL

• People improve it, people adapt it, people fix
  bugs (Open Source Initiative)
• People need each other who but academe can be
  the model?!
• Matching needs and offers
• The whole is bigger than the sum of its parts

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Facing the Future

• Port to Mambo an open source, knowledge
  management platform
• Recruit an academic committee
• Form licensing and ethics policies
• Promote in OSI, OCW communities and higher
  education institutions
• Share.

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People need people

• Canada is known and honored as a steadfast and
  skilful advocate for international collaboration,
  reconciliation, and the promotion of peace.
• Adrienne Clarkson