Here’s the pattern for searches for “open textbook” searches on Google. I just ran this out or curiosity a couple minutes ago. You’ll notice immediately that there is a cyclical pattern. Click source up under the image to go and explore the graphic yourself, but the pattern is pretty easy to sum up. The high… Continue reading

I just found this 2014 quote from Clint Lalonde: Something that is easy to copy makes it more likely that it will be copied. And if it is copied, it has more chances of living beyond its original life. A thousand versions of something seems to me to be the ultimate sustainability plan for any… Continue reading

WSU Vancouver installs a server running some Wikity-esque software on WordPress Multisite. It allows faculty (and hopefully, eventually, students) to make as many WordPress sites as they want. Faculty make wiki-like linked sites on personal interests, but also use the platform to assemble and write materials for their classes. Meanwhile UBC or UMW or NIU… Continue reading

After my presentation at OpenEd, David Wiley said he wished he hadn’t gotten a call in my session because he wanted to ask a provocative question: How was what I was doing with OER different from Pinterest for text? He said he thought he knew the answer to that, but would have liked to hear… Continue reading

Wikity is up. The join code is “peloton”. I show how you can work in Wikity in the video below. In brief, the idea is other people’s investigations or explanations of things feed into what you are exploring; you add your bit to that and feed it forward for others to use. At the same… Continue reading

I’m pleased to announce that the Shuttleworth Foundation has given me a “flash grant” to support my work. I don’t know how much you all know about Shuttleworth flash grants, but they are more gift than grant. You don’t apply for them. An email shows up in your inbox one day and says hey, we… Continue reading

OK, so I haven’t used Calypso. I don’t own a Mac, and I’ve been working on other things. But I read Matt Mullenweg’s post on the introduction of the tool and Ben Werdmüller’s excellent take on that post,  and ultimately the current experience offered by that tool doesn’t matter. What matters is the separation of concerns,… Continue reading

Those who follow this blog will know that I’ve taken a bit of time off from federated wiki in order to try to bring some principles from federated wiki into WordPress. While most days this feels like having left Xerox PARC to go work on Windows 1.0, there are other days where it feels really… Continue reading

Surprisingly good advice from LinkedIn founder: > “One of the things that philosophy is very helpful on is how to think pretty precisely about arguments, and an investment thesis is fundamentally an argument. Part of philosophical training is making you really understand how good an argument is and how to think through the alternatives. Philosophy… Continue reading

Commenter GalleryP pointed out in the comments of my last piece on OER (here) that the Calculus book can be used across two semesters if bought new and not rented. This is true, and I’ll adjust down the high end of the range down across the two semesters by $209. (Spoiler alert: it’s still an obscene amount,… Continue reading