Transcript Connections Overview

RCEL
Technology
for
Engineering Leadership
Richard Baraniuk
Rice University
nanotubes
knowledge forms a network
algebra
geometry
art history
proteomics
linguistics
knowledge forms a network
networks enable new means to
produce and exploit knowledge
today’s education pipeline
authoring
editing
peer review
publishing
distribution
lectures
homework
exams
credentialing
education ecosystem
authoring
feedback
editing
peer review
publishing
distribution
lectures
homework
exams
credentialing
enabler 1: technology
Web/XML
common framework
for sharing
Internet
virtually free distribution
virtually infinite, permanent storage
knowledge – primordial state
learning machine
enabler 2: new IP
intellectual property
and copyright
make content safe to share
common legal vocabulary
inspiration: open-source software
(Linux)
author
retains
their
copyright
but
opens
access
via
open
license
(CC-BY)
Connexions
(cnx.org)
non-profit open education platform
founded 10 years ago
1000 open textbooks/courses
15500 Lego modules
free on-line
low-cost in print
contributors worldwide
in many languages
usage per month:
1.5 million unique users
70 million hits
from 190 countries
some Connexions partners
Community College Open Textbook Project
100+ CC’s in USA and Canada
developing a suite of free open textbooks
Government of Vietnam
developing new curriculum at 40 universities
Siyavula / Shuttleworth Foundation
complete K-12 curriculum for South Africa
IEEE
educational outreach in electrical engineering
quality review of open materials
OE legislation
US state e-textbook initiatives
in CA, VA, WA, …
US President Obama’s AGI
$50m for community college
open textbooks
Open College Textbook Act, US Senate (Durbin)
textbooks and learning materials a public good;
materials developed with government support
(NSF, NIH, DOE, …) to be OE
Dutch Wikiwijs project (OE mandate)
unexpected consequences
Catherine Schmidt-Jones
private music teacher, USA
music theory textbooks
Sunil Kumar Singh
engineer and parent, India
physics textbook
unexpected consequences
Catherine Schmidt-Jones
private music teacher, USA
music theory textbooks
15 million uses to date
Sunil Kumar Singh
engineer and parent, India
physics textbook
4 million uses to date
outreach
inreach
outreach
beyond
the
book
learning machine
personalized learning
personalized learning
assess each student’s background, interests,
and learning goals
plan a course of study through the web of
knowledge
track student’s progress and suggest supplemental
learning opportunities
provide continual rich feedback to the student,
instructor, authors
cognitive tutor
classical artificial intelligence approach
top-down
rules built by human experts
expensive, time-intensive
improves student learning
learning machine
leverage last decade’s tremendous progress in
machine learning
(Google, Amazon, Netflix, ...)
and community development
(Wikipedia, Connexions, Facebook, Flickr, …)
bottom-up
open source
rules inferred by computer algorithms
and a global user community
inexpensive, real-time
opportunities
open education
free access, high-quality, up-to-date
out-reach
(disseminate RCEL’s innovative programs)
in-reach
(bring real-world into Rice curricula)
learning machines
bring to life links between courses and concepts
encourage self-directed, exploratory learning
improve learning outcomes
“turn teaching from a solo sport to a community-based
research activity” [Herb Simon]