development of an education license or license option for Creative Commons

[David Wiley <david.wiley AT usu.edu>]

Steve Foerster wrote:

> educational project.  Perhaps a suite of licenses that reflect this is 
> the answer?  But then, we're back to CC itself, aren't we?

My feeling exactly. The point of cc.edu is to take the complexity (read: 
lots of choices) out of CC for educators who want to share but don't 
have time to evaluate the possible permutations of several license 
options. CC.edu does nothing to lessen the choice set before them. It 
simply provides a gentler path to entry. Once they get in and move 
around some and figure out what's going on, they may explore other 
options. The CC.edu is meant to be something we can hold up and call the 
education world to rally around.

> I'm still curious about the following things:
>
> * When EduCommons might be online

First usable system, with public development projects running inside, 
sometime late spring or early summer. We're currently hiring two 
additional fulltime programmers to work on this and the OLS project.

> * How EduCommons will work and whether people starting projects will be 
> able to choose whatever license they wish for them

Whatever license meets a base set of criteria similar to the Open Source 
Definition or Debian Social Contract; in other words, they have to 
license their material as Open Content.


> * Who will own the material that is collaboratively produced via EduCommons

The creators will own the material, but will have chosen to license the 
material via one of the approved licenses.

> * When and where will the OSLO meeting will be in January

Still finalizing the dates, but they will be between January 19 and 30. 
The location will be beautiful Logan UT. =)

> If there's some sort of plurality pleasing "Education License" with 
> restrictions that my group and I find unpalatable, but EduCommons allows 
> a variety of licenses among which is BY-SA, then that's good enough for us.

Great!

> The plan for the Free Curricula Foundation (now on hold pending more 
> information about EduCommons) includes freedom for a project's initiator 
> to select the license right for them, including Design Science License, 
> GNU Free Document License, the range of CC licenses, and public domain.

Sounds like we're right inline with your plans.

> Incidentally, one reason we're perfectly happy to drop the Free 
> Curricula Foundation plan should EduCommons prove an adequate substitute 
> is that it's actually a means to an end for us, not the end itself.  Our 
> actual goal is to set up a system of inexpensive, globally available 
> standardized examinations that are based on free curricula and 
> correspond with university level knowledge.

> Called "New World University", the target market is the developing 
> world, and the idea is to offer a university equivalent to those who 
> otherwise would likely have to go altogether without.  It's not Oxford, 
> but then, that's not the objective.  (You can imagine that I well 
> understood the comment on the importance of allowing individualized 
> study in any definition of "educational"!)

This sounds cool. Is there a website or someplace where we can read more 
about this?

D