With little or no chance of ever being able to make it through the draconian approval process of Apple’s iTunes App Store, Mozilla, the not-for-profit organization behind the Firefox browser, is betting on two major, if emerging, mobile operating platforms: Maemo, Nokia’s new Linux-based operating system, and Google’s Android OS. But don’t count on Mozilla supporting RIM’s BlackBerry OS anytime soon.
On Mobile Phones, Firefox’s Big Bet Is Nokia & Android
October 19, 2009
Leave a Comment » | 
General, Open Source, Tools | 
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Posted by Teb Locke
Open College Textbook Act of 2009
October 5, 2009IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
September 24, 2009
Mr. DURBIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
A BILL
To authorize grants for the creation, update, or adaption of open textbooks, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `Open College Textbook Act of 2009′.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The growth of the Internet has enabled the creation and sharing of open content, including open educational resources.
(2) The President has proposed a new, significant Federal investment in the creation of online open-source courses for community colleges that will make learning more accessible, adaptable, and affordable for students.
(3) The President has challenged the United States with a goal of having the highest college graduation rate in the world by 2020.
(4) More than 80 percent of the 23,000,000 jobs that will be created in the next 10 years will require postsecondary education, but only 36 percent of all 18- to 24-year-olds are currently enrolled in postsecondary education.
(5) The high cost of college textbooks continues to be a barrier for many students in achieving higher education, and according to the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, 200,000 qualified students fail to enroll in college each year due to cost.
(6) The College Board reported that for the 2007-2008 academic year an average student spent an estimated $805 to $1,229 on college books and supplies.
(7) Making high quality open textbooks freely available to the general public could significantly lower college textbook costs and increase accessibility to such education materials.
(8) Open textbooks can improve learning and teaching by creating course materials that are more flexible, adaptable, and accessible through the use of technology.
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Education, General, Open Source | 
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Posted by Teb Locke
Fostering Classroom Interaction, Minus the Clickers
August 22, 2009A professor’s home-grown open-source app engages students with interactive Q&As, polling, and podcasting. Using Web-based LectureTools in a wired or wireless environment, students can type in questions anonymously during class that appear immediately on the classroom display.
[Source: Campus Technology]
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Instructional Technology, Open Source | Tagged: Clickers | 
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Posted by Oscar Retterer
Google Wave Preview
June 3, 2009Google Wave is a new tool for communication and collaboration on the web, coming later this year. Watch the demo video below, sign up for updates and learn more about how to develop with Google Wave.
Leave a Comment » | Emerging Technologies, Open Source | Permalink
Posted by Teb Locke
Andrew File System – An Open Source eDisk
May 25, 2009The Andrew File System (AFS) is a distributed networked file system which uses a set of trusted servers to present a homogeneous, location-transparent file name space to all the client workstations. It was developed by Carnegie Mellon University as part of the Andrew Project. It is named after Andrew Carnegie and Andrew Mellon.
Leave a Comment » | Media Distribution, Open Source | Permalink
Posted by Oscar Retterer
