Classrooms for Free Culture

NOTE: The contents of this page are not set in stone, and are subject to change! This page is a draft in active flux ... Please leave suggestions on the talk page.

Please contribute! This is a rough idea. We're looking for Summer of Content participants interested in running a class at their universities as part of this program, please see Classrooms for Free Culture SoCon if you're interested.

the idea

Get teachers to run project classes whose purpose is the production of Open-Licensed material - open source software and hardware (plans for mechanical devices, schematics for electrical ones), open content (writing books, shooting movies, recording music, taking pictures).

Students will learn how to do not just projects, but free culture projects - open source, open content - which operate somewhat differently from traditional notions of how projects are done in both academia and the corporate world.

There should be some sort of incentive for people to participate - cool t-shirts, training resources and materials, networking opportunities.

the plan

• Start with a small group of professors already involved in open content and free culture and get them to do this with one of their classes in the fall semester.
• In future semesters, can expand to include K-12 teachers, summer camps.

what's in it for them?

teachers

Support and recognition. Get help and guidance in running a project class, in making projects open content, introducing students to the concept of free culture... if you've done these things before, join a network of teachers doing the same thing, and share your knowledge with them. May be possible to arrange financial support for project budgets, etc.

students

Empowerment. Students are introduced to the free culture community, learn how to make open source/content projects and how to join in a community of creation (which they can belong in no matter what classes they're in or what job they might have). Their projects can get wider exposure and publicity, there's potential to collaborate with students from other schools.

free culture organizations

Growth. New contributors, new materials - a great way to grow the ranks with quality projects.

Schools

IIT (India)

folks to ask

• manu

MIT (USA)

folks we should ask

• hal abelson
• <insert names of all olpc-related professors here>

Harvard (USA)

folks we should ask

• lynn stein (on sabbatical there from Olin this coming year)
• margo seltzer

Stanford (USA)

• lessig

Olin (USA)

professors already have students build projects for many of their classes, and some of the profs are already into open content. See main Olin website.

interested people

• Mel Chua ('07 - interested in helping to run CFFC & facilitating Olin stuff)
• Marco M ('10 - interested in helping out, but not sure how much time can be invested in planning and early involvement)

folks we should ask

• gill pratt
• mark chang
• allen downey
• lynn stein
• raymond yim
• brad minch
• debbie chachra
• jon chambers '06
• drew harry '06
• chris murphy '06
• nikki talbot '06
• dj gallagher '07
• chandra little '07
• matt colyer '07
• ryan hubbard '08
• chris dellin '08
• allison weis '09
• tim smith '09
• nikki lee '10