Quest 1
Carefully review the open source definition, the free cultural works definition, and the following open content licenses. Write a substantive post with references on the meanings of the definitions and components of the major licenses.
- Open Source Definition
- Free Cultural Works Definition
- Creative Commons Attribution License (CC By)
- Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike License (CC By SA)
- Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial ShareAlike License (CC By NC SA)
- GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL)
- Open Publication License (OPL)
- The GPL is a License, Not a Contract, Which is Why the Sky Isn’t Falling – This article describes the difference between a license and a contract, and provides a great foundation for understanding licenses and how they work
Quest 2
Gather data from a variety of sources (e.g., FAQs, publications, email or phone interviews, &c.) to understand the factors considered in the license adoption process of the following projects and why they chose the license(s) they chose. Write a substantive post with references on why these sites use the licenses they do.
- MIT OCW
- Connexions
- Stanford
- Yale
- Open University of the UK
- Curriki
- WGBH Teachers Domainlink
- Hippocampus
Quest 3
The noncommercial (NC) clause of the Creative Commons licenses likely causes more contention in the open education community than all other disagreements put together. The lack of a clear definition of “noncommercial” in the NC clause itself certainly creates technical / legal issues; this much is beyond dispute. However, there is also an active argument regarding whether the NC clause has additional ethical and moral problems. Some argue that ethical considerations should prevent us from ever using the clause. Of course, others argue that the only moral course for open education projects is to use the clause consistently in all activities.
Review the sources below and find and review additional resources as you feel necessary. Write a substantive post with references in which you dissect and describe the nature of the various problems with the NC clause. Include your personal opinion on the moral issue with supporting arguments.
- The Case for Free Use: Reasons Not to Use a Creative Commons -NC License
- Towards a Standard of Freedom: Creative Commons and the Free Software Movement
- My Current View on the CC-NC Licensing Option Controversy in OCWs
- Creative Commons vs MIT OCW: Interpreting the Noncommercial Clause
- Noncommercial, Transaction Costs, and Sustainability
Quest 4
The idea of copyleft is a major component of many of the open content licenses. Some argue that copyleft licenses are the “most free” even though a license such as CC By-SA obviously places more constraints on the recipient than does CC By. The copyleft clauses in open content licenses also create incompatibilities that make it difficult or impossible to remix open educational resources made available under different licenses. Some have argued that copyleft clauses are bigger practical problems for the movement than the NC clause. A new version of the GFDL provides a path toward compatibility, but only for one very specific kind of open educational resource.
Review the sources below and find and review additional resources as you feel necessary. Write a substantive post with references in which you dissect and describe the nature of the various problems with the idea of copyleft generally and the SA clause specifically.
- CC in Review: Lawrence Lessig on Compatibility
- License Compatibility
- Noncommercial Isn’t the Problem, ShareAlike Is
- ShareAlike, the Public Domain, and Privileging
Quest 5
Many BYU faculty already openly share their syllabi and other course materials on personal websites, through iTunesU, and through other mechanisms. But are they permitted to do this? Review BYU’s Intellectual Property policy regarding faculty ownership of materials produced for their course. To what extent does the policy support and enable faculty who want to experiment with open education? How could the policy be changed to encourage more experimentation by faculty? Work with the Merchant in your Guild (who is reviewing Technology Transfer policy and attitudes toward commercialization) to understand the financial impact on the university of your proposed changes to the policy. Write a joint, substantive post with references in which you describe the extent to which the current policy supports open education, the changes you recommend to the policy, and the financial impact of such changes on the university.
Quest 6
Much of the open education movement resides in higher education. Work with the other members of your Guild to locate and organize a sufficient number of open educational resources to teach a semester-long high school course. Discuss the course you have selected with the game master before beginning this quest. Use the State of Utah Core Curriculum Standards as your guide to what needs to be included in the course. Present the course design and structure, materials you’ve aggregated, necessary adaptations, IP problems (specifically, your strategy for how to overcome license incompatibility problems), and an estimate of time and effort spent to a meeting of the Guilds. We will record your presentation and post it online.