Posts by Sintjago

Reassessing Traditional Education (Part 1 of a Series – The Problem)

August 7, 2010

Having recently finished her M.A. degree from a well respected university in an area studies program where she obtained a 4.0 GPA, received an assistantship during her studies and very positive letters of recommendations, among other accolades, my wife is now having great difficulties in finding a job. Unfortunately, like a large number of recent college graduates, she has after all limited work experience. Now 26 years of age, she is worried about having lost valuable time completing a master instead of increasing her work experience.

Part of her difficulty in finding a job may be related to her field of study. However, recent statistics show that up to 17% of college graduates are currently unemployed and competition is stiff for every job opening. Many of the individuals that she and I went to school with are experiencing the same difficulty, a large percentage of the students are currently unemployed or underemployed, and most of the students that have found employment are either back either continuing for a PhD study, or working in a different area.

The current job market shows that a large number of graduates are unemployed and that most open positions require previous work experience. It is because of these common difficulties that a reassessment of the traditional education system should be more fervently discussed. As traditional learning institutions hold less and less a monopoly of information and anyone with access to the internet is able to learn about almost any subject through a free e-book, by open courseware, online forums, or in a wiki style. Shouldn’t traditionally education institutions increasingly become more concerned in making sure students obtain work experience while they are at the university rather than focusing on the accumulation of knowledge? Shouldn’t work experience in their field of study increasingly become part of the traditional curriculum and universities have more direct connections with businesses and other outputs for their graduates?

It is my opinion that these changes absolutely necessary to some if not most field of study. In a series of articles I will address ways in which this can be accomplished and how by modifying traditional education, we could have a better trained, more entrepreneurial and productive work force and a lower rate of unemployment. I invite you to follow me and debate with me through a series of articles as to how this can be accomplish, as well as how we can use ICT, online education, and other modern tools to make college education more successful and a smoother transition for graduates into the work force.

Learn by Teaching – Attending a Workshop at the Minnesota Literacy Council

August 5, 2010

One of the best ways for a person to continue their education is by reinforcing what they learned previously and increasing their expertise by teaching. The Minnesota Literacy Council offers just that. In a state where it is estimated that 25 to 50% of immigrants are refugees and more than 230,000 adults cannot read or write, there is a constant need to instruct newcomers in English and American customs.[1]

For the large Somali and Hmong community, and various other nationalities, particularly those that use a different alphabet, learning English can be a very difficult task. In order to help volunteers meet this challenge, the Minnesota Literacy Council offers ESL training courses on a monthly basis. The course takes place over four weekdays and started this Monday for the month of August. The dates for the training this month are August 2, 4 and August 9, 11 from 6:30 to 9:30 pm. The classes have a total cost of 30 dollars but, if needed, there are scholarships available to cover the cost for students with limited resources currently working, or about to start working, as ESL instructors.

The program teaches the instructors how to effectively apply certain teaching methods for students with different levels of English proficiency, as well as stressing the importance of accommodating different learning styles and motivations. The instructors are encouraged to relate the materials to their students with class activities such as learning the parts of an employment forms as well as slowly increasing the students’ English proficiency through the use of repetition, and the use of songs to practice vocabulary.

The program also emphasizes the need to better understand immigrants and their circumstances. Moving to the United States, many immigrants made difficult decisions such as leaving their career, friends, their country and other elements of their culture behind. They had to leave their countries, at times escaping eminent physical danger and persecution. Most immigrants come to America in the pursuit of happiness and the “American Dream.” A place where there is a respect for the constitution, freedom and justice. Yet it is very important, as it was with previous immigrant groups, that immigrants effectively learn English and understand the laws and values of the American civilization.

With a delicate economic outlook and a continuing recession, many Americans are increasingly in favor of stronger restrictions of immigration. However, it is important to remember that in 1910, immigrants represented 14.7 percent of the population while they represent 12.6% today. In addition, in 1890, the instructions for the Minnesota elections were given in 9 languages in comparison to only 5 the last elections (English, Hmong, Spanish, Somali, Russian and Vietnamese) In addition, The United States has fewer foreign born residents as a percentage of the population than countries such as Canada, Australia and Switzerland.

Volunteering to teach an ESL class is a way of helping these immigrants to assimilate. If you have the time available consider teaching an ESL class and attending a Minnesota Literacy Council workshop. For more information visit their website: www.theMLC.org or call 651-645-2277. The slideshow contains pictures from the August workshop and additional information.

Convincing a Friend to Create His ED Channel

August 2, 2010

Jim,

The book arrived! Received it a couple of days ago. Thank you for the gift, it is much appreciated. I will try to read it the upcoming days. I greatly enjoyed an interview to John Taylor Gatto that was available on youtube.com. His success as a teacher is impressive.

I, myself have been looking at the parallels between critical pedagogy and web 2.0 recently and the growth of online open education such as OpenCourseWare. Plans for free creative commons textbooks and free education material on the internet is on the rise. ITunes U and YouTube EDU are only two examples.

Jim, I am interested in free online education and its promise for developing countries. My opinion is that technology should not replace the teacher but rather serve as another medium by which to instruct children and complement traditional education program.

With this in mind, I felt, what else can be done to improve online education and what are the implications for developing countries? Thinking of current developments in technology and education, I am interested in uploading educational material to the internet, and hoping that in the future, students can, through a basic search, find a number of instructors teaching a certain course available freely on the internet. Perhaps students will be able to choose from 20 or more different Spanish one classes to follow and find a teacher that suits their learning style. This free online diversity would be another tool aside from libraries, that would be available free of charge to everyone. In a way, it would be an education video web Wikipedia.

Thinking about this as a development project, I believe in the future, as access to the internet increases, the availability of a diversity of free education lectures and teaching videos taught in languages of developing countries would help diminish the information and education gap between developed and developing countries. Following this project, my mom will record a university class of organic chemistry taught in Spanish this upcoming semester. I am currently arranging which programs, software, and hardware to use. But once the material is online it will be permanently free of charge to complement traditional education and offer an alternative to distance education. After this, we will try to convince other retired university professors to record their classes and also upload them on the internet free of charge. The objective is that like a wiki, it will snow ball.

Currently universities such as MIT have applied this model through their OpenCourseWare material. Some Spanish universities are part of the consortium, but there is no concerted effort. Helping in any way to bridge the north / south education divisions is worthwhile. It is also another way, aside from remittances, by which Latin American migrants can help improve their country’s education

Regarding your class, while it is in English, I am very interested in recording your lessons and also looking at your pedagogy and the methods you utilize to reach your students. Perhaps similar to Gatto, you developed strong connections with your students. For me, your teaching methods were incredible effective. I remember vividly many lessons from your class. From the carpenter chef, to your friend and role model the bird?, to your tales of visiting France, teaching us about paintings and realism, Muhammad Ali – When we were Kings, Snitch, diary writing exercises, speaking at the school board, self-teaching lessons, among  others, including public speaking, and how to drink cognac. More so than other teachers, you not only taught individuals and these subjects, but more importantly you taught us to question authority, to find ourselves, and a countless number of lifelong lessons. Though placing your videos on the internet, I hope other students will have the privilege of attending the sanctuary.

I believe, overtime, this will happen and a number of students will take advantage of your videos. Like you previously mentioned, a student should not simply pick subjects to study but pick passionate teachers who enjoy teaching their subject, because if they have an interest and love for what they teach, you will enjoy it and more likely remember it.

You have a lot to teach Owens, you lived a life of travel, and you have been teaching about your experiences for over a decade. Recording it, will allow your current and previous students to rewind and revisit your class as an online journal, and perhaps even you could reach future generations and allow them to take part in and enjoy your class. Technology has become and will continue to become cheaper. At the moment 10 minute clips can be placed on the internet, and I, or someone else, would have to divide the clips into 10 minute pieces, but it is likely that soon, that will no longer be a limitation, as technology advances and decreases in price. This project would allow a class of yours to be frozen in time, and it is, in my opinion, a worthwhile experiment.

Recording your class could allow other teachers to observe your pedagogy methods, and perhaps bring insight into what is a successful teacher. Student teachers could also use the videos to reinforce their philosophy and find that yourpedagogy may be best suited for their audience and personality. Practicing teachers will be able to use them to find ideas. While right now there is not a collection of teacher classes freely accessible online, it is my opinion that this will eventually happen and that the information will be properly categorized and easy to access.

I am not sure if your methodology is transferable to online education, but it’s worth exploring. There is a chance, whether we like it or not, that over time, more and more classes will be recorded and students may be able to pick a particular teacher, due to his teaching style through online videos, or perhaps other teachers will be able to look at their colleagues online and learn which techniques are more effective.

If you decide to record your classes, what should we record? It depends.  We could start by placing part of your class online (we could have a sanctuary channel), or perhaps even the whole class could be recorded, or maybe you prefer to pick and chose, that would be up to you. All could be recorded at first and then edited.

In addition, the project could also expand horizontally if you wanted to. We could expand your class to an interactive online learning audience – with Nings, Edu 2.0, YouTube Edu, Podcasts, Grouply among others, it can be exported into different online class based internet sites. The newest one which appears promising, and has the support of various Ivy League colleges, is Nixty.com. These places use blogs, etc. You do not use homework as a tool which would make it easier to set up, but the sites allow for homework and quizzes if needed..

Also new development will come along, and the material can be transported to a better engine in the future. Once the material is recorded, it is available for potentially endless number of uses. As students become more wired, I thought I would be good to see how best to utilize some of these technologies. Using your class as an experiment could serve as another example of how education is being transformed, what can be transformed, and what should not be changed.

As you have mentioned before, there are intrinsic benefits in secluding yourself from technology such as a reduction in distractions. Yet, technology has also brought interesting changes and possibilities. Today, most famous books from the Middle Ages and before, and most other classics are now open source and available to everyone with a kindle, iTunes, or basic internet access.

Perhaps this year we could record just a couple of lessons and go from there. The lessons you feel most comfortable having on video and perhaps placing some of it online, whatever you consider prudent. Also, it would be great if we could record Parks as well. The costs are minimal, practically zero, if there are two cameras available and the data is stored in a cloud manner. (Uploading the videos on a regular basis as to prevent the files from filling to much space on the hard drives). I am working on the logistic at the moment, and there may be some limitations.

Anyway, I hope you consider this idea. We could start small. It is usually best. But particularly if a couple of students can get on board, it may not be too complicated. I am looking at video compression, video hosting sites, and video editing tools, to have a better grip on the logistics. I know ways in which to do it now and I have explored the options before, but there are some recent start ups that may offer better options.

Thank you again for the book Jim. I truly appreciate it,

Alfonso

Video Games: A way to continue your education outside the classroom

July, 31, 2010

In Elluminate, Future of Education and Conserations.Net recently held a forum with Lucas Guillespie and Peggy Sheehy to discuss the impact video games can have on education. There they spoke about their experience as to how World of Warcraft has influence their pedagogy and how MMORPGS can be used for learnings. At World of Warcraft, over 200 educators take part in a guild “Cognitive Dissonance” to explore the use of the game for education. Similar organizations have been built in other MMORPGs such as Everquest. These educators believe that these games can “captivate students’ attention and use constructivism in its finest but its social”.

Allowing students to save world online and can learn to how to work in groups on outside the game settings. In their opinions, games are another tool, which if used adequately it could improve students educational experience. To its supporters, instances are places in which students can be empowered, become leaders and solve problems together. The goal then is to “harness that and make the world as compelling.” Schools have started to use game learning during afterschool in which they could target an at risk population and ask the parents if they would like their children t o participate in this alternative after school program (targeting asperger, autistic, adhd – kids selected by interviews). Kids were asked at the end of the year questions such as what do you like in world of warcraft, how do you want to better yourself. The kids expressed how they had learned to work together with others, how to use maps, time management, vocabulary, reading and writing, (In another study, they selected a group of students which did not take parts in sports or other extra-curricular activities and could be seen as students that would be endanger to drop out in high school). (Students would go running at the end of the day to turn on the computer). Being a group of computer user, the section of Elluminate had a large number of WoW players. The teacher included the students in the communication.

Steve Harandon believes that as social networks have gained increased absentance in education, games may be the next field to be accepted within traditional education. Many educational games have fallen short of the mark primarily because of the lack of financial support. Would the financial support improve the quality of games as to help games increase their influence within education as another means to reach children? Perhaps like previous PRGmaker programs, a new engine may be develop where educators may have the capability to create games that are more inline with an educational curriculum and can reinforce other educational concepts not traditionally covered in games, so that they could better serve to supplement education and serve as a means for students to continue their education afterschool or outside of the school facilities with parental supervision. Perhaps students will even fill educational needs independently.

(Leadership skills – students voted about guild topics, missions, leaders, wrote character biographies), next year in the school it will be an elective. – Course will be developed in Moodle under a national standard. Cognitance Dissonence guild is where to make the connection but

Wisconsin University – Students that used World of Warcraft were reading beyond college level (in wow language) while in social sciences  class they were at a regular level (same students)?

15$ a month and 30$ for the game – Expensive- but they will spend money on what they like

WoW is collaborative (unlike a large amount of school work).- No anonymity – 95% of them tell each other right away who they are.

Princeton University recently decided to close its University Channel which provided free accessible academic lectures and materials from all over the world. UChannel, an initiative from the Princeton Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs no longer makes financial sense as a result having become outdated by newly emerging technologies such as the growing popularity of ITunes U and YouTube EDU. UChannel as an independent collection of free accessible materials, no longer made financial sense and the university is encouraging partners to broadcast their materials through more financially viable and accessible technologies (http://uc.princeton.edu/main/).

In their official statement they expressed their continued support for online education programs and expressed their belief “that non-commercial, quality educational programming is an important part of the world wide web.” They also stated that most of their material will be moved to Princeton’s ITunes U Channel, away from UChannel’s ITunes U. Hopefully despite the change in web domain, most of the materials will soon be accessible through its webpage and ITunes U by UChannel’s closing date.

As a consequence, their website and links to material from the Princeton YouTube channel and ITunes U page will be removed from the internet on November 3, 2010.

Allowing individuals to host videos if they are under 10 minutes for free, and podcasts being developed for ITunes U by schools or individual with a smaller endowment or budget, including some independent community schools and individuals, it seems unlikely that, had the university wanted to, that the funds for the website could have been allocated.

Yet, unfortunately, while more and more institutions have began to share their academic materials online, Princeton, one of the world most renowned universities, which currently rank eight in the world according to the 2010 US News and World Report on the 400 World’s Best University. Princeton has regrettably decided to at least temperately remove UChannel’s freely accessible material without offering any insight as to whether or not this information will be posted again in the future.* While it can be hoped that this information one day will be freely accessible once again and that Princeton soon will announce an alternative, access to Princeton UChannel material will be, as of November 9, temporally closed.

Sources:

*- Wall Street Journal article regarding Princeton Endowment – (January 09, 2009) http://online.wsj.com/article/NA_WSJ_PUB:SB123144321867865239.html

>> A more recent article from Business Week regarding Princeton Endowment (February 10, 2010) http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-02-10/princeton-raises-endowment-growth-forecast-to-10-from-zero.html

*- Link to US News and World Report 400 World Best Universities (2010)  http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/worlds-best-universities/2010/02/25/worlds-best-universities-top-400.html

CENTRO – Educación y Servicios para Familias Latinas en las Ciudades Gemelas

July 30, 2010

Apenas uno entra a las oficinas de CENTRO, el visitante se tropieza inmediatamente con un ambiente visible hispánico. La decoración del lugar es excepcionalmente cálida, ya que las oficinas están diseñadas para parecer pequeñas casas independientes con techos de arcilla. También hay pinturas y murales por todas partes evocando en el visitante la sensación de estar en una arquitectura pintada por Diego Rivera. Todo el edificio fue modificado para hacer que el visitante se sienta la mas cómodo posible. En el lado derecho del establecimiento  hay muchos muebles y ventanas, y hasta un pequeño sauna para que los adolecentes se sientan en casa cuando visitan.

El lugar es completamente bilingüe, y apenas uno entra al centro, se siente como si hubiera cruzado la frontera. CENTRO sin embargo nos recuerda cómo está entrelazada la comunidad hispana con el resto de las Ciudades Gemelas. Los programas ayudan a individuos de diversas etnicidades, ya que muchas familias interraciales contienen miembros hispanos.

CENTRO es bien conocido dentro de la comunidad hispana y muchos hispanos se benefician extensivamente de sus diversos y amplios servicios. Dentro de los programas que ofrece CENTRO se encuentra un programa para el cuidado de niños, servicios para las personas de la tercera edad, servicios de comida gratuita para familias pobres (alimentando entre 50 y 80 familias cada semana), ropa gratuita para todas las edades (con un énfasis en ropa de invierno para niños), y preescolar bilingüe, tres psicólogos bilingües, “raíces” un programa preventivo en contra del SIDA, prevención de bandas delincuentes, bailes folklóricos, y tienen otras celebraciones en temporadas particulares del año como la fiesta del día del niño en la cual le entrega un regalo a 500 familias.

En relación a la educación continua, CENTRO ofrece a los hispanos la oportunidad de regresar al colegio y terminar sus estudios de primaria y secundaria. Sandra Reyes, la Coordinadora de los Programas de Educación y Alfabetización, relata que un gran número de inmigrantes hispanos, particularmente los de primera generación, no han terminado la escuela primaria, y que hasta un 70% no se graduó de la secundaria.

Uno de los programas más innovadores de CENTRO para aliviar este problema es ofrecer a través del gobierno mejicano la oportunidad de que estudiantes puedan terminar su secundaria vía internet a través de http://educamexus.org. Con motivo de este novedoso programa, una estación de televisión Mexicana visito al CENTRO el 29 de Julio para entrevistar a miembros del programa y a algunos estudiantes participantes. Oscar, quien se graduó recientemente del programa comenzará sus estudios universitarios el próximo semestre. También recientemente, Méjico se convirtió en el primer país de Latinoamérica en ofrecer una educación universitaria gratuita vía el internet.

Por muchos anos, CENTRO ha proveído un servicio indispensable a la comunidad latina de las Ciudades Gemelas. Desafortunadamente, la demanda por algunos servicios es más grande que los productos y dinero que es donado a la organización. El preescolar bilingüe tiene una larga lista de espera y en solo una cuestión de pocas horas las 500 familias que van a formar parte de la celebración del día del niño ya han llamado y se han alistado. También hay más individuos que necesitan comida gratuita de la que se puede entregar. CENTRO hace lo mejor que puede para proveer a la comunidad hispana todo lo que está a su alcance de sus recursos.

Gracias al apoyo de la comunidad, la organización efectiva y trabajo constante, CENTRO se ha expandido constantemente. Con suerte, CENTRO tendrá la posibilidad de ayudar y servir a más personas año tras año. Para información adicional visite: http://www.centromn.org/ o llame al: 612-874-1412

CENTRO El Zócalo 1915 Chicago Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55404

CENTRO – Education and Family Services for Latino Families in the Twin Cities

July, 30, 2010

Right after entering the building of CENTRO, meaning “CENTER” in Spanish, a visitor immediately encounters a visible Hispanic flair. The decoration of the place is exceptionally homely as the offices within the building are designed to appear as independent, small houses with terracotta roofs. There are also paintings and murals everywhere evoking a feeling of visiting a building painted by Diego Rivera. The whole building was designed to make the visitor feel comfortable. On the right side of the building, there are couches, windows, and even a small sauna so the young teenagers to feel at home when they visit.

The place is fully bilingual, and as one enters the building, it seems as if one had just crossed the border. CENTRO, however, remind us of how intertwined the Hispanic community is with the Twin Cities. The programs help individuals of different backgrounds as there are many interracial families with Hispanic heritage.

CENTRO is well known among the Hispanic community and many Hispanics benefit extensively from its diverse and comprehensive services. Among CENTRO’s programs are child care services, services for senior citizens, food services for 50 to 80 families in need every week, free clothing services focusing on winter clothing for children, a bilingual pre-K, three bilingual psychologists, “raices” an AIDS prevention program, gangs and truancy prevention, folk dance services including salsa and merengue lessons, and various monthly and yearly celebrations such as a children’s day event where 500 children and families can sign up to participate, celebrate and receive a free toy.

In relation to continuing education, CENTRO offers Hispanics the opportunity to go back to school and finish their elementary and high school studies. Sandra Reyes, CENTRO’s Education / Literacy Project Coordinator, believes that a large number of Hispanic immigrants, particularly first generation immigrants, have not finished elementary school, and over 70% did not graduate from high school.

One of CENTRO’s most innovative programs has worked to alleviate this problem by offering an internationally recognized high school education program promoted by the Mexican Government thru EDUCAMEXUS which offers education to Mexican immigrants in the United States and Canada (http://educamexus.org). A Mexican TV station came to Minneapolis on July 29, to interview the program staff members and some participating students. Oscar, a graduating student, will be starting his studies at a higher education institution in the upcoming semester. In addition, Mexico recently broke a new educational barrier by being the first Latin American country to offer free online university courses.

For many years CENTRO has provided indispensible services to the Twin Cities Hispanic community. Unfortunately, the demand for some services is much greater the goods and funds donated to provide them. The bilingual pre-K has a long waiting list and only in a matter of hours 500 families sign up to participate in the yearly children’s day event. There are also more individuals asking for food than they are able to provide. CENTRO does its best to provide the Hispanic community all the support it can with its limited resources. Fortunately as a result of their hard work and effective organization, CENTRO has continuously expanded, and hopefully they will be able to serve an even larger population in future years.

For additional information visit: http://www.centromn.org/, or call: 612-874-1412

CENTRO El Zócalo 1915 Chicago Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55404

Burnsville ISD 191- Immigrants Continuing their Education through ESL Classes

• July 29th, 2010 2:03 am

ISD 191 – ABE Schedule and Services

Alfonso Sintjago

It’s nine in the morning in Burnsville at the Independent School District 191, in the outskirts of the Twin Cities. Here, a group of adults from a number of nationalities prepare for their English as a Second Language (ESL) class. ESL is only one of the various community education programs provided at ISD 191, which includes a lifelong learning library, an early childhood program, a youth and family education program, a basic adult education (ABE) program and a computer training center. Apart from the ESL classes, the ABE program allows students to take their GED and be part of Basic Skill workshops.

For recent immigrants or immigrants that have yet to have a functional understanding of English or those who would simply like to improve their English, ESL classes provide them with a way to continue their education and further integrate themselves into American society. Having moved to the United States permanently or for a long period of time, learning English will also allow them to have a greater likelihood of finding employment.

As a result of the limited job market, some previously employed immigrants have found themselves unable to find a job and have turned to ESL classes as a way to feel productive and increase their employment opportunities. Without having a functional level of English and a basic level of computer literacy individuals will have limited job opportunities available.

To meet the needs of the community, ISD 191 offers 5 different levels of ESL classes which are taught by highly qualified staff and a group of vastly appreciated volunteers. Having open enrollment, students come and go, and students are regularly tested to ensure they are placed in the class which adequately matches their English proficiency level.

A great difficulty however results from the uneven levels of skills within each student; some students have no trouble speaking, while others find reading or writing easier. Accommodating for student’s different backgrounds, ages and goals is difficult, but the teachers, with the aid of volunteers and computer software, are able to provide a customized experience to their students.

The classes include students from a diverse number of countries such as Ethiopia, Mexico, India, Libya, Korea, Vietnam, among others. On Monday, July 26, during the advanced level class, the students read about the Vietnam war memorial and watched a clip of Forest Gump while the instructor explained the meaning of some of the events in the movie related to the Vietnam War. During the class, the students were very engaged and exhibited a high level of camaraderie and collaboration.

According to Tammi Bernard, the ESL Volunteer Coordinator, the program has succeeded in empowering students by providing them the means to obtain a functional level of English, nevertheless, a transition stage between ESL and being able to enroll at a college is needed. Providing funds and classes to teach at this transitional stage will help increase the number of graduates who go on to pass their GED and enroll in higher education. The program will finish its summer session in two weeks but will begin its fall ESL classes on September 7. During session, there are classes in the evening and the morning (link to schedule). For more information about the center visit www.communityed191.org, or email/call Tammi Bernard at (952) -707-4127 / tbernard@burnsville.k12.mn.us. –

CLUES – Comunidades Latinas Unidas en Servicio!

July, 28, 2010

Si usted es una persona de origen latino y vive en la comunidad las Ciudades Gemelas y tiene tiempo para trabajar de voluntario, CLUES es una organización en donde usted se sentirá satisfecho de haber invertido su tiempo. CLUES provee muchos servicios a la comunidad incluyendo clases básicas de ingles y de computación. También usted se puede beneficiar de un programa para ayudar a individuos a encontrar empleo.

Nixty.com a new provider of online continuing and community education

July, 27, 2010

Nixty.com, founded in 2009, recently went public and opened its doors to the online community. The site promises to offers a more comprehensive alternative to other open education websites. Nixty.com founders, Glen Moriarty, Paul Sanders and Erik Beebe, hope to encourage the growth of global open education through e-learning by promoting an open free education site where members of the community can teach each other and benefit from our society’s diversity.

Nixty.com also hopes to function as a site where universities will post courses in continuing education possibly helping some students earn credits through the College-Level Examination Program and also allow instructors to charge a fee for some courses. Instructors will be charged $4.99 and 20 percent of what they take in for hosting three paid courses. Among the promising tools on the site are ePortfolio technologies and LMS software as well as more traditional web 2.0 tools such as blogs, contacts, and mail, among others. The addition of an e-portfolio will allow individuals to use Nixty as a resume/CV builder or uploader, as well as provide tips and information to their students.

Unlike Youtube EDU or Itunes U, Nixty.com aims to provide students not only with class material but also the ability to answer quizzes and communicate with the instructor. Students will be able to browse for courses of their interest and, if a course is not available, they could be the first to host one as a student/instructor.

Within the Course Area section for each instructor and student, members will be able to browse between tabs including general information (Course Home), lessons, discussion, and tests.  The lessons will permit users to embed material from other popular sites. When students are finished with the course they can print a certificate of completion. In the discussion tab, students will be able to post questions and discuss class topics. The forum will utilize karma points to allow the users to vote and increase the visibility of the most popular posts within the discussion. Tests and quizzes can be automatically entered into the gradebook. The course materials can be deleted once it is completed.

Nixty.com is currently only in its initial stages but it could develop into a major provider of online continuous education and community education. It already holds a large library of over a hundred free courses including course materials from the MIT, UCLA, Yale, USC and other higher learning institutions.

To learn more about Nixty.com, visit the site or its Youtube.com channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/NIXTYLearning).