Interact at the Center » Academic Freedom

Upload and share your work on Scribd.com

ctl — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 14:21:05 +0000

One of the leaders in online publishing is Scribd. Scribd allows people to upload documents – which can be in the form of reports, brochures, books, spreadsheets, puzzles and games, etc. – to the Internet for sharing with millions of readers. The website also allows you to discuss work that belongs to other people. And, Scribd is free for users!

As per Scribd’s FAQs:

Scribd lets you publish and discover documents online. It is like a big online library where anyone can upload. We make use of a custom Flash document viewer that lets you display documents right in your Web browser.

Part of the idea behind Scribd is that everyone has a lot of documents sitting around on their computers that only they can read. With Scribd we hope to unlock this information by putting it on the web.

Scribd would a useful website for students, especially, graduate students to get feedback on term papers, thesis or dissertation chapters, and for providing feedback to other users. For professors Scribd could prove helpful in publishing pre-publication documents for feedback or learning about what other college instructors are doing in their field or another field.

Over the past couple years Scribd has steadily grown in its users and readership. Please take a look for yourself and see what you can share or discuss.

Eric Mazur: “Farewell, Lecture?”

ctl — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 19:13:51 +0000

Lecture, arguably, is the most common method of teaching in higher education. It is not uncommon to walk into any classroom and find students can be busy trying to keep notes on what their instructor is saying. In the latest issue of Science, Eric Mazur, a physics professor at Harvard University, offers his own perspective on how he made the shift from lecturing as the prime modality for teaching to a more student-centered approach.

Mazur explains how throughout his schooling the lecture method was the way students were taught. The reliance on lecturing continued, Mazur says, until he felt that the method was not the most effective and meaningful approach to teaching. Despite earning high evaluations from courses he taught, Mazur made significant changes in his classes. “The traditional approach to teaching reduces education to a transfer of information,” Mazur says. He also describes how using what he calls the “clicker method” has allowed him to explore new pedagogical approaches in his courses.

Here are other quotes from “Farewell, Lecture?”:

“My lecturing was ineffective, despite the high evaluations.”

“The traditional approach to teaching reduces education to a transfer of information.”

“The responsibility for gathering information now rests squarely on the shoulders of the students. They must read material before coming to class, so that class time can be devoted to discussions, peer interactions, and time to assimilate and think. Instead of teaching by telling, I am teaching by questioning.”

“However, it is not the technology [clickers] but the pedagogy that matters.”

Please read the brief article for yourself and share your thoughts and/or comments below (just click on the COMMENTS link).

Other “Clickers” resources include:

CTL’s Clicker Resource page

http://www.bgsu.edu/ctlpage49370.html

Tom Haffie (University of Western Ontario) presents Clickers at Queens University (11/2006)

http://sunsite.queensu.ca/vmp/clickers/index.html

Creative Commons session, November 21st

ctl — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 15:06:55 +0000

Copyright, author’s rights, and licensing of personal works continue to enter into discussions at all levels of university work. From faculty authorship to students’ creative works available on the Internet, each individual can now specify the conditions for the distribution and use of their works using the Creative Commons.

[From the Creative Commons website:]

What You Can Do Here

Creative Commons helps you publish your work online while letting others know exactly what they can and can’t do with your work. When you choose a license, we provide you with tools and tutorials that let you add license information to your own site, or to one of several free hosting services that have incorporated Creative Commons.

With a Creative Commons license, you keep your copyright but allow people to copy and distribute your work provided they give you credit — and only on the conditions you specify here. For those new to Creative Commons licensing, we’ve prepared a list of things to think about. If you want to offer your work with no conditions, choose the public domain.

On November 21st BGSU Libraries will be hosting its final session dedicated to discussing and learning about Creative Commons. The sessions are from 2:30-4:30pm in 113 Olscamp Hall and 1011 Cedar Point Center (Firelands campus). Registration isn’t needed for this event, you’re welcomed to just show up for the session. For more information, please send questions to: ctl@bgsu.edu or call 419.372.6898.

Breaking Down the “Pay Wall” to Scholarly Works: Michael Carroll Presentation

ctl — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 18:07:00 +0000

On October 31, 2008, Michael Carroll presented “Copyright and Your Right to Use and Share Your Scholarly Materials” at BGSU’s Olscamp Hall. His presentation was recorded, so be sure to set aside 60 minutes for this thought-provoking view of the coming shift in scholarly communication:

For BGSU community – Click here to view (with description, time, scheduling options, etc)

For other non-BGSU viewers – Click here to view (with no other data or scheduling options)

Dr. Carroll began by comparing the scholarly communication movement of today to recycling 20 years ago – now recycling is commonplace as will scholarly communication (open access/author’s rights, etc.) eventually, due to changing times, needs, and the availability of digital tools.
Copyright laws are the crux of the issue behind the scholarly communication movement and the pressing need for change. The first laws, enacted in the early 18th century, were intended to protect those who wanted to make money from their written works rather than those who wrote for impact, as researchers and scholars do. Currently, when an author signs over their copyright to the publisher, they become limited in their own access to the work as well as limit many others due to what Dr. Carroll calls “the pay wall.”

From the price of individual journals offered through library subscriptions or access costs for individual articles online, the prices have skyrocketed, leaving many institutions to make difficult decisions about what they can or can no longer afford for their faculty and students. (Access to some individual journals can cost over $10,000 per year.) Carroll asks that researchers and authors make responsible decisions regarding the publication of their works – to consider the effects of simply signing the first or “opening offer” a publisher extends.
The issue of open access (OA), where the consumer of the works (reader, researcher) does not have to pay for access to the published works, often leads to misinformation about OA… “Open access does not mean lower quality or less rigor.” In fact, Carroll listed several ways that OA is good for authors/researchers:

increases impact (# of citations) due to easier access by researchers
serendipitous researchers come across works more often, making previously unforeseen connections
researchers need broader access to a myriad of sources/literature
helps international and poorly financed researchers – access/cost
medical researchers – providing out of date treatments due to lack of access to most recent findings
current pay-for journals are not searchable because they are not linked (lots of information could be added to the general pool of accessible resources)

One example Dr. Carroll highlighted was the OA journal, PLOS (Public Library of Science), and its successful growth over the past few years, including a 90% rejection rate, high impact, and the ability to publish peer-reviewed works immediately on the web. Other journals are using a similar model, but many other options are being investigated as viable options. (See Philosophers’ Imprint from the University of Michigan, which has been in service since 2001)

When considering to transfer your copyright to a publisher, Carroll asks authors to take an “Aretha Franklin moment” — “You better think…” In other words, you may be limiting or hurting yourself and other future researchers by giving away all copyright control to a publisher.

So, what can faculty authors do?

Check current authors’ rights with publishers (these can sometimes be altered after the fact)
Negotiate with the publisher – they are getting used to this process and providing options for authors (it’s your call – they want to keep a good relationship with you too)
Many publishers already allow some form of open access, but most authors still are not asking/requesting; it’s a usually a workflow issue, habit, or simply non-awareness (most faculty are simply not aware of their options nor the benefits of OA)

As Dr. Carroll opined, “we’re reaching the tipping point… (and we) need help to push this forward.” Spread the word and become a part of the soon-to-be-in-crowd of Open Access authors!

For more information:

BGSU’s Scholarly Communication page (including BGSU Author’s Addendum .doc form)
Michael Carroll’s blog on issues related to copyright, law, technology, and music
SPARC’s Resources for Authors
What you can do to promote Open Access
Peter Suber’s Open Access Overview (Brief version — Full version/links )

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What are your thoughts on Open Access and author’s rights? How knowledgeable are faculty or graduate students (future scholars) in your department?… Click on the COMMENTS link below to get started!

A Defense of In-Person Education

ctl — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 18:54:00 +0000

If you look through BGSU’s schedule of classes you probably have seen the online classes being offered every semester. Online classes carry the “Distance Education” label. Students have been taking online classes for some time now, and many students enjoy the online course format of the classes.

It was not too long ago that the idea of online courses was being argued over. People thought it was absurd to allow students to earn credit hours for a college course by them participating in a class run over the Internet. The online class format, obviously, has prospered and there are students in colleges all over the country who are enrolled in them.

There are still people who disagree with online education and firmly believe that “in-person education” is so much better. In a recent editorial, Jane Arnold makes a worthy argument in revealing how online classes aren’t all that their cracked up to be and have serious downsides to them.

We would enjoy hearing from anyone who has a reaction to Arnold’s piece or want to make a comment concerning how they feel about online versus in-person education.

Less Budgeting for Books This Semester?

ctl — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 17:36:00 +0000

You can probably walk by the University Bookstore right now and see how ecstatic parents and students are about having to purchase books for the upcoming semester. In a little under two weeks the lines of happy students will be even longer and more of the grim faces. The bookstore clerks are no strangers to the complaints from people buying their books. First-year students taking certain introductory classes will probably be a little grumpy when they have to purchase their first course textbook for some course.

Wouldn’t it be a novelty if a university told you not to worry about having to budget a handful of money for your books? Actually, there are some community colleges that are buying the rights to popular textbooks and allowing students online access to the textbooks. If you read an article by Andy Guess on Insidehighered.com you can discover how some community colleges have managed to gain access to popular textbooks. There are a handful of other university systems around the country who are also putting books online for students to simply read it on their computer monitors, and not have to spend a chunk of change for a book they will use for a couple months.

BGSU is actually part of this “online books” movement. The Jerome Library here at BGSU has more than one thousand books that students have open access to. Students are invited to go and chat with one of the librarians and learn about how they could possibly save some money. Maybe one of the books that your instructor has you reading is listed in one of the networks of online books that you can read and use for free online.

Foster article: "New Systems Keep a Close Eye on Online Students at Online Students at Home"

ctl — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 15:38:00 +0000

Just last week an article by Andrea L. Foster was published in The Chronicle of Higher Education. The article has been generating plenty of traffic and just as much discussion. If you wonder why the article may be attracting so many readers, please read the first two paragraphs of her article (below) and what she writes about the overhauled Higher Education Act that recently was overwhelmingly approved by Congress.

“Tucked away in a 1,200-page bill now in Congress is a small paragraph that could lead distance-education institutions to require spy cameras in their students’ homes.

It sounds Orwellian, but the paragraph — part of legislation renewing the Higher Education Act — is all but assured of becoming law by the fall. No one in Congress objects to it.“

Many instructors and students may not realize the impact this act may have on them. We would like to hear what some people say. Please read Foster’s article or get some more facts on the Higher Education Act and give us a comment on what you read.

Link to Foster’s article:

<http://chronicle.com/free/v54/i46/46a00103.htm?utm_source=pm&utm_medium=en>

Scholarly Publishing 1.1? (On the way to 2.0)

ctl — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 19:57:00 +0000

According to a PBS blog post by Andy Carvin, a group of Harvard faculty recently:

unanimously adopted a new policy that would allow them to retain the copyright of scholarly research. As a result, students and the public at large could have much greater access to these materials online than ever before.

For more information about the transition (or transformation) in scholarly communication and publishing:

SPARC (Association of Research Libraries – Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition) – including information on author’s rights (yes, you may have them… if you ask!) and open access

CreateChange.org is “an educational initiative that examines new opportunities in scholarly communication, advocates changes that recognize the potential of the networked digital environment, and encourages active participation by scholars and researchers to guide the course of change.”