www.johndbritton.com

Are you interested in learning more about the Open Web? Then sign up for my course, Mashing Up the Open Web at P2PU. Sign-ups close on 3 March officially, but if you're really keen on taking the course, contact me.

Course Description

An introduction to open web standards. HTML, CSS, JavaScript (and more?) through project based learning. This course is not for complete novices, some web experience is required. Participants will work on a self defined project that leverages open datasets and web services to create a mashup that is useful to their target audience. The participants will engage in weekly real time meetings (irc, voice, or other) as well as ongoing asynchronous communication. The role of the organizer will be to guide participants in selecting a feasible project and assisting the 'just in time' learning experience associated with technology discovery.

The course will include discussions on the Open Web and help participants understand the importance of keeping the web open. Aside from practical web skills like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript participants will be introduced to a number of free and open data visualization tools. Participants will learn how to find open data and use those resources in creating a web mashup.

What are you waiting for? Sign-up Now!

If you've got ten minutes to spare, I suggest you check out the presentation that I just gave about the soon to be 'Open Web Career Track' at the Peer 2 Peer University. The Open Web Career Track is one of the first few Drumbeat projects being kickstarted in collaboration with Mozilla.

The Peer 2 Peer University (P2PU) is an online community of open study groups for short university-level courses. Think of it as online book clubs for open educational resources. The P2PU helps you navigate the wealth of open education materials that are out there, creates small groups of motivated learners, and supports the design and facilitation of courses. Students and tutors get recognition for their work, and we are building pathways to formal credit as well.

P2PU is entirely volunteer driven, open, and free of charge. Anyone can lead a course about anything, and starting on 12 February we'll be accepting applications to participate in each of the 15 courses slated to start in March. Keep a lookout on http://www.p2pu.org for more information on how to participate.

Courses proposed for March 2010 Cycle at P2PU

• Behavioral Economics
• Copyright for Educators
• Cyberpunk Literature
• Non Ficton Writing v2.0
• Mashing Up the Open Web
• Solve Anything! Building Ideas Through Design
• Transformational Art
• Running a Campaign
• Green Action: Creating Sustainable Communitites
• Urban Disaster Risk Management
• Intro to Economics & Finance
• Introdução ao pensamento de Paulo Freire
• Cidadania Hacker – Novas Formas de Ação na Esfera Pública Interconectada
• Cidadania e as Redes Digitas
• Music Theory

I just got a bunch of Google Wave invites. Post a comment here if you want one, be sure to include your email in the form (it won't be displayed).

On August 26, 2009 at midnight EST we closed applications to the first cycle at the Peer 2 Peer University (P2PU) with a total of 227 applicants across 7 courses. The six week pilot phase will begin on September 9, 2009 (09/09/09). Each of the 7 courses has a maximum enrollment of 8 - 15 students. All applicants will be notified of their status within a week.

P2PU Course Application Distribution

Number of Applicants to Each P2PU Course

• 54 - Copyright for Educators
• 48 - Behavioral Economics and Decision Making
• 34 - Land Restoration and Afforestation
• 30 - Open Creative Nonfiction Writing
• 25 - Introduction to Cyberpunk Literature
• 20 - Poker and Strategic Thinking
• 16 - Neuroethics and International Biolaw

Summary

These are exciting times, all of our initial courses have more applicants than we can possibly accept. At the end of the first cycle, we're going to meet for a retrospective and iterate on our methodology. During the second cycle I'll be leading a course on web development. Hope to see you there.

Photo: CC-BY-SA

Fast Company has an interesting article about Edupunk. It covers Academic Earth, Flat World Knowledge, and Peer2Peer University (P2PU).

It's also worth noting the total contribution to Open Education by The Hewlett Foundation is $68 million. Thanks for sending me to the Open Education Conference last year!