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Open Source Connects Courseware at Rice University
6/26/2007
Using a Lego-like approach, content in Connexions is arranged in building blocks called modules. Like folders, modules contain the text, images, and Connexions files about a specific topic; say a short biography of Galileo or a brief history of Galileo and the pendulum, complete with scholarly references. Authors working in Connexions are encouraged to create modules that can stand alone, if necessary.
Instructors can incorporate the modules into their own courses as they see fit and can modify them if they choose. Material on Connexions is covered under a Creative Commons license, which generally allows sharing and adaptation of content as long as author attribution is included.
To students, a module can appear simply as a Web page that contains information on a specific topic. The course outline can direct students to other modules in Connexions, or students can branch off in their own directions on the site.
A second tier of content in Connexions is an actual course, made up of a set of modules and called a collection. For example, the modules relating to Galileo are part of an entire course, created by Rice University History Professor Albert Van Helden, called "Galileo Project."
An example of how the program can be used to integrate various media in ways that are impossible with textbooks can be found in an introductory music appreciation course called "Sound Reasoning," by Rice University Associate Professor Anthony Brandt. The text of the course, divided into easy to digest modules, describes music theory, sound, and ideas; interspersed at appropriate points are short (or sometimes longer) musical examples to help explain a point. A Macromedia Flash plugin from Adobe is required to listen, but that is available over the Internet at no charge. The overall experience is that of moving at one's own pace through a musicology course, complete with a resident expert and plenty of quality audio examples.
Although other universities are experimenting with making course content available at no charge--such as MIT's Open Courseware project, which makes the syllabi and some course notes of many MIT courses available online for free in PDF format--Baraniuk said he sees Connexions as "the main exemplar of a truly open, intra-institutional kind of effort." Content added to Connexions can be converted into XML from virtually any format, including common ones used by professors, such as Microsoft Word or PowerPoint; an Adobe PDF file converter is in development. "Connexions is based on Web technologies," Baraniuk said. "Anything you can do on the Web, you can do in Connexions."
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Linda L. Briggs is a freelance writer based in San Diego, Calif.
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