Connexions teams with professors group

Connexions teams with professors group

BY JADE BOYD
Rice News staff

The National Council of Professors of Educational Administration (NCPEA) has agreed to use the Connexions Project, the world’s fastest -growing collection of open-access scholarly knowledge, to develop and house a comprehensive set of writings and up-to-date information that its members can use to develop courses. Connexions’ use of the Creative Commons copyright licenses means any educator in the world will be able to use or modify the materials to create their own individualized courses.

“Our discipline has talked about creating this kind of thing for almost 50 years, but we’ve never really had the means to make it work,” said Ted Creighton, executive director of NCPEA. “Books are too expensive. There’s no way to include everything or to keep them current, and members can’t afford them anyway.

“With the Connexions model, any member will be able to submit their writings to the knowledge base, subject them to peer review, and any other member will be able to tap into that knowledge for free, or to build upon it,” he said.

Connexions is organized around Content Commons, an online repository that contains thousands of scholarly modules — manuscripts roughly equivalent to two or three pages from a textbook.

Connexions provides free software that allows anyone to publish to the repository under a Creative Commons open license. The license allows anyone else, be they a student or faculty member, to re-use, revise and recombine the modules. This feature gives people the option of creating customized courses, custom textbooks and personalized study guides.

“Connexions has grassroots appeal, and its growth has taken off in the past year because people are telling their friends about us, and that’s spawning new communities of users,” said Richard Baraniuk, the Victor E. Cameron Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering and founder of Connexions.

NCPEA will solicit contributions to the knowledge base from all interested parties, including scholars, practitioners, teachers, students and other educators. Contributions can be as short as two pages or as long as an entire book. The council is appointing a board charged with reviewing these submissions. The board will reply to submitting members with an acceptance or a suggestion for revisions.

“As a third-party professional organization with expertise in this field, NCPEA has a review board that will serve as a ‘lens’ for Connexions users,” said Baraniuk. “While NCPEA won’t endorse particular ideas or viewpoints in any of the material, the board’s endorsement will single out particular materials that are high-quality, professionally rigorous, research-based and aligned with practice in the educational leadership field.”

Founded in 1947, NCPEA is committed to the improvement of the practice and study of educational administration. Activities of the NCPEA include, but are not limited to: providing information and leadership, improving the preparation of school administrators, encouraging research and service, promoting high professional standards, focusing attention on educational problems and opportunities, promoting NCPEA membership, cooperating with other professional organizations interested in excellence of education and promoting participation in all activities deemed by the membership to be in the best interests.