East African elephant: Quakers, Nonviolence Strategy, Peace and Social Justice Studies, and World University and School

Dear George Lakey, 

Nice to see you today (we met decades ago at Pendle Hill) and thanks for an engaging, afternoon session in the San Francisco's Mission district on 'Nonviolent Strategy'. I had to leave with something previously planned, but I wanted to communicate with you in writing about Quaker-informed, wiki, MIT OCW-centric World University and School, which is like Wikipedia with MIT OpenCourseWare, and which plans to offer Creative Commons' licensed, MIT-centric, online, university degrees - bachelor (2014), Ph.D. (2015), law (2016) and M.D. (2017) in addition to International Baccalaureate (2015-ish?) in English - accredited eventually in many languages, beginning with United Nations' ones, as well as be in 7,413+ languages and 204+ countries, as open, free, online, wiki schools. We engage Quaker business process for our monthly business meetings. WUaS would like to matriculate our first, MIT-centric, undergraduate class in 2014, with students applying this autumn 2013. You could think of WUaS as a nonviolent strategy, in and of itself. And WUaS is very interested in reaching out to Quaker High School and College students, in particular. Free, MIT, and Wiki (as well as CC) and Friendly ... will appeal to many.

Here are a few examples of peace-oriented, wiki, subject pages at  World University and School: 

WUaS's 'Peace and Social Justice Studies,' wiki, subject page - 

http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Peace_and_Social_Justice_Studies -

and WUaS's 'Ahimsa - Nonharming - Nonviolence - To avoid violence,' wiki, subject page -

http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Ahimsa_-_Nonharming_-_Nonviolence_-_To_avoid_violence.


And here are some WUaS's Quaker pages: 

http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Quakers_-_Religious_Society_of_Friends

http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Nontheist_Friends_%28atheist_Quakers%3F%29.

There are many familiar academic subject pages at WUaS, in addition to the main, WUaS pages which you'll find here at "Three, main, I.T. foci at World University & School, Music School, Universal Translator, Virtual Harbin Hot Springs / Earth as 'classroom'" - http://worlduniversityandschool.blogspot.com/2012/02/three-main-it-foci-at-world-university.html.

Looking forward to sharing ideas further.

With friendly regards,
Scott

*

I added the following books, databases and resources that George wrote on the board at this session in the WUaS Ahimsa, wiki page -

http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Ahimsa_-_Nonharming_-_Nonviolence_-_To_avoid_violence -


Lakey, George. 2012. Toward a living revolution: A five-stage framework for creating radical social change. London, UK: Peace News Press.

Moyer, Bill, JoAmn McAllister, Mary Lou Finley, Steven Soifer. 2001. Doing Democracy: The MAP Model for Organizing Social Movements. Philadelphia, PA: New Society Publishers.

Global Nonviolent Action Database. 2013. Global Nonviolent Action Database. Swarthmore, PA: nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu

--

World University and School

(like Wikipedia with MIT Open Course Ware)

http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/World_University

P.O. Box 442,   

(86 Ridgecrest Road), 

Canyon, CA 94516

415 480 4577

worldunivandsch@scottmacleod.com

worlduniversityandschool@gmail.com

Skype: scottm100

Google + main, WUaS page: 

https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/108179352492243955816/108179352492243955816/posts 

Please contribute, and invite friends to contribute, tax deductibly, via PayPal and credit card: 

http://scottmacleod.com/worlduniversityandschool.htm

World University and School is a 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt educational organization. 

Barn owl: First, online, undergraduate, bachelor's degree - from the big University of Wisconsin, - that I've heard of, Here are the College at WUaS and Admissions at WUaS, WUaS would like to matriculate our first, free, Creative Commons' licensed, MIT OCW-centric, undergraduate class in the autumn of 2014, with students applying this autumn

http://agreenliving.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/e244e441b7wildlife_barn_owl-small-333x500.jpg


Here's the first, online, undergraduate, bachelor's degree I've heard of, - from the big University of Wisconsin -

College Degree, No Class Time Required

University of Wisconsin to Offer a 

Bachelor's to Students Who Take 

Online Competency Tests About 

What They Know

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323301104578255992379228564.html -

which I've added to 'The College at WUaS,' as reference. 


It's great to have precedent 'out there' in path-making, from an already-accredited, good, big university.



*

Here's the College at WUaS ...

http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/The_College_at_World_University_and_School


and Admissions at WUaS ...

http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Admissions_at_World_University_and_School


*

WUaS would like to matriculate our first, free, Creative Commons' licensed, MIT OCW-centric, undergraduate class in the autumn of 2014, with students applying this autumn.



...

Oryx: New 'Arabic language' wiki, subject page at WUaS, Video with Hillary Rodham Clinton introducing from the Ben Franklin Room a new Open Books' project focusing on educational resources in the Arabic language, and vis-a-vis the Arab League, New York Times' piece by Tom Friedman, "Revolution Hits the Universities," also emphasizing online education and the Arabic language.

http://cdn-wac.emirates247.com/polopoly_fs/1.267594.1279422629!/image/4070777563.jpg


New 'Arabic language' wiki, subject page at World University and School -

http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Arabic_language -


with a video with Hillary Rodham Clinton (outgoing Secretary of State)

Remarks at the Announcement of the 

Open Book Project

http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2013/01/203382.htm

introducing from the Ben Franklin Room a new Open Books' project, focusing on educational resources in the Arabic language, and vis-a-vis the Arab League,

The initiative will:

• Support the creation of Arabic-language Open Educational Resources (OERs) and the translation of existing OERs into Arabic.
• Disseminate the resources free of charge through our partners and their platforms.
• Offer training and support to governments, educators, and students to put existing resources to use and develop their own.
• Raise Awareness of the potential of open educational resources and promote uptake of online learning materials.

http://www.state.gov/p/nea/rls/203276.htm



and a New York Times' piece by Tom Friedman, "Revolution Hits the Universities," -

http://mobile.nytimes.com/article?a=1020686 -

also emphasizing education and the Arabic language.


*

In conjunction with developing Creative Commons' licensed, MIT-OCW World University and School for online university (and I.B.) degrees in English, WUaS plans to begin developing in United Nations' languages, first, including Arabic.


*

Some relevant, beginning WUaS links:


Arabic language: http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Arabic_language

Middle East: http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Middle_East

United Arab Emirates: http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/United_Arab_Emirates

United Nations: http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/United_Nations

...

Grey Crowned Crane: Democratic Republic of Congo Educational Resources, WUaS as a wiki educational resource for the Congo, Perhaps a Sal Khan of Congolese educational resources in Congolese languages will emerge

http://10000birds.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Crane-Grey-Crowned-Ndutu-Tanzania-AR-10.jpg


Hi R, 

Thanks for your question about educational resources on CD for the DRC.

World University and School is coming along in baby steps, and we'd like to matriculate our first, Creative Commons' licensed, MIT OCW-centric, undergraduate degree class, in English, in the autumn of 2014 (applying this autumn). 

Thanks so much for forwarding information about WUaS to the US lead for Congo Education work (of the Orinda-Lafayette Presbyterian Congo Team, or Friends of the Congo?)! 

What languages do you think would be most fruitful for educational resources in the DRC as these various, media resources grow? WUaS is planning for all languages eventually, but, after college degree programs in English get going, nad starting with UN languages, and possibly in Portuguese and Swahili, two lingua francas of Africa, early on, and eventually moving much MIT OCW into these languages at the high school/I.B., undergraduate/BA and graduate levels/Ph.D. And WUaS will plan for both handheld devices (relatively inexpensive) and CDs/DVDs (compact disks/digital versatile disks) and printable ones (see the "navigation section" at the WUaS Congo page), but I wasn't able to find any online, educational resources for the Congo on the web when I just looked. And WUaS would very much like to invite Congolese to become stakeholders and initiators in this WUaS, MIT-centric, WUaS process ... and to simply start teaching to the web at WUaS, in non-French languages. 

I did find this in Wikipedia, suggesting Belgium and resources in French would be something to build on: 

(In 2001 the literacy rate was estimated to be 67.2% (80.9% male and 54.1% female).^[68] The education system in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is governed by three government ministries: the Ministère de l'Enseignement Primaire, Secondaire et Professionnel (MEPSP), the Ministère de l'Enseignement Supérieur et Universitaire (MESU) and the Ministère des Affaires Sociales (MAS). The educational system in the DRC is similar to that of Belgium. In 2002, there were over 19,000 primary schools serving 160,000 students; and 8,000 secondary schools serving 110,000 students. Primary education is free and compulsory (Article 43 of the 2005 Congolese Constitution).^[69]

Gross enrollment ratios are based on the number of students formally registered in primary school and therefore do not necessarily reflect actual school attendance.^[70] In 2000, 65 percent of children ages 10 to 14 years were attending school.^[70] As a result of the 6-year civil war, over 5.2 million children in the country receive no education.^[70])

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Republic_of_the_Congo#Education).

Presently WUaS's pages are places where we can all add open, online resources we know of, and even create them by starting a wiki, subject page - http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/SUBJECT_TEMPLATE - or teaching to our web camera.  We can also create other, new pages. 

WUaS's Congo, and related, pages (e.g. languages ,etc.) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Republic_of_the_Congo - are wiki and thus open. As Congolese and other people learn of this, and as the WUaS wiki improves (we're moving soon probably to a new Wikidata wiki), resources on this page will grow. Perhaps a Sal Khan of Congolese educational resources in Congolese languages will emerge. 

And perhaps J.I. might have some insight in to developing such resources. 

Best, 

Scott

...

wild grass: monty python football

http://images.fineartamerica.com/images-medium/wild-grass-jim-darnall.jpg

monty python football

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ur5fGSBsfq8

Comedy at WUaS: http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Comedy

...

Olympics' Cedar: Seriously funny Economics (from a Reedie:) ... Yoram Bauman, Hyperinflation in Hell, , Cambridge, MA: http://gregmankiw.blogspot.com/2013/01/hyperinflation-in-hell.html, which I added to the Economics' wiki, subject page at WUaS ...

http://www.sequimgazette.com/static/images/realestate/undefined/Hoh-Cedars.jpg

Seriously funny Economics (from a Reedie:) ... 


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=TsdSxk-qxZE

Bauman, Yoram. 2013. [http://gregmankiw.blogspot.com/2013/01/hyperinflation-in-hell.html Hyperinflation in Hell]. January 22. Cambridge, MA: gregmankiw.blogspot.com/2013/01/hyperinflation-in-hell.html. 


... which I added to the Economics' wiki, subject page at WUaS ... 

http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Economics ...






...

Scotch Bonnet: Happy Rabbie Burns' night, "To a Louse," Scottish languages

http://www.g6csy.net/chile/images/bonnet-flower.jpg


Happy Rabbie Burns' night ...

Here's a famous poem and manuscript of his from the British Library -

"To celebrate, here is Robert Burn’s poem ‘To a Louse’ from his first published collection: Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect (1786), also known as the ‘Kilmarnock Volume’." (British Library).  

"To a Louse" 

http://www.bl.uk/learning/timeline/item126722.html 

(... again, chiefly published in the Scottish Dialect, -  http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Scots - not Scottish Gaelic (spoken in the Highlands) - http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Scottish_Gaelic).


Is Burns' Scottish Dialect one of "The Ethnologue's" 7,413 languages ...

http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=sco ?

Yes, it's 'Scots' language.


This poem is written in 'Scots,' and the Scottish Dialect referred to above, and in the Scottish language, (but not in Scottish English), and is the language in which Burns' wrote his poems ... Here's the Wikipedia entry with further clarifications: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scots_language.





...

Washington coast Taylor Point: Susan Crawford's NYT's article "How to Get America Online," Part of WUaS's mission is to facilitate "the development of broadband worldwide, to make our service accessible to under served parts of the world" (see WUaS's Mission below), Universal Internet Access

http://www.sequimgazette.com/static/images/realestate/undefined/Taylor-Pt.jpg



Part of WUaS's mission is to facilitate "the development of broadband worldwide, to make our service accessible to under served parts of the world" (see WUaS's Mission below). In planning, WUaS would like to explore various ways of making internet access available both in the U.S., vis-a-vis a development of something like the U.S. telephone system's universal lifeline program, but in the name of education, for communities that are interested, and via wireless, as well. This may mean engaging U.S. regulatory processes and the FCC, per Susan Crawford's "How to Get America Online" article below, somehow together with MIT OCW and MIT, for low cost broadband development in the name of universal internet access (and for education, too).

Crawford, Susan. 2013. [http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/24/opinion/how-to-get-high-speed-internet-to-all-americans.html How to Get America Online]. January 23. New York, NY: The New York Times.


I've added this to the following WUaS, wiki subjects:


Wireless Technologies:
http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Wireless_Technologies

WUaS Broadband Development: http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/WUaS_Broadband_Development



World University & School's mission (http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/World_University - like Wikipedia with MIT Open Course Ware), - in reaching out to the entire world, is to provide a free, wiki-based, education platform and, through facilitating the development of broadband worldwide, to make our service accessible to under served parts of the world. The WUaS mission is thus to facilitate all levels of teaching and learning opportunities (and future degrees) through an open, editable wiki in all languages, nation-states and subjects with great universities, and for One Laptop per Child countries and everyone.








...

Olympics' wilderness: Funding teachers and librarian-teachers, thanks to the extraordinary Digital Public Library of America, World University and School's emphasis on teaching, building on Reed College's conference method, Thanks for great library resources and in all languages

http://www.sequimgazette.com/static/images/realestate/undefined/Pumpkin-Seed-Lk.jpg

The DPLA and School Libraries: Partners Focused on Digital-Era Learners

By John Palfrey on January 22, 2013

http://www.thedigitalshift.com/2013/01/digital-libraries/the-dpla-and-school-libraries-partners-focused-on-digital-era-learners/


One thesis of this article by John Palfrey, who is chair of the steering committee of the extraordinary Digital Public Library of America initiative (http://dp.la/ and see http://dp.la/info/news/press/), which should have library resources online this April 2013, is that the DPLA will free up financial resources for actual teaching in schools everywhere. This is both important, and relatively underemphasized in recent conversations about MOOCs (massive online open courses) and online education, let alone in the classroom. While Palfrey suggests that educational systems and budgets will also be able to fund librarians as teachers, in addition to classroom teachers and other teachers, from the savings gained that might otherwise be spent on texts, textbooks, and library acquisitions, due to the DPLA, World University and School appreciates this emphasis on teachers, teaching and learning suggested in this article.

World University and School has long been planning to engage the Conference Method of Teaching and Learning for our upcoming, MIT-centric, degree programs, building on Reed College's emphasis on the Conference Method, by engaging it online in Google + group video hangouts, for example. While WUaS doesn't yet have the financial resources to hire full time faculty to teach via the Conference Method, WUaS plans to begin the process hiring graduate student instructors from great universities such as MIT and Harvard in autumn 2014, who would teach online in conferences and sections, in conjunction with MIT faculty in MIT OCW video and audio to begin - http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/audio-video-courses. (WUaS, as wiki, also makes it possible for YOU to teach, for example to your web camera or in a Google + Hangout via the Conference Method, if you like).

World University and School is also thrilled by upcoming library resources from the DPLA for WUaS's upcoming, MIT OCW-centric a) The College at WUaS, b) Ph.D. degrees' program at WUaS, c) the law school, d) the medical school, as well as e) International Baccalaureate program (and eventually in many languages, beginning with the United Nations' languages), but also for WUaS's Library Resources' wiki, subject page, and eventually in all 7,413+ languages. The DPLA may well serve as a model for other languages' online libraries, which WUaS could eventually spearhead, as well as for freeing up financial resources for MIT-centric teaching and learning between languages. A teaching and learning conversation facilitated by teachers, supported by adequate library resources, and worldwide, will benefit so many people and societies.







....

Jaguarundi: Yesterday would have been Janis Joplin's 70th birthday ... She still rocks ... Friend from Germany: (Unfortunately no Pandora in Germany), No Pandora.com in Germany for Janis Joplin's music? ... How about archive.org in Germany? ... they may have her music, Library Resources at WUaS are becoming more and more diverse ... and the 'Rock and Roll' wiki subject at WUaS will eventually have libraries

http://www.allaboutwildlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/JaguarundiBodina1.jpg


Yesterday would have been Janis Joplin's 70th birthday ... She still rocks ...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJb7cBfrxbo


And here's a full interview with her:

August 3rd 1970 Dick Cavett talks to legends Janis Joplin and Gloria
Swanson, actress Margot Kidder and football player Dave Meggyesy


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlqAsesmLQ0



Friend from Germany:
"One of the really great. I really love her music! (Unfortunately no Pandora in Germany.)"


No Pandora.com in Germany for Janis Joplin's music? ...

http://www.pandora.com/station/play/2742989498329541 ... 


How about archive.org in Germany? ... they may have her music ... 

e.g. http://archive.org/details/GratefulDead ... 



Library Resources at WUaS are becoming more and more diverse ...

http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Library_Resources 


and Rock and Roll at WUaS will eventually have libraries ... 

http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Rock_and_Roll ...






...

Teeming species: Peace Corps, Paideia, and Quaker Voluntary Service informing World University and School ... and especially Wikipedia, in the form of MIT-centric, wiki schools for the emerging, developing and OLPC worlds ... Great Volunteer Opportunities for a far-reaching Learning and Teaching Conversation

http://www.pewenvironment.org/uploadedImages/PEG/Campaigns/golch-egmont-fish-450-mfk022311.jpg


Peace Corps, Paideia, and Quaker Voluntary Service informing WUaS ... and especially Wikipedia, in the form of MIT-centric, wiki schools for One Laptop per Child (OLPC) and the emerging, developing  worlds, with free, Creative Commons' licensed degrees planned for many countries and languages ...


Peace Corps
"To promote world peace and friendship through a Peace Corps, which shall make available to interested countries and areas men and women of the United States qualified for service abroad and willing to serve, under conditions of hardship if necessary, to help the peoples of such countries and areas in meeting their needs for trained manpower."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_Corps)


Paideia (at Reed College)
"This festival of learning takes the form of classes and seminars put on by anyone who wishes to teach, including students, professors, staff members, and outside educators invited on-campus by members of the Reed Community. The classes are intended to be informal, yet intellectual activities free of the usual academic pressure endemic to Reed."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reed_College#Paideia)


Quaker Voluntary Service
"International Voluntary Services is a private, non-profit organization designed to promote "people-to-people" cooperation in improving health, productivity and living standards and fostering better understanding among peoples. It is a mechanism for uniting the energies of individuals and private organizations, and of providing program direction and administrative services for foreign service projects. Some IVS projects are sponsored and supported entirely through private contributions and others may be operated in cooperation with governmetnal or international agencies."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Voluntary_Services#Mission_Statement.2C_1953)



Nation States and regions at WUaS (204+)
http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Nation_States


Languages at WUaS (7,413+)
http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Languages





....

Isle of May: "Imagining Victory: Scotland Votes Yes," "Kinetic Edinburgh" multimedia ... Gorgeous

http://quillcards.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/puffins-on-the-isle-of-may.jpg


Interesting piece on what an independence vote in 2014 would include ...

Imagining Victory: Scotland Votes Yes

http://nationalcollective.com/2013/01/21/imagining-victory-scotland-votes-yes/


added to World University and School's wiki, Scotland page ...  http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Scotland


*

"Kinetic Edinburgh," Scotland ... Gorgeous ...

Kinetic Edinburgh from walid salhab on Vimeo.
https://vimeo.com/48399336 ...

will look to add to World University and School's Scotland page ...  http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Scotland ...






...

Cherry tree: "Consciousness Raising: The Critique, Agenda, and Inherent Precariousness of Contemporary Anglophone Atheism," A little bit of a cherry-tree hatchet job, Nontheist Friends (atheist Quakers?) wiki subject page at WUaS

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOq_AZWFkHTDksM7GW63equ9P3Lf3TBfvWNixNj6PKqhMJwZhL2ac-sqspNmkP04C3JhW2Fx7QHjhTJ0P8lxvB1HJStO2oKrGTtBqlVgEmQ2LI636X1FC-1H9uZ1lk65QJFlV_YMRfzWk/s1600/sand+cherry.jpg


"Consciousness Raising: The Critique, Agenda, and Inherent Precariousness of Contemporary Anglophone Atheism" by Christopher Cotter, University of Edinburgh Dissertation, 2010.
http://www.academia.edu/2301843/Consciousness_Raising_The_Critique_Agenda_and_Inherent_Precariousness_of_Contemporary_Anglophone_Atheism

... a little bit of a cherry-tree hatchet job, ... and I'm glad Christopher Cotter is exploring such questions, and writing cogently about some of the limitations of religion vis-a-vis atheism ... Merry, merry ...


Nontheist Friends (atheist Quakers?) wiki subject page at WUaS ...

http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Nontheist_Friends_(atheist_Quakers%3F)






...

Ciclid: World University and School would like to begin to develop WUaS in Wikidata/Wikibase/SemanticWiki, and move from our present, Wikia wiki

http://www.georgiaaquarium.org/media/images/newsroom/gallery/rs/Cichlids.jpg



Dear L,

World University and School would like to begin to develop WUaS in Wikidata/Wikibase/SemanticWiki, and move from our present, Wikia wiki. At your suggestion, I'm writing a document to explain some of the ways WUaS would like to begin to engage Wikidata, and to inquire what you would suggest as the best ways to do this. I hope here to lay out the WUaS 'big picture' in this transfer inquiry. 

WUaS is like Wikipedia with MIT OCW, and plans to become available in many or all languages and any country, both as a people-to-people, open, teaching and learning wiki, and also for free, online, courses and/or degrees. 

WUaS presently has 539 wiki pages in English, the section headings of which we would like to copy, paste and translate into other languages, as we move from the current, Wikia wiki to the new, Creative Commons’ licensed, Wikidata / Wikibase database. 

In moving from the present Wikia wiki to Wikidata/Wikibase, WUaS would like to transfer 99.9% of what is posted now on the WUaS wiki, basically in its present form, to a new Wikidata database. But in the process, WUaS would like to anticipate new developments designed into the new Wikidata / Wikibase wiki for Wikipedia, especially in terms of multiple languages' support, but also in numerous other ways.  

As I envision this transfer process, WUaS would develop its main, nine pages in English, first, which are - Courses, Subjects, Languages (All), Nation States (All), You at WUaS, Research, Educational Software, Library Resources, Museums, Hardware Resource Possibilities ... see http://worlduniversityandschool.blogspot.com/2012/02/three-main-it-foci-at-world-university.html - perhaps developing templates for this, and then begin to add the remaining 530 pages, before growing from there, (but there may be easier ways to do this, with which I'm not familiar). 

In planning for future developments, WUaS would like to anticipate as wiki pages:

- a Music School, with all instruments in all languages, each a wiki subject page to begin; 

- collaborating with Wikipedia to make it easy to turn a Wikipedia article into a wiki Subject at WUaS - http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/SUBJECT_TEMPLATE ; 

- coding Wikidata / Wikibase / SemanticWiki so that it works with WUaS's bookstore, eventually probably around the payee field of Quickbooks and Quickbooks’ POS Multi-store; 

- developing metrics of usage of WUaS, including eventually studies of students and how they learn,

- collaborating with Wikimedia for languages, and in unforeseen ways; 

- developing modalities of communication between Wikidata and WUaS for flexibility to grow as needed. 

Let me end with a question:  Is there a way to 'bookmark' references, - e.g. adding a course or adding a specific, book title - and to thereby speed up this process? 

Thank you and best wishes, 
Scott

--


Scott MacLeod
Founder & President



http://scottmacleod.com

--
World University and School
(like Wikipedia with MIT Open Course Ware)

http://worlduniversityandschool.blogspot.com/

http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/World_University

P.O. Box 442,
(86 Ridgecrest Road),
Canyon, CA 94516

415 480 4577
worlduniversityandschool@gmail.com
Skype: scottm100

Google + main, WUaS pages: 

https://plus.google.com/u/0/115890623333932577910/posts
https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/108179352492243955816/108179352492243955816/posts

Please contribute, and invite friends to contribute, tax deductibly, via PayPal and credit card:

http://scottmacleod.com/worlduniversityandschool.htm

World University and School is a 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt educational organization.







...

Yellow butterfly: Ideas for Socially Responsible Investing ... at WUaS's 'Investing - Socially Responsible,' wiki, subject page, Remember, buyer beware, and check with "Morningstar Guide to Mutual Funds" (a "Consumer Reports" of mutual fund investing), online through your local, public library, Wikipedia's 'Socially responsible investing,' wiki article, Or invest directly in your local community where there's need

http://www.permaculturenews.org/images/butterfly_craig_mackintosh_01455.jpg

Here are some ideas for socially responsible investing ... at WUaS's

'Investing - Socially Responsible,' wiki, subject page -

http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Investing_-_Socially_Responsible -

with many, other resources.




Ideas

Remember, buyer beware, and check with "Morningstar Guide to Mutual Funds" (a "Consumer Reports" of mutual fund investing with ratings and comparisons) online through your local, public library, ... but three, diversified, low-cost, socially responsibly, mutual funds, that top my list for investing for retirement, are:

TIAA CREF Social Choice Equity Fund - TICRX

Vanguard FTSE Social Index Fund Investor Shares - VFTSX

Domini Social Equity Fund - DSEFX


Vanguard Health Care fund finishes in the top 1% of all mutual funds after 15 years, and is very low cost, and has very low turnover, but is now closed. It also buys stocks similar to that which a socially responsible mutual fund would buy. T. Rowe Price Health Sciences Fund - PRHSX - is performing remarkably these days, but as a health care fund, it isn't diversified, and hence more risky (a big concern in investing) than the above diversified, socially responsible, mutual funds. Check these two out in Morningstar.


Use Morningstar Guide to Mutual Funds (an objective, comparative analysis), or similar (e.g. Consumer Reports), through your online, local, public library, to do your own research about mutual funds to buy for the long term.


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Here's Wikipedia's 'Socially responsible investing,' wiki article ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socially_responsible_investing ...


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Or invest directly in your local community where there's need ...





...

Flower coral: 'Brainfingers: Hands-Free Computer Access Solution,' 'Tan Le: A headset that reads your brainwaves,' 'Mind Control Device Demonstration - Tan Le,' World University and School's 'Brain Computer Interface,' wiki, subject page, MIT, Linked these 3 videos to my recent poem here, 'Monsieur Nikhil Bannerjee, master raga player, moved me along the way,' Excited about these possibilities for virtual Harbin

http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/pgallery/pgflower/living/Lgflowercoral_300.jpg


Brainwave headsets are fascinating ...


Brainfingers: Hands-Free Computer Access Solution

http://brainfingers.com/

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Filmed July 2010 at TEDGlobal 2010

Tan Le: A headset that reads your brainwaves

https://www.ted.com/talks/tan_le_a_headset_that_reads_your_brainwaves?language=en

Mind Control Device Demonstration - Tan Le

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40L3SGmcPDQ


*
Find, if possible, too:

Tan Le: A headset that reads your brainwaves, 

 Focus Factor For Kids

*

Here's World University and School's brain computer interface, wiki, subject page ...

Brain Computer Interface
- https://wiki.worlduniversityandschool.org/wiki/Brain_Computer_Interface
(was: http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Brain_Computer_Interface ...)

Brain and Cognitive Sciences
- https://wiki.worlduniversityandschool.org/wiki/Brain_and_Cognitive_Sciences

where you can wiki engage such fascinating developments.


*

Can we control machines using only our thoughts?

http://engineering.mit.edu/live/news/1095-can-we-control-machines-using-only-our-thoughts


Brain-Controlled Color Grid
http://web.media.mit.edu/~arlduc/process/2012/02/28/BrainControlledColorGrid/

Adventures in EEG
http://web.media.mit.edu/~arlduc/process/2012/02/22/EEG_Adventures/



*

I've linked these 3 videos to my recent poem here ...

Monsieur Nikhil Bannerjee, master raga player, moved me along the way

http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2013/01/yellow-corolla-monsieur-nikhil.html
(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/search/label/poetry) ...

find the line with brainwave in it ...


*

I'm excited about these brainwave headset possibilities for the eventual virtual Harbin we'd like to build.


* * *
See, too:

Human brain: Music-brainwave devices, Tan Le's 'A headset that reads your brainwaves,' Brainfingers.com * * * Brain Computer Interface https://wiki.worlduniversityandschool.org/wiki/Brain_Computer_Interface, Brain and Cognitive Sciences https://wiki.worlduniversityandschool.org/wiki/Brain_and_Cognitive_Sciences * * * "Flower coral: 'Brainfingers: Hands-Free Computer Access Solution,' 'Tan Le: A headset ... "

https://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2010/11/human-brain-music-brainwave-device-tan.html

*

...

Hawaiian Spinner Dolphins: Udacity and the California State University educational system are partnering! See Governor Jerry Brown, Sebastian Thrun and other educational luminaries in this video conversation, World University and School would seek to partner with MIT and Harvard

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/files/2012/03/Rudd_Photo_3.jpg

Great!  Udacity and the California State University educational system are partnering!

SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY TO ANNOUNCE NEW ONLINE EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP

January 15   |   Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library, Rooms 225/229

See Governor Jerry Brown, Sebastian Thrun and other educational luminaries here in this 45 minute video conversation:  

http://www.sjsu.edu/plus/news/index.html


http://blogs.sjsu.edu/today/2013/sjsu-and-udacity-partnership/



*

This announcement also helps bring costs into focus: $150 per course is relatively inexpensive ...


*

World University and School would seek to partner with MIT and Harvard, if possible.

California, of course, would benefit from free, online, Creative Commons' MIT OCW-centric degrees, too.





...

Reef-building corals: 'How I can create an online course?' at World University and School, FAQs, a. Build it gradually, b. Use some of this course making software using, for example, Google's course-builder, c. For a MIT OCW-centric course ...

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/photo/2012-06/20/131664811_21n.jpg

Hi, S, 

Thanks for your questions about how to create an online course, - replies to which I've added to WUaS's FAQs - http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Frequently_Asked_Questions and here ...  

'''How I can create an online course?'''

a. Build it gradually. For example, simply start teaching to your web camera for 3 minutes, mention a book, then build a syllabus and a series of lectures, and invite potential learners to meet in a Google + Hangout, for example.  

b. Use some of this course making software using, for example, Google's course-builder -https://code.google.com/p/course-builder/ - which is available here at WUaS's Course Management Systems - http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Educational_Software#Course_Management_Systems- with other course-making software, or start one on a free wiki, which software is also accessible on this page. 

c. For a MIT OCW-centric course, that might eventually be taught for credit on the degree side of WUaS, use a MIT OCW course as a model, and then construct the course on a web page, or using the above software. 

I'll reply to your other questions later, but Google's course-builder is a great example (thanks to Peter Norvig) of the direction WUaS would like to move in for organizing all of this WUaS material. 

People teaching to and learning from each other is what WUaS is significantly about, which your questions point to! Thanks!

Best, 

Scott

*

 I continue to update these two, recent, blog entries (1/13 and 1/14), comparing open education universities: 

http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2013/01/speciation-and-finches-compare-and.html

http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2013/01/pollination-game-how-does-world.html

...

Speciation and finches: Comparing and contrasting salient aspects of visible, online, University, educational projects, with these criteria: 1. offered this many courses, 2. had this many learners participate, 3. and its web interface technology worked like this, 4. certification offered, 5. business model

http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/F/Finches.jpg


In outlining ways in which WUaS differs from other growing and visible online educational projects ... see yesterday's blog entry here ...

How does World University and School differ from edX, MITx, Yale OYC, Coursera, iTunes University, Udacity, and all the other, great, free, online, course-oriented, university, educational projects on the web?

http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2013/01/pollination-game-how-does-world.html ...


it's interesting to compare and contrast salient aspects of these projects.


Here are some criteria for comparison ...

1. - offered this many courses ...

2. - had this many learners participate ...

3. - and its web interface technology worked like this ...

4. - certification offered ...

5. - business model ...





As of December 2012 (autumn / whole year +) ...


MIT OCW


- offered this many courses ... 2,142

- had this many learners participate ... millions
(http://web.mit.edu/edtech/casestudies/ocw.html and http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2012/mit-opencourseware-marks-10th-anniversary-of-pilot-site-launch.html) ...

undergraduate, graduate, high school

- and its web interface technology worked like this ... web pages, video and audio, study groups, non-U.S. and non-English languages

- certification offered ... none

- business model ... $3.5 million, annual budget, and planning for the next 10 years ...  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIT_OpenCourseWare#Funding).




edX (which builds on MITx)

- offered this many courses ... 7

- had this many learners participate ... "More than 150,000 students from over 160 countries registered for MITx's first course, 6.002x: Circuits and Electronics. The age range of students certified in this course was from 14 to 74 years-old." 
(https://www.edx.org/faq) ... 

undergraduate, graduate?

- and its web interface technology worked like this ... MOOC, web pages

- certification offered ... "... certificate of completion. Certificates will be issued by edX under the name of the underlying "X University" from where the course originated, i.e. HarvardX, MITx or BerkeleyX. For the courses in Fall 2012, those certificates will be free. There is a plan to charge a modest fee for certificates in the future."
(https://www.edx.org/faq)

- business model ... "The two institutions (MIT and Harvard) have each contributed $30 million of resources to the nonprofit project. edX launched in Fall 2012 and builds on MITx, a similar project launched by MIT in December 2011.^[2] ... The design of a viable business model for sustainability of the enterprise is in progress.^[5]" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EdX)



Coursera

- offered this many courses ... 200 

- had this many learners participate ... 1.5 million students
(http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=3109) ...

undergraduate, graduate

- and its web interface technology worked like this ... MOOC, web pages with social networking possibilities, like group email, video, class assignment example from "Startup Boards: Advanced Entrepreneurship" - develop a board and team from the list of class members, and hold 4 real time board meetings, which one class did in Google + Hangouts .

- certification offered ... certificate of completion


- business model ... "While Coursera is a for-profit company, currently they are not generating revenue.^[4] Coursera and participating schools each meet their own expenses, which are substantial on both sides^{[citation needed]}. As of December 2012, Coursera finances its operations from venture capital. In April 2012, Coursera announced that they had received $16 million of Series A venture capital from L. John Doerr at Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers and Scott Sandell of New Enterprise Associates ^[5] John Doerr has suggested that people will pay for "valuable, premium services".^[6] Any revenue stream will be divided, with schools receiving a small percentage of revenue and 20% of gross profits.^[7][8] Schedule 1 of the contract between Coursera and participating universities ^[9] contains a "brainstorming" list of possibilities, including:^[8][9]

• Certification: the student pays a fee to the school, which issues certification of completion or adequate performance in the course which Coursera makes accessible in a verifiable format
• Secure assessment: Coursera, for a fee, provides testing and verification of identity at physical locations
• Sale of information to potential employers: for a fee, and with student permission, access to a database containing information about students and courses they have taken is sold to enterprises
• Assessment of competency: for a fee paid by a potential employer or educational institution Coursera would evaluate the competency of a student
• Tutoring or evaluation of progress: for a fee an employee or contractor of Coursera provides personal attention, tutoring, or evaluation of a student's work
• Licensing or sale of the learning platform and courses to employers or schools for continuing education or course work, for example, at a community college
• Sponsorship: for a fee, firms or foundations would sponsor courses, only "non-intrusive" advisement of the sponsorship is contemplated
• Tuition: after a free trial period, tuition would be charged for full access to a course and materials; another possibility is use of the platform and materials by on-campus, or on-line, students enrolled in the course at the sponsoring institution, who already are paying full tuition; in which case a small fee would be paid to Coursera by or on behalf of each student

As of July 2012, certification and sale of information to potential employers were being actively explored.^[8]"
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coursera#Business_model)

also, "build fast and worry about the money later"
http://news.onlineschools.org/2012/08/courseras-business-plan-elucidated-by-published-contract/ ...
http://chronicle.com/article/How-an-Upstart-Company-Might/133065/)







iTunes U


- offered this many courses ...  tens of thousands ... “the world’s largest catalog of free educational content” 
(http://diverseeducation.com/article/16940/)

- had this many learners participate ... ? The lectures and other content have been downloaded 700 million times, according to the company.

undergraduate, graduate, high school?

- and its web interface technology worked like this ... iTunes video and audio lecture streaming

- certification offered ... none


- business model ... free academic content in iTunes, with its other paid content ...
( http://www.slideshare.net/laylak123/the-current-i-tunes-business-model
http://net205thinkdifferent.wordpress.com/itunes-business-models-4/
http://mfeldstein.com/whos_afraid_of_itunes_u/
http://www.designedforlearning.co.uk/apple-launches-new-itunes-u/ )

Open Yale Courses (OYC)


- offered this many courses ... 42


- had this many learners participate ... ?,

undergraduate

- and its web interface technology worked like this ... websites, video / audio

- certification offered ... none

- business model ... Foundation monies - William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Yale_Courses)






Udacity


- offered this many courses ... 15

- had this many learners participate ... 90,000? "Thrun has stated he hopes half a million students will enroll, after an enrollment of 160,000 students in the predecessor course at Stanford, Introduction to Artificial Intelligence,^[6] and 90,000 students had enrolled in the initial two classes as of March 2012.<sup>[7][8]" ...

undergraduate, graduate?</sup>

- its web interface technology worked like this ... MOOC, websites

- certification offered ... certificate of completion "indicating their level of achievement, signed by the instructors, at no cost.^[18][22] In addition, beginning 24 August 2012, through partnership with electronic testing company Pearson VUE, students of CS101 can elect to take an additional proctored 75-minute final exam for a fee of $89 in an effort to allow Udacity classes to "count towards a credential that is recognized by employers."^{[15][23][24]"} 


- business model ...  "Udacity is funded by venture capital firm, Charles River Ventures, and $300,000 of Thrun's personal money.^[2] In October 2012 the venture capital firm Andreessen 
Horowitz led the investment of another $15 million in Udacity.^[10]"
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Udacity)

Udacity just partnered with San Jose State University
(http://blogs.sjsu.edu/today/2013/sjsu-and-udacity-partnership/)






World University and School


- offered this many courses ... 2,142 (MIT OCW) + 42 (Yale OYC) + 150- ish more from other great universities, cross-listings by subject

- had this many learners participate ... possibly around 100 in editing the wiki, either as teachers, learners or editors ... for free, online, Creative Commons' licensed, MIT-centric, university degrees, applying this autumn 2013, WUAS is seeking overachieving high school or college students such as might apply to Harvard or MIT, et. al., as well as Quaker high schoolers, in the beginning. ...

undergraduate, graduate, high school, all, in all languages and countries

- and its web interface technology worked like this ... Wiki, web site, MIT OCW, Yale OYC, where anyone in any language can add resources, teach, learn or edit, in addition to the degree courses, Google + Hangouts, virtual worlds ... with Conference Method

- certification offered ... WUaS is planning 5, Creative Commons' licensed, degrees/diplomas - bachelor, Ph.D., I.B., law and M.D., - and in many languages and countries. 

- business model ... governments, companies, foundations and philanthropies, ... MIT-centric, STEM education for every country around the world, in many languages, for free, C.C., online degrees, collaborating with MIT ... and Bookstore / Computer store (New and Used) ... http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Bookstore_/_Computer_Store_(New_&_Used)_at_WUaS ...






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Coursera - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coursera

edX - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EdX  (MITx builds on edX)

iTunes U - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itunes_University#iTunes_U

MIT OCW - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIT_OpenCourseWare 

Open Yale Courses (OYC) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Yale_Courses 

Udacity - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Udacity 

World University and School - http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/World_University





(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2013/01/speciation-and-finches-compare-and.html - January 14, 2013)
...