Curriki

Curriki is a nonprofit organization that is building an Internet site for open source curriculum (OSC) development, to provide universal access to free curricula and instructional materials for students up to the age of 18 (K-12). By applying the open source process to education, Curriki empowers educational professionals to become an active community in the creation of good curricula. Kim Jones serves as Curriki's Executive Director.

Mission

Curriki, a portmanteau of the words ‘curriculum’ and ‘wiki’, was conceived from the idea that technology can play a crucial role in breaking down the barriers of the Education Divide – the division of inequality that prevents children worldwide from having access to quality education. Curriki’s mission is to make learning possible for anyone, anywhere in the world.

Curriki is different from other e-learning sites because:

1. It focuses on a complete curricula solution, not just a textbook or lesson plans, but a comprehensive course of instruction and assessment.
2. Curriki has a unique approach to curriculum development, distribution and evaluation that is represented by the organization’s 3-D model: curriculum developed through community contributors, delivered globally and whose impact is determined by project and by individual.

Anyone with access to the Internet can contribute and use the material found on Curriki to teach themselves or others. Whether it's algebra, reading, or physics, they will be able to access the curricula online, print it, or save it to a CD.

History

Curriki was founded by Sun Microsystems in March 2004 as the Global Education & Learning Community (GELC). In 2006, Sun spun GELC off as an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit to focus on building a repository of curricula and to create an online community for this repository. The organization changed its name to Curriki in 2006 to capture the spirit of community-driven learning excellence and the delivery of Open Source Curricula.

Impact

As of August 2010, Curriki.org contained 620 social networking groups and 44,046 learning objects in its repository including open access lesson plans, units, videos, simulations and other educational resources.^[1] Curriki has been recognized by a number of organizations for its contributions to education. In 2009 Curriki received the WISE Award for Innovation in Education from the Qatar Foundation.^[2] It was also listed on the 2009 "Best Websites for Teaching and Learning" by the American Association of School Librarians.^[3] In 2008 Curriki was honored as a Tech Award Laureate by Microsoft and Applied Materials^[4] and in 2007 Curriki won UNESCO's King Hamad Bin AI-Khalifa Prize for the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Education.^[5]

Sponsors and Partners

Curriki has been supported by a number of sponsors and partners including AT&T, Learning.com, lincoln Center Institute, EDC, Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education, Learn Without Limits, Unesco, Learnthings Africa, Academic Benchmarks, Math Mastery and other content providers.

See also

• Scott McNealy
• Open Educational Resources

Footnotes

1. ^ See "watch Curriki grow" on Curriki.org homepage.
2. ^ "WISE Awards 2009 | WISE". Wise-qatar.com. 2009-11-17. http://www.wise-qatar.com/en/laureates. Retrieved 2010-07-05. ^{[dead link]}
3. ^ "AASL Best Web sites for Teaching and Learning Top 25 Award". ALA. 2009-06-04. http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/aasl/guidelinesandstandards/bestlist/bestwebsitestop25.cfm. Retrieved 2010-07-05. 
4. ^ http://www.techawards.org/pressroom/detail.php?id=171
5. ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNESCO_King_Hamad_Bin_Isa_Al-Khalifa_Prize

External links

• Curriki website

Articles

• Vance, Ashlee (2010-07-31). "$200 Textbook vs. Free. You Do the Math.". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/01/technology/01ping.html. 

• "Sun's McNealy Leads Non-Profit Open-Source Drive", Forbes.com, Greg Levine, August 4, 2006)
• "Sun to Open Source Education", eWeek, March 7, 2006
• "Former CEO McNealy Finds a Productive, Yet Less Stressful, Place in Sun". USA Today. 5 December 2006. http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/technology/maney/2006-12-05-scott-mcnealy_x.htm. Retrieved 2007-07-13. 
• "Young Filmmakers Use Web to Teach About Global Issues". Chronicle of Philanthropy. 23 November 2006. http://philanthropy.com/free/articles/v19/i04/04003304.htm. Retrieved 2007-07-13. 
• "Tech Executive, As Parent, Seeks To 'Open' Curriculum". Investor’s Business Daily. 9 November 2006. Archived from the original on 2007-02-13. http://web.archive.org/web/20070213075125/http://www.investors.com/Tech/TechExecQA.asp?artid=245283565233774. Retrieved 2007-07-13.