Interview: Joel Thierstein, Executive Director of Connexions

David Geer recently spoke with Joel Thierstein, Associate Provost, Rice University, and Executive Director of the Connexions Project, a place to view and share educational material made of small knowledge chunks called modules that can be organized as courses, books, reports, etc. Following is an edited transcript of that conversation.

Listen to the original interview here, or visit our Podcast Center for more audio interviews.

David Geer: So tell us, what is the Connexions Project?



Joel Thierstein: We are a two-faceted operation. We've got a repository of open access educational information, which is formed in kind of modules, which are smaller units. And then their authors, or teachers, come in and put them together into what we call courses. The other part of our project is the platform side. This is the delivery mechanism by which the repository information, or all the information stored in our storage facilities, is distributed to the consumer.



All the information in our repository and our platform is open to the public. Anybody who has access to the Internet can access all of our information. Our material is licensed under what they call a creative commons license. You can use it to do anything you want, including make a profit for yourself. However, we do require that you attribute the material to its original author.



Geer: It sounds like you've got a great resource for various parts of the world where they have some teachers, they have some equipment, but they can't fully fund the content.



Thierstein: We span the full spectrum of users. Folks, as you described, who are the economically- or educationally-deprived who can't afford to produce their own materials, can come to Connexions and download everything for free.

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