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FAQs
1. What is the Sofia project?The ultimate vision of the Sofia initiative is to support and advance education by making high-quality content freely available on the Web for learners and faculty across the nation and the world. Modeled after MIT’s OpenCourseWare Initiative (http://ocw.mit.edu), the Sofia initiative encourages the publication and free exchange of community college-level course materials on the World Wide Web. "Open content is a bold idea," says Anne Margulies, Executive Director of MIT's OCW effort. Yet, an open content effort "aligns closely with the educational and public service missions of a non-profit institution of higher learning. More importantly, such an effort resonates deeply with faculty who have a passion for teaching and who have dedicated their lives to the advancement and dissemination of knowledge. This is why a key factor for success of an opencourseware initiative is to ensure that a core group of faculty stand squarely behind the effort and are champions for it." 2. How is Sofia different from other online repositories?Sofia has four features that together distinguish it from other efforts: Collaboration. Our intent is to establish an open courseware initiative in which course materials from a variety of community college subjects will be published online and openly shared with the world. By inviting faculty from a variety of institutions (community colleges and four-year universities) to participate, the project will offer a breadth of learning models, teaching approaches, and depth of instructional material. Depth. Sofia will focus on publishing a comprehensive set of materials per subject featured. The content published will have consistent depth per subject. Sofia will not be a learning objects repository. Each subject featured will consist of a systematic presentation of course materials that may include, but are not limited to, lessons, study guides, quizzes, discussion questions, video clips, and interactive exercises. Breadth. The goal of the Sofia initiative is to make content for the first two years of undergraduate curriculum freely accessible on the Web. The focus is not on quantity but rather on the publication of quality content, especially high-enrollment introductory courses that showcase diverse teaching and instructional design models. Open access. The course materials published by Sofia are available at no cost for non-commercial usage, including adoption by faculty and institutions and translation into other languages. Self-motivated learners can go through the material published on our site and find answers to a problem or subject that they are studying. Faculty may use the material for curriculum development or to supplement their instruction. 3. Who can contribute materials to the Sofia project?Participation is
voluntary and is open to faculty from community colleges and four-year universities.
Faculty who
have developed high-quality undergraduate-level content and are
willing to share it openly with others are encouraged to participate.
Calls for contributions will go out at regular intervals. 4. Will Sofia offer courses and degrees?No. Sofia will make course materials freely accessible on the World Wide Web. The Sofia project is not a distance learning or a degree- or certificate-granting initiative and will not offer courses for credit or fees. Distance learning involves active interaction between faculty and students, with the goal of obtaining credit and some form of a credential. Typically, distance learning content is limited to those who register and pay for materials or course delivery. The Sofia project will provide resources for learners and faculty and the means for faculty to exchange materials freely. Sofia is not meant to replace degree-granting higher education or for-credit courses. Rather, the goal is to provide content that supports teaching and learning. 5. What technology will be used to publish the content?The Sofia content will be published in ETUDES-NG, a course management system (CMS) that is based on the Sakai open source software. Foothill-De Anza recognizes the economic value and pedagogical significance of developing tools for the open source academic community and has joined the Sakai Educational Partners Program. With funding from a $600,000 grant awarded to Foothill-De Anza by The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation in April of 2004, Foothill-De Anza will adopt and implement Sakai for its district CMS needs and for its community college alliance members. Foothill-De Anza will eventually develop tools that respond to the CMS needs of its community college alliance members that were served with ETUDES. We hope that by publishing open content in an academically-supported open source CMS product will lead to wider adoption and delivery of the open course materials by other institutions and non-profit organizations interested in launching similar efforts. 6. Where are the Sofia open course materials?Foothill-De Anza will launch the Sofia initiative with a pilot showcase of open materials for a limited number of subjects to be made freely available in January of 2005. This is a pilot proof-of-concept project that will continue based on the results and continued funding. We will like to establish a repository that offers free, open online courses materials for the first two years of undergraduate curriculum. 7. Who owns the materials published by Sofia?The course materials published by Sofia are licensed under a Creative Commons License. Faculty retain copyright of their content. The terms of distribution and modification are determined by the authors and copyright holders (see Baseline Rights and Restrictions in All Licenses) during the content submission process. Faculty take final responsibility for their materials. It would be difficult for Sofia staff to guarantee the accuracy and originality of materials submitted for consideration. Prior to accepting any course materials for open publication, faculty are asked to verify ownership of the content submitted. We will promptly remove any material that is determined to be infringing on the rights of others. If you believe that a portion of Sofia materials infringes another's copyright, please notify Sofia by email. 8. How will the course materials be used?Educators are encouraged to utilize the materials for curriculum development and to supplement their instruction. Students and self-learners can augment their current learning by making use of the materials offered in our gallery. Content published by Sofia may be used, copied, distributed, translated, and modified, as specified under the Creative Commons License chosen by the author(s) of the materials. Each set of course materials published includes an article, "The Story Behind This Course," that provides background on the author(s), instructional design strategies used, the transformation and evolution of the course development process, as well as lessons learned and suggestions as to how the course materials can be best used by learners and faculty to support teaching and supplement learning activities. 9. Can I take and modify the materials available?It depends on the license terms selected by the author(s). Each set of course materials includes a Creative Commons License link at the bottom of each page listing rights for modification and distribution of the available course materials. 10. Can the open content be used for commercial use?Sofia course materials may not be used for commercial uses unless permission is granted by the author under the Creative Commons License terms. No direct or indirect fees shall be charged for the use of Sofia materials, or any derivation or modification of the Sofia materials, or any other commercial exploitation of Sofia materials. All uses, reuse, and distribution of Sofia open content must be attributed to Sofia and to the original authors as specified in the Creative Commons License chosen by them. If you intend to use Sofia materials, but you are unsure whether your intended use qualifies as non-commercial use, contact us for clarification. |
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