The latest piece worth exploring and getting involved in is Science Commons:
According to their website, Science Commons(pdf) is “building on the Creative Commons model to Further Scientific Success. Science Commons was launched with the goal of bringing the openness and sharing that have made Creative Commons licenses a success in the arts and cultural fields to the world of science.”
In other words, Science Commons is bringing scientists together to engage collaboratively in their research efforts with the following primary focus according to their site:
Making scientific research “re-useful” — We develop and promote policy and tools to help people and organizations open and mark their research and data sets for reuse. As part of this work, we released an “open data” protocol to enable the global scientific community to pool and use data created under different legal regimes.
Enabling “one-click” access to research tools — We offer a suite of standardized contracts to bring the efficiencies and economies of scale from e-commerce to the world of scientific tools, so researchers can easily replicate, verify, and extend research.
Integrating fragmented information sources — We help researchers find, analyze, and use data from disparate sources by marking and integrating the information with a common, computer-readable language.
If you haven’t had the opportunity to explore what Science Commons or the other sites mentioned have to offer, there is no time than now to start. Though I’ve never taught science, it seems the world of participatory media/web 2.0 has much to offer the various fields within science if one is open to exploring it.
One of my favorite sites to visit about creating and sustaining interactive learning environments is Edutopia. The site offers a wealth of information through their magazine, articles, resources, links, and videos on their core concepts:
Now, Edutopia has invaded iTunes where they are offering free access and the ability to download their video that focus on the aforementioned core concepts.
You can also visit additional videos on their website that can be embedded into a website such as a wiki or blog like the following clip: Learning and Working in the Collaborative Age: A New Model for the Workplace.
Educause has been running a wonderful series for quite some time entitled 7 Things You Should Know About. These are great, quick reference guides that I have found invaluable in exploring new tools and refreshing my thoughts about tools I’ve previously explored.
At the very least, these quick guides are a great starting point for many tools that are being discussed in educational technology circles. If you haven’t had the opportunity to explore this series, I’m sure you’ll find these are well worth your time.