Open Education Directory
Learner Support
Miscellaneous
About iBerry
iBerry is a non-profit making website connecting to information, resources and support for learners and anyone with an interest in Open Education. Our focus now is on connection rather than content, learners before the technology - we see iBerry as one small part of an emerging and Open Global Education Network that one day will bring inexpensive education to anyone, anywhere, regardless of their circumstances.Frequently Asked Questions
- What is iBerry's mission?
"Higher education shall be made equally accessible to all, on the basis of capacity, by every appropriate means, and in particular by the progressive introduction of free education." - Article 13: International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 16th December 1966
For many people, Higher Education remains an impossible dream but now, more than ever before, the urgent and complex problems facing humanity require expertise for their solutions that involves many different academic disciplines. A climate of informed opinion is also necessary so that rational solutions that may be economically or politically disadvantageous are acceptable for the greater good.
- How do you support online learners?
Good question! iBerry has no resources apart from the interest and enthusiasm of its users and anyone who cares to help. 'Free' universities already exist and so do experts willing to contribute to open education by offering inexpensive Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and other open online events. As for repositories, many Open Educational Resources (OER) including Open Courseware (OCW) and free online textbooks (OCW) are already accessible.
- Then what on earth DO you do?
iBerry already provides information about Open Educational Resources (OERs), particularly Open Courseware (OCW) and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). The Open Education Directory points to hundreds of publicly accessible courses (lecture notes and videos, slides, podcasts, exam questions, software, demonstrations, etc) from all parts of the world. We also provide introductory information and list sites providing information on open textbooks and specialized links for particular subject areas.
However, we are now considering supporting online learners more actively (see Updating iBerry). Current suggestions include providing a means of connecting together learners who wish to study the same topic. 'Blog Aggregation' has also been suggested. This is a means of collecting and presenting brief summaries of relevant active blogs and comments along the lines of the 'comment collector' described here but what blogs should we follow?
- How does iBerry compete for learners with other education websites?
We have no interest in competition! With no advertising, no commerce, no hidden agenda, iBerry can afford to co-operate rather than compete. From a learner's point of view, different websites can serve different purposes and different types of learner. Rather than establish yet another 'walled garden' of captive users, iBerry is wide open and encourages self-directed earners to find and use sites for whatever educational services are best suited to their own needs.
- Who runs iBerry? iBerry was founded and is facilitated by me, a retired UK academic based in Malvern, UK but I also rely on users of this site or anyone else who cares to help - see 'Help us'
Revised 3/7/2018 - Gordon
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