The latest on Open Equal Free’s consultancies, resource development, and other programs.

Did You Know the Ocelot From Archer Is a Historical Figure?

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Archer and Babou

We’re making children’s books. What that means is a lot of my time is spent fact checking, editing, and looking for great open use pictures. Writing a book on cats means that today my job is searching the internet for pictures of cats. It’s a good day.

I’ve seen and learned some cool stuff, but this by far takes the cake: Babou, Cheryl/Carol/Charlene Tunt’s pet ocelot is (or is named after) an actual ocelot in history, and not just any ocelot.

Ladies and gentleman, I give you Babou the ocelot and Salvador Dalí the human:

Salvador Dali NYWTS.jpg

Babou was the name of Salvador Dalí’s pet Ocelot. Allegedly acquired from the Columbian Head of State in the 1960s, Babou spent no small amount of time by Dalí’s side. Dalí outfitted his adorable friend with a leash and stone studded collar and would take it everywhere one might take a medium-sized dog.

In one account, a woman became terrified of the animal in a New York City cafe. Dalí told her not to worry; it was just a normal cat that he had painted over.

Like Cheryl’s pet, Dalí’s Babou was certainly no stranger to luxury. It was known to lounge on a silken settee located in front of a carved marble fireplace.

Being a wild animal, the historical Babou was ill-suited to domestic life and the outbreaks depicted on Archer are likely based in truth. As actor Carlos Lozano recounted: “I only saw the ocelot smile once, the day it escaped and sent the guests at the Meurice scurrying like rats for cover.”

If you have to ask why Dalí and Archer both love ocelots, prepare for an education in the most ferocious cuteness you’ve ever seen:

 

Ocelot.jpg

 

Ocelot Santago Leopard Project 2.jpg

 

Ocelot in Bulivia.JPG
They are wild and owning one is cruel, but cruelty has never been so tempting.

Photo #1 embedded from Archer Wiki; The rest from Wikimedia Commons. 

We’re Giving New Doctors a Boost at Angkor Hospital for Children

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IMG_0874This September, Open Equal Free provided a study skills training program to Angkor Hospital for Children’s (AHC) medical residency program in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Like in much of the developing world, even advanced degrees can sometimes leave students with educational deficits. AHC works hard to bring doctors up to international standards by providing a rigorous medical residency program that rounds out and expands the education they received from local institutions through regular classes and guest speakers from around the world.

Open Equal Free joined the effort this month by providing six study skills workshops divided between the following three topics: note taking, reading for information, and efficient review of information for high-impact learning.

Taught by our very own executive director, Michael Jones, the workshops were designed to further prepare students to engage and retain information presented by guest speakers on topics ranging from dermatology to neonatal care. The goal is that students will now not only be able to understand the lectures, but will be adept at recording information learned in an efficient way and reviewing that information to increase retention and  learning so that they can fully apply it to their future work as doctors in Cambodia.

Creative Commons Love: John Chuidian

Open Equal Free Chief Going to Laos on a Fulbright!

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Classroom

We couldn’t be prouder of our Nerd-in-Chief Michael Jones.  He’s been awarded a Fulbright research grant to study education in rural Laos. He’s spent a lot of his career in schools in Thailand and Cambodia, so he’s excited to return to Southeast Asia this June.

The media in Michael’s home state of Florida are picking up on this big news too.  Click here to read the story in Sarasota’s Herald Tribune.

 

Click the video to hear Jones talk at TEDx University of Florida earlier this year.

Last year, Michael gave a talk at TEDx Phnom Penh on rethinking education for development. You can see it here.

Creative Commons Love: Jason Tabarias on Flickr.com

Open Equal Free Rocks TEDx University of Florida

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Our Nerd-in-Chief Michael Jones took the stage at TEDx University of Florida to spread his ideas about open, equal, and free resources for people in every corner of the world.

Click the video to hear his talk.

 

Last year, Michael gave a talk at TEDx Phnom Penh on rethinking education for development. You can see it here.

Teachbuzz: Lessons for Anywhere!

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It’s a very exciting day for us. Teachbuzz, our resource site designed to provide teachers all over the world (even the poorest places on earth) with fantastic free lesson plans, is ready for the public! We’ve been working with Computerminds to develop the best lesson plan resource on Earth, and we’re ready for you to help us put on the final touches.

What makes Teachbuzz different?

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No Cost Means No Cost, Anywhere

Many lesson plan sites exist, but they build their cost structure around the developed world’s standards. Their “No Cost” lessons use materials like paper, pencils, crayons, even high-end manipulatives that are a given in any developed country’s classrooms but are completely out of reach in the poorest places on Earth. Our default cost for a lesson is “Medium,” which means what you would expect to automatically be in a developed country’s classroom. However, if you choose “No Cost” on our site, you’ve truly created a lesson for the whole world, A Lesson for Anywhere™.

Even better, all lessons on Teachbuzz are shared under an open content license which means anyone can use them. What does that mean?

Tabbed Browsing Friendly

If you spend any serious amount of time online, you know the amazing benefits of tabbed browsing. Do a search, click on a half dozen or more viable options and browse through them quickly. Many lesson plan sites require you to download a lesson before you view it. At Teachbuzz, every lesson is available in full web-viewable glory, which means you can tab to your heart’s content.

 Find Exactly the Lesson You’re Looking For:

Beta phase already has a wide array of search criteria that will help you get exactly the right lesson. Want a lesson for 3rd graders that takes two hours, can be taught using absolutely nothing, and teaches states of matter? No Problem!

As we develop further, you’ll be able to search for even more criteria. We’ll be incorporating ratings into the search, as well as a system of standards that let you search by whatever state or government objectives your school uses.

So Much More

Beta is a great start, and we think it’s already one of the best lesson plan sites on the planet, but we’ve got a lot more planned. Get started, get your input in, and help us create a lesson resource site that not only makes your life easier, but helps save the world!

 

Help Save the World With Just

5 Lessons & Some Friendly Advice!

Save the World

NERD ALERT! Alligators Are Talking About Us

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CrocodileWe got word this week that we’re the talk of the swamp in Florida.  Our Chief Nerd, Michael Jones, was featured on the front page of the University of Florida’s Alligator newspaper following his stint at TEDxUF.

Michael took center stage last week to talk about the Open Educational Resources Movement and Open Equal Free’s role in it.

Click here to see the article’s photo proof that we don’t mess around when it comes to being nerdy.

 

We’re Taking the Stage at TEDx University of Florida!

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Get ready to nerd out Open Equal Free style later this week.  Our Nerd-in-Chief, Michael Jones will be talking about the magic of open content at TEDx University of Florida on February 11.  Nearly 2,000 people will pack the sold-out auditorium.  But, no fear, we’ll provide video of the talk at a later date on this website.

Click here to check out who else is speaking!

We’re no stranger to TEDx.  Michael Jones spoke at TEDx in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in Fall 2011.

Click here to watch Jones’ talk in Phnom Penh.

We Love Creative Commons and So Does This Infographic

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We’re all about Creative Commons licenses and sharing great ideas, art, literature, lesson plans…everything!  We think Creative Commons and free media provide an amazing path to helping us improve education around the world.  We’ve explained the different Creative Commons  licenses, which one we like best, and what they can do for you.

Now, this snazzy infographic explains the licenses too.

Copyright is for losers

Creative Commons Love: Jan Slangen on Flickr.com

Open Equal Free + ComputerMinds = Teachbuzz

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Last month we began production on Teachbuzz.com, a soon to be amazing resource site for educators the world over. To get the job done, we’ve started a partnership with UK based web development team ComputerMinds. They advertise “perfect Drupal sites” and, to be honest, they’re living up to the hype.

The goal is to create the best educational resource site in the world, for the entire world. ComputerMinds has helped us develop a system that not only allows users to upload lessons, but rate them based on several criteria and search for them with the greatest accuracy of any site on the web.

What’s more exciting, for us, is that it’s designed to be useful everywhere. When a lesson is uploaded, the user chooses the cost based on a global scale rather than a developed world one. “No Cost” means no cost: No paper, no pencils, no materials whatsoever. From there, the cost goes from basic stationary to significant material costs.

Teachbuzz should be soft-launched by the end of the month and we’re looking for volunteers to help seed the site and give us feedback on the interface. Let us know if you’d like to be involved: contact@openequalfree.org

The Smartest Appeal You’ll Hear This Season

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Nothing improves the world like education.
Living on Mountains of Tea - Darjeeling, India

Open Equal Free improves education in the developing world. By providing resources, training, consultancies, news, and opportunities for communication, we make educators more effective and efficient. A donation to Open Equal Free is a donation for improving education everywhere.

No matter what your cause is, education can help; it’s the panacea the developing world is waiting for. No donation will get a higher return on investment and improve the world in more ways than a donation for education.

Is your cause…

Tamanegi no odori

Hunger?

Just four years of primary education increases farmer output by as much as 11.4%, every year. To small farming communities, output is wealth. How much would your life be improved by a 10% increase in earnings every year? For people in the developing world, this means not only food, but the ability to buy basic necessities for their families.

 

Health?

A mother’s education significantly impacts not only her children’s survival, but their overall health through adulthood. Anyone’s education increases their likelihood and ability to access health services and their propensity to observe proper health and hygiene practices throughout life.

Female Empowerment?

GR-TJ04-01 World BankAn educated woman is an empowered woman. Education empowers women by increasing earning power and their ability to get a formal wage earning job. It also increases a woman’s ability to care for her children and to take control of her reproductive rights by using contraception and limiting the number of children she has in the first place.

Economic Development?

Education has repeatedly been shown to have the highest return on investments in economic development. Basic education shows returns as high as 30%, with high quality education increasing the rate of return on investment to 48%.

Ecological Sustainability?

Education is repeatedly linked to environmental stewardship. The most effective programs for increasing the ecological health of an area involve education and training around proper behavior and sustainable alternatives.

 

 Improve the world and Donate Now!





Creative Commons Love: Daniel Peckham, wanderingnome, World Bank Photo Collection, on Flickr.com