[TOS] Help turn the open Web into a rich learning environment: the Jetpack for Learning Design Challenge

[Frank Hecker]

I thought you all might be interested in the following announcement
about a new Mozilla Education initiative we launched today, the
Jetpack for Learning Design Challenge. Please feel free to forward
this to anyone you think might be interested, be they educators,
students, or anyone else.

Frank

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We invite you to help turn the open Web into a rich learning
environment and explore new possibilities for using Firefox add-ons to
support learning online, by participating in the Jetpack for Learning
Design Challenge sponsored by the Mozilla Foundation with support from
the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation as part of its
digital media and learning initiative.

We are looking for designers, educators and software developers who
want to turn their innovative ideas about learning online into working
prototypes in the form of Firefox add-ons. We'll help you refine your
designs and teach you how to create Firefox add-ons using Jetpack and
other Mozilla technologies.  Participants creating the best prototpes
will be invited to the Jetpack for Learning Design Camp and the SXSW
Interactive conference in March 2010.


How does it work?

Come up with an innovative idea for a Firefox add-on that brings
personal learning features to the open Web. Create a mock-up and
submit it on the Jetpack for Learning Design Challenge web-site before
midnight (US Pacific Time) on 27 November 2009. Based on the quality
of submissions, up to 60 participants will be invited into a 6-week
online course that covers design/UX and technical aspects of add-on
development and will help you turn your mock-up into a working
prototype. We'll select the most promising prototypes and invite up to
ten of their creators to further refine their add-ons at a
face-to-face Jetpack for Learning Design Camp in March 2010 and to
attend SXSW Interactive immediately following the Design Camp.


What kind of ideas are we looking for?

We are looking for your ideas on how Firefox add-ons, preferably
add-ons created with Mozilla's Jetpack technology, can turn the web
browser into a platform for rich personal learning on the open web.
You are not restricted to work on any particular type of application.
Here are a few examples to get you started ...

* Turn social bookmarking and page annotation into effective learning
tools (for example by including peer-assessment features)

* Allow users to easily compile personal e-portfolios (for example, by
combining their own works — photos, comments, articles—with
testimonials others have written about them)

* Let the browser suggest relevant materials for learning (for
example, by automatically identifying additional articles based on
what sites a person visits or which topics they search for)

* Support social learning communities (for example, by making it easy
to find and connect with others who share similar learning interests)


Who should apply?

Participation is open to individuals and teams, but we especially
encourage submissions from inter-disciplinary groups (designers,
educators, and software developers). You don't need to be a computer
geek, but participants are expected to implement their ideas as
Firefox add-ons, which will require writing some software code.

You must be at least 18 years old in order to participate in the
Jetpack for Learning Design Challenge. You must also make your
submission and your add-ons available for public use under open
licenses. See the Jetpack for Learning web site for complete rules.


Contact

You can find more information about the Jetpack for Learning Design
Challenge, including how to apply, on our web site:

  http://design-challenge.mozilla.org/jetpack-for-learning


Mozilla Foundation

The Mozilla Foundation is a non-profit organization that sponsors the
Mozilla project and devotes its resources to promoting openness,
innovation and opportunity on the Internet. We do this by supporting
the community of Mozilla contributors and by assisting others who are
building technologies that benefit users around the world.

Through the Mozilla Education initiative we work with computer
science, design and business schools around the world to create
learning opportunities for a new generation of Mozilla community
members and help to drive a new wave of participatory, student-led
learning. By doing this we hope to move closer to Mozilla's broader
goal of making openness, participation and distributed decision-making
more common experiences in Internet life. More information is
available at education.mozilla.org.


John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

The MacArthur Foundation supports creative people and effective
institutions committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful
world. In addition to selecting the MacArthur Fellows, the Foundation
works to defend human rights, advance global conservation and
security, make cities better places, and understand how technology is
affecting children and society.

In 2006 MacArthur launched its digital media and learning initiative
to explore how young people are changing as a result of digital media
use and what the implications are for libraries, museums and schools.
More information is available at www.macfound.org/education.


-- 
Frank Hecker
hecker at mozillafoundation.org


-- 
Frank Hecker