One of the kickoff events for LiNC 2013 held yesterday was a workshop panel including Juliana Meehan, a middle school educator who, while interning with Eric Sheninger, principal of New Milford High School in New Jersey, created a program whereby Eric’s high school seniors could use MIT OpenCourseWare to create independent learning experiences, demonstrate their learning to peers and faculty, and earn high school credit;  Nicole Allen, the Student Public Interest Research Group’s Textbook Advocate and director of the Make Textbooks Affordable project; and Philipp Schmidt, the Executive Director of Peer 2 Peer University, a non-profit organization that leverages open educational resources to organize learning outside of institutional walls and give learners recognition for their achievements.  The session was moderated by Steve Carson, MIT OpenCourseWare’s Director of Communications and External Relations.

Steve Carson, Nicole Allen, and Juliana Meehan (Photo: Philipp Schmidt)

Steve Carson, Nicole Allen, and Juliana Meehan (Photo: Philipp Schmidt)

The workshop was attended by around 50 LiNC attendees and featured a wide ranging two hour discussion that touched on accreditation, open licensing, the digital divide, sustainability and pedagogies for open and online learning.  Thanks from MIT OpenCourseWare to the panelists and a special thanks to the attendees for asking such insightful and interesting questions.