Saylor.org

What is the Good? What is a truly ethical solution to a certain problem? How does all that logic really make sense? Here are some great sources and tools that can help educators, students, or the simply curious think big.

Resources
Philosophy Pages (Garth Kemerling)
This reference site has many great features to help you in learning experiences. Sources include: dictionary of terms, timeline, study guide, history, etc. (Open License)
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Philosophy Now (Philosophy Now)
This is a scholarly magazine with free articles available.
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Logic Toolbox (John Saetti)
Need help in figuring out how to do a logic proof? Is it all seeming strangely illogical to you? This resource might be able to clear a few things up!
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Courses
Logic & Proofs (Carnegie-Mellon OLI)
This logic and proofs course might be helpful for reference. If you get led to the Carenegie-Mellon homepage, simply type “logic” or “philosophy” in the search bar.
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Linguistics and Philosophy (MIT OCW)
MIT OCW has done it again. This time, we can access a plethora of philosophy and linguistics courses. Enjoy! (Open License)
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Other Resources
Hathi Trust Library (Hathi Trust)
Just type the topic that you want to search for in the search bar and go! This link takes you to all of the many full-text items available in philosophy…some of them public domain, some of the openly-licensed or open access. The world is at your fingertips!
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Virtual Training Suite
Having trouble researching the internet? Need some tutorial help? Then this suite would be just right for you! (Open License)
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Is Einstein’s theory of relativity still confusing to you? Do you want to explore physics in real-live action? Are you more of a visual learner who would like to see physics in motion? Well you’re in luck! Here are some resources to aid you in your physics travels.

Helpful Videos

Flash Animations for Physics

(U. of  Toronto)
This helpful resource from the U. of Toronto is available for your viewing pleasure and also for educational purposes. Various topics are covered, including chaos, waves, and fluid mechanics.  Also, they are available in Greek, Dutch, Hungarian and Polish! (Open License)
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PhET Physics Simulations

(PhET, U. of Colorado @ Boulder, CO.)
These simulations can help keep you interested in the mesmerizing and engaging world of physics. This site is also available in many languages. (Open License)
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Physics

(Khan Academy)
Short and sweet concepts videos from the Khan Academy. (Perhaps you’ve heard of them?) (Open License)
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General Physics Lab Experiments

(METU OCW)
Brought to you by the Middle East Technical University in Turkey, which has a whole lot more worth exploring, in both English and Turkish. (Open License)
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Other Resources

Encyclopedia of Physics 

(Scholarpedia)
Scholarpedia has a nice bunch of articles on physics and astrophysic.. The articles come from many different authors and have been fine tuned through the process of peer-review; they might break your brain, but it’s worth it. (Open License – by article)
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Nuclear Warfare

(U. of Notre Dame)
Is science just not your thing? Check out this course, specifically designed for non-science majors…and good evidence for why everyone should know a little physics. (Open License)
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Motion Mountain 

(Schiller, Motion Mountain Physikverein)
This German organization has committed itself to a 25-year project to make physics more engaging! Come explore what they have available for you! (Open License)
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Basic Physics, 2nd ed.

(Flexbooks CK-12)
CK-12 has a collection of e-books (and some videos too!) that can be helpful to help keep the hard sciences more down-to-earth. (Open License)
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Open Courseware Consortium

(OCW)
Okay, maybe we’re cheating here…the members institutions (such as yours truly) of OCWC have just about everything on offer. In any case, just search for physics and ready, set, LEARN! (Open License)
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We’re going to make this a regular public gig (we’ve been circulating these internally for a year or so) — each month, we’ll serve up the latest and greatest of free and open learning resources, tools, and fun sites.  We try to get the details right and to toss out thanks where they’re due; please let us know of omissions and errors. The first  issue is here.  Perhaps, one day, we’ll post the hundreds of items in our internal archive (er, maybe I should just write a grant). Have a resource that deserves a spot on a future list?  Let us know!

Open License

Contemporary Health Concerns (Judy Baker, Ph.D.) – [CC BY-SA]
This wiki-based course, broken down into modules and lessons, is comprised of extensive and well-organized text-based lessons, with links to external sites and video as appropriate. The comprehensive nature of the course — including topics on personal relationships, nutrition, exercise, stress, and more — means that modules can readily be used as part of courses in diverse disciplines.  Thanks to Jacky at College Open Textbooks for the link. (Many disciplines)
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ChemLab Boot Camp (MIT OCW, Dow Chemical) – [CC BY-NC-SA]
Not quite OER, more like advertainment. But the videos are openly-licensed, so what the hey. They’re also short, fun, and provide a nice little glimpse into MIT culture, MIT students, lab work, and chemistry work in general. (Chemistry)
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Free Physical Chemistry Tutorials (Solis Research, LLC – Robert Disselkamp) – [Shareware]
Shareware still makes me happy, even all these years after I first played Commander Keen: Marooned on Mars off a 5.25 inch floppy. These tutorials, in pdf form, carry the reader through topics like gases, thermodynamics, matter, chemical equilibrium, classical and quantum mechanics, atomic and molecular structure, spectroscopy, and kinetics. When I say “carry through,” I mean just shy of 300 pages of diagrams, equations, and notes in an easy-to-read, eminently digestible format.  Thanks to the author for the heads-up!  (Chemistry)
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World War II Poster Collection (Northwestern University) – [Public Domain]
While these aren’t difficult to find through a simple image search, these are cataloged and lightly referenced. See here for FAQs. A nod to the Scout Report. (History)
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Open Access/On the Web

Designing a New Learning Environment (Paul Kim, Ph.D.)
If you’re at the center of the Venn diagram for free/online/education, you’ve heard of a MOOC…and here’s an example, presented as being of particular interest to folks associated with The Saylor Foundation. This team- and project-based course, led by the CTO and Assistant Dean for Stanford’s School of Education, aims to “promote systematic design thinking that will cause a paradigm shift in the learning environments of today and tomorrow.” You can see other Stanford open online courses, including those posted at Coursera, Class2Go, Venture Lab, and iTunes U here. This free course starts October 15th; expect to see some of us there! Thanks to our very own Denis P., web-guy emeritus, for the link.  (Education)
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Distillations Podcast (Chemical Heritage Foundation)
The site’s pretty and the podcasts look more than compelling. Most likely for fans (me!) of the likes of Science Friday, Radio Lab, and the like. Have a favorite? Let us know or drop a line for students in the forums. Oh, yeah…there’s a mobile app for Android and iOS…I’ve downloaded it, and it works great!. A nod to the Scout Report. (Chemistry, etc.)
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Color Uncovered (Exploratorium, San Francisco)
An interactive iPad book/app about color. From the Exploratorium. ‘Nuff said. A nod to the Scout Report. (Art History, etc.)
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Firefly Lectures (Devin Henson)
Devin is a math instructor at Midlands Technical College in South Carolina with an easy-going approach and a knack for explanation.  He’s assembled his short video tutorials on the linked website and on his YouTube page.  The site is new and growing, and Calculus is already well-fleshed out, with links to longer classroom lectures for additional topics.  Thanks to the author for the heads-up!  (Mathematics)
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Tools

Class2Go (Stanford University)
So, speaking of Stanford…if you’re a giant open course geek like me, you’ll want to know about Stanford’s brand-new open source online courseware platform, incorporating Khan Academy’s exercises code as well as other open elements. Class2Go joins a stable of other platforms for course publishing, including Utah State University’s estimable eduCommons and Google’s new Course Builder open source project (see below). Check the link for more info on this “open…portable…interoperable” system from one of the nation’s premier land-grant schools. Two courses are on offer this fall! (Computer Science, Engineering)
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Course Builder (a Google Code project)
Where to begin? Course Builder is an open source project that lives on Google Code. It runs on Google App Engine and is the rapidly evolving version of the code that ran Google’s inaugural MOOC, Power Searching with Google.  I know, I know…enough with the G-word.  Anyhow, Course Builder is open, flexible, and available to all; it still requires a little coding know-how, but future iterations should be much more friendly to all of us non-engineers.  You wouldn’t expect any less from Goog…I mean, the team behind the project.  (Any discipline)
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ASSISTments (Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Carnegie Mellon)
Free automated tutoring tool currently in development. It’s easy to see these things as diametrically opposed to “real, breathing human” interaction, but even back in the 60′s B.F. Skinner was touting machines as liberating rather than replacing the human element in education. Bring ‘em on! A nod to EdSurge for the link. (Many disciplines)
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Citelighter
Users of Evernote, Diigo, and, to some extent, of Zotero may find themselves great fans of this new tool. This browser extension lets you easily highlight, annotate, and save chunks of text from websites…best of all, it automatically generates proper citations, it may have never been easier to quote liberally and honorably from your readings. And their video, seriously? Emotionally compelling. I’m talking pathos, here. What can I say? I’m a child of an advertising age, but at least I’m discerning. Another nod to EdSurge.
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Grovo
“Learn to use the Internet, faster.”  Short, animated tutorials on how to do real, useful things…like figure out the difference between reply and a retweet.  This site is possibly essential for the modern web-enabled professional.  And what’s better?  The Saylor Foundation and Grovo are best-of list buddies: 15 Free Learning Sites You Haven’t Heard of Yet.
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Video Questions Editor on YouTube
An opt-in beta, with no promises to stick around for the long haul.  With this tool, you can layer interactive multiple choice questions on top of a video and follow up on responses through analytics. Stuff keeps getting better, huh?
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Serious. Fun.

LearnStreet
It’s a tool. It’s on the web. It’s fun. Not often can you start learning and feel entertained from the actual homepage, before logging in. This new Beta covers JavaScript, Python, and Ruby. From the site: “Whether you are completely new to coding or a developer looking to pick up a new language, LearnStreet courses make it engaging and fun to learn to code.” (Computer Science)
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Croak.it
We nearly didn’t include this one…at first not much more than a toy, these folks see value in the sound of the voice; with croak.it one can make short, voice-Tweet-like recording that can then be instantly shared around the world or to a chosen individual.  Does your OS already do this with voice recorder? Yeah, probably.  Does Croak.it do it better/faster/more easily? Yep.  Oh yeah — Android and iTunes apps…awesome!  Cheers to the Scout Report.
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Writer (Big Huge Labs)
I almost skipped this: simple, delicious browser-based writing tools are numerous. But since I’ve last seen this (I believe), manual and electric typewriter sounds have been added (totally optional)! And that does it. Oh — there’s a Chrome app, too. Yep…thanks again to the Scout Report (even if I did see it first).
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Want to help further research in the field of open education? Then, respond to this short survey from MIT OpenCourseWare! We received the survey via email from MIT OCW, which read:

A message from Dr. Curtis Bonk:
“My research team and I from the Instructional Systems Technology Department at Indiana University are conducting a study titled, “Collecting Stories of Extreme or Informal Learning.” This study explores how people learn (and teach) with technology in unique and nontraditional ways. One strand of this research is on the use of open educational resources, OCW, and popular learning portals like MIT OpenCourseWare and the MIT OpenCourseWare Highlights for High School. My team believes that users of the MIT OpenCourseWare Website as well as the MIT OpenCourseWare Highlights for High School are ideal participants for this study and invite them to take our survey.

Across this research, we hope to find out more about how online technology can motivate someone to learn outside of traditional educational settings. Participation will mainly entail responding to a set of online survey questions. A few of the survey respondents will be asked to participate in follow-up online interviews and focus group discussions. Our goal is to collect stories of how informal and extreme forms of online learning significantly impact or changes someone’s life. Such stories might offer inspiration to other people. Your Web resources and programs have been highly successful in facilitating learning for a large number of people. We are fairly certain that some of these individuals have unique stories and learning experiences to share.

The survey link is below. Individuals must be at least 13 years old to participate.

The Extreme and Informal Learning Survey – MIT OpenCourseWare and Open Educational Resources:http://www.surveyshare.com/s/AQAM4CC

After clicking on the above link and agreeing to our informed consent form, participants will complete 26 survey questions. Next, they will be asked if they want to answer a series of open-ended items. If they answer “no,” the system will take them to the end of the survey for a few final quick questions.”

Have you ever wanted to start your own business? Or thought about approaching your work with an entrepreneurial mindset? Well, thanks to MIT OpenCourseWare, you’re in luck! Just yesterday, the organization announced that, thanks to a grant from the NASDAQ OMX Foundation, it is now able to provide a collection of entrepreneurship resources. Here’s a blurb from the press release:

“MIT OpenCourseWare has released a new cross-disciplinary course list presenting the core academic materials—including syllabi, lecture notes, assignments and exams—from 66 MIT entrepreneurship courses. The courses are organized into lists that cover core and supplemental entrepreneurship concepts and are also presented in topical lists including finance, law, leadership, marketing, and strategy. In addition, the resource includes videos on entrepreneurship subjects and links to entrepreneurship-related sites from across the MIT community.

‘We’re very excited to see this resource published on the OCW site,’ said Bill Aulet, Managing Director of the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship. ‘This site highlights some very valuable entrepreneurship educational material from MIT and will be a practical resource for entrepreneurs worldwide.’

The launch of the entrepreneurship cross-disciplinary list represents the first phase of MIT OpenCourseWare’s efforts to organize and publish MIT’s entrepreneurship curriculum, and the OCW staff will be adding additional course materials and supplemental content in the future, as well as updating some of the content currently included.

The entrepreneurship cross-disciplinary course list is the latest in MIT OpenCourseWare’s series of cross-disciplinary list addressing topics including energy, the environment and transportation. These lists highlight how MIT addresses today’s complex challenges across the many traditional disciplines and departments that structure the Institute. The entrepreneurship course listing includes materials from the Sloan School of Management, the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, the Media Arts and Sciences program, and the Experiential Studies Program.”

So if you’ve ever thought of starting your own business – or if you simply want to think more like an entrepreneur – consider combining these resources with our Business Administration discipline. You might just find yourself ready to start your dream company in no time!