No Monday Morning Digest this week. Instead, a new resources newsletter and an invitation to step back and look at some of the stories you may have missed last week:

Study Groups are now LIVE in ePortfolio! (Friday)
Brand new: Professional Development area of study! (Thursday)
Infographic: the Open Textbook Challenge (Wednesday)

A whole slew of news and related blog posts last week has pushed this newest list of stuff to a few days into November. Apologies. This month, or we should say last month, is strong on the delightful and the random. Does this compete with the most deliciously “out there” sites on the Web? No, not really. But it is curated, tended, and, as always, presented for your consideration.

CREDITS:

• “ES” – EdSurge
• “SD” – Stephen Downes
• “SR” – Scout Report
• Others as noted!

Open License

Librivox
This site provides copyright-free audio versions of books in the public domain, driven by volunteers (and you can help). No more silent roadtrips or dull commutes, eh?
[Link]

Art4Apps [CC BY-SA]
Openly-licensed cartoon-style clip art…this is something we’ve seen, and more is good. The buried lead here, though: openly-licensed audio clips in multiple languages. credit: Angelyn P.
[Link]

Learning Registry Collector (via Chrome Web Store; open source)
Identifying, evaluating, tagging, and promoting openly licensed material is getting easier and easier. With this tool, if you find something great on the web, you can easily mark it for inclusion in the Learning Registry.
[Link]

Invent with Python (Al Sweigart) [CC BY-NC-SA]
Two books that provide step-by-step support in learning Python through building computer games. Geared toward ages 10 to infinity[ish]. (Computer Science) credit: SR
[Link]

Open Access

“Met Museum Makes Hundreds of Catalogues Available Online for Free” (Hyperallergic.com)
Not quite openly licensed, but eminently and elegantly available. credit: Ellen H. (Art History)

Tools

Smarterer
Combining online quizzes (perhaps the greatest development to emerge from the Internet) and our driving need to prove ourselves, this tool lets you display your 21st century smarts as badges.
[Link]

Degreed
These folks wear their passion right on their homepage, and their mission is to “jailbreak the degree.” Really interesting and looking for a Kickstart.
[Link]

Widbook
“The social network to find books, publish your own, create shelves and spread ideas.” credit: SD
[Link]

TalkTyper
The promise of truly useful text-to-speech has been with us for years, and it’s getting better all the time. Besides being an obvious boon to web accessibility, tools like this take us one step closer to live-blogging our every waking moment…a great gift for the grandkids! credit: SR
[Link]

SpeakPipe
While we’re talking about talking, there’s this. Croak.it means fun, this means business.
[Link]

Sparkreactor
If you like TED-Ed, there’s this, too. Import YT videos, add questions, assessments, etc. And just for added fun, an education buzzword generator. credit: ES
[Link]

Fun. Educational.

The Book Cover Archive
Just what it claims to be. You’ll either spend 30 seconds here or…rather longer…but either way, see it to believe it. credit: SR
[Link]

Google Cultural Institute
A window to wonder — this is the Web we need. Scroll down, explore, enjoy.
[Link]

A Cardboard Bike for Everyone
Even as we try to remake education, many others are remaking objects. Society develops. Tomorrow comes, with most of its promise intact. This is a thing I would try.
[Link]

“Meet the YouTube Next EDU Gurus”
A quick introduction to ten passionate people driven to “create a global classroom”. Brief; inspirational. credit: ES
[Link]

MakerBot
Old news; don’t care. The future is amazing, and it’s happening now.
[Link]

“Stand Back, I’m Going to Try Science” – Randall Munroe
Winter is coming; it’s cold outside (well, outside our office, anyway). How to get prepared: (1) Go grocery shopping. (2) Do science. credit: SR
[Link]