[seul-edu] How about an open resource of free courses?

[Teemu <teemu@ionstream.fi>]

Hi.

I have long thought of an idea to create an open resource of free courses. 
Maybe the courses could be licensed under the open content license 
(http://opencontent.org), GPL or similar to make it sure that the courses 
could be developed further. 

Does such a resource already exist? If not, I think there is need for it. As 
soon as course packages based on IMS standards (www.imsproject.org) or 
similar appear, there would be a need for a central resource of courses where 
you could look before starting your own. I have created some courses and have 
material for them, I could also release them. Maybe this could encourage 
others to release their stuff as well.

When distant learning becomes more and more popular and people start taking 
courses on the web, instructors could work together to develop really useful 
content. I have many ideas for these kind of things and software that should 
be created, for example a cross-platform tool you could use to create course 
packages offline based on XML standards and move them later on the web. No 
need for slow web based interfaces. Unfortunately my time is limited and I 
have to focus on something. I have chosen to put most of my effort on a 
groupware/eLearning environment, MimerDesk (www.mimerdesk.org).

I could start a project to create a dynamic database driven Open Courses 
repository site that is easy to maintain and opens a possibility for the 
course authors to update their work online independently. It could 
contain a browsable well categorized source of free courses and more.

What do you people think of this idea? Would someone actually help creating 
something like this?

Best regards,

Teemu Arina
MimerDesk.org