Washington D.C. (USA), February 2007 - In recent years, the World Wide Web has been transformed by collaborative tools that help many people create and develop resources online. These implements are known collectively as 'wikis', and they represent the leading edge of what many Web experts and analysts call 'Web 2.0.' The most famous wiki is of course Wikipedia, the collaboratively authored encyclopedia. Now there's a new wiki dedicated entirely to teaching resources and curriculum development. It's called Curriki.
Curriki is a bold attempt to roll back the tidal wave of proprietary and copyrighted educational software. Instead, Curriki's blend of social networking software and open source software provides teachers and students around the globe with free access to educational content.
Curriki is funded by Sun Microsystems' supremo Scott McNealy, who states on the Curriki website that "access to basic knowledge and learning tools for our children should never be proprietary". McNealy hired educational software guru Bobbi Kurshan to help him create the site. Kurshan calls Curriki "a dangerous and exciting proposition".
The Curriki site "is an ever-growing collection of free lessons, assessments, resources and textbooks," as the home page states. "The resources have all been developed by members of the Curriki community." Like Wikipedia, Curriki members will be able to comment on and edit the materials on the site. If the site experiences the same growth levels as its encyclopedic cousin, it will quickly become a major global player in online education.
