CK-12 Foundation
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It has been suggested that CK12 Foundation be merged into this article or section. (Discuss) Proposed since November 2010. |
| Founded | 2007 |
|---|---|
| Location | Palo Alto, California |
| Key people | Neeru Khosla, Executive Director, and Murugan Pal, President |
| Area served | Global |
| Focus | Education |
| Method | Donations and Grants |
| Website | http://www.ck12.org/ |
| Headquarters location[1] | |
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This article relies on references to primary sources or sources affiliated with the subject, rather than references from independent authors and third-party publications. Please add citations from reliable sources. (October 2010) |
CK-12 is a non-profit organization based in California founded with the mission to produce free and open source K-12 materials aligned to state curriculum standards and customized to meet student and teacher needs. Established in 2007 by Neeru Khosla and Murugan Pal to support K-12 science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education, CK-12 generates and distributes educational content via web-based open content material called the "FlexBook”[2]. CK-12 is presently the only free service of its kind, and is being funded by the Amar Foundation and by Vinod and Neeru Khosla[3].
Downloadable FlexBooks offered by CK-12 are created internally by authors with teaching and domain expertise. Additional FlexBooks are acquired through university donations and licensing partnerships, and are available for teachers to customize and match students’ learning styles and schools’ course curriculum. Each CK-12 FlexBook includes lessons with components like the idea, the standards it matches, the questions, the glossary, as well as videos and multimedia links. Some FlexBooks are available in three different versions: grade level, remedial, and advanced[4]. Some books are even available in Spanish and Hindi.
These books conform to national and state curriculum guidelines, Common Core Standards, and also can be re-aligned to International standards. FlexBooks are offered under the Creative Commons by Attribution, Share-alike, and Non-commercial license removing many of the restrictions that limit distribution of traditional textbooks[5]. CK-12’s current library of 88 downloadable FlexBooks can be accessed in PDF, ePub, and Kindle optimized format[6].
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[edit] Founders
Neeru Khosla, Executive Director and Co-Founder of CK-12 Foundation, holds a bachelor’s degree from Delhi University/San José State and a master’s degree in Molecular Biology from San José State. She received her second master’s degree from Stanford University [7]. Neeru also served as a trustee of the Pacific Vascular Research Foundation and Connexions, and is on the advisory board of the American India Foundation and The Nueva School in Hillsborough, California. She is also a member of K-12 initiative of the D-School at Stanford University.
Murugan Pal, Co-Founder & President of CK-12 Foundation, is a serial entrepreneur based in Silicon Valley, Bay Area, USA. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Thiagarajar College of Engineering (affiliated to Madurai University in India), a master’s degree in Computer Science from Arizona State University, a master’s degree in Industrial Engineering from Arizona State University, and was a Doctoral Candidate in Industrial Engineering at Arizona State University. Pal was the founder and CTO of SpikeSource and has also worked as Entrepreneur-In-Residence with Foundation Capital. He also served venture capital firm Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers.
[edit] History
The origins of CK-12 foundation are traced back to Neeru Khosla’s husband Vinod, suggesting that she look into textbooks for high school students which were limiting, expensive, and difficult to update. His suggestion sparked Neeru’s interest to provide content for high school students and teachers, especially in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). Khosla found an enabling partner in Murugan Pal, whose strong technical and entrepreneurial skills helped the CK-12 idea manifest into a not-for-profit educational organization[8]. Khosla then recruited teachers from all across America for writing CK-12 textbooks to be published under Creative Commons licenses[9]. Explaining the rationale behind collaborative content production, Khosla says “We can’t make all kids get an education, but we can make it simpler, easier, and more affordable. That’s the philosophy behind the openness as far as I’m concerned[10].”
[edit] Technology
The technologies used in creation of CK-12 Flexbooks are[11]:
- Django- Django helps in making better web apps quickly and with less code.
- MySQL- MySQL database is the world's most popular open source database. MySQL offers a wide range of database tools, training, support, and consulting services.\
- Google Web Toolkit (GWT) - Used by many Google products, including Google AdWords and Orkut, GWT is a development toolkit used for building and optimizing complex browser-based applications. GWT is completely free, open source, and is used by thousands of developers around the world.
- Apache - Apache provides support for the open-source software projects.
[edit] Other Products
In addition to free of cost 88 Flexbooks, CK-12 Foundation also offers the following resources to K-12 students:
- CK-12 FlexMath[12] - FlexMath provides a web-based interactive Algebra 1 curriculum. Designed by veteran algebra teacher and math specialist, Todd McPeak[13] , the system provides daily lessons for Algebra 1 curriculum. In addition to teacher lessons, FlexMath includes a gamified system designed to help students practice core math skills.
- CK-12 I Need a Pencil[14] - INeedAPencil.com is a free, online SAT preparation website. The site features over 800 practice questions and lessons in math, reading, and writing. INeedAPencil.com was founded in 2007 by then high school student Jason Shah[15] . He wanted to provide access to SAT prep to thousands of low-income students who cannot afford traditional test preparation.
In the future, CK-12 intends to actively moderate the expansion of its content base from an active, contributing community while creating a framework for aligning its assets with an expanding base of learning standards like McREL Compendium[16].
[edit] Recognition
- CK-12 has been listed in Top 25 Websites for Teaching by American Association of School Librarians [17]
- The National Tech Plan - The Office of Educational Technology, U.S. Department of Education – has mentioned CK-12 model as “Transforming American Education – Learning Powered by Technology” [18]
- NASA has teamed up with CK-12 on Physics Flexbook[19]
- Tech Awards-2010 listed CK-12 in “15 innovations that could save the world” [20]
- Neeru Khosla was featured in Teachinghistory.org [21]
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ Headquarters address from organization website; 3430 W. Bayshore Rd, Suite 101, Palo Alto, CA 94303, USA. 37°26′6.11″N 122°6′34.59″E / 37.4350306°N 122.1096083°ECoordinates: 37°26′6.11″N 122°6′34.59″E / 37.4350306°N 122.1096083°E
- ^ CK-12 open source flexbook
- ^ All about Flexbooks
- ^ Free textbooks for all
- ^ Flexbooks challenge textbooks
- ^ Electronic books
- ^ Wikimedia Foundation Advisory Board
- ^ Murgan Pal- Kamla Bhatt show
- ^ Creative Commons Licenses
- ^ Free education for all
- ^ Technology
- ^ Flexmath
- ^ Rate my Teacher
- ^ I Need A Pencil
- ^ Jason Shah
- ^ McREL Compedium
- ^ American Association of School Librarians
- ^ http://find.ed.gov/search?q=flexbook&client=default_frontend&output=xml_no_dtd&proxystylesheet=default_frontend&sa.x=0&sa.y=0
- ^ NASA Teams with CK12
- ^ Tech Awards
- ^ Teaching History
[edit] Further reading
- FlexBooks FAQ
- O'Reilly Radar blog, Feb 12, 2008 : "Remix and Share Your Own Text Books as FlexBooks"
