Knowledge unlocked

Font Size

Print

Feedback

Email

Discuss

Related Articles

Max India approves JV with UK-based firm

: Kamla Bhatt, is a researcher and a technology trend watcher. She is also the host of a popular Internet radio show: http://kamlabhattshow.com

How do you like the concept of a universal digital library? You are probably thinking what an outdated concept since you have access to Wikipedia and Britannica and other online resources. But, it was not so long ago when the concept of a universal digital library with free (well almost free) access to information and knowledge in the online world was a far-fetched idea. But in the last 15-20 years, technology has made it possible to digitise, create and collaborate information and share it almost free on the Internet.

There is a lot happening in the area of technology and education as I discovered. I took a peek behind the scenes by talking to Neeru Khosla, founder of CK12, a Silicon Valley-based non-profit organisation and Gloriana St Clair, Dean of University Libraries, Carnegie Mellon University. How is technology being harnessed to help create better and cheaper access to knowledge and information?

CK12 is a young non-profit organisation whose aim is to create “FlexBooks” for high school students, teachers, and parents in the US and around the world. FlexBooks, which is in beta, are collaborative, open-source text books that can be printed by teachers and students at a low cost. The content for creating FlexBooks is drawn from a variety of sources including Wikipedia. A passionate believer in making good quality textbooks accessible to students and teachers, Neeru and her small team have been working on the FlexBooks projects since 2006. Later this year they plan to make FlexBooks available for the first time in some schools in the US and gradually in other parts of the world, including India.

A few weeks ago Neeru and her husband Vinod Khosla, the legendary venture capitalist and entrepreneur, contributed $500k to the Wikimedia Foundation. The Wikimedia Foundation is a non-profit organisation that is focused on creating, developing and distributing free, multilingual content. One of their well-known projects is Wikipedia, which for many has become the default reference or universal library, if you please.