Frequently Asked Questions

Curriki, a play on the words 'curriculum' and 'wiki', is a nonprofit organization that is building the first and only Internet site for Open Source Curriculum (OSC), which will provide universal access to free curricula and instructional materials for grades K-12.

We are focusing initially on developing an online repository for K-12 curricula in the areas of mathematics, science, technology, reading and language arts, and languages. We want this repository to attract everyone from educators, students and parents, to programmers, instructional designers, authors and public officials throughout the world to contribute or freely access quality learning materials.

Curriki was conceived from the idea that technology can play a crucial role in breaking down the barriers of the Education Divide—the division of inequality that prevents children worldwide from access to quality education.

Today, educators are searching for ways to deliver first-class, cost-effective learning resources and opportunities to their students. Learners are becoming discouraged by the mounting costs for textbooks, and the availability of other credible resources.

Curriki will make learning possible for anyone, anywhere in the world. This will drive personal growth and give opportunity to those who wouldn't otherwise have it. Perhaps, this exposure to education will even reveal the children who could solve some of our biggest problems of tomorrow.

The best place to start is by defining the concept of open source technology. Open source refers to a method that opens up access to source materials or codes. It is created by a development community rather than a single vendor and typically programmed by volunteers from many groups. The code of open source software is free and available to anyone who would like to use it or modify it for his or her own purposes.

By using the open source process for education, we are empowering educational professionals to become an active community in the creation of world-class curricula.

Curriki is different in two ways: (1) we focus on a complete curricula solution, not just a textbook or lesson plans, but a comprehensive course of instruction and assessment. Curriki.org will include easy-to-use tools for creating curriculum packets out of content assets available on the site. (2) We have a unique approach to curriculum development, distribution and evaluation that is represented by the organization's 3-D model: curriculum developed through community contributors, delivered globally and whose impact is determined by project and by individual.

Yes, www.curriki.org is open and available. Curriki is working with a variety of partners to contribute a diverse collection of curriculum to our repository. We have recently added "templates" to enable users to easily contribute content and courses, and more of these templates are coming. We'll continue to add functionality and resources so that soon, our users will be able to contribute to and access open source textbooks. WIth our tools, they will also have the capability to collaborate and to communicate about curriculum online.

There are a variety of ways to contribute curricula at www.curriki.org. You can use our unique online tools to share resources you've found with others. On a larger scale, you can write a textbook or build a curriculum.

Starting early next year, our unique Textbook Wiki will enable groups of teachers or professors to take a curriculum framework and use the tools to create and edit a book map, or sections and pages of an instructional textbook.

Our Currikulum Builder enables users to select individual lesson plans, course syllabi, learning activities, scope and sequence hierarchies, and other educational elements found at www.curriki.org to build a complete, fully-integrated curriculum.

Curriki is led by a seasoned team of experts in the education and technology arenas. Their experience as teachers, authors and technologists has given them the hands-on understanding of what it takes to make quality and easy-to-use curricula. Led by its Chief Academic Officer, Curriki will expertly manage the curricula to ensure the community makes the best decisions. The right leadership, tools, and community will enable the development and distribution of quality curricula.

Curriki's leadership team includes:

• Dr. Barbara 'Bobbi' Kurshan, Executive Director. Dr. Kurshan has spent her entire career committed to using technology to improve children's learning. She has founded several successful companies focused on technology and education. She is the author of several dozen books and articles on teaching and technology, community building for educators and creating the global classroom.

• Anne Schreiber, Chief Academic Officer, has numerous years of experience as a multi-media publisher, product designer and educator. Focusing on curriculum development, she has held posts at Grow Networks/McGraw-Hill, Scholastic, bigchalk and Sesame Workshop. Anne began her career as an elementary school teacher and has authored more than a dozen books for young children.

• Joshua Marks, Chief Technology Officer, has over two decades of experience using emerging technologies to address market needs in education. He was instrumental in launching Harcourt Education's e-learning group, has spearheaded innovative technology-based pilot programs to aid student learning, and developed numerous education-focused software programs.

Anyone with access to the Internet can use the material found on Curriki to teach themselves or others. Whether it's algebra, reading, or physics, they will be able to access the curricula online, print it, and/or save it to a CD.

Yes. In March 2004, Sun Microsystems launched the Global Education & Learning Community (GELC). In 2006, Sun spun GELC off as an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit to focus on building a repository of curricula and to create an online community for this repository. The organization changed its name to Curriki in 2006 to capture the spirit of community-driven learning excellence and the delivery of Open Source Curricula.

Because helping others to learn and overcome the Education Divide is simply the right thing to do. With your input, we can help foster the exchange of ideas, whether among students and parents, or curriculum developers and educators, all in a global, interactive community that makes it fun and rewarding to make a difference.

Your assistance can come in many important forms. Actively participate in our community. Use the curricula. Provide us with feedback. Support the community financially. And most importantly, spread the word.