The downside to making submissions anonymous is that it increases the
likelihood of spam.

Another issue:  some schools may view sharing this content as aiding
cheating, and could take disciplinary action against students.  We should
look into policies on that.

On Sat, Dec 11, 2010 at 3:22 PM, Rich Jones <[email protected]> wrote:

> @Adi - so no offense to your friend, but this website is kiiinnddaaa lame.
> Requires accounts and it pretty much only has any content from Harvard.
> Apparently he's been working on this for over a year and I'm sure we could
> make something better in less than a week. The content is also -NC. Still,
> it shows there is a demand for this kind of service.
>
> @Alec Story - I was assuming that the submissions would be anonymous by
> default. No barriers to consumption and no barriers to submission.
>
> R
>
>
> On Sat, Dec 11, 2010 at 3:27 AM, Alec Story <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> One thing about sharing notes or papers:  it would be very useful to have
>> an anonymized form.  While I might be happy to share a paper, I might not be
>> happy to let future employers read papers I wrote, particularly without the
>> context of the class to explain them - it's entirely possible to have a
>> teacher require a paper defending a difficult or commonly-disagreed-with
>> point of view as an intellectual exercise.
>>
>> Ideally, this anonymization wouldn't be correlated across user accounts to
>> prevent people from piecing the data together.  Just "anonymous" would be
>> sufficient.
>>
>> RE cheating, if this gets up and running, providing API support for
>> anti-plagiarism software would be a nice touch.
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Dec 10, 2010 at 10:34 PM, Adi Kamdar <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>> I've been chatting with Andrew Magliozzi, who's working on FinalsClub.org
>>> (awful name, I know). It's a non-profit note-sharing site, and he just got a
>>> bunch of money from the Hewlett Foundation (I think) to move forward with
>>> this. I'm preeettty sure the licensing scheme for the site is
>>> choose-your-own-CC, though I'm not entirely sure.
>>>
>>> The point is, he's just underwent going through a pretty big survey of
>>> students regarding whether or not they would use something like this, what
>>> they would want from this, chief concerns, etc. He's always looking for
>>> feedback/input, and it might be useful to reach out to him.
>>>
>>> -Adi
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Fri, Dec 10, 2010 at 9:28 PM, Rich Jones <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>
>>>> I've haven't seen those two services before, but I have seen others just
>>>> like them, and I think they're _crap_.
>>>> There's no need to make this any more complicated than it needs to be,
>>>> and I think the mandatory login is a bunch of bullshit. Very
>>>> pyramid-schemey.
>>>>
>>>> Integrating directly into the note taking application is a nifty idea -
>>>> a piratepad/unnamedSFCnotesapp mashup would be pretty neat - let people in
>>>> the same class take notes together, then publish them directly for 
>>>> everybody
>>>> else. Maybe a feature we can work on after then initial push.
>>>>
>>>> R
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> Love the idea of making things that students can use!
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> There seem to be two parts of the note-sharing idea:
>>>>> * Taking the notes
>>>>> * Sharing the notes
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>>
>>>>> Two existing note-sharing services to take a look at:
>>>>>
>>>>> http://www.notetopia.com/
>>>>> * (for some reason @usc.edu won't get me in...)
>>>>>
>>>>> http://www.noteutopia.com/
>>>>> * (this caused a bunch of controversy because they buy/sell the notes)
>>>>>
>>>>> I'm certain that there are others ...
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>>
>>>>> The note TAKING step seems just as compelling, though.
>>>>>
>>>>> On one extreme, I see many many students taking notes in the Microsoft
>>>>> Office notetaking program (OneNote)?
>>>>>
>>>>> On the other, my personal note-taking workflow involves vim +
>>>>> mediawiki.
>>>>>
>>>>> What's a good half-way point between these approaches that encourages
>>>>> sharing?
>>>>>
>>>>> Some of my classmates swear by a non-free Mac program called Scrivener:
>>>>> http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.php
>>>>>
>>>>> And I know some others who have a similar relationship to Zim:
>>>>> http://zim-wiki.org/
>>>>>
>>>>> Maybe a specially modified version of Piratepad for students?
>>>>>
>>>>> A project like this could start a bigger conversation about the best
>>>>> tools/practices for students who care about their computing freedom.
>>>>>
>>>>> Exciting stuff!
>>>>> Kevin
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Fri, Dec 10, 2010 at 9:15 PM, Parker <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Just wanted to chime in on the idea of making it about student papers
>>>>> and not notes:
>>>>> I have this feeling that making it about student papers is more of a
>>>>> positive statement and less subversive. I'm kind of having trouble
>>>>> justifying that feeling, though--maybe I'm crazy, or maybe someone can
>>>>> back me up.
>>>>>
>>>>> But it seems to me that we can make a really nice positive statement
>>>>> like "we students are proud of this stuff that we've done--and like,
>>>>> sometimes we ask profs to share stuff, ala OCW, but this should go 2
>>>>> ways. besides, this paper is interesting outside the scope of this
>>>>> class, and putting it on the web makes me feel like a real academic!
>>>>> eeeee!"
>>>>>
>>>>> I guess the real issue is that with lecture notes, professors might
>>>>> feel like we're taking something from them in a way that they're
>>>>> probably less likely to feel if we just publish papers. I don't know.
>>>>>
>>>>> In general I'm recently more interested in making positive statements
>>>>> than being subversive. Relatedly, I think that if we re-frame the Open
>>>>> University campaign as something where we students are helping our
>>>>> universities become more open instead of trying to embarass/celebrate
>>>>> them with report cards, we might have more success. That's been the
>>>>> thinking about my last couple threads about simple ways to show your
>>>>> support for CC licensing and help out parts of your school that might
>>>>> be interested. I think that we could do some great work at the
>>>>> conference this feb by working through some "just add water"
>>>>> kits/recipes that chapters can use to increase sharing and openness at
>>>>> their schools.
>>>>>
>>>>> On Fri, Dec 10, 2010 at 8:40 PM, Rich Jones <[email protected]>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>> > (I'm submitting this as an idea to FC-discuss to see what everybody
>>>>> thinks
>>>>> > about it, if we decide to move forward, we can discuss the
>>>>> implementation
>>>>> > details on FC-Hackers).
>>>>> >
>>>>> > With the conference in New York rapidly approaching, I think it would
>>>>> be
>>>>> > really cool if we made something that we could show off to everybody
>>>>> by the
>>>>> > end of the conference. If we get the ball rolling now, I'm sure we
>>>>> can have
>>>>> > something cool by the end if we have a hackathon during the conf.
>>>>> >
>>>>> > So while I was in school I remember noticing that damn near everybody
>>>>> in
>>>>> > most of my classes had a laptop to take notes on. I think it'd be
>>>>> really
>>>>> > sweet and super handy if we set up a website where we could all
>>>>> easily share
>>>>> > our notes and the other course materials we make. There are some
>>>>> companies
>>>>> > doing something similar, but none that are free and use creative
>>>>> commons
>>>>> > licensing. I think this a cool opportunity to experiment with the
>>>>> free
>>>>> > culture philosophy in education, and we could actually end up making
>>>>> a
>>>>> > difference in the way people learn. I found that in school I learned
>>>>> just as
>>>>> > much from my peers as I did from my professors, and this could be a
>>>>> good
>>>>> > tool for facilitating and enhancing that aspect of peer to peer
>>>>> learning.
>>>>> >
>>>>> > There are some pros and cons to this idea:
>>>>> > Pros:
>>>>> > - Utility! People would be able to come to class more prepared and be
>>>>> able
>>>>> > to learn from the notes of others as well as their own.
>>>>> > - Display scholarship! Our handsome friend Parker has suggested that
>>>>> perhaps
>>>>> > it could be used to highlight good scholarship, to display papers we
>>>>> are
>>>>> > proud of. It would be cool to share them with each other and comment
>>>>> on
>>>>> > their content.
>>>>> > - Novelty! I'd love to be able to see the coursework and notes that
>>>>> people
>>>>> > in other majors take, simply for my own curiosity.
>>>>> > - Promote SFC! I can't think of anything that would bring in more
>>>>> members
>>>>> > than a useful, public service.
>>>>> > - $$$ for SFC: If it became popular enough, perhaps we could slap up
>>>>> some
>>>>> > ads and bring in a little cash to the organization.
>>>>> >
>>>>> > Potential Cons:
>>>>> > - Plagiarism/Cheating: This is going to be a difficult issue. Some
>>>>> people
>>>>> > may abuse the service to simply copy and paste other people's work.
>>>>> While I
>>>>> > think that outright plagarism is a really bad bad thing, I don't
>>>>> think
>>>>> > there's anything wrong with remixing somebody else's ideas and
>>>>> learning
>>>>> > about what makes a good paper and what makes a bad paper. In fact,
>>>>> this is
>>>>> > really the whole heart of our organization, right?
>>>>> > - Copyright: Some teachers may object to having their courses
>>>>> 'notesified'
>>>>> > and uploaded public consumption. IANAL, but I believe I remember the
>>>>> supreme
>>>>> > court (or perhaps is was the supreme court of Florida (??)) ruling
>>>>> that a
>>>>> > students' notes are their own property. This could be a good way to
>>>>> test
>>>>> > that ruling. (Legally, I think we'd be okay thanks to the DMCA safe
>>>>> harbor).
>>>>> > - Damaging our relationship with professors: Parker has been having
>>>>> success
>>>>> > promoting OpenCourseware at Dartmouth and affords much of the success
>>>>> to
>>>>> > friendliness, handsomeness and cooperation with professors. This idea
>>>>> may be
>>>>> > too subversive and could damage rapport for members who want to
>>>>> establish
>>>>> > these ties.
>>>>> >
>>>>> > What do you guys think? Would you use this service? Would you be
>>>>> willing to
>>>>> > upload your own notes to it?
>>>>> >
>>>>> > I've learned Django recently and I'm pretty sure we could whip up a
>>>>> > prototype in a couple of days.
>>>>> > (Also!: Please join fc-hackers (
>>>>> > http://freeculture.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/fc-hackers ) if you
>>>>> are
>>>>> > interested in developing this or any other FC ideas.)
>>>>> >
>>>>> > Thanks!
>>>>> > Rich
>>>>> >
>>>>> > _______________________________________________
>>>>> > Discuss mailing list
>>>>> > [email protected]
>>>>> > http://freeculture.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>>>>> > FAQ: http://wiki.freeculture.org/Fc-discuss
>>>>> >
>>>>> >
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> http://www.madebyparker.com
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> Discuss mailing list
>>>>> [email protected]
>>>>> http://freeculture.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>>>>> FAQ: http://wiki.freeculture.org/Fc-discuss
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>>
>>>>
>>>
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>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Alec Story
>> Cornell University
>> Biological Sciences, Computer Science 2012
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>>
>>
>
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>


-- 
Alec Story
Cornell University
Biological Sciences, Computer Science 2012
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