Matt Federoff: The Open Content Revolution

After two decades, the World-Wide-Web is really starting to deliver on the promise of readily available, high-quality content for nearly every subject imaginable. Nearly all of this content is free, and is therefore "open content" ready to be used, modified, and shared again. With such a vast repository of content available, we need to come up with ways to index and share it that are meaningful to educators and address their specific goals. If these needs can be met, schools can leave expensive textbooks behind and move towards the future of Open Content.

Matt Federoff, chief information officer for the Vail, Arizona School District, led one of the nation's early efforts to connect schools using wireless technology, later providing wireless access at each school site in the district. In 2005, he led the opening of Empire High School, called the first textbook-free school in the United States. As part of Empire's initiative, all students are issued laptops, and technology helps form the core of their learning experience, much of which is self-directed. He was named the 2005 Arizona Technology Director of the Year and is currently involved in the Beyond Textbooks Initiative, extending the Empire methodology across all grade levels. In 2007, Federoff was named one of the NSBA's "20 to Watch." He lives with his wife and children in the wilds of the Empire Mountains south of Vail.

Category:

Education

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• ACU
• Connected
• Summit
• Matt
• Federoff
• Vail
• Arizona
• School
• District
• Textbooks
• Open
• Content
• Education