Remember a couple Friday's ago I focused on TEDTalks? Well, TED just announced the 2007 TEDPrize winners. Three winners each receive $100,000 and are granted their wish to change the world - yes, literally.
"Through commitments of technology, design, PR, outreach, time, money, expertise and knowledge, individuals and companies work collaboratively to put the pieces of the project together and fulfill the wish. "
This year "one of the world’s most distinguished scientists" Dr. E.O. Wilson joins the other 2007 winners President William J. Clinton and James Nachtwey, well-known photojournalist.
And what was Wilson's TED wish:
"I wish that we will work together to help create the key tool that we need to inspire preservation of Earth's biodiversity: the Encyclopedia of Life."
To hear Wilson's acceptance and his " plea on behalf of his constituents, the insects and small creatures, to learn more about our biosphere", go to Help build the Encyclopedia of Life http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/83
According to this newly launched site, the Encyclopedia of Life will be "an online reference source and database for every one of the 1.8 million species that are named and known on this planet, as well as all those later discovered and described"
The Encyclopedia will be developed by bringing together (“mashing up”) content from a wide variety of sources. The effort has already received funding from the MacArthur and Sloan Foundations.
In a true Web 2.0 spirit, the Encyclopedia aims to be not only comprehensive but also "collaborative, ever-growing, and personalized."
As an instructional designer, I see this abundance of digital resources available to students and faculty as both an opportunity and challenge. The trend for access to the world's knowledge and information is open, free, collaborative, and complex.
This growing 'ecosystem' digital resources is rapidly exceeding higher education efforts to help faculty and students understand the dynamic nature of intellectual property, copyright, attribution, fair use, peer review, and scholarly publication in the age of online journals, wikis, blogs, Open Courseware, and Creative Commons licensing.
