RunMelbourne

Its difficult to imagine, but the part of my body most stressed in
today's half-marathon was not my feet, nor my legs. In fact, it was
my toes.

It was a reasonably nice morning, about 10-11°, and light rain that
made for good conditions for a race. The course, from Fed Sq to
Southbank, the Botanical Gardens, the MCG and back (by two) was tight
and difficult to maneuver at points. I reached the half-way split in
57min and finished in 1hr54min (according to the clock, I'm still
waiting for the electronic protocol). My own consistence, rather than
speed, impressed me, particularly as this is my first half-marathon.

By the latter half of the race, it was pouring rain and my shoes
absorbed much of it. The moisture caused my shoes to chaff against my
toes, hence why they were particularly sore. By the time I took my
shoes off at home, I counted six of my ten toes were bleeding.

If I hadn't been hit by a car nearly six months ago to the day, I
wouldn't be running today. I still can't ride at the level I once
could, but I certainly can run at a level I had never previously been
able to achieve. It amazes me how a misfortunate event can have such
positive consequences. Sometimes tragedy is an opportunity in disguise.

Half-Marathon Tomorrow

I'm racing a half-marathon (21km) tomorrow. But, like I have always
believed, today is the day one wins the race. Preparation,
particularly pre-race diet, can never be under estimated.

Today's game plan:

400g of carbohydrates (lots of bread and pasta)
110g of protein (thats 5 protein shakes)

Now, you might be saying, "wow, you'll only eat 510g of food before
race day." That, of course, is incorrect, as one would be confusing
inputs with outputs.

Knowledge Transfer and the Right to Education

I have long been interested in the implementation of open source models of education as a means of reducing social inequity, particularly the disparity between first and thirty world tertiary education institutions.

MIT has implemented an open source model of education called OpenCourseWare (OCW). Late last year, I hosted a lecture on the topic with Assoc. Prof. David Brennan of the Melbourne Law School and the external relations director of OCW, Stephen Carson. OCW is not a degree, it only offers knowledge. It does not provide assessment or feedback, but allows any individual with internet access to the reading lists, lectures and course outlines of MIT. Essentially, it is the unlocking of a university's knowledge vault. The OCW model has been successfully implemented across many universities, although the only university in Australia that participates (in a very limited capacity) is the University of Southern Queensland.

We discussed how such a model of education could be implemented at the University of Melbourne an outcome was an letter to the Vice Chancellor about the prospects of Melbourne Uni joining OCW:

Professor Davis,

A key aspect of the "triple helix" of the Melbourne Model is knowledge transfer. Central to many of Australia's international obligations, including the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement (TRIPS), is technology transfer transfer.

I am sure you are aware of MIT's OpenCourseWare project where virtually all of its undergraduate and postgraduate course materials are available to anyone and everyone via the internet. From reading lists to full video lectures, MIT has availed knowledge on a level of an unprecedented level. The societal impact of this, particularly in internet savvy non-first-world nations has been profound.

Our university is in a historic transition and if we are truly going to engage the world, the University of Melbourne should follow MIT's footsteps and afford the Melbourne experience to anyone who seeks it. The faculties have focused on utilizing e-learning suites of software, including iLecture and LMS. Therefore, the infrastructure investment of translating this "intellectual storehouse" into an accessible medium would be minimal. As a researcher of copyright law, I can perceive some difficulty in intellectual property obligations, however this, in my opinion, would not be insurmountable. Particularly given Australia's obligations under the TRIPS agreement to foster technology transfer to the world's least developed countries.

I hope the University has the courage to pursue open learning on such a level. If you can find time in your busy schedule, I would be delighted if we can meet to discuss this further.


Thank you for your time and consideration.

Kind Regards,
Aron Ping D'Souza
Doctoral Candidate, Politics and Law

Recently, a reply came:

...
As you may be aware, MIT made its course offerings available to the public online through a $100M grant. This substantial, dedicated funding is not currently available within the University - indeed we are facing a particularly 'disciplined' era of financial management - nor are there significant private or public sources at hand.

Regardless, the extensive publication of coursewares online remains an ideal to which the University aspires, not least for the benefits such an arrangement returns to students, teaching staff and research clusters. As Melbourne claims a global outlook and a vast network of international relationships, the provision and exchange of knowledge through online media is an imperative to supporting our distributed community. As you rightly observe, optimising the impact of this community's activities on the many societies that provide its context is a driving factor of the University's commitment to Knowledge Transfer, and will inform the nature and extent of our online offerings as we move forward.
...
Yours,

Glyn Davis
Vice-Chancellor

This is an encouraging development and I will make further posts about the progress of this project. I do not believe that cost is such a barrier (as noted in my initial letter), and the aspiration of the University should be beyond the Academy. The University has developed an "information futures commission," who are studying various knowledge transfer projects, including open course ware. It will be interesting to see how the commission report, which is slated to do in July 2008.