Nominate an Open Source Teaching Fellow

International

Open Source Teaching is the deep understanding and application of personalized

knowledge through new media.

The emerging tools of a knowledge-based economy make it possible for all learners to benefit
from new forms of media, where access to people with expert, applied knowledge is the new
status quo for communication, teaching, and learning. www.opensourceteaching.org.

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Sage Leadership Partners, Inc., P.O. Box 330951, Murfreesboro, TN 37133 1

© 2006. www.opensourceteaching.org. All rights reserved.
 Open Source Teaching

Art Fuller, Founder & Chair

Sage Leadership Partners, Inc.

Yi Cui, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Electrical Engineering & Computer Science
Vanderbilt University

Mike Dishman, J.D.

Murphy, McLocklin, & Dishman, LLP

Thomas Ford
Regional Director
Pearson Achievement Solutions

Jessica Lewis
Project Manager, Peabody College
Vanderbilt University

Lance Lott
Assistant Superintendent
Information Technology & Strategic Planning
Metro Nashville Public Schools

Judith Pennywell
Director
International Student and Scholar Services
Vanderbilt University

David Sevier, Ed.D.

Policy Adviser
State Board of Education

Mary Catherine Sevier, J.D.

Executive Director, Foundation Relationships
(Effective July 1, 2006) Sage Leadership Partners, Inc.

Sage Leadership Partners, Inc.

P.O. Box 330951
Murfreesboro, TN 37133
(615) 849 - 1170

art.fuller@opensourceteaching.org
www.opensourceteaching.org

Sage Leadership Partners, Inc., P.O. Box 330951, Murfreesboro, TN 37133 2

© 2006. www.opensourceteaching.org. All rights reserved.
 Nominate an Open Source Teaching Fellow (International)
Sage Leadership Partners, Inc.

Sage Leadership Partners, Inc. is seeking undergraduate and graduate students willing to
volunteer four (4) hours per month for a period of at least six (6) months to assist us in
achieving the organizational deliverables of open source teaching, www.opensourceteaching.org.
Open Source Teaching Fellows are volunteers focused on transforming new learning
platforms and social networks that apply the principles of open source to teaching and
learning. Open Source Teaching Fellows will serve as substantial contributors to the 24-
month incubation and global launch of open source teaching.

Founded in April of 2006, Sage Leadership Partners, Inc. is a non-profit organization focused
on knowledge management and strategy for tomorrow’s world, today. We are committed to
the implementation of strategies that empower students from traditionally underserved
communities to attain greater access to learning networks with the capacity to share
established academic capital through engaging personal perspectives.

The applications of our work extend from the one lap top per child initiative
(http://wiki.laptop.org) to traditional CD players, mp3 players, multi-media phones and
emerging platforms for new content. Our program deliverables will emphasize academic and
affective measures for students to engage in meaningful learning within and outside the
context of traditional schools. We are committed to the implementation of program offerings
which include measurable milestones, exemplary management, and rigorous standards for
program evaluation.

Over the course of the next 24-months, Sage Leadership Partners will capture the applied
research of over 200 top academic professors and 200 graduate students through new media.
On or before the third year of operations, this comprehensive new media archive will be
provided to all learners. This new media platform of knowledge management, based on
student centered descriptions of applied research, will eliminate the traditional barriers to
equal educational opportunity and provide the platform for more in depth applications of open
source teaching to all environments which involve training, learning, or professional
development.

Sage Leadership Partners, Inc., P.O. Box 330951, Murfreesboro, TN 37133 3

© 2006. www.opensourceteaching.org. All rights reserved.
 Qualifications: Open Source Teaching Fellow (International)

The ideal candidate must have a passion and commitment to eliminate the traditional barriers
to equal education opportunity through the application of innovative learning platforms and
new media.

The ideal candidate must be an innovator, outside the box thinker, and strategic analyzer.

The ideal candidate must be adept at researching innovations, including the ability to
precisely eliminate the wheat from the chaff.

The ideal candidate must have a strong realization of how their existing knowledge and skills
can substantially inform, contribute to, and improve the key organizational deliverables of
www.opensourceteaching.org.

Fellows will be provided with personal, engaging, and relevant tasks that are clearly aligned
with areas of demonstrated knowledge and skills applied to the following operational areas:

● Teaching & Learning

● International Languages & Policy
● Organizational Strategy & Policy
● Advocacy & Outreach
● Digital & Streaming Media
● Information Systems & Technology
● Philanthropy Underwriting
● Head Hunting & Recruitment
● Social Networks & Community

The ideal candidate will be an undergraduate or graduate student, fluent in the emerging
tools of sociology, technology, research, or communication. This individual will be committed
to the concepts of open source, including application of the following kinds of technology
platforms:
● www.esnips.com
● www.wikispaces.com
● http://video.google.com
● www.wikipedia.org
● www.oswd.org
● other emerging communication platforms

Sage Leadership Partners, Inc., P.O. Box 330951, Murfreesboro, TN 37133 4

© 2006. www.opensourceteaching.org. All rights reserved.
 Application Process: Open Source Teaching Fellows (International)

Only applications sent to the following email address will be considered.

jobs@opensourceteaching.org

Sent directly via email to the attention of:

Art Fuller, Founder & Chair

Sage Leadership Partners, Inc.
P.O. Box 330951
Murfreesboro, TN 37133

● All candidates must include a cover letter with their submission.

● All candidates must submit a personal statement of no more then 1,000

words, specifically addressing how their ideas, knowledge, and experience
substantially exceed each of the indicators related to the ideal candidate.

● All candidates must submit a resume or curriculum vitae.

All applications will be thoroughly reviewed by the Board of Sage Leadership Partners, Inc.

Salary: Sage Leadership Partners, Inc. is looking to add two voting student members to our
board. Each of these future board members will serve terms of at least one year as either an
undergraduate or graduate student board member of Sage Leadership Partners, Inc. If you
feel that your ideas, innovation, and passion align with our cause, we would love to learn
more about you through your work as on Open Source Teaching Fellow. This is a completely
volunteer position for like minded individuals committed to the principles of open source
teaching.

Location: Must have access to a high speed internet connection.

Sage Leadership Partners, Inc., P.O. Box 330951, Murfreesboro, TN 37133 5

© 2006. www.opensourceteaching.org. All rights reserved.
 “The Why” Behind Open Source Teaching.

There are many social barriers which limit open access to equal educational opportunity.
Access to knowledge, assumed as the norm within middle class families, is not easily injected
through “programs” in ways that empower individuals to become immersed in the benefits
of independent motivation, creativity, and thought. The daily operationalized norms of
bureaucracies empathize allegiance to the system. Particularly for individuals trapped within
such systems, traditional education strategies for intervention do not yield results with
staying power or that reinforce independence in thought, motivation, and drive. The political
dynamics of negotiating scarce education resources generally migrates such “programs”
towards incremental improvements on the status quo which pose no immediate or long term
threat to entrenched norms.

In contrast, the focus of open source teaching is the learner, making evident the relevance of
providing users access to engaging people willing to share their academic drive and expert
knowledge as a platform for others to deeply explore their own areas of personalized interest.
Stated in another way, students from “the ghetto” do not often become exposed to a diverse
array of people describing their professional passion and how one can receive the affective,
social, and economic benefits of pursuing personal areas of interests. Open source teaching will
provide multiple, relevant examples and opportunities for all users to become exposed to
such experts, including a specific articulation of the social, economic, and cultural norms that
are tacitly assumed within areas of research and institutions of higher education. Unrestricted
access to the entire catalog of open source teaching will be provided to all users at no cost, with
a specific focus on reaching aspiring first generation college students.

The economic feasibility of such an initiative is due to the extremely low overhead and high
degree of efficiency within the organizational structure and operations strategy of Sage
Leadership Partners. As a board and management team we currently maximize open source
tools as our primary means for board communication, board meetings, policy development,
executive management tracking, strategic planning, and operations delivery. Sage Leadership
Partners is a constantly learning organization and we are committed to the demonstration
and practice of what we preach.

Sage Leadership Partners will facilitate partnerships providing unrestricted access to citizens
within metropolitan cities, considering city-wide wireless connections, undergraduates
within targeted institutions of higher education, and students within districts that are early
adopters of instructional technology. Our existing board has the internal capacity and social
networks to partner with institutions of higher education and enlist the emerging innovation
within undergraduate and graduate student communities. The diversity of expertise within
our board will also provide the opportunity to demonstrate our methods through guest open

Sage Leadership Partners, Inc., P.O. Box 330951, Murfreesboro, TN 37133 6

© 2006. www.opensourceteaching.org. All rights reserved.
source lectures at institutions of higher education and conferences, related specifically to our
areas of doctorate level expertise. Such strategies will serve as a profound avenue to foster
and share our work with wider communities and associations.

Open source teaching is not confined or defined by the traditional notions of time. The
learner is the central focus and the personalization of people with expert knowledge is our
bottom line.

● Open to all learners

● Maximizing and adapting to all emerging new media tools for communication.

● A learner’s existing strength’s are used to build the foundation for developing new
knowledge and skills.

● The learner is engaged based on their personalized interests and choices.

● Depth is valued substantially over breadth.

● The learner can choose multiple people with expert knowledge.

● Knowledge is conveyed from an expansive selection of diverse experts.

● Knowledge is conveyed using all forms of media- based tools and technology.

● Knowledge is personalized based on the preferences of the learner and supported by

open source facilitators.

The benefit of open source teaching is equal and pervasive access to learners of diverse
perspectives, interests, and socioeconomic capital. Users will become immersed in new
paradigms of learning networks where the deep understanding and application of
personalized knowledge is the overwhelming and primary expectation.

Sage Leadership Partners, Inc., P.O. Box 330951, Murfreesboro, TN 37133 7

© 2006. www.opensourceteaching.org. All rights reserved.
 The Traditional Paradigm of Teaching
Defined Roles
(1) Student, (2) Teacher, (3) Curriculum, (4) Community, and
(5) Traditional Notions of Instruction and Time

Curriculum covered within

a particular training, course, classroom, or school
during a defined scope of mandated time.

Peers
A single teacher Collaboration
within a single section Community Expectations networking,
of the day. Primarily and dialog
lectures, tests, and research papers.

Student
Primarily passive,
periodically engaged. Many
interests and skills under
utilized.

Many students arrive in classrooms with a multitude of multi-tasking and knowledge-based

skills that are untapped by traditional methods of instruction. The traditional paradigm of
teaching and training does not provide the articulated platform for learners to build upon
their existing expertise to acquire new knowledge. The goal within the traditional paradigm
is to cover the material, regardless of whether a learner’s existing strengths are maximized.

Open source teaching begins by allowing individuals to maximize their existing knowledge,
interests, and skills as the basis for transformational environments that incorporate the expert
knowledge of people, using media-embedded strategies and concepts of open source.

Sage Leadership Partners, Inc., P.O. Box 330951, Murfreesboro, TN 37133 8

© 2006. www.opensourceteaching.org. All rights reserved.
 Open Source Teaching
Defined Roles
(1) Learner, (2) Open Source Facilitator,
(3) New media archive of people with expert knowledge

Global
Global Economy
Economy
People with
expert knowledge
Open source
facilitators

Learners People with

Knowledge, &
Open source expert knowledge
Media Tools
facilitators
Open source Global
facilitators Economy
Global People with
expert knowledge
Economy

People with expert knowledge. Interviews of professors, students, business professionals,

and educators will not only capture subject-matter expertise and applied knowledge, but also
provide insight related to the academic and personal experiences which drive an individual
to become an expert. All interviews remain the property of the individual and will not be
posted on any media platform without their express written consent.

Open source facilitators. The primary function of open source facilitators is to maximize the
capacity of individuals to take full advantage of a digital media archive of people.

Digital media tools. Digital medial tools include all forms of emerging technology and
platforms with the capacity to convey digital media.

Learners. All learners, ages three through adult.

Sage Leadership Partners, Inc., P.O. Box 330951, Murfreesboro, TN 37133 9

© 2006. www.opensourceteaching.org. All rights reserved.
 Our Board

Sage Leadership Partners, Inc. is comprised of seven board members focused on the
organizational management, implementation, and institutionalization of open source teaching.
The founder and chairman of Sage Leadership Partners, Inc. is Art Fuller, Executive Assistant
and Fiscal Budget Officer for the Tennessee State Board of Education. Mr. Fuller has served in
the field of education for twelve years holding public policy, project management,
professional training, information technology, media consultant, and teaching positions. The
vice-chairs of Sage Leadership Partners, Inc. are Judith Pennywell, Director of International
Student and Scholar Services at Vanderbilt University, and Mike Dishman, J.D., partner of
McLocklin, Murphy & Dishman, L.L.P. The secretary of Sage Leadership Partners, Inc. is
David Sevier, Ed.D., a policy adviser for the Tennessee State Board of Education. Dr. Sevier
has over fifteen years of experience in K-12 education including serving for five years as a
physics teacher, five years as a music teacher, and five years as an assistant school
administrator.

The Board of Sage Leadership Partners is also comprised of three additional voting members.
Yi Cui, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at
Vanderbilt University. Professor Cui's research focuses on networking systems and streaming
media technology. He currently holds two patents in distributed streaming media systems
and networks. Lance Lott is an Assistant Superintendent, Information Technology & Strategic
Planning for Metro Nashville Public Schools. Lance's past positions include serving as the
controller and vice president of administration for HCA Health Alliance, the Chief
Information Officer of Health Trust, and the Founder and Chairman of InfoAdvantage, Inc.
(1993-2005). Thomas Ford is Regional Director for Pearson Achievement Solutions and
rounds out the voting members of the board. Mr. Ford is an experienced professional trainer
and has serviced the needs of major metropolitan urban districts throughout Florida and
Georgia for the last eight years. Mr. Ford was selected as teacher of the year for Broward
County Florida (1997), one of the country's largest school districts.

Sage Leadership Partners, Inc. is looking to add two additional voting board members. If you feel that your
ideas, innovation, and passion align with our cause we would love to learn more about you through your work
as on Open Source Teaching Fellow.

Sage Leadership Partners, Inc., P.O. Box 330951, Murfreesboro, TN 37133 10

© 2006. www.opensourceteaching.org. All rights reserved.
 Our Staff

The Executive Director for Foundation Relationships is Mary Catherine Sevier, J.D. Mrs.
Sevier has a Bachelors of Arts in English from Converse College (1986) and a Juris Doctorate
from Vanderbilt University (1989). Mrs. Sevier served for three years as a corporate attorney
before deciding to devote her professional focus to the mission of education and quality
teaching in middle and secondary schools. She has thirteen years of experience in teaching
the Language Arts, inclusive of six years as a teacher of gifted and talented students (grades 6
– 12). Mrs. Sevier also serves as an independent contractor for the Tennessee Department of
Education, providing training to teachers on best teaching practices related to improving
student performance on Tennessee's High School Exit Exam in English.

The future Managing Partner of Open Source Teaching is Jessica Lewis, Project Manager for
the National Center on Performance Incentives, Peabody College, Vanderbilt University.
Jessica Lewis is a third-year doctoral student at Peabody College (Vanderbilt University).
Mrs. Lewis is pursuing her doctorate of education in the area of K-12 Education Leadership
and Policy. Her professional interests and efforts are focused on the importance of
stimulating greater teaching quality within the education system, with particular attention to
enhancing teacher learning opportunities, recruitment and retention mechanisms, and
pathways for professional growth. For the past two years, Mrs. Lewis has worked as a
legislative policy analyst for the State of Tennessee’s Office of Education Accountability.
During her time, she has completed several statewide evaluation projects on a variety of
education topics, including alternative schools for high school students, public charter
schools, as well as schools on the state’s high priority list for NCLB.

Created with

Sage Leadership Partners, Inc., P.O. Box 330951, Murfreesboro, TN 37133 11

© 2006. www.opensourceteaching.org. All rights reserved.