Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education

ISKME’s work is divided into three main areas. First, ISKME conducts academic research in the fields of information science and knowledge management in education. This includes topics such as open education, collaboration in online communities, education technology, education policy, social learning, and the use of data to inform educational decision-making. Second, ISKME helps education leaders improve their capacity to collect, analyze, and use data to inform their decisions about institutional policies and programs.[1] Third, ISKME creates open educational resources (OERs) including OER Commons, which provides educators, students, and the general public with free access to a collection of more than 30,000 digital textbooks, course modules, lesson plans, and other educational materials.[2] ISKME provides training, professional development workshops, and convenings for educators.[3]

ISKME was established in 2002 by Lisa Petrides, formerly a professor in Teachers College at Columbia University. ISKME’s initial research focused on the capacity of college faculty and administrators to use educational data to inform decision-making as well as knowledge management in the philanthropic sector. In 2002, ISKME conducted a study for grantmakers in education on the sharing of data and information among foundations. In 2003, ISKME published a monograph on knowledge management in education.[4] In 2004, with support from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, ISKME expanded to include research and training in the development of open educational resources, conducted in partnership with organizations including the Monterey Institute of Technology, Connexions, Teachers Domain, Free High School Science Texts, Siyavula in South Africa and Training Commons in India.[5] In 2005, ISKME engaged in research partnerships with schools of education and training programs for school principals, including work with the San Francisco School Alliance and the University of California’s Principal Leadership Institute.

ISKME was named an Education Laureate by the San Jose Tech Museum of Innovation in 2007 for OER Commons.[6] In December 2010, ISKME was named a finalist in the Qatar Foundation World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) Awards for its OER Commons teacher professional development programs.[7] In 2009, ISKME hosted its inaugural Big Ideas Fest, held in Half Moon Bay.[3]

In 2011, ISKME won the Award for Bodies which Influence Policy from the Open Educational Quality Initiative (OPAL),[8] a consortium that includes UNESCO, the International Council for Open and Distance Education, the European Foundation for Quality in e-Learning, and several European universities. In 2011 ISKME announced a matching grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to support the Big Ideas in Beta program, focused on incubating innovation in education.[9]

San Francisco public television station KQED and Roadtrip Nation are co-sponsors of the Big Ideas Fest. Bioquest works with ISKME on research projects and professional development workshops for teachers. International partners include European SchoolNet and Open Science Resources. ISKME maintains a staff of fifteen full-time employees.

• Open educational practices

• ISKME, in California, United States
• Helping Educators Determine the Quality of Open Education Resources