Analyst and Entrepreneur Michael Feldstein Suggests MIT and Harvard Endow a Foundation to Steward Open edX

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IBL News
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IBL News | New York

Analyst and entrepreneur Michael Feldstein suggested MIT and Harvard University take a portion of the $800 million profit received from 2U and endow a small foundation intended to steward the Open edX code through the Apache incubation process.

“MIT and Harvard should not have undue influence or control,” Feldstein said in a recent article while advising to follow the Apache Foundation’s incubation process “to ensure a healthy open-source community and governance practices.”

“Once the software has passed through incubation—which is usually a multi-year process—then a new board should be elected from the community to chart its future.”

“The initial board could consist of former EdX members and Open EdX contributors.”

Michael Feldstein, the author of the influential blog eLiterate [in the picture above], says that Open edX is “a passion project”, and therefore MIT and Harvard are in need of an outside auditor to steward the platform.

With another portion of the proceeds of the sale of edX Inc to 2U, MIT and Harvard should create “an educational research grant-giving body focused on improving global education and educational equity.”

“MIT and Harvard faculty and staff would be permanently disqualified from receiving grant dollars from the foundation. A credible board of academic experts and NGO leaders would oversee the distribution of funds.”

Regarding the transaction itself, Feldstein points to the disagreement inside MIT and Harvard and highlights the “reputational damage done.”

“My sources inside these institutions, particularly MIT, tell me there’s quite a bit of internal upset and foment over the transaction.”

Michael Feldstein has recently co-founded Argos Education, a start-up that uses Carnegie Mellon University’s open-source, alternative software, the Open Learning Initiative.

 

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