Frequently Asked Questions
Document Actions
Open.Michigan offers the following introductory answers to Frequently Asked Questions about how visitors to this site can make use of course materials, what technology we use to publish the eduCommons site, etc. Click on a subject heading below to view questions and answers relating to your selection.
This document provides help for the Open.Michigan - Education site in the form of a list of frequently asked questions and answers. If you have other questions about this site please email open.michigan@umich.edu
About Open.Michigan - Education
What is Open.Michigan - Education?
Using Open.Michigan - Education Materials
Where are the course
materials?
How can I use
Open.Michigan - Education course materials?
Intellectual Property
Who holds the
copyrights to the materials published on the Open.Michigan - Education website?
What are the Terms
of Use for Open.Michigan - Education users?
How do I properly
reference my use or reuse of Open.Michigan - Education materials?
What do I do if I
believe Open.Michigan - Education material infringes my copyright?
University of Michigan Faculty
Are University of Michigan faculty required to
participate in Open.Michigan - Education?
How do I contact a specific member of the University of Michigan faculty?
Privacy and Data Collection
What does Open.Michigan - Education
do with my personal information?
What is the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and how does it apply to the University of Michigan?
Other Questions
As a University of
Michigan faculty member or student, how can I contribute my own materials to Open.Michigan - Education?
How can I learn more
about admission to the University of Michigan?
About Open.Michigan - Education
What is Open.Michigan - Education?
Open.Michigan - Education is the Open Educational Resources (OER) component of the Open.Michigan initiative. Current efforts focus on developing a repository of course materials and identifying discrete educational content objects that can be accessed and used by anyone in the world. Open.Michigan - Education has a vision of a next generation learning environment: an environment that fosters collaboration around curricula, course materials, and content; that generates connections between disciplines, teachers, and learners; and inspires use of educational materials in a more personalized and effective way.
Open.Michigan - Education does not provide a University of Michigan education. Open.Michigan - Education's goal is to provide University of Michigan educational content that supports an education. Open.Michigan - Education does not grant University of Michigan credit and does not facilitate access to University of Michigan faculty. The educational content provided at Open.Michigan - Education is open to the public for use and re-use, but is not meant to be a distance education curriculum.
Using Open.Michigan - Education Materials
Where are the course materials?
To find what courses are available at this time, view the complete course list. Once you have accessed a particular course site, the left-hand navigation bar of each course homepage will detail what materials are available for that individual course.
How can I use Open.Michigan - Education course materials?
Open.Michigan - Education is considered a large-scale, Web-based publication of the course materials that support a University of Michigan education. Educators are encouraged to utilize the materials for curriculum development, students can augment their current learning by making use of the materials offered, and self-learners are encouraged to draw upon Open.Michigan - Education for self-study or supplementary use. Course materials offered on the website may be used under the license associated with the content, course or overall Open.Michigan - Education site as applicable.
Intellectual Property
Who holds the copyrights to the materials published on the Open.Michigan - Education website?
Faculty retain the copyright to their materials prepared for
Open.Michigan - Education. If student course work is placed on the site, then
copyright in the work remains with the student. Faculty and students that
provide their materials to Open.Michigan - Education license their work under a Creative
Commons license. See the respective page for details on the specific license
terms.
What are the Terms of Use for Open.Michigan - Education users?
See the
Terms of
Use for more information.
How do I properly reference my use or reuse of Open.Michigan - Education materials?
For your convenience, at the bottom of each page, we provide a citation to the web page in APA format, a copyright statement and a license for that page.
Proper citation of University of Michigan works:
As an example, the citation for Steven Jackson's Digital Government I course would read, "Jackson, S., Digital Government I, Winter 2007. Open.Michigan, Regents of the University of Michigan, <http://michigan.educommons.net/school-of-information/532> (Accessed 13, April 2008). License: Creative Commons Attribution (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)."
In addition to providing attribution to the author, Creative Commons-licensed
materials should include a link to the license.
What do I do if I believe Open.Michigan - Education material infringes my copyright?
Open.Michigan, prior to making any materials publicly available, has reviewed all material extensively to determine the correct copyrights of the material and obtain the appropriate licenses to make the material available on Open.Michigan. Congress passed The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) of 1998 to protect the rights of copyright holders in this digital age. The University of Michigan values copyright law and protects its own as well as the rights of others. Open.Michigan will promptly remove any material that is determined to be infringing on the rights of others. To file a DMCA notification, you must be either the copyright holder of the work or an individual authorized to act on behalf of the copyright holder. If you believe your copyright protection has been infringed on the Open.Michigan web site hosted by the University, please contact us at open.michigan@umich.edu or contact our DMCA agent:
John King
Vice Provost for Academic Information
University of Michigan
503 Thompson Street, Room 3042 Fleming
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1340
Voice: (734) 764-2571
Fax: (734) 764-4546
E-Mail: dmca.notices@umich.edu
To best address your concerns, please include the following information in your notification:
- A physical or electronic signature of the copyright holder (NOTE: If an agent is providing the notification, also include a statement that the agent is authorized to act on behalf of the holder.)
- Contact information for the holder or agent.
- Identification of the copyrighted work(s) in question.
- Web address (URL) of the site containing the alleged copyright infringement.
- A statement that the copyright holder or authorized agent has a good faith belief that use of the copyrighted material is not authorized by the copyright holder, agent, or the law.
- A statement made under penalty of perjury that the information in the notification is accurate.
University of Michigan Faculty
Are University of Michigan faculty required to participate in Open.Michigan - Education?
No. Participation in Open.Michigan - Education is completely voluntary.
How do I contact a specific member of the University of Michigan Faculty?
Open.Michigan - Education is intended as a publication of University of Michigan course
materials on the Web, and not as an interactive experience with the University
of Michigan faculty. Direct any related questions to open.michigan@umich.edu.
Privacy and Data Collection
What does Open.Michigan - Education do with my personal information?
Open.Michigan - Education respects your privacy. We do not collect personally
identifiable information about you unless you voluntarily provide it, such as
when you provide email contact information to send feedback to Open.Michigan - Education,
or respond to a survey. If you voluntarily provide your email address or other
contact information, we might also use it to inform you of changes to
Open.Michigan - Education, to survey you about your use or opinion of Open.Michigan - Education, or
to ask for your support. At your request, we will remove your contact
information from our files.
We do not make your contact information or any other personally identifiable
information available to anyone outside Open.Michigan - Education or its service
providers (who use the information only for authorized Open.Michigan - Education
purposes) unless we are legally required to do so.
In addition to the above, we collect certain anonymous (non-personally
identifiable) information to help us improve the Open.Michigan - Education website and to
evaluate the access and use of Open.Michigan - Education materials and the impact of
Open.Michigan - Education on the worldwide educational community:
- We collect information you provide about your use of and satisfaction with Open.Michigan - Education through email you send us and through Open.Michigan - Education surveys, whether or not you voluntarily include your contact information.
- We may use web analysis tools that are built into the Open.Michigan - Education web site to measure and collect anonymous session information.
- We also use "cookies" to improve your Open.Michigan - Education web experience and to collect anonymous information about how you use Open.Michigan - Education. However, cookies are not required for Open.Michigan - Education use. If your browser is configured not to accept cookies, you will still be able to access Open.Michigan - Education and its content.
When we report information about Open.Michigan - Education access, use, and impact, we
report aggregate, non-personally identifiable data. Occasionally, we report
quoted feedback from users. We do not attribute feedback to specific
individuals unless we obtain permission to use that person's name along with
the feedback.
What is the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and how does it apply to the University of Michigan?
As a public institution in the state of Michigan, the University of Michigan is subject to provisions of the state's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Under the FOIA, "all persons, except those persons incarcerated in state or local correctional facilities, are entitled to full and complete information regarding the affairs of government and the official acts of those who represent them as public officials and public employees…" Consequently, any individual other than a federal, state or county prisoner has the right to inspect and/or receive copies of public records maintained by the University. Please see University of Michigan's FOIA office website for more details.
Other Questions
As a University of Michigan faculty member or student, how can I contribute my own materials to Open.Michigan - Education?
University of Michigan faculty and students who wish to contribute materials
to Open.Michigan - Education should send an email to open.michigan@umich.edu.
How do I learn more about admission to the University of Michigan?
Open.Michigan - Education is not a degree-granting or certificate-granting program. Those
interested in applying to the University of Michigan are encouraged to visit
the
Prospective
Students page on the
University
of Michigan website.
This material was created or adapted from material created by MIT OCW, Copyright © 2005 MIT in accordance with the MIT OCW Terms of Use, http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Global/terms-of-use.htm.
