The open-access journal Innovate, published by the Fischler School of Education and Human Services at Nova Southeastern University, is ceasing publication, Stephen Downes announced on his blog and a university spokesperson confirmed.
The peer-reviewed online journal focused on how information technology could be used to enhance academic, governmental, and business settings. It was started in 2004 by James L. Morrison, professor emeritus of educational leadership at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and had 76,282 subscribers from 271 countries.
In its last issue, Innovate had stories about creating learning environments in Second Life, approaches to develop quality assurance in online education, and a virtual learning space that allowed for three-dimensional representations of important archaeological sites.
8 Responses to The Closing of an Open-Access Journal
downes - October 23, 2009 at 4:04 pm
It’s spelled ‘Stephen Downes’. With an ‘e’. Thanks.
jmorrison - October 23, 2009 at 5:16 pm
Although Innovate has ceased publication, The Fischler School will continue to make all articles published in volumes one through five available as a community resource at http://www.innovateonline.infoBest.James L. MorrisonFounding Editor
debbieeast - October 23, 2009 at 9:34 pm
I’m disappointed that it is ceasing publication as we need open access journals. Thanks for providing one.Deb
vkwchron - October 24, 2009 at 1:33 am
Regret to see this open access journal close. We can use more open access journals especially in learning and teaching. The Journal of Online Learning and Teaching (JOLT) is an open access journal. http://jolt.merlot.org/index.htmlLet's support JOLT and other open access journals.
mbelvadi - October 24, 2009 at 9:26 am
Why is it ceasing?
emmadw - October 26, 2009 at 6:54 am
It’s a great shame it’s closing; it’s a journal I’ve used in the past & have pointed students to on a regular basis. To answer mbelvadi’s question “why” – I don’t know, but my guess would be financial considerations. Even if the hosting costs are minimal, there’s bound to be a lot of staff time involved – and the provision of the online seminars that they used to offer too. I suppose this highlights the issue of anything that’s “free” – though the end users aren’t paying, someone, somewhere is. Maybe it’s not cost – perhaps it’s another reason – but that would be my guess.
smwoodson - October 26, 2009 at 11:15 pm
“Even if the hosting costs are minimal, there’s bound to be a lot of staff time involved….” Staff time costs, too. And it is usually the largest part of a project’s cost. The value of labor seems to get lost in the 2.0 world where everything apapears to be free.
emmadw - October 27, 2009 at 4:47 am
“Staff time costs, too.” That’s precisely what I meant, though, I agree, looking at it, I didn’t make it explicit.