It’s been a busy year for Boundless Learning. Since its
launch in 2011, the ed-tech start-up from Boston dropped “Learning” from its
moniker and redesigned its web site to more easily connect students with openly
licensed, free educational content created by educators and institutions,
according to its web site.
Students can now type in their assigned course textbook
and the site will present alternative materials from open ed resources, U.S.
government sites, and other independent sites, such as Wikipedia and
Encyclopedia of Earth. Boundless is also working on social features for
peer-to-peer learning.
“We don’t create content, we curate,” Boundless
co-founder and CEO Ariel Diaz told Xconomy.
The other thing on the Boundless to-do list is defend
itself from a federal lawsuit filed in March by Pearson Education, Cengage
Learning, and Bedford Freeman & Worth Publishing, claiming it is guilty of
copyright infringement. For its part, Boundless claims the suit is another instance
of big business distracting and delaying innovation.
“They’re trying to protect the profit margin on this
dying business,” Diaz said. “Textbook publishers are trying to build bigger
levees instead of building a houseboat. They’re just setting themselves up for
massive chaos.”
