== P2PU Talking Points ==

v1.0 - 23 Feb 2011 (Revision 2)
Talking points archived in P2PU wiki 20/04/2011: http://wiki.p2pu.org/w/page/37031375/P2PU-Messaging

The Peer 2 Peer University is a grassroots open education project that organizes online learning outside of institutional walls and gives learners recognition for their achievements. 

Summary:

• P2PU is learning for everyone, by everyone, about almost anything. 
• Anyone can contribute - by joining or creating a course, or by acting as mentor to help others. 
• We use peer learning and open educational resources to scale education opportunities.
• P2PU puts learners in charge, replacing the traditional top-down model with a more open, peer-based model.
• We are developing alternative models for certification to give learners recognition for their achievements. 
• P2PU is growing and looking for market-based approaches for long-term financial independence.

P2PU is learning for everyone, by everyone, about almost anything.

• Peer 2 Peer University is a global community and platform for learning.
• Everything is free and open. 
• Together, we're teaching and learning everything from mathematics to web development to literature.
• We use open educational resources and learn in study groups.
• P2PU is run by our global community of volunteers who all believe that the best way to learn is from and with other people, no matter where in the world you are. 

Anyone can contribute - by joining or creating a course, or by acting as mentor to help others. 
Peer 2 Peer University is your open online university. You can:

• Join a study group. Find a topic that interests you and learn with peers.  
• Start a study group. Can't find the subject for you? Suggest a new study group or start one yourself. It's easier than you think. And we'll help you.
• Help us build and grow. Get on our community list. Or join one of the working groups:
  • Building new schools - Start a community that looks at one particular topic. Find partner organizations to work with. Ask for a micro-grant to get off the ground. 
  • Technology - Help develop the new P2PU.org web platform. Keep our servers running. Or improve the UX/UI.
  • Research - Figure out how to track learner success. Design and run surveys. Work with researchers outside of P2PU.

P2PU puts learners in charge, replacing the traditional top-down model with a more open, peer-based model

• Courses are designed, organized, and facilitated by volunteers around the world and everyone learns together as peers. 
• Imagine the science projects, hobbies and books you've always wanted to explore; now imagine exploring them with people from around the world
• P2PU is all about learning by trying and doing. Sometimes, this means we're experimenting -- which is what makes P2PU exciting!

At P2PU everyone learns together, using existing open content.

• A wealth of educational resources already exist online. Peer 2 Peer University provides the social layer -- a network of peers that give these resources context and life.
• Traditional universities also provide social support for learning, but usually in inaccessible or expensive systems. P2PU provides this social layer in an open online environment. 
• P2PU builds on existing free content and we create our own. All content on p2pu.org is free and open under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license.
• We're also developing certification and badges, partnering with organizations like Mozilla and UC Irvine,  so that P2PU learners can get public recognition for their learning and skills.

P2PU is growing by leaps and bounds (and growing up)

• The Peer 2 Peer University community is growing! The number of courses we offer is doubling every three months, and we have users from more than 150 countries.
• P2PU is incorporated as a not for profit organization in California. 
• We have more than 20,000 registered users, and 5,000 active users / month on average.
• What's next for P2PU? 
  • We're working to make our site better and easier to use for everyone.
  • We are adding a few amazing people to the support team to help us get there.