LONDON , England ( CNN ) -- Catherine Schmidt-Jones , or Kitty as she 's known to her friends , is , in her words , `` an obscure music teacher in Champaign , Illinois . '' Kitty Schmidt-Jones , whose Connexions modules have been viewed over 7 million times . But that 's not strictly true : Schmidt-Jones is far from obscure . Through her online music courses , she has reached thousands of people and her teaching material has been viewed online -- over 7 million times . Schmidt-Jones is just one of a growing number of professors and teachers who are using the Web site Connexions ( cnx.org ) to reach potential students . And what 's more , they 're doing it for free . Connexions was set up by Rice University professor Richard Baraniuk in 1999 . He wanted to produce learning materials for his electrical engineering students , but was frustrated by how expensive and slow it would be to produce a textbook . `` The access was going to be limited -- it would only be available to just a few students from the United States , '' he told CNN . `` In the developing world , it would basically not be available at all . `` And the production process is just incredibly slow . For example , to get Pluto out of all of our nation 's textbooks will take a decade . By then , Pluto will be reinstated as a planet , so we 'll have to put it back in . '' So Baraniuk decided to do something different . At the time , he was learning about Linux software . It dawned on him that its open source concepts could be adapted for education . `` I realized that there was a better way that was enabled by information technology , where we could author textbooks as a community and make them free and open for people to use and reuse , '' he explained . On the Connexions Web site , authors can upload bite-sized chunks of learning materials called `` modules . '' Modules can be strung together to form whole courses , or `` collections . '' Anyone can build a collection from any combination of modules -- so , for example , a module on Shakespeare 's Hamlet could appear in collections on literature , Elizabethan history or dramatic arts . This building-block approach means that courses can be adapted both for personal use and by teachers who can tailor each collection for a particular curriculum , class or even an individual student . To ensure the quality of its content , the site supports peer-review and endorsement of modules by third parties and all material is attributed to the author . And once a collection is assembled , a textbook version can be printed on demand through third-party Qoop for around $ 24 -- considerably less than the cost of most college textbooks , but still enough to pay the author a slice of the royalties . `` A lot of the back-end that 's been handled by traditional publishers can be handled very efficiently by this new breed of information technology , '' Baraniuk explains . `` So we can lower the cost for everybody , sometimes to zero for materials that are online . '' The Connexions formula is certainly working . Today , the site has nearly 5,000 modules written by university professors , school teachers and other educators , and while most are in the sciences ( reflecting its roots ) the arts and humanities are growing . The content attracts 600,000 users a month , ranging from K-12 children to university-level engineering students . Fifty percent of its traffic comes from outside the United States , with 30-40 percent coming from the developing world . And as the site grows , Baraniuk is seeing a rise in the number of people using its modules , especially in the arts and humanities , for informal learning . Even governments are starting to notice its potential . Connexions recently obtained an Official Memo of Understanding to supply Vietnam with course materials , with more partner countries in the pipeline . And Connexions is crossing language barriers , too . While most of the site 's modules are in English , the site 's volunteer translators help meet the demand for educational materials in other languages , where translation and production of traditional textbooks is often prohibitively expensive . `` My particular book in Connexions is fairly popular , '' Baraniuk explains , `` But I was translated by three volunteer engineering students in University of Texas , El Paso and my book is far more popular in Spanish than it is in English . `` That really gives you a sense of the global reach . '' But perhaps its most striking benefit is the site 's ability to connect talented educators who would not have considered going the traditional publishing route , like Catherine Schmidt-Jones , with people who want to learn but do n't have access to books . Those authors are seizing the opportunity to pass on their knowledge . `` I do n't think any publisher of music textbooks would even have looked at my material , '' Schmidt-Jones told CNN . `` For me to go to a publisher and say , 'Hey I 'm a really good writer , you should look at my textbooks ! ' -- I do n't think that ever would have happened . '' While she writes with her students in mind , Schmidt-Jones 's work has been used by people from North America to Australia , Argentina to Uganda . She gets emails every week from teachers and students who 've found her material helpful : `` Your explanation of minor keys and scales saved my theory life . Thanks , '' reads one example . `` Thank you for the great explanation of perfect intervals ! It was very helpful to our class , '' reads another . It 's this response that 's prompted her to write more for the site . `` Doing something that 's so wildly popular , it makes me feel good about myself . It 's a pat on the back that I 'm doing the right thing and that people appreciate it , '' she told CNN . Schmidt-Jones currently has 167 modules available through Connexions . Some she can knock off in an afternoon . The more complex modules , with sound files , figures and diagrams , can take a couple of days to write . Schmidt-Jones fits this around her tutoring -- it 's what she does for fun . She 's also helped a friend of hers publish on the site . Richard Baraniuk praises her work highly . `` She is just the tip of the iceberg of a new community of authors who are going to be able to really enrich and enliven educational material for everyone , '' he told CNN . And through Connexions , they can reach an eye-poppingly wide audience . `` They can really amplify their impact to a truly global level , '' he said . And for Schmidt-Jones , it 's an outlet for her passion for teaching . `` I 'm convinced that making a good education available to everyone is one of THE answers to fixing all the things that are wrong with the world , '' she told CNN . `` It 's difficult to express how exciting it is to feel that I 'm actively contributing to an effort to do that . '' ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Can open-source online learning replace the textbook ? Should we give our knowledge away for free ? Share your thoughts and read others ' views in the Just Imagine forum . E-mail to a friend .
Web site Connexions holds free learning materials . Site takes its inspiration from open-source Linux software . 600,000 people use the site monthly , many from developing countries . The site lets teachers and students build and print their own tailored courses .