In this session Matthew K. Gold (CUNY Graduate Center) and Zach Davis (Cast Iron Coding) discuss the origins and various iterations of the next-generation, open source publishing tool Manifold (https://manifoldapp.org/). Born out of an experiment with the University of Minnesota Press, the origins of Manifold as an elegant publishing solution for scholarly monographs morphed into a dynamic tool for reading collaboratively around a series of resources often centered, but not limited to, the text. The focus on design and the simplicity with which texts can be ingested highlights the importance user experience when developing edtech tools.

In fact, Manifold speaks to the larger movement at CUNY in which open source infrastructure has become the bedrock upon which their OER initiative is built. It is a longer history of ensuring the tools that undergird public discourse and teaching and learning are not ceded entirely to the market.