Thanks to Don I discovered an interesting idea being worked out across the web: Edupunk or DIY instructional technology that avoids corporate tools like PowerPoint and Blackboard. The Chronicle has two stories on this, Frustrated With Corporate Course-Management Systems, Some Professors Go ‘Edupunk’ and Technologist Who Coined ‘Edupunk’ Defends the Term in a Video Debate.
The Wikipedia article on Edupunk links to a great example from UBC where a course on Murder, Madness, and Mayhem: Latin American Literature in Translation took a bunch of Wikipedia articles on Latin American literature to Featured Article and Good Article status. They wrote some and edited others using the Wikipedia as their DIY course environment. Neat idea that strikes me as scalable, especially in the case of grad courses. It is a way of using what is at hand, in this case the Wikipedia, and using it for an authentic instructional purpose. It has the advantage that it contributes something to the larger community and can benefit from the community.