Earlier today, I received something along the lines of the following request:
Can you point me to an accessible intro to open data and the implications of formats at a level appropriate to students on the level 1/first year undergrad technology course ****?
My response (flippant but not…?):
Do it for real…? TG135 Underlying data publication [draft guidance]
As an afterthought, I added a pointer to a recent blog post from Richard Wallis: One Step at a Time.
For some time, I’ve been thinking that one of the things we should be aspiring to with some of our courses is the knowledge that students will leave the course able to understand the issues (technical and otherwise) involved in relevant sections of government consultation reports related to the course study area, and maybe even comment critically back on them (this could form part of an “authentic assessment” process). I’ll post more on this (hopefully) over the next week or two…
Related: Decoding Patents – An Appropriate Context for Teaching About Technology?
OUseful.Info, the blog... 
I wonder if this is somehow related as well:
Real Editors Ship