OPEN education?
Let's get your initial
ideas!
Why open education matters
Link to video: http://vimeo.com/43401199
“a collective term to describe institutional
practices and programmatic initiatives that
broaden access to the learning and training
traditionally offered through formal
education systems”
“open” in open education = elimination of barriers
What barriers?
● High cost
● Access to resources
● Distance to institutions
● Restrictive copyright laws
● Incompatible technology
● Academic admission requirements
● Accreditation
When and how did it all start?
Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
“Everyone has the right to education .
Education shall be free, at least in the
elementary and fundamental stages”
(United Nations, 1948, Art. 26, para. 1)
A bit of history...
On the role of openness in education: A historical reconstruction (CC-BY)
A bit of history...
On the role of openness in education: A historical reconstruction (CC-BY)
GlobalOpen
Education movement
Take home message
Openness in education is not a new idea,
fundamentally, education is a human
right.
And looking at the historical development
“shows us not only a technological, but
also a social, cultural and economic
phenomenon.”
On the role of openness in education: A historical reconstruction (CC-BY)
Key players
Open Source Initiative (CC-BY)David Wiley (CC-BY)
David Wiley
1998: “Open Content”
A creative work freely available for modification, use and redistribution under a license similar to those used by the Open Source / Free Software
community
The 4Rs:
Reuse
Remix
Revise
Redistribute
Key players
Richard Baranuik
1999: Connexions
A global repository for educational content, provided by volunteers, available for remixing,
editing and download in various formats.
Key players
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2001: MIT OpenCourseWare
MIT committed to putting all their content (lecture notes, syllabi, lecture videos) for all their courses
on the web, freely accessible to the public
Open Educational Resources(OER)
"teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual
property license that permits their free use and re-purposing by others. Open educational resources include full courses, course materials, modules, textbooks, streaming videos, tests, software,
and any other tools, materials, or techniques used to support access to knowledge"
William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
Key players
Larry Lessig
2001: Creative Commons
A non-profit organization that enables the sharing and use of creativity and knowledge through free
legal tools.
Lawrence Lessig (CC-BY)
A shared culture
Link to video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DKm96Ftfko
Open licenses are a tool to enable sharing, legally
www.creativecommons.org
Closed Open
By attribution
No derivatives
Share-alike
Non-commercial
A global change
OER initiatives
Enter the MOOC
Massive Open Online Course
2012: “The year of the MOOC”
www.mooc-list.com
Enter the MOOC
MOOC poster (CC-BY)
Benefits of open licenses and OER
OER are freely available for use by educators and learners,
without the need to pay royalties
Remember the 4 Rs?
Reuse
Remix
Revise
Redistribute
Benefits of open licenses and OER
Let's brainstorm!
● We can't afford new textbooks for our school.
● I can't afford the textbook for my university course.
● Our textbooks are outdated.
● The resources we have do not suit our needs or context.
● Our textbooks do not align to our curriculum or standards.
● I want to share my notes with others in my community.
● We don't have additional resources for students to go beyond the lesson.
● I want to add in my own activities to existing resources but don't know how.
Benefits of open licenses and OER
Grant freedoms instead of impose restrictions
Sharing is fundamental to teaching
Collaboration
Open education and OER in Africa
CC-BY on Flickr CC-BY on Flickr
Parklands School gallery
Contexts abound and all are challenging
Every child deserves a chance
Open education and OER in Africa
CC-BY on Flickr CC-BY on Flickr
Parklands School gallery
● Build capacity by providing educators free or low-cost access to tools, content and
communities of practice
● Reduce the cost of access to educational materials
● Adapt and develop materials relevant to African contexts and learners
Open education and OER in Africa
Plays a leading role in supporting higher education institutions across Africa in the development and use of OER to enhance teaching and learning, covering teacher
education, agriculture and health.
The African Virtual University released 73 of its courses as OER in 2006, and has since
developed the OER@AVU repository to increase the number of Africans using and adapting OER.
An initiative which brings together teachers and teacher educators across sub-Saharan Africa,
offering a range of OER to support school based teacher education and training.
CommunityCommunity
Technology
Technology Ope
nnes
s
Ope
nnes
s
Siyavula – 'we are opening'
Siyavula is a social enterprise built on
community, openness and technology,
working to make high quality educational
resources available to every learner and
teacher in South Africa.
What we have done
Technology enables and enriches
Open everything...
Open processes - iterative, transparent and collaborative
Open copyright licenses - freedom to distribute, adapt and enhance
Open standards - formats that enable the freedoms
Opensource software - freedom distribute, adapt and enhance
National distribution in South Africa
~ 10 million books
CommunityCommunity
Technology
Technology Ope
nnes
s
Ope
nnes
s
Community - Volunteers
Who?
Volunteers: Postgrad students:
Honours, Masters, PhD Lecturers and senior lecturers Educators People in industry
Provide a space for people to give back meaningfully to education in South Africa
Why?
South Africa has many different contexts
Teachers are from different backgrounds that teach in different areas
Drawing on these experiences helps us ensure that our textbooks include aspects that are relevant to the different contexts
More eyes = fewer errors that slip through
How?
Recruitment
How?
Workshops
How?
Online proofreading
How?
Online translation and translation days
Community - Recognition
Challenges of OER?
Technology
Awareness
Sustainability
Open business models
Let's remix!
www.creativecommons.org
Closed Open
By attribution
No derivatives
Share-alike
Non-commercial
By attribution
No derivatives
Share-alike
Non-commercial
OPEN education?
Let's get your initial
ideas!
Why open education matters
Link to video: http://vimeo.com/43401199
“a collective term to describe institutional
practices and programmatic initiatives that
broaden access to the learning and training
traditionally offered through formal
education systems”
“open” in open education = elimination of barriers
What barriers?
● High cost
● Access to resources
● Distance to institutions
● Restrictive copyright laws
● Incompatible technology
● Academic admission requirements
● Accreditation
When and how did it all start?
Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
“Everyone has the right to education .
Education shall be free, at least in the
elementary and fundamental stages”
(United Nations, 1948, Art. 26, para. 1)
A bit of history...
On the role of openness in education: A historical reconstruction (CC-BY)
A bit of history...
On the role of openness in education: A historical reconstruction (CC-BY)
GlobalOpen
Education movement
Take home message
Openness in education is not a new idea,
fundamentally, education is a human
right.
And looking at the historical development
“shows us not only a technological, but
also a social, cultural and economic
phenomenon.”
On the role of openness in education: A historical reconstruction (CC-BY)
Key players
Open Source Initiative (CC-BY)David Wiley (CC-BY)
David Wiley
1998: “Open Content”
A creative work freely available for modification, use and redistribution under a license similar to those used by the Open Source / Free Software
community
The 4Rs:
Reuse
Remix
Revise
Redistribute
Key players
Richard Baranuik
1999: Connexions
A global repository for educational content, provided by volunteers, available for remixing,
editing and download in various formats.
Key players
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2001: MIT OpenCourseWare
MIT committed to putting all their content (lecture notes, syllabi, lecture videos) for all their courses
on the web, freely accessible to the public
Open Educational Resources(OER)
"teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual
property license that permits their free use and re-purposing by others. Open educational resources include full courses, course materials, modules, textbooks, streaming videos, tests, software,
and any other tools, materials, or techniques used to support access to knowledge"
William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
Key players
Larry Lessig
2001: Creative Commons
A non-profit organization that enables the sharing and use of creativity and knowledge through free
legal tools.
Lawrence Lessig (CC-BY)
A shared culture
Link to video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DKm96Ftfko
Open licenses are a tool to enable sharing, legally
www.creativecommons.org
Closed Open
By attribution
No derivatives
Share-alike
Non-commercial
A global change
OER initiatives
Enter the MOOC
Massive Open Online Course
2012: “The year of the MOOC”
www.mooc-list.com
Enter the MOOC
MOOC poster (CC-BY)
Benefits of open licenses and OER
OER are freely available for use by educators and learners,
without the need to pay royalties
Remember the 4 Rs?
Reuse
Remix
Revise
Redistribute
Benefits of open licenses and OER
Let's brainstorm!
● We can't afford new textbooks for our school.
● I can't afford the textbook for my university course.
● Our textbooks are outdated.
● The resources we have do not suit our needs or context.
● Our textbooks do not align to our curriculum or standards.
● I want to share my notes with others in my community.
● We don't have additional resources for students to go beyond the lesson.
● I want to add in my own activities to existing resources but don't know how.
Benefits of open licenses and OER
Grant freedoms instead of impose restrictions
Sharing is fundamental to teaching
Collaboration
Open education and OER in Africa
CC-BY on Flickr CC-BY on Flickr
Parklands School gallery
Contexts abound and all are challenging
Every child deserves a chance
Open education and OER in Africa
CC-BY on Flickr CC-BY on Flickr
Parklands School gallery
● Build capacity by providing educators free or low-cost access to tools, content and
communities of practice
● Reduce the cost of access to educational materials
● Adapt and develop materials relevant to African contexts and learners
Open education and OER in Africa
Plays a leading role in supporting higher education institutions across Africa in the development and use of OER to enhance teaching and learning, covering teacher
education, agriculture and health.
The African Virtual University released 73 of its courses as OER in 2006, and has since
developed the OER@AVU repository to increase the number of Africans using and adapting OER.
An initiative which brings together teachers and teacher educators across sub-Saharan Africa,
offering a range of OER to support school based teacher education and training.
CommunityCommunity
Technology
Technology Ope
nnes
s
Ope
nnes
s
Siyavula – 'we are opening'
Siyavula is a social enterprise built on
community, openness and technology,
working to make high quality educational
resources available to every learner and
teacher in South Africa.
What we have done
Technology enables and enriches
Open everything...
Open processes - iterative, transparent and collaborative
Open copyright licenses - freedom to distribute, adapt and enhance
Open standards - formats that enable the freedoms
Opensource software - freedom distribute, adapt and enhance
National distribution in South Africa
~ 10 million books
CommunityCommunity
Technology
Technology Ope
nnes
s
Ope
nnes
s
Community - Volunteers
Who?
Volunteers: Postgrad students:
Honours, Masters, PhD Lecturers and senior lecturers Educators People in industry
Provide a space for people to give back meaningfully to education in South Africa
Why?
South Africa has many different contexts
Teachers are from different backgrounds that teach in different areas
Drawing on these experiences helps us ensure that our textbooks include aspects that are relevant to the different contexts
More eyes = fewer errors that slip through
How?
Recruitment
How?
Workshops
How?
Online proofreading
How?
Online translation and translation days
Community - Recognition
Challenges of OER?
Technology
Awareness
Sustainability
Open business models
Let's remix!
www.creativecommons.org
Closed Open
By attribution
No derivatives
Share-alike
Non-commercial
By attribution
No derivatives
Share-alike
Non-commercial
Recommended
