[Open-education] Wikimania 2014: Wikipedia belongs in Education

Tue Aug 12 13:39:40 UTC 2014

Hi Marieke, 

No, no, not tangential at all!  I think these are fundamental issues that need to be addressed by the "open community", if such a thing can be said to exist.  Unfortunately it's not an issue that I have any answers for, in fact it's something I've been grappling with myself over the last year.  The more we have to focus on bringing in project funding to pay the bills, the less time we often have to devote to open education practice. That certainly doesn't mean that I am any less committed to open education, far from it, but it does make it harder to engage with open education initiatives.  

My former Cetis colleague Sheila MacNeill recently wrote an intersting blog post exploring some of these issues and asking whether open education is a "luxury item or everyday essential" http://howsheilaseesit.wordpress.com/2014/06/06/open-education-practice-luxury-item-or-everyday-essential-openscot/ 

Cheers
Lorna

On 12 Aug 2014, at 13:27, Marieke Guy wrote:

> Hi Lorna,
> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> The argument Luis Villa from the Wikimedia Foundation Counsel was making was that despite lawyers and economists telling us to be weary people still want to share. It is almost an internal need - reciprocity. Or 'give and take'.
> 
> I think this is an incredibly important point. At the heart of Open Movements there is fundamental belief that openness and sharing are good things. I'm sure most of us on this list will share this belief. And for many education sits at the core of openness and sharing. Education (possibly not traditional education systems but new open education systems) will get us out of the mess that selfishness and closed attitudes have got us in to. As Nelson Mandela said "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." 
> 
> However for many of us there is a problem here. We still need to pay the bills...openness needs funding. And when there is money available sometimes this leads to competition between organisations (which is why I was pleased to be involved in the Open Coallition workshop). And when there isn't money available it means many people who believe in open have to pay their bills in another way.
> 
> So what is the answer? 
> 
> I'm not sure, maybe a significant rethinking of our economy. Wikipedia have made it work and it's not a easy task. However I do believe that an open movement - a body of people who believe that sharing is a good thing, and equity and equality are good things - this is a step in the right direction.
> 
> Hope I haven't gone off in a complete tangent here...!
> 
> Marieke
> 
> 
> 
> On 12/08/2014 12:04, Lorna M Campbell wrote:
>> 
>> Hi Marieke, 
>> 
>> Thanks for sharing this really great write up of Wikimania.  I was really disappointed not to be able to get there myself, so this is the next best thing! 
>> 
>> It sounds like education is very firmly at the heart of Wikimedia's mission, which I certainly see as a good thing.  
>> 
>> I'm also really interested to see the issue of reciprocity being discussed in relation to "free" and "open".  This comes up from time to time, but I think it warrants  greater exploration, particularly at a time when it's increasingly difficult for some colleagues to engage with voluntary and un-funded open education initiatives. 
>> 
>> Cheers
>> Lorna
>> 
>> 
>> On 12 Aug 2014, at 11:13, Marieke Guy wrote:
>> 
>>> Hi Everyone,
>>> 
>>> We had a great time at Wikimania last week. It was lovely to meet so many of you at our community stand and hopefully get some new recruits for the working group too! There were lots of great sessions on education and open learning and teaching practice. We've written two posts about the event:
>>> Wikimania 2014: Wikipedia belongs in Education
>>> Wikimania 2014: Wikidata all the way
>>> If you attended how about sharing your thoughts and take homes!
>>> Marieke
>>> -- 
>>> Marieke Guy
>>> LinkedUp Project Community Coordinator | skype: mariekeguy | tel: 44 (0) 1285 885681 | @mariekeguy
>>> Open Knowledge
>>> Empowering through Open Knowledge
>>> http://okfn.org/ | @okfn| OKF on Facebook | Blog | Newsletter
>>> http://remoteworker.wordpress.com
>>> 
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> open-education mailing list
>>> open-education at lists.okfn.org
>>> https://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/open-education
>> 
>> -- Lorna M Campbell --
>> Assistant Director, Cetis
>> Web: www.cetis.ac.uk
>> Blog: lornamcampbell.wordpress.com
>> Mail: lorna.m.campbell at icloud.com
>> Twitter: LornaMCampbell
>> Skype: lorna120768
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> open-education mailing list
>> open-education at lists.okfn.org
>> https://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/open-education
> 
> 
> -- 
> Marieke Guy
> LinkedUp Project Community Coordinator | skype: mariekeguy | tel: 44 (0) 1285 885681 | @mariekeguy
> Open Knowledge
> Empowering through Open Knowledge
> http://okfn.org/ | @okfn| OKF on Facebook | Blog | Newsletter
> http://remoteworker.wordpress.com
> 
> _______________________________________________
> open-education mailing list
> open-education at lists.okfn.org
> https://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/open-education

-- Lorna M Campbell --
Assistant Director, Cetis
Web: www.cetis.ac.uk
Blog: lornamcampbell.wordpress.com
Mail: lorna.m.campbell at icloud.com
Twitter: LornaMCampbell
Skype: lorna120768

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