[Open-education] Is there still an OER movement?

Fri Aug 22 08:38:43 UTC 2014

Just reposting these thoughts from Lorna and link to Sheila's post as
it's directly relevant I think.

On 12/08/14 14:39, Lorna M Campbell wrote:
> 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
>>>>     <http://education.okfn.org/wikimania-2014-wikipedia-belongs-in-education/>
>>>>   * Wikimania 2014: Wikidata all the way
>>>>     <wikimania2014:%20Wikidata%20all%20the%20way>
>>>>
>>>> If you attended how about sharing your thoughts and take homes!
>>>>
>>>> Marieke
>>>>
>>>> -- 
>>>>
>>>> Marieke Guy
>>>> LinkedUp <http://linkedup-project.eu/> Project Community
>>>> Coordinator | skype: mariekeguy | tel: 44 (0) 1285 885681 |
>>>> @mariekeguy <http://twitter.com/mariekeguy>
>>>> Open Knowledge <http://okfn.org/>
>>>> /Empowering through Open Knowledge/
>>>> http://okfn.org/ | @okfn <http://twitter.com/okfn>| OKF on Facebook
>>>> <x-msg://67/%3Fhttps://www.facebook.com/OKFNetwork%3F> | Blog
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>>>>
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>>>
>>> -- Lorna M Campbell --
>>> Assistant Director, Cetis
>>> Web: www.cetis.ac.uk <http://www.cetis.ac.uk/>
>>> Blog: lornamcampbell.wordpress.com
>>> <http://lornamcampbell.wordpress.com/>
>>> Mail: lorna.m.campbell at icloud.com <mailto:lorna.m.campbell at icloud.com>
>>> Twitter: LornaMCampbell
>>> Skype: lorna120768
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
>> -- 
>>
>> Marieke Guy
>> LinkedUp <http://linkedup-project.eu/> Project Community Coordinator
>> | skype: mariekeguy | tel: 44 (0) 1285 885681 | @mariekeguy
>> <http://twitter.com/mariekeguy>
>> Open Knowledge <http://okfn.org/>
>> /Empowering through Open Knowledge/
>> http://okfn.org/ | @okfn <http://twitter.com/okfn>| OKF on Facebook
>> <x-msg://100/%3Fhttps://www.facebook.com/OKFNetwork%3F> | Blog
>> <x-msg://100/%3Fhttp://blog.okfn.org%3F> | Newsletter
>> <x-msg://100/%3Fhttp://okfn.org/about/newsletter/%3F>
>> http://remoteworker.wordpress.com <http://remoteworker.wordpress.com/>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>> open-education at lists.okfn.org <mailto: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 <http://www.cetis.ac.uk>
> Blog: lornamcampbell.wordpress.com <http://lornamcampbell.wordpress.com>
> Mail: lorna.m.campbell at icloud.com <mailto:lorna.m.campbell at icloud.com>
> Twitter: LornaMCampbell
> Skype: lorna120768
>
>
>
>
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