[Open-education] Friday Chat: what is openness to you?

Fri May 2 16:59:12 UTC 2014

To me, openness is, like you mentioned based on power. Hobbes and his
leviathan are quite apt.
I don't feel it has to be about knowledge or education, but the humble
acceptance that some other can improve or gain from your work in ways you
can't possibly imagine, and to prevent them from doing so, is to denigrate
your work, almost explicitly criticise it, and to leave me thinking you
must be a little arrogant.
On 2 May 2014 14:47, "Marieke Guy" <marieke.guy at okfn.org> wrote:

>  Last week we talked about having a Friday Chat or discussion on the list.
> There were quite a few suggestions on how best to do this. I was out at
> OER14 early this week (some really great sessions<http://education.okfn.org/oer14-outwards-and-onwards/>)
> and have been a little busy since so haven't had time to look in to any of
> the more exciting approaches in detail.
>
> In an attempt to keep things going I've set up an etherpad<http://new.okfnpad.org/p/Open_Education_Working_Friday_Chats>[apologies Andre ;-)] and have dropped in some ideas for topics - please do
> add more!
>
> Fred suggested we start with "what is openness to you?"
>
> Thinking back, I studied an MSc in Information Management many moons ago
> and I remember a discussion we had in the pub after a lecture about the
> phrase "knowledge is power". We acknowledged that the phrase is often used
> in a very competitive way in the commercial space - for many of us it
> brought to mind bankers and trust fund managers - people who deal in
> secrecy and competitive advantage. When we dug a bit deeper<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientia_potentia_est>we realised that the phrase (attributed by many to Francis Bacon - though
> actually first used by his secretary Thomas Hobbes) is actually about the
> value of education, not about withholding information. Our discussions went
> on to consider whether which is the best path to knowledge - openness or
> secrecy? I was quite keen on openness...
>
> I see openness as one of the tools that helps us find knowledge. For me
> openness is about a freedom that allows us to work together, rather than in
> isolation. In places like the UK openness is often a given, in other
> countries they have to continually fight for this right. Openness manifests
> itself in removal of barriers such as censorship, financial inequality, the
> inability to change, racism and other forms of oppression - it results in
> transparency and ultimately a better world.
>
> So what about you? ;-)
>
> Marieke
>
> --
>
> Marieke Guy
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