[Open-education] OER / Open Policy Letter to President Obama

Thu Aug 6 01:35:53 UTC 2015

Hi Bjoern,

Just wanted to follow with a little more background. The group of us who drafted this letter thought carefully though how to scope the recommendations, i.e. whether to provide a strict, specific definition for what materials to cover, or to cast a wider net with a definition that applies more generally. For the U.S. context (where our federal government is huge, encompassing a vast spectrum of programs), we decided it made the most sense to have a broad definition that sets the default to open for all potentially relevant materials, and let individual agencies develop more specific rules for how it is implemented.

So, to your original question, yes, as far as the letter is concerned USAID would fall within scope. Our logic is that regardless of where the materials are originally intended for use, they are funded by the American taxpayers and should be available to build and innovate upon in other contexts. 

That said, as Cable notes below, it’s unknown what a potential White House policy would ultimately look like. The letter calls for a broad policy, but if the President acts it could end up looking different, for example narrowing things down to a specific set of materials, programs, or agencies. As with all policy, any step in the right direction is a victory that can be built upon, and we will certainly keep you posted on how things develop!

Best,
Nicole

Nicole Allen
Director of Open Education
SPARC, the Scholarly Publishing & 
Academic Resources Coalition
21 Dupont Circle NW, Suite 800
Washington, DC 20036 USA
+1 (202) 750-1637
nicole at sparc.arl.org
http://sparc.arl.org
@txtbks

On Aug 4, 2015, at 2:55 PM, Cable Green <cable at creativecommons.org> wrote:

> Hi Bjoern:
> 
> TBD.
> 
> The President could limit the open licensing policy to:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_federal_executive_departments
> USAID reports to the US Secretary of State:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_State
> Or make the policy broadly required to:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_federal_agencies_in_the_United_States
> 
> Cable
> 
> On Tue, Aug 4, 2015 at 11:10 AM, Bjoern Hassler<bjohas at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Cable, 
> 
> that's great! 
> 
> I assume USAID funded (educational) resources would come under this? I assume yes, because in "The educational, training, and instructional materials covered by the Order should include any unclassified information resource created, in whole or in part, with Federal funds designed to educate, instruct, train or inform." the emphasis is on "Federal funds designed to educate" without reference to where this education might take place?
> 
> Thanks to all involved in this!
> Bjoern
> 
> 
> 
> On 4 August 2015 at 17:06, Cable Green<cable at creativecommons.org> wrote:
> Greetings Open Education and Open Policy Colleagues:
> 
> 
> Apologies for the cross postings.
> 
> While this is a US government open education / open policy update … I thought it would be interesting to non-US groups as well.
> 
> Today, a broad coalition of more than 90 organizations representing the education, library, technology, public interest and legal communities released a letter calling on President Obama to open up educational materials created with federal taxpayer funds. 
> 
> The coalition asks the President to commit to an Executive Branch-wide policy to ensure that federally funded educational and training resources are made available as Open Education Resources (OER) that are free for the public to use, share, and improve. The letter is a response to the White House's call for ideas to improve the U.S. Open Government National Action Plan, which is currently under development for release later this year.
> 
> Many of the groups on this list are original signatories on the letter, and special thanks go to SPARC, U.S. PIRG, New America, Creative Commons US, and Creative Commons HQ for jointly coordinating the effort.
> 
> Read and download the letter here: www.oerusa.org
> 
> 
> 
> Please help share the news on social media with hashtag #OERUSA
> 
> CC blog post
> 
> Warm regards,
> 
> Cable
> 
> (remix from a note sent to “OER Advocacy” by: Nicole Allen, SPARC)
> 
> -- 
> 
> Cable Green, PhD
> Director of Global Learning
> Creative Commons
> @cgreen
> http://creativecommons.org/education
> reuse, revise, remix, redistribute & retain
> 
> Get Creative Commons Updates http://bit.ly/commonsnews
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> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> 
> 
> Cable Green, PhD
> Director of Global Learning
> Creative Commons
> @cgreen
> http://creativecommons.org/education
> reuse, revise, remix, redistribute & retain
> 
> Get Creative Commons Updates http://bit.ly/commonsnews
> 
> 
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