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

Fri Aug 7 08:58:19 UTC 2015

Hi Nicole,

that's very helpful, many thanks.

Yes, do please keep me in the loop. Very happy to contribute some notes on
the issues with closed content in international development, and make the
case for open content, should that be needed at some point in the future!

All the best,
Bjoern

On 6 August 2015 at 02:35, Nicole Allen <textbooksnicole at gmail.com> wrote:

> 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 <http://twitter.com/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 <http://www.oerusa.org/> 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
>>> <https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2015/06/04/help-us-strengthen-open-government> 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
>>> <http://www.oerusa.org/>
>>>
>>> Please help share the news on social media with hashtag #OERUSA
>>>
>>> CC blog post <http://creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/45872>
>>>
>>> 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://twitter.com/cgreen>
>>> http://creativecommons.org/education
>>> *reuse, revise, remix, redistribute** & retain*
>>>
>>> *Get Creative Commons Updates http://bit.ly/commonsnews
>>> <http://bit.ly/commonsnews>*
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> open-education mailing list
>>> open-education at lists.okfn.org
>>> https://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/open-education
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
>
> --
>
>
> Cable Green, PhD
> Director of Global Learning
> Creative Commons
> @cgreen <http://twitter.com/cgreen>
> http://creativecommons.org/education
> *reuse, revise, remix, redistribute** & retain*
>
> *Get Creative Commons Updates http://bit.ly/commonsnews
> <http://bit.ly/commonsnews>*
>
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