By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Declaration On Libre Knowledge
Numerous worthwhile comments have followed from the release of the Cape Town Declaration a couple of weeks ago, and the criticisms - including my own, that followed. Much of the reaction has become embodied into an alternative proposal on what is for now being called 'libre knowledge'. This declaration responds to my concerns - so incomprehensible to people like David Wiley - regarding the Cape Town declaration. But it seems clear enough to the people on the unesco-oer discussion list (As Tuomi (see below) writes, "An important method of creating private goods from public goods is to make them excludable.").
"The term 'libre resources' refers to digital resources - files in a free file format containing (e.g.) text, an image, sound, multimedia, etc. accessible with free software, and released under a licence which grants the users the freedom to access, read, listen to, watch, or otherwise experience the resource; to learn with, copy, perform, adapt and use it for any purpose; and to contribute and share enhancements or derived works." This is exactly what is not provided by the Cape Town Declaration.
Also criticized in the Cape Town Declaration was its producer-centered bent. This reflects criticisms of the OECD paper Giving Knowledge for Free. It is worth reading Ilkka Tuomi on this, as he writes, open educational resources (among other things) "enable development of individual or social capabilities for understanding and acting" and "can be enjoyed without restricting the possibilities of others to enjoy them and which either." This is a very important and worthwhile paper. See also this web site on Libre Communities and this site at worldcampus, which contains Kim Tucker's lengthy and very useful contribution.
Finally, for the hosts of the Cape Town Declaration to host only a private feedback form as their venue of communication is, in my mind, reprehensible. More...
Knowledge Management
Knowledge
Declaration On Libre Knowledge
Towards Knowledge Societies
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Towards Knowledge Societies
I was looking at this book-length report (direct link to PDF) from 2005 today, following up some discussion on the UNESCO Open Educational Resources (OER) list. The focus on 'teaching networks' - which the paper encourages, especially by developing countries - carries with it the risk of the commodification of education, and hence, an entrenching as permanent the existing inequities of access to information. If education becomes a commercial product, then no matter how structured, it becomes something only those with resources can afford. We need not only to seek to de-commercialize the distribution. More...
The Knowledge Management Landscape
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. The Knowledge Management Landscape
Interesting but odd diagram of the knowledge management - in PDF, for some reason, and not a useful image format - in which the one visual element employed - the size of the ovals - has no significance. Yet I still think it's worth sharing. More...
'In Defense of Knowledge and Higher Education'
By Colleen Flaherty. The American Association of University Professors on Thursday released a statement “In Defense of Knowledge and Higher Education,” saying that “slogans and superstition are no match for the growing complexity and interconnectedness of today’s world.” More...
Is It Time to Dezone Knowledge?
To halt the crisis in the humanities, Clifford Siskin and William Warner write, we must rethink our classification system. More...
Vers une société apprenante : rapport sur la recherche et développement de l'éducation tout au long de la vie
La lettre de saisine de la ministre fixait comme objectif à la mission de tracer des perspectives de ce que pourrait être une véritable recherche et développement (R&D) de l'éducation tout au long de la vie, c'est-à-dire une recherche et développement permettant d'améliorer la qualité et l'efficacité du système éducatif et de « faire que la France devienne une société réellement apprenante. Une société où tous les potentiels individuels et collectifs se réalisent grâce à une formation de qualité dès la petite enfance et tout au long de la vie ». Plus...
Pour une société apprenante : propositions pour une stratégie nationale de l'enseignement supérieur
Inscrite dans la loi pour l'enseignement supérieur et la recherche du 23 juillet 2013, la stratégie nationale de l'enseignement supérieur (StraNES) a pour ambition de définir les objectifs nationaux engageant l'avenir à l'horizon des 10 prochaines années et de proposer les moyens de les atteindre. Ce rapport est issu d'un large processus de concertation auprès des acteurs et parties prenantes de l'enseignement supérieur et des chercheurs et observateurs rencontrés, il fait suite à un rapport d'étape destiné à présenter une première vision de la stratégie nationale de l'enseignement supérieur remis le 9 juillet 2014. Le rapport identifie cinq axes stratégiques -construire une société apprenante et soutenir notre économie, développer la dimension européenne et l'internationalisation de notre enseignement supérieur, favoriser une réelle accession sociale et agir pour l'inclusion, inventer l'éducation supérieure du xxième siècle, répondre aux aspirations de la jeunesse -ainsi que trois leviers -dessiner un nouveau paysage pour l'enseignement supérieur, écouter et soutenir les femmes et les hommes qui y travaillent, investir pour la société apprenante. Plus...
Knowledge in the Workplace: Have It Your Way
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Knowledge in the Workplace: Have It Your Way
Dave Pollard creates his own PLE diagram (though he doesn't label it as that) and thinks about the combination of learning and social networks. With McLuhan, he describes communications tools as extensions of our senses, then observes that we want to own, rather than share, such bodily extensions. "So perhaps it is not surprising that we want the information that we get in the workplace, our way, in our own space, organized in the way it makes sense to us. We resent getting sent information (e-mail and snail mail and by telemarketers) that we did not ask for and do not want." Interestingly, he says that blogs and wikis do not serve this need well. More...
How Creative Commons works, and why it enables access to knowledge
A big barrier to lifelong learning can be the cost of resources. There are worldwide initiatives to change this, though, and it’s helpful to know how to use these resources legally. More...
Knowledge Should Be Free
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Knowledge Should Be Free
John Connell discusses this CERI-OECD paper Giving Knowledge for Free: The Emergence of Open Educational Resources, which is the summation of recent discussions in that organization on open educational resources. I read it over the weekend and while it's not bad I can't say I really felt it grasped the possibilities. For example, I really dislike the title, as it perpetuates the consumer-producer mentality I argued against throughout the process (why couldn't they have titled it 'Creating Free Knowledge' or something like that?) and demonstrates that the final authors didn't - or wouldn't - accept the whole concept of user-generated concept. Open Learning' continues for them to be the stuff produced by big universities or institutions. From where I sit, the concept of 'free learning' is not a charity. More...
