by admin on 22 Mar 2012
The Department of Education has partnered with billionaire George Soros’ Open Society Institute to promote a global education initiative that seeks “a world where each and every person on Earth can access and contribute to the sum of all human knowledge.”Education Secretary Arne Duncan kicked off a $25,000 “Why Open Education Matters” competition that will give a cash prize for the best short video explaining the benefits of what is known as Open Educational Resources, or O.E.R., for students, teachers and schools.
O.E.R. is a form of global teaching that uses digital materials made available free through open licenses, which allow uses of the materials that would not be easily permitted under copyright alone.
The O.E.R. model of teaching heavily utilizes social media. A 2007 O.E.R forum announced the education group’s mission of creating “a world where each and every person on earth can access and contribute to the sum of all human knowledge.”
O.E.R leaders expressed hopes of using the education initiative to balance what they referred to as the digital divide between the “global North” and the “global South.”
In his remarks to launch the “Why Open Education Matters” competition, Duncan said O.E.R. “can not only accelerate and enrich learning – they can also substantially reduce costs for schools, families and students.”
The “Why Open Education Matters” competition is sponsored and organized by three groups – the U.S. Department of Education, Soros’ Open Society and a group known as Creative Commons.
Source:
By Aaron Klein
World Net Daily 3/21/12
Organizers:
Creative Commons
Creative Commons (CC) is a globally-focused nonprofit organization dedicated to making it easier for people to share and build upon the work of others, consistent with the rules of copyright. Creative Commons provides free licenses and other legal tools to give everyone from individual creators to large companies and institutions a simple, standardized way to grant copyright permissions and get credit for their creative work while allowing others to copy, distribute and make specific uses of it.
U.S. Department of Education
The U.S. Department of Education (ED) coordinates most federal assistance on education. It works with state and local partners to promote excellence and equity for students at all levels of education to ensure that our citizens are college and career ready and can compete in a global economy.
Open Society Foundations
The Open Society Foundations (OSF) works to build vibrant and tolerant democracies whose governments are accountable to their citizens and, through its Information Program, works to increase public access to knowledge, including increasing access to open, high quality, educational materials.
Participatory Culture Foundation
The Participatory Culture Foundation (PCF), a 501c3 non-profit organization, is dedicated to supporting a democratic media by creating open and decentralized video tools and services. PCF works to eliminate gatekeepers and empower communities around the world.