Ahrash Bissell, Executive Director of ccLearn, sent this message out about the recently issued Capetown declaration on OER:
Dear friends and colleagues,
Some of you may already know that I have been working with the Shuttleworth Foundation, Wikimedia and other organizations to draft and release this Declaration on the future of open education:
http://www.capetowndeclaration.org/
The Declaration is a rallying point for people who want to accelerate the growth of innovative, collaborative approaches to learning. We’re asking people to sign on to the Declaration online:
http://www.capetowndeclaration.org/sign-declaration
The Declaration officially launches next Tuesday (Jan 22), and we are hoping to have as many people as possible indicating their support. Obviously, you should only sign it if you agree with it! But speaking from a totally biased perspective, the ideas within are highly compelling, and the potential positive impacts on education of all levels and forms are likely to be substantial. This is the first time that the various people and organizations working on “opening up” educational materials and practices have made a joint statement that establishes some fundamental principles driving the movement. I certainly hope you will join in, regardless of your particular relationship to openness and formal education.
I am always happy to discuss further anything related to this effort or open education generally. Please do pass this along to anyone else who might be interested.
Others have blogged about this extensively already. I’ve been waiting to comment until I had a little more time. Stay tuned for my thoughts.
If you haven’t read this and decided whether to add your signature, now is a good time.