Open Education Week (March 11-15)

Join thousands around the world and celebrate Open Education Week (March 11-15)

 Open Education Week is taking place from 11-15 March 2013 online and in locally hosted events around the world.  The purpose of Open Education Week is to raise awareness of the open education movement and opportunities it creates in teaching and learning worldwide. Participation in all events and use of all resources are free and open to everyone.

 Once you have a feel for what open education is, there are many ways you can participate in Open Education Week:

 CONNECT ~ Check out the EVENTS AND WEBINARS schedule and join in – participation is open to everyone. Join a study group and register to earn a certificate by studying open courses if you like.

 COLLECT ~ Find out about the diversity of open education efforts around the world. Visit the PROJECTS area and learn about open educational resources and open learning opportunities available to you now.

 CREATE ~ The “open” in open education means that you are free to modify resources, mix them together in new ways, add your own perspectives and share them back to the world. Find out how through some of the video PRESENTATIONS and WEBINARS.  Put your thoughts down in a tweet or blog, create a video, or post a research paper.

 SHARE ~ Tell people about your discoveries via Twitter using the hashtag #openeducationwk.  You will be able to see the live Twitter feed on the Open Education Week HOMEPAGE.  Let people know that there’s a world of free and open educational opportunities available to them right now.

CONNECT  ~  COLLECT  ~  CREATE  ~  SHARE 

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What is Open Education?

 Open Education is, at its core, about free and open sharing. Free, meaning no cost, and open, which refers to the use of legal tools (open licenses) that give everyone permission to reuse and modify educational resources.  Free and open sharing increases access to education and knowledge for anyone, anywhere, anytime.  It allows people to make changes to materials or to combine resources in new ways to build something new.  Open Education incorporates free and open learning communities, educational networks, teaching and learning materials, open textbooks, open data, open scholarship, open source educational tools and on and on. Open Education gives people access to knowledge, provides platforms for sharing, enables innovation, and connects communities of learners and educators around the world.

 The idea of free and open sharing in education is not new.  In fact, sharing is probably the most basic characteristic of education: education is sharing knowledge, insights and information with others, upon which new knowledge, skills, ideas and understanding can be built.  Open Education seeks to scale up educational opportunities by taking advantage of the power of the internet, allowing rapid and essentially free dissemination, and enabling people around the world to access knowledge, connect and collaborate. Open is key; open allows not just access, but the ability to modify and use materials, information and networks so education can be personalized to individual users or woven together in new ways for diverse audiences, large and small.

Why is Open Education important?

 People want to learn. By providing free and open access to education and knowledge, we help create a world where people can fulfill this desire. Students can get additional information, viewpoints and materials to help them succeed. Workers can learn things that will help them on the job. Faculty can exchange material and draw on resources from all around the world. Researchers can share data and develop new networks. Teachers can find new ways to help students learn. People can connect with others they wouldn’t otherwise meet to share information and ideas. Materials can be translated, mixed together, broken apart and openly shared again, increasing access and inviting fresh approaches. Anyone can access educational materials, scholarly articles, and supportive learning communities anytime they want to. Education is available, accessible, modifiable and free.

What is Open Education Week?

 Open Education Week’s goal is to raise awareness about free and open educational opportunities that exist for everyone, everywhere, right now.  We want to highlight how open education can help people meet their goals in education, whether that’s to develop skills and knowledge for work, supporting formal studies, learning something new for personal interest, or looking for additional teaching resources.

Who is contributing to Open Education Week?

 Open Education Week is coordinated by the OpenCourseWare Consortium, an association of hundreds of institutions and organizations around the world that are committed to the ideals of open education.  More than 100 universities, colleges, schools and organizations from all over the world have come together to showcase what they’re doing to make education more open, free, and available to everyone.  You can check out the list of contributors, and see who’s on the planning committee.

Learn more

 Check out some of the videos in this section to learn more about open education and why it’s important to communities around the world. Then find what interests you, and explore. Join a webinar, watch an open lecture on Open Education TV, see what projects are going on around the world, tweet a question or comment (#openeducationwk), or join a study group. And don’t forget to give us feedback so we can make Open Education Week better next year.

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 With only a few days left before the second annual Open Education Week, March 11-15, 2013 please make sure that you visit http://www.openeducationweek.org for information about events and webinars taking place during the week or to peruse open education projects.
 Webinars include Training Sessions, Roundtable Discussions and Research and Initiatives, all color coded on the schedule for easy identification. From the schedule, you will be to bookmark your favorite events and synchronize them with your calendars and devices.

Open Education Week is a five-day celebration of the global Open Education Movement, featuring online and local events around the world, video showcases of open education projects, and information. Its purpose is to raise awareness of both the movement and its impact on teaching and learning worldwide.♦

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