Open Education Week 2017

In support of the global Open Education Week 2017 (March 27-31) a one hour panel discussion will be hosted at the University of Alberta (Thursday, March 30, 12:30-1:30pm)....

Arts Town Crier - 13 March 2017

Be it Resolved that all Knowledge be Open - Thursday, March 30, 12:30-1:30pm, Cameron Library Rm 4-02

In support of the global Open Education Week 2017 (March 27-31) a one hour panel discussion will be hosted at the University of Alberta. The discussion is themed on the statement "Be it resolved that all knowledge be open" and will feature several perspectives from across campus critically discussing and reflecting on openness in education at the University of Alberta.

Openness in education is focused on eliminating barriers that inhibit the use of knowledge, and includes a variety of open alternatives - open source software, open access scholarly publishing, open research data and open educational resources. Collectively these open alternatives come together under the ideas of open scholarship and open education. All of these opens have their roots in the academy's values and tradition of the free exchange of knowledge.

The University of Alberta as a public institution has a clear role and commitment to making the work of its faculty available to the public. This sentiment is reflected in the University's promise made by the University's first president, Henry Marshall Tory, in 1908:

"The modern state university has sprung from a demand on the part of the people themselves….The people demand that knowledge shall not be the concern of scholars alone. The uplifting of the whole people shall be its final goal. This should never be forgotten."

The new institutional strategic plan, For the Public Good, reaffirms this commitment stating: "When we excel, our work sparks and feeds widespread social, cultural, and economic benefits for others-indeed for the uplifting of the whole people," and Objective 12 (iii) states, "Encourage and facilitate knowledge and technology transfer to ensure that society can realize the benefits of intellectual capital arising from research and creative endeavours." Finally, the University's collective agreement with Faculty defines service, in part, as "dissemination of knowledge to the general public by making available the staff members expertise and knowledge of the discipline."

Given the apparent alignment between open education and the University's own promise, plan and collective agreement, to what degree and how should faculty be open scholars?


Panelists

Amanda Wakaruk, Copyright Librarian

Gerald Beasley, Vice-Provost & Chief Librarian

Geoffrey Rockwell, Director of the Kule Institute for Advanced Study

Sean Gouglas, Senior Director, Office of Interdisciplinary Studies, Faculty of Arts

Samer Adeeb, Associate Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering


We welcome you to join us for a lively discussion and, if interested to join our list serv on Open Educational Resources

More information on Open Educational Resources is linked here.