OER@UCT

Building a Global Teaching Profile: Showcasing Open Educational Resources at the University of Cape Town

Posted by Michael Paskevicius | 20 Nov, 2009

In case you missed our recent presentation at the annual Teaching with Technology Miniconference here is the presentation and audio paired using Slideshare. Thanks to all those who attended and engaged in the issues and debates.

Click the image below to go to the presentation which includes the audio podcast.

Post in Open Educational Resources, Change in HE | comments (2) | Trackbacks (0)

Getting Our Values Around Copyright Right

Posted by Michael Paskevicius | 12 Nov, 2009

On Thursday, November 5, 2009, Creative Commons founding board member Lawrence Lessig addressed a general session at the EDUCAUSE 2009 Conference in Denver.

“It Is About Time: Getting Our Values Around Copyright Right.”

In this talk, Lawrence Lessig will review the progress of the “open access” movement in education. He will make a call for educators to finally resolve this issue in a way that enables the potential of technology for education.

I found this presentation so compelling and relevant that I wanted to share it with the UCT community. I have downloaded it and am hosting it locally on Vula. So you should not have to worry about bandwidth and long download times. The file is about 200mb and the presentation lasts one hour.

Love to hear your comments regarding the video below. If anyone is having trouble seeing the video please leave a comment and I will get in touch with you.

Locally hosted video (200mb - Right-click save as)

Also available online at http://blip.tv/file/2827842

Post in Open Educational Resources, Change in HE, Licensing | comments (1) | Trackbacks (0)

Engaging with the Commons: A vision for UCT

Posted by Michael Paskevicius | 3 Nov, 2009

THE COMMONS, n., gifts of nature and society;

the wealth we inherit or create together and must pass on,
undiminished or enhanced, to our children;
a sector of the economy that complements the corporate sector.
http://onthecommons.org/

20 October 2009 The OER UCT project run from the Centre for Educational Technology in collaboration with Creative Commons South Africa recently hosted a high-level workshop on institutional engagement with alternative licensing and open educational resources. The event – attended by representatives from the UCT’s Research Office, UCT Libraries, Research Contracts and Intellectual Property Services, and other academics active in the area of OER – was addressed by Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research), Prof. Daniel Visser, who described the OER UCT initiative as ‘one of the most exciting things happening at UCT’.

Other presenters in the three-hour workshop included Prof. Cheryl Hodgkinson-Williams, who provided an overview of the ideological, technological, financial and legal aspects of OER, and Tobias Schonwetter and Andrew Rens of Creative Commons South Africa. Schonwetter provided a practical overview of the CC licensing process, while Rens engaged with the history and place of institutions in influencing access to intellectual property.

The level of engagement and agreement around the need to participate in rapidly evolving electronic research and teaching environments exemplified UCT’s commitment to remaining a leading presence in the global knowledge economy.