Position paper for the boost of Open Educational Resources on the basis of Free Software
Together with FSFE and other partners, the Bündnis Freie Bildung ("Free Education Alliance") today publishes its position paper about the creation and usage of Open Educational Resources (OER). Therein, the Bündnis demands a consequent publishing of all OER-material under public licences and their availability as Free Software and in Open Standard formats.
The Bündnis Freie Bildung is following a vision to have "all educational resources usable without any legal or technical barriers". This can only be achieved by using Free Software and Open Standards. Consequently, we find it as a core postulation of the alliance's initial position paper "Der Weg zur Stärkung freier Bildungsmaterialien" ("The road to boost Open Educational Resources" only available in German). The paper has a specific focus on the creation and usage of OER inside the German educational system.
"In the upcoming years, Open Educational Resources will receive an ever growing importance inside all sectors of public and private education", says Erik Albers from the FSFE. "To bring OER to their full potential, Free Software is indispensable. We are happy to join the Bündnis Freie Bildung today to bring an understanding of this context into politics and society."
Furthermore, the position paper demands to consider the use of Free Software already during the development or extension of IT infrastructures. In addition, it shall be mandatory to publish educational resources that have been paid with public money as Open Educational Resources. By this, the Bündnis Freie Bildung expects a higher fairness in education and the promotion of participative structures inside the educational system. Both are characteristics, that experience an ever growing importance with the ongoing digitalisation of learning and teaching.
"The more we see classic educational environments equipped with computers, the more important it is to offer every learner an education that is independent from manufacturers and products, that is participative and is built on top of free educational material. For the FSFE, this begins with Free Software and achieves perfection in interaction with OER", says Erik Albers.
About the Bündnis Freie Bildung
The Bündnis Freie Bildung is a coalition of organisations and individuals with the aim to pin the usage and support of Open Education Resources into politics and society. The alliance was founded by Creative Commons Germany, Open Knowledge Foundation Germany and Wikimedia Germany. The FSFE affiliates with the Bündnis as a partner. Inside the alliance, the FSFE raises awareness about free technology - namely Free Software and Open Standards - as a necessary condition for a sustainable development of Open Educational Resources.