Open Education Resources (OER) Strategy 2014 - 2016

Office of the Pro Vice Chancellor
Open Education Resources (OER) Strategy
2014 - 2016
Open Rubric
Compiled by: K de Hart
Approved:
Academic Planning Committee, 27 January 2014
Noted at ICT COC, March 2014
Mancom, 26 March 2014
The following persons, colleges, departments and directorates were consulted in the preparation of this
document:
Prof N Baijnath, Pro Vice Chancellor
Prof R Mare, VP: Teaching and Learning
Prof RM Phakeng, VP: Research and Innovation
Prof P Havenga, Academic planner
Dr B Mbambo Thata, Library
Dr J Henning, Library
Prof L Labuschagne, Research
Dr J Botha
Prof D Singh
Prof KP Dzvimbo
Prof M Linington
Prof G Moche
Prof MD Mosimege
Dr J Brinders
Mr J van Wyk
Mr AT Robinson
Ms L Sangqu
Mr D van der Merwe
Prof V Clapper
Mr N Butcher, independent consultant
Dr P Prinsloo
Dr L Archer
Mrs R Prinsloo
Prof O Mashile, Teaching and Learning
Prof R Mare, collated comments on behalf of colleges and Teaching and
learning portfolio
Prof RM Phakeng, collated comments and reported on behalf of the
Research and innovation directorate.
Finance Directorate
Library
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Background:
Universities play a pivotal role in the creation, analysis and dissemination of knowledge. Advances in
ICTs, the rise of the internet and, concomitantly, the large-scale digitisation of information are creating
many opportunities for institutions of higher education to change how teaching and learning takes place,
how knowledge is created and disseminated, and how interaction with students, other staff, and other
institutions is facilitated.
Traditionally, universities have:
•
structured and provided access to content
•
provided tutoring and learner support
•
curated and provided access to research
•
been a hub for cultural activities
•
awarded degrees and other credentials
Information and communications technologies (ICTs) and open educational resources (OER) have
disrupted the facilitation of teaching and learning and the way in which content is developed and
disseminated. UNISA responded to this changing context by developing a new business model which
was approved in April 2013. This business model provides Unisa with a chance to engage with the
opportunities that these disruptions present in order to embrace the changing future of higher education,
and to continue to add value, be sustainable, and play a leadership role in South African higher
education. Universities that succeed economically will do so primarily by understanding that their real
potential educational value lies in their ability to provide effective support to students and their ability to
provide intelligent assessment and critical feedback to students on their performance (leading to
accreditation).
Nationally, the White Paper for Post-School Education and Training adds impetus by policy commitment
to OER. The paper states that South Africa will create a post-school distance education landscape
based on open learning principles. Further to this, the white paper states that the DHET will support
efforts that invest in the design and development of high-quality learning resources that should be made
freely available as open resources. The paper cites the key motivations for OER as the potential for
improvements in quality and reductions in cost.
Open education, as defined by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, is the simple and powerful
idea that the world’s knowledge is a public good and that technology in general, and the World Wide
Web in particular, provide an extraordinary opportunity for everyone to share, use and reuse knowledge.
Why should Unisa engage with OER?
Given changes to the higher education landscape and the emerging threats and opportunities posed by
the socially disruptive effects of ICTs, Unisa can no longer continue its business as usual. Unisa has
already recognised this changed reality by adopting a business model that requires active transformation
of all processes, operations, and systems. Because institutions experimenting with massive open online
courses (MOOCs) are now making many higher education courses freely available, and because the
proliferation of open content online is accelerating globally, content delivery by itself is no longer a
sufficiently compelling value proposition in higher education.
If Unisa continues to base its business model on the selling of content, it will become a progressively
less appealing place to study and may well be overtaken by other providers who are more proactive in
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rising to the challenge. MOOCs, open badges, and other emerging forms of credentialing also have the
potential to threaten the model in terms of which Unisa currently operates.
Conversely, the systematic integration into its courses of content produced outside of Unisa and the
subsequent releasing of openly licensed content will enable Unisa to focus squarely on improving its
academic and administrative services. This, in turn, will lead to the provision of a much higher quality of
service to students, one that is not based exclusively or primarily on content delivery. Open licensing will
also require Unisa to develop and implement value-added services as part of its courses – services that
will focus on building the competences of that make up graduateness.
Globally, many universities are sharing their educational resources under open licences to promote their
learning experience to prospective students. Open sharing of Unisa content will most certainly solicit
significant publicity and interest and, as such, will function as a major marketing platform for Unisa as a
university of choice. In this way, Unisa, as an established institution, can extend its reach and entrench
itself as a major knowledge producer and distribution hub for higher education.
The implications are that OER cannot be considered as marginal, socially acceptable, nice-to-have
activities. They must be integrated into mainstream institutional processes if we wish to harness the true
potential of OER in our transformation process and if the shift to this paradigm is to be economically and
practically sustainable.
Definition of terms:
Graduateness
Graduateness, as defined in the Unisa Curriculum Policy, 2012, is the composite set of learning
outcomes and attributes which students are expected to have achieved when they have completed their
qualifications. These include discipline-specific knowledge, skills and competencies as well as broader
attributes which equip graduates to be innovative and effective in the workplace and active and informed
citizens. Unisa's definition in this regard is formulated in a statement on graduate attributes.
Intellectual property
Intellectual property is the concept which refers to creations of the mind. It is the general term for
intangible property rights which are the result of intellectual efforts. It is defined in the Unisa IP Policy
2012 as follows:
"Intellectual property" shall mean the result of creative endeavour that is recognised and
protected by South African law or foreign intellectual property law, such as patents, trademarks,
designs and copyright, including know how and confidential information.
Open
“Open”, in the context of education, access, resources and practices, means sharing and refers to the
elimination of barriers to entry. It does not necessarily mean “free” in the sense of costing nothing.
Open education
Open education is described in the Cape Town Open Education declaration as “not limited to just open
educational resources. It also draws upon open technologies that facilitate collaborative, flexible learning
and the open sharing of teaching practices that empower educators to benefit from the best ideas of their
colleagues. It may also grow to include new approaches to assessment, accreditation and collaborative
learning.”
Open educational resources
Open educational resources (OER) are teaching, learning or research materials that are in the public
domain or that have been released with an intellectual property licence that allows for free use
adaptation, and distribution (UNESCO). Open educational resources include full courses, course
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material, modules, textbooks, streaming videos, tests, software, and any other tools, materials, or
techniques used to support access to knowledge (Aitkens et al 2007).
Student centeredness
In terms of the Unisa Curriculum Policy, 2012, student centeredness is the principle of systematically
recognising students' world-views and lived experiences, as well as their prior learning, in the
development of curricula that will allow them to achieve their learning objectives and aspirations.
The Unisa ODL Policy, 2008, states that student centeredness requires that students be seen as the
main foci of the educational process and they be supported to take progressive responsibility for their
learning and research. However, the pedagogy employed should:
•
enable successful learning through rich environments for active learning
•
establish links between students’ current meanings and contexts and new knowledge to
be constructed
•
encourage independent and critical thinking
Abbreviations:
ICT
Information and Communication Technology
IR
Institutional Repository
IODL
Institute for Open and Distance Learning
MOOC
Massive Open Online Course
OA
Open Access
ODeL
Open Distance and e-learning
ODL
Open Distance Learning
OER
Open Educational Resources
OERu
Open Educational Resources Universitas
OEP
Open Educational Practices
OPAL
Open Educational Quality Initiative
RPL
Recognition of Prior Learning
UNISA
University of South Africa
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Guiding principles:
Unisa has already endorsed the use and production of OER, has made a commitment through its
institutional statement on OER and has further committed itself by signing both the 2012 Paris OER
declaration and the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities.
Unisa is also a founding anchor partner in the OER Universitas (OERu). In addition, encapsulated in the
strategic plans, Unisa 2015: An Agenda For Transformation, and Unisa 2015 Revisited, are certain
principles that underpin the strategic priorities set out in this document. These are:
Africanisation
The 2015 strategic plan states that Unisa promotes African thought, philosophy, interests, and
epistemology. We seek to achieve this through our inquiry, scholarship and partnerships. We will also do
so by utilising our rich human potential and infrastructure. Through these endeavours, we seek to
address the legacy of neglected and marginalised issues relevant to South Africa and the rest of Africa.
While we pursue this goal, we shall position Unisa as an international leader in open and distance
learning.
Critical scholarship from an African perspective will become an authentic part of the global knowledge
enterprise, shared for global access under open licences. Our intention is that African knowledge and
indigenous knowledge systems should be developed in their own right. Through such scholarship, we
intend to contribute to a multiplicity of voices and diversity in thought in line with Unisa’s mission and
vision. Doing this successfully requires that African voices and knowledge become widely and openly
accessible.
Commitment to the concept of openness
Knowledge is a public good and as such it should be disseminated and shared freely for the benefit of
society as a whole, particularly when the production of such knowledge has been funded by the public
purse. This endorses its free and open availability with as few restrictions as possible. This concept is
underpinned by the notion that there should be as few technical, legal or price barriers to knowledge as
possible, a point of particular importance in South Africa, where social inequity remains one of the
country’s biggest challenges.
Excellence, integrity, and relevance
Both the harnessing and adaptation of all available OER to construct and improve courses and the
process of making materials available under open licences align with Unisa’s value of upholding high
standards of aspiration in all our practices, with continuous attention to improvement in quality. By
making our products openly accessible, the value of integrity (subscribing to truth, honesty, transparency
and accountability of conduct in all that we do) will most certainly be inherent in our teaching and
learning. OER quality improves over time as continuous improvement and adaption of online resources
by professional peers takes place.
Graduateness
Undergirding the strategy will be the contribution to graduateness – the distinctive qualities of Unisa
graduates and the appreciation of our location on the African continent through the contextualisation and
adaption of OER, notwithstanding the increasing internationalisation of higher education. By curating,
combining, and adapting globally available OER as appropriate and as part of our course development
cycle, our courses will expose students to international trends and knowledge and will also encourage
them to enhance the skills (ability to find and access information, collaboration, computer literacy and so
on) that graduate students require in the current global economy.
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Social justice and fairness
Unisa’s strategic plan, Unisa 2015: An Agenda for Transformation, expounds the value of social justice
and fairness as promoting equity of access and opportunity so that all may develop their full potential.
Education has long been recognised as providing a route out of poverty for individuals, and as a way of
promoting equality of opportunity. Open access to Unisa’s content base will lead to creation of a wide
range of additional educational activities outside of our formal course offering environment that will make
access to education more affordable. This resonates with Unisa’s mission to be the African university in
the service of humanity and speaks to our commitment to our social justice mandate.
Student centeredness
The improvement of quality and services to students by harnessing all available content rather than just
what Unisa produces, i.e. focusing investment on developing new materials in areas where there is clear
need for new materials, while also enriching students’ learning experiences by providing integrated
access to resources produced around the world that are germane to the chosen courses of study. The
new course designs can encourage students to take increasing responsibility for doing more for
themselves, rather than having to depend on the institutions to do it all for them. By harnessing OER in
course design Unisa will assist students to access additional learning resources, become better
prepared and to learn independently.
New business model
Not only do the above principles guide the decisions that are taken in terms of institutional direction, the
recently approved business model ensures that certain decisions are non-negotiable and therefore need
to be included in the OER strategy.
Recommendation 5.8 of the approved business model and the strengths indicated in the approved
model document are important beacons for prioritising transformative initiatives. Harnessing OER will
serve to support the move to the new business model by:
•
allowing systematic integration and adaptation of open content produced outside Unisa into new
course environments where there is no print constraint
•
allowing emergence of new models of accreditation, through engagement with the Open Education
Resource Universitas (OERu) model, open badges, and other open models, which could serve to
expand Unisa’s reach without increasing costs
•
sharing content as OER where appropriate as a marketing drive for Unisa as a university of choice
(Prospective students, most of whom already rely heavily on the internet to research their higher
education options, will be able to look through available courses and decide on that basis at which
institution to enrol. Evidence from institutions such as MIT and the Open University in the UK
indicates clearly that providing open access to materials leads directly to higher rates of applications
from prospective students.)
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Strategic priorities:
In order to advance Unisa’s interests against the current educational landscape and to give attention to
the imperatives of the White Paper for Post-School Education and Training, Unisa strategically aligns
itself with the priorities listed below. The priorities give Unisa the opportunity to engage with the above
issues without committing to a one-size-fits-all approach or rushing in without proper research and
planning. Once approaches and solutions have been agreed upon they will become operational through
annual operational plans and the development and implementation of relevant policies and guidelines.
Successful implementation of the strategic priorities as well as any policies and guidelines that will flow
from the strategy will be dependent and heavily reliant on ICT support and on the upgrading of the
institution’s systems.
The initial strategy focuses on managing intellectual property (study materials), harnessing OER for
teaching and learning and the subsequent releasing of openly-licensed materials, as well as on
contributing towards global knowledge and the review of institutional policies to incorporate OER values.
1.
Development of an effective management system for intellectual property.
2.
Establishment of an open licensing framework.
3.
Systematic integration of high quality, available OER as appropriate into courses
and their subsequent release for use by others.
4.
Contribution to the global OER repository of resources.
5.
Evaluation and review of institutional policies to incorporate OER values and
processes.
Each of these is elaborated into key actions below.
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1.
Development of an effective management system for intellectual property
Before deciding on applying a suitable licensing regime for a new business model where digital
delivery of Unisa course material to all students is explicitly stated as a key objective, the first key
priority is to effectively manage the institution’s intellectual property (IP) assets (course material in any
form). This step is essential regardless of any subsequent decisions about licence use within the
institution, and is recognised internationally as a key requirement for effective knowledge management
within large organisations.
With the aim of effectively managing institutional intellectual property, resources will have to be
located, and content audited, to verify the licensing status of the material. Where necessary, any
copyright infringements will need to be rectified. Copyright infringement will cost the university
financially, as well as discrediting stated values and undermining the institution’s good reputation. All
of the institution’s educational materials will then need to be organised and managed as part of the
enterprise content management system that is currently being implemented.
This collection and curation exercise is critical as none of the other transformational objectives can be
achieved if the institution does not have effective knowledge management systems and processes in
place. It is also a serious risk for an ODL institution not to manage its intellectual property base
effectively, regardless of subsequent choices about copyright and licensing.
Proposed Actions
• Locate all intellectual property assets.
Responsibility
Colleges,
Time frame
2014
Library,
PVC,
VP:ATL
• Audit content for copyright infringements and other issues
(including rectifying copyright infringements).
Legal
Services,
Colleges,
2014
PVC,
VP: R&I,
VP:ATL
• Rectify copyright infringements and find solutions for issues
encountered.
Legal
Services,
Colleges,
2015
PVC,
VP: R&I,
• Centralise storage location and align with library content
management system – integrated new ECM, using a suitable
services-oriented architecture.
VP:ATL
ICT,
PVC,
Dependent
on ECM
VP: R&I
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2.
Establishment of an open licensing framework
Open educational resources are based primarily on the licensing of the materials. Without designation
of an open license, learning resources are confined by traditional copyright laws and sharing is limited.
Unisa will need to develop a policy on the licensing of materials that allows publication of Unisa
resources under a wide range of suitable licences. Although the White Paper on Post-School
Education and Training states that the DHET will “develop an appropriate open licensing framework
for use by all education stakeholders, within an overarching policy framework on intellectual property
rights and copyright in the post-school sector”, Unisa cannot wait for this to be developed but should
rather engage with developing a licensing framework and contribute the work towards the
development of a national policy.
Proposed Actions
Responsibility
•
PVC,
Develop a framework and policy on licensing of Unisa intellectual
assets.
Time frame
June 2014
VP: ATL,
VP: R&I,
Legal Services
• Develop guidelines for choice and use of licences.
PVC,
2014
Legal Services
• Communicate guidelines (advocacy) and train stakeholders.
PVC,
2015
VP: R&I,
VP: ATL
• Create a copyright office to offer advocacy, tend to copyright advice
issues as well as Creative Commons licence queries, ensure
compliance and the management of copyright permissions
payments.
Legal Services,
Library;
2015
SMPD
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3. Systematic integration of high quality, available open educational resources into
courses and their subsequent release for use by others
Unisa can benefit by shifting from authoring and producing all its own materials to harnessing,
contextualising and integrating what already exists where feasible and educationally appropriate. This
combination of access and exposure to high-quality learning materials will create an environment
where richer teaching and learning can take place. Once materials have been adapted in order to
meet the learning objectives of the relevant module they can be made available, where appropriate,
for others to use and adapt.
Proposed Procedures
Responsibility
•
PVC
•
Stimulate and support change in practice through awareness
raising, challenging and changing perceptions and changing
pedagogic approaches and practice.
Encourage and support institutional change through
appropriate technical infrastructure, changes to institutional
processes and through the provision of extensive skills training.
• Develop guidelines for the production and structure of course
materials and timelines for implementation. There may be a need to
amend certain policies in this regard.
• Develop quality guidelines for the use of OER in study material.
• Adopt sustainable approaches by linking to existing or newlydeveloped institutional systems, policies and strategies.
4.
VP: ATL,
ATL (DCLD, CPD,
ATTeL)
VP: ATL,
ATL (DCLD, CPD,
ATTeL)
VP: ATL,
Time Frame
2014 onwards
2014 onwards
2014
ATL (DCLD, CPD,
Colleges)
PVC
DSPQA
VP: ATL,
ATL (DCLD, CPD,
Colleges)
VP: ATL,
2014
2015
ATL (DCLD, CPD,
ATTeL)
Contribution to the global OER repository of resources
Releasing Unisa materials under open licence will require the Unisa Open portal to grow, to be linked to
a repository for Unisa materials as well as to be integrated with the ECM system in order to facilitate the
easy publication of these materials. Release of Unisa materials is not the only manner in which to
contribute to global open educational resources, Unisa should also consider initiatives such as MOOCs
and other collaborations.
Proposed Procedures
Responsibility
• Contribute as per agreement to OERu.
PVC
• Redesign the Unisa Open portal to accommodate publishing of
openly-licensed materials and integration with ECM.
•
Create a repository for Unisa openly licensed materials.
•
Review the MOOC landscape and consider Unisa’s position on
offering MOOCs.
Time Frame
VP: ATL,
2014 onwards
ATL (DCLD, CPD,
ATTeL)
PVC
CC&M
2014 onwards
PVC
Library
ICT
VP: ATL,
2014
2015
ATL (DCLD, CPD,
ATTeL)
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5. Evaluation and review of institutional policies to incorporate OER values and
processes
In order to give weight to UNISA’s expression of interest and commitment to OER, existing policies and
procedures will need to be evaluated, reviewed and revised where necessary in order to incorporate
OER.
Proposed Procedures
Responsibility
• Evaluate and review existing policies in light of the OER strategy PVC
and identify which policies will be affected.
• Revise relevant policies and procedures.
VP: ATL,
ATL (DCLD, CPD,
ATTeL)
VP: ATL,
ATL (DCLD, CPD,
ATTeL)
Time Frame
2014 –
onwards
2015 onwards
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ADDENDA:
1
2
SWOT analysis
Creative Commons licences
Page | 13
Addendum 1: Swot analysis
This SWOT analysis is intended to provide a balanced perspective on the limits and possibilities of an
institutional strategy on OER, and to illuminate the challenges going forward.
Strengths
Weaknesses
•
•
Unisa has a strong social mandate which supports the
utilisation and production of OER.
•
Institutional and management commitment to OER.
•
Strong technical capabilities and infrastructure for the
harnessing and delivery of OER.
•
•
Large amount of existing Unisa content that is available to be
released as OER with little modification.
•
•
Growing global base of available OER.
•
•
OER Promotes academic freedom by offering greater choice.
•
OER caters for diverse learner and learning needs – there are
no restrictions on the ways that resources can be adapted.
•
National policy support for OER initiative.
•
Showcases high quality of available material to attract potential
fee-paying students.
•
OER promote lifelong learning and cater for diverse learner
and learning needs.
•
There is a lot of confusion regarding free (no cost), openly
licensed content (and the various kinds of licensing).
•
•
Searching for OER is time consuming.
Fear of copyright issues.
Opportunities
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Improvement of teaching materials. The improvement is twofold: by making use of the best existing materials and
secondly, by making Unisa-produced materials openly
available there is increased opportunity for feedback;
OER is an opportunity to demonstrate high quality resources at
Unisa. This will have a positive impact on the institutional
reputation.
The integration of openly-licensed materials into courses can
supplement or replace materials produced by Unisa. This will
accelerate materials development time frames and reduce
development costs.
Curriculum resources can potentially reach large numbers of
learners for negligible marginal cost, supporting both informal
and formal learning, enabling cost-effective competition
against emerging models of delivery such as massive open
online courses (MOOCs).
Provide visible proof of Unisa’s commitment to its social
mandate.
Unisa can contribute to the knowledge economy.
Unisa can contribute to the advancement of education in the
country and thus enable economic growth.
Unisa can make strategic decisions regarding open education
practices that differentiate it from other institutions and that can
put it ahead of the competition.
Staff might not have all the skills that are required in order to
change their approach to teaching and course development;
this changed approach will require extensive change
management and professional development.
Possibilities of further support and assessment may increase
workload unless course design is carefully managed.
Lack of incentives to encourage the use and production of
OER.
Lack of culture of sharing i.e. reluctance to relinquish
intellectual capital.
Threats
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
A move to a fully digitised environment will make it relatively
simple for people – either legally or illegally – to copy and
use Unisa’s resources. This suggests a need to move to an
open licensing regime and to place a strong focus on student
support and effective assessment, neither of which is a
current institutional strength.
Poor-quality resources released openly will negatively
impact institutional image.
Change in the institution is not accompanied by a focus on
improvement of student support and quality of services.
The continuous change and evolution of technologies.
The effect of continual change and new demands placed on
academics and support departments needs to be effectively
managed.
If Unisa does not make decisions regarding the open
movement, there will be a lack of differentiation i.e.
“everyone is doing it” and Unisa will be left behind.
Copyright infringements, especially in re-use and
customisation.
Inadequate advocacy and change management within Unisa
resulting in a failure to change processes, offerings and
courses in line with the strategic decisions.
Lack of technology and information literacy preventing
potential users from making use of the resources.
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Addendum 2: Creative Commons Licenses
Retrieved from (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/)
What our licenses do
The Creative Commons copyright licences and tools forge a balance inside the traditional “all rights
reserved” setting that copyright law creates. Our tools give everyone from individual creators to large
companies and institutions a simple, standardised way to grant copyright permissions to their creative
work. The combination of our tools and our users is a vast and growing digital commons, a pool of
content that can be copied, distributed, edited, remixed, and built upon, all within the boundaries of
copyright law.
Licence design and rationale
All Creative Commons licences have many important features in common. Every licence helps creators
— we call them licensors if they use our tools — retain copyright while allowing others to copy, distribute,
and make some uses of their work — at least non-commercially. Every Creative Commons licence also
ensures licensors get the credit for their work they deserve. Every Creative Commons licence works
around the world and lasts as long as the applicable copyright lasts (because they are built on
copyright). These common features serve as the baseline, on top of which licensors can choose to grant
additional permissions when deciding how they want their work to be used.
A Creative Commons licensor answers a few simple questions on the path to choosing a licence — first,
“Do I want to allow commercial use or not?” and, then, second, “Do I want to allow derivative works or
not?” If a licensor decides to allow derivative works, he or she may also choose to require anyone who
uses the work — we call them licensees — to make that new work available under the same licence
terms. We call this idea “Share Alike” and it is one of the mechanisms that (if chosen) helps the digital
commons grow over time. Share Alike is inspired by the GNU General Public License, used by many
free and open source software projects.
Our licenses do not affect freedoms that the law grants to users of creative works otherwise protected by
copyright, such as exceptions and limitations to copyright law such as fair dealing. Creative Commons
licences require licensees to get permission to do any of the things with a work that the law reserves
exclusively to a licensor and that the licence does not expressly allow. Licensees must credit the
licensor, keep copyright notices intact on all copies of the work, and link to the licence from copies of the
work. Licensees cannot use technological measures to restrict access to the work by others.
Three “layers” of licenses
Our public copyright licences incorporate a unique and innovative “three-layer” design. Each licence
begins as a traditional legal tool, in the kind of language and text formats that most lawyers know and
love. We call this the Legal Code layer of each license.
But since most creators, educators, and scientists are not, in fact, lawyers, we also make the licences
available in a format that normal people can read — the Commons Deed (also known as the “human
readable” version of the license). The Commons Deed is a handy reference for licensors and licensees,
summarising and expressing some of the most important terms and conditions. Think of the Commons
Deed as a user-friendly interface to the Legal Code beneath, although the Deed itself is not a license,
and its contents are not part of the Legal Code itself.
The final layer of the licence design recognises that software, from search engines to office productivity
to music editing, plays an enormous role in the creation, copying, discovery, and distribution of works. In
order to make it easy for the Web to know when a work is available under a Creative Commons license,
we provide a “machine readable” version of the license — a summary of the key freedoms and
obligations written into a format that software systems, search engines, and other kinds of technology
can understand. We developed a standardised way to describe licenses that software can understand
Page | 15
called CC Rights Expression Language (CC REL) to accomplish this. Searching for open content is an
important function enabled by our approach. You can use Google to search for Creative Commons
content, look for pictures at Flickr, albums at Jamendo, and general media at spinxpress. The Wikimedia
Commons, the multimedia repository of Wikipedia, is a core user of our licences as well.
Taken together, these three layers of licences ensure that the spectrum of rights isn’t just a legal
concept. It’s something that the creators of works can understand, their users can understand, and even
the Web itself can understand.
The Licenses
Attribution
CC BY
Attribution-ShareAlike
CC BY-SA
This licence lets others distribute, remix, tweak, and
build upon your work, even commercially, as long as
they credit you for the original creation. This is the most
accommodating of licenses offered. Recommended for
maximum dissemination and use of licensed materials.
This licence lets others remix, tweak, and build upon
your work even for commercial purposes, as long as
they credit you and license their new creations under
the identical terms. This licence is often compared to
“copyleft” free and open source software licences. All
new works based on yours will carry the same licence,
so any derivatives will also allow commercial use. This
is the licence used by Wikipedia, and is recommended
for materials that would benefit from incorporating
content from Wikipedia and similarly licensed projects.
View License Deed | View Legal Code
View License Deed | View Legal Code
Attribution-NoDerivs
CC BY-ND
Attribution-NonCommercial
CC BY-NC
This licence allows for redistribution, commercial and
non-commercial, as long as it is passed along
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References:
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Movement: Achievements, Challenges, and New Opportunities. Report to the William and Flora
Hewlett Foundation.
Beetham, H., Falconer, I., McGill, L. and Littlejohn, A. Open practices: briefing paper. JISC, 2012
https://oersynth.pbworks.com/w/page/51668352/OpenPracticesBriefing
Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Scientific Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities, 2003.
http://oa.mpg.de/lang/en-uk/berlin-prozess/berliner-erklarung/
Ehlers, U. (March 2011). From Open Educational Resources to Open Educational Practices.
eLearning Papers(23).
Falconer,I., McGill, L., Littlejohn, A. and Boursinou, E. (2013) Overview and Analysis of Practices with
Open Educational Resources in Adult Education in Europe. European Commission, Joint Research
Centre. http://ftp.jrc.es/EURdoc/JRC85471.pdf. Accessed 26 November 2013.
McGill, L. (2013). Digitisation and OER.
Accessed 27 November 2013.
Synthesis Report. JISC. http://bit.ly/digitisationandOER.
Open Oasis, 2013. http://www.openoasis.org. Accessed 20 September 2013.
Open Education Week, 2013. http://www.openeducationweek.org/about-open-education/. Accessed
8 June 2013.
UNISA Open Distance Learning Policy 2008
UNISA Curriculum Policy 2012
White paper on post education and training: Building an expanded, effective and integrated post-school
system, 2013. http://www.dhet.gov.za/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=236NoC18lB4%3d&tabid=36
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