Training Programs

Our training programs help communities around the world tackle real world problems. Through the use of open resources and tools, participants have built DIY plumbing systems, conducted science experiments, and opened access to their institutional research.

Our volunteers have designed and led the following programs.

  1. ABC of Copyright for Librarians (Spanish)
  2. OER Summer Camp (Chinese)
  3. eXtreme Learning Process (XLP) (Chinese)
  4. OER Awareness Activities for Librarians and Academics (Romanian)
  5. School of Open Kenya Initiative (English)
  6. Creative Commons for Kids (English)
  7. Open Africa (English)
  8. WikiProject Open (English)
  9. School of Open Tanzania (3 programs; TBA)
  10. School of Open Nigeria (2 programs; TBA)

Interested in starting your own? See the guidelines for School of Open projects and post your idea to the Discussion. Already run a program in your region that you think should be part of the School of Open? Email Jane at schoolofopen [at] p2pu [dot] org.

 

ABC of Copyright for Librarians

Where: Colombia, El Salvador, Uruguay 

Who: Librarians

What: Many librarians and libraries in Latin America work with little or no knowledge about copyright. To address this, School of Open volunteers from the region are offering this target group and related professionals (e.g. academic researchers, teachers, OER developers, librarian students, archivists, museum workers, others interested in heritage conservation) a series of workshops that provides the basics of copyright law for their work, in addition to knowledge of exceptions and limitations of copyright and Creative Commons licensing. The resulting material from the workshops are fashioned into a self-guided course that can be tapped on demand at a user-preferred time and date. The course may also be harnessed as a group, such as by a collective or specific institution, to be facilitated according to the conditions of a given community.

Project leads: Carolina Botero, Maritza Sánchez, Maria Juliana Soto

Websitehttp://internetactiva.net/
Course: ABC del derecho de autor para bibliotecarios de América Latina
More info: http://internetactiva.net/?p=268, http://creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/42393

 

OER Summer Camp

Where: Luxi Island, China Mainland

Who: Primary and middle school students

What: Luxi Island is a remote island off the eastern coast of China. Due to inconvenient transportation, very limited educational materials are available for primary and middle school students on the island. Additionally, many of the students’ parents work in cities on the mainland for a living which means that these children, known as “left behind” children, must stay with their grandparents for most of their childhood. To address the inequity between children on the island and those on the mainland, School of Open volunteers organized a two-week open educational resources (OER) summer camp that covered science, medicine, music, dancing, and English.

Project leads: SUN Beibei, LIUPing, CC China Mainland Affiliate

Report: http://creativecommons.net.cn/2013/07/11/2013-7-11/
More info (EN): https://creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/41155

Image on front page of OER summer camp on Luxi island licensed CC BY by ZHU Renkai.

 

eXtreme Learning Process (XLP)

Where: Tsinghua University, China

Who: University students

What: eXtreme Learning Process (XLP) is a program of Tsinghua University, Toyhouse, and CC China Mainland that is known for their series of engineering and design challenge workshops incorporating open source and CC licensing education for university students in China. University students participate in extensive, multi-day workshops where one-half of the group designs the scenarios and problems and the other half conducts tasks and finds solutions. Scenarios are based in real life; for example, one problem posed was, “A plate shifting in South China Sea was caused by a sudden earthquake. As a consequence, a new unmanned island, A, appeared. Your task is to win the offer from the venture capitalist to exploit it into an offshore oil city by building a material delivery system and writing a business plan.” Participants must follow intellectual property rules and learn about and incorporate Creative Commons licensing for their projects. A Spirit of CC Award is given out during the closing ceremony of the workshop.

Project leads: Benjamin Koo, CC China Mainland Affiliate, Toyhouse

Report: http://creativecommons.net.cn/2014/03/02/cc…
More info (EN): https://creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/39057

 

OER Awareness Activities for Librarians and Academics

Where: Romania

Who: Librarians and academics

What: Many librarians and academics in Romania are not aware of or knowledgeable about open educational resources (OER) and how they can best leverage them for their needs. CC Romania, along with the Association for Technology and Internet (ApTI), the National Association of Public Libraries and Librarians in Romania, and Kosson and Soros Foundation Romania teamed up to put on a series of workshops to raise awareness among librarians and academics on the topics of open educational resources (OER), copyright, and CC licenses. The project was launched during the National Association of Librarians and Public Libraries (ANBPR) annual conference in Sibiu, Romania. The presentation covered copyright issues and their limits, how to apply an open license to a creation, what are open educational resources (OER) and where to find them. From this conference, participants signed up for a series of workshops which focus on the correct attribution for CC licensed works, aspects of OER, online courses and MOOCs.

Project leads: Bogdan Manolea, CC Romania Affiliate, Association for Technology and Internet (ApTI), National Association of Public Libraries, Librarians in Romania, Kosson and Soros Foundation Romania

Website: http://www.acces-deschis.ro/ro/oer
Brochure: http://www.acces-deschis.ro/buzunar/brosuracontinutdeschis/
Best practices guide: http://apti.ro/sites/default/files/Ghid-Resurse-educationale-deschise.pdf

More info (EN): http://creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/42311

 

School of Open Kenya Initiative

Where: Kenya, Senegal, Uganda

Who: High school students

What: The School of Open Kenya Initiative is a two week after school program that introduces high school students to open culture through the use of online School of Open courses and related open educational resources. The program is designed around the students’ needs and interests, which helps them learn about and employ open tools, such as the CC licenses, as well as participate in open culture through collaboration, remix and sharing.

Project leads: Simeon Oriko, Kasyoka Mutunga

Website: http://jamlab.co.ke/
More infohttp://creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/37424, http://teamopen.cc/kasyoka, http://creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/42167

Images on front page of students at Precious Blood School licensed CC BY-NC-SA by jamlab.

 

Creative Commons for Kids

Where: South Africa

Who: Elementary students

What: This pilot program by CC South Africa and Obami aims to develop innovative and dynamic coursework to interest kids of all ages. Obami, a platform for resource exchange for elementary school students, has seen a number of copyright violations. Instead of policing kids actions, the Creative Commons for Kids program will teach kids how to open and share their creative and educational works legally through the use of CC licenses. The program will result in an online course and resource that will be available openly on the Obami platform.

Project leads: Kelsey Wiens, CC South Africa Affiliate, Obami

More info: http://creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/42167

 

Open Africa

Where: Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Malawi, Uganda, Ghana

Who: Advocates

What: A collaboration between CC South Africa and WikiAfrica, Open Africa is a month-long training program created to activate five African communities. Advocates from across Africa including Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Malawi, Uganda, and Ghana undergo an “open” bootcamp which covers Creative Commons, Wikipedia, Open Street Maps, Open Educational Resources (OER), Open Data, Open Government, and related fundraising and community building skills. An online version of the training program will be featured as an online School of Open course. Equipped with “open” knowledge and skills, advocates will return to their home countries to spur their communities into action.

Project leads: Kelsey Wiens (CC South Africa Affiliate), Isla Haddow-Flood (WikiAfrica)

Website: http://www.wikiafrica.net/projects/open-advocacy-training-course/
More infohttp://creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/42167

 

WikiProject Open

Where: the web

Who: Open advocates, anyone

What: WikiProject Open is a wiki space for new and seasoned Wikipedia volunteers to collaborate on improving Wikipedia articles related to openness. The aim of the project is two-fold: in addition to improving Wikipedia articles related to openness (such as open access publishing, open educational resources), volunteers seek to improve Wikimedia content generally with the aid of openly licensed materials. WikiProject Open is a spin-off of the School of Open online course, Writing Wikipedia Articles.

Project leads: Pete Forsyth + other Wikipedia volunteers

Website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Open
More info: https://creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/40105