The Sale of ‘Open Content’

Recognizing and Negotiating Philosophical Quandaries in the OER DefinitionRolin Moe, EdD

Assistant ProfessorDirector of Educational Technology & MediaSeattle Pacific University

Twitter - @rmoejohttp://rolinmoe.orgPaper – In ReviewSlides - http://bit.ly/1Ngw5ir

First image by Cable Green (CC BY 2.0), Second & Third by Rolin Moe (a postmodern whatevs)

Openwashing is a phenomenon. It will not be solved by pragmatism alone.

In fact, pragmatism may be part of the conundrum behind openwashing.

Three Minutes of Theory

Hegel

Absolute Knowledge *Scientific advancement

will lead us to a totality of all knowledge – ‘abstract-negative-

concrete’ triad

Marx

Emancipation*Scientific advancement

will lead us to access and equity for all humans

Dewey

Pragmatic Reform*Social

science advancement

is grounded in practice, which can lead us to

the potentials of Democracy

LyotardParaphrasing The Postmodern Condition

The fallacy of scientific knowledge is that it requires proof as well as an ability to refute opposition, which does not result in Truth but rather a likeliness of truth based on our strata of information. Moreover, scientific knowledge is a sender-receiver relationship, a one-sided competence rather than a social bond.

If we take connectivism and social constructivism as learning theories resulting from the ubiquity of knowledge networks (i.e., information society), we must recognize narrative knowledge to be legitimate – not better, worse, or the same as scientific knowledge. We must also recognize the biases and assumptions of scientific knowledge in same way we do narrative knowledge.

Lyotard, Les Immateriaux. 1985

The Buried Hatch Cover by Alan Levine CC BY 2.0

The Content Paradox

Why not just change the name?Labeling the problem as semantic assumes absolute knowledge, as if there is a True term that will not be laden in two-way discourses and the subsequent complexity.

“Open content” was and is an attempt to appropriately adapt the logic of “open source” software to the non-software world of cultural and scientific artifacts like music, literature, and images.

- David Wiley, “Defining Open,” 2009

OERTextbooks!

Emancipation&

Democracy!

This two-dimensional construct in no way suggests an ideal reality.

Conclusion

Generally speaking, while the choice by open content publishers to use licenses that include requirements and restrictions can optimize their ability to accomplish their own local goals, the choice typically harms the global goals of the broader open content community.

- Defining the ‘Open’ in ‘Open Content’ at http://www.opencontent.org

Gap to Sea 2 by Martin Weller CC-BY-NC 2.0

Coda Christo and Jeanne-Claude Surrounded Islands, Biscayne Bay, Greater Miami, Florida, 1980-83 Photo: Wolfgang Volz © 1983 Christo. Photo utilized for Minimalism and Earthworks as curriculum within Smarthistory by Khan Academy (2015)

All Khan Academy content is available for free at www.khanacademy.org