Overcoming cultural agoraphobia

A case study

Ray CorriganOpen UniversityGikii VI Göteborg 2011

Gikii past

• Maxwell’s demon on the internet

• Monks, books & battles

• Fighter Command's information system

• 5 point plan for the public domain

• Algebra with tiddlywinks

<C.P.Snow’s two cultures>

<Boyle’s cultural agoraphobia>

<Open University>

<Open source teaching project>

<2001 - 2002>

<T182 Law the Internet and Society>

http://vipernt.open.ac.uk/t182/html/welcome/welcome.htm

Cartoons by Tony Seldon

For every human problem there is a solution which is simple, neat and wrong.H.L. Mencken

Only one thing is impossible for God: to find any sense in any copyright law on the planet.Mark Twain

He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts – for support rather than illumination.Andrew Lang

<abridged guide to Lessig for six-year-olds>http://vipernt.open.ac.uk/t182/Resources/Ray%20C%20ver%202.mp3

http://vipernt.open.ac.uk/t182/html/resources/transcript_commons.htm

<Hewlett Foundation

http://www.hewlett.org/>

<OU scenarios planning>

<T182 CC’d autumn 2004>http://vipernt.open.ac.uk/t182/html/sectionindex.htm

<Site activity vibrant>

<didn’t ask anyone’s permission>

<take it down; we need to talk about this>

<VC supportive, genuine concerns

Task Group late 2004>

<Academic Board & Council July 2005>

<support – do on big scale>

<Hewlett Foundation $250k>

< Proposal to Hewlett Foundation Nov 2005>

<HF reviewer comments Dec 2005>

<Issues: budget – 2 years ambitious

Licence – CC or bepoke>

<BBC Creative Archive bespoke licence>

<Revised proposal Jan 2006>

<5100 hours Learning Space

8100 hours Lab Space

“robust, scalable OES”

CC>

<HF Board approved $8.9M Feb 2006>

<OpenLearn launched autumn 2006 w 900 hours content>

<lessons>

<Boyle was right>

<we are culturally agoraphobic>

<Institutions are culturally agoraphobic>

<break the logjam>

<shine light on our cultural agoraphobia>

<mature & rational debate>

<people not tools>

<putting people in touch with people>

Links

OpenLearn http://openlearn.open.ac.uk/

T182 http://labspace.open.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=5851

OLNet http://olnet.org/ (OU and Carnegie Mellon)

The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation http://www.hewlett.org/

OU YouTube http://www.youtube.com/ou

OU iTunesU http://open.edu/itunes/

EUSearch Register of Council of EU