Why Open?

During the first week of the course, August 10-16, we will discuss our own views of openness, as well as some definitions provided by people in various fields and contexts.

First task: Introduce yourself on our course discussion page on the Discourse platform, here: http://discourse.p2pu.org/t/introduce-yourself-here/27. Click on the "why open" blue button towards the top of that page to see the other discussion categories for our course.

Be sure to check the main Discourse page for the course, which has all the discussion threads, including the Announcements section! http://discourse.p2pu.org/category/why-open

Even if you can't do everything suggested for this week, please be sure to at least do the things listed under "A," as we will return to your initial thoughts on these things at the end of the course!

We will also have a synchronous session with a guest speaker, David Wiley, on Aug. 13 (see here for date/time in your area). See below for how to join in!

A. What does "openness" mean to you?

We will start by reflecting on and writing down our own views of openness, and commenting on those given by other participants.

Please try to complete the activities under this section before our synchronous session with David Wiley on Aug. 13.

1. Reflecting on openness

In the Discourse area for our course [http://discourse.p2pu.org/t/our-own-views-on-openness-week-1/34] respond to the following: What do you think "openness" is? Focusing on your own field or context (if you wish), describe what it means to do work openly, or to make one's activity or artifacts open. Alternatively, you could talk about what you think "openness" means generally, what sort of definition might fit all open activities or works. Note: In order to use Discourse you must register for an account or log in using an existing Google account.

It's okay if you are completely new to the idea of openness, and are not sure how to answer these questions. Just say whatever makes sense to you at this point, not worrying at all about whether it's "right" or not--as we'll see, there are a lot of different views on openness, and no clear consensus on whether there is one "right" one!

2. Commenting on each others' posts

Choose at least one or two other participants' posts (in answer to #1, above) to read and comment on.

In your comments, you could, for example, discuss what you agree with or disagree with, or what struck you as surprising, or made you think in some way differently than you did before, or something else of your choosing. Of course, as in all things in this course, please make sure any critical comments (which are certainly welcome) are respectful and constructive!

Synchronous session with David Wiley

David will be talking to us about openness generally, the different kinds of openness, their history, and the like. That session will be on Wednesday, Aug. 13, at noon Pacific/3pm Eastern (in N. America). Please see here for the time/date of this presentations in your area.

The session was on Google Hangouts. Here's the link to watch a recording of the session on YouTube. We talked about the history of "open" a bit, open vs. free, copyright and the Berne Convention, Wiley's "5 R's" of open content (http://opencontent.org/definition/), and more! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijpU4nr8Dj0

B. What have others said about openness?

In this section, we will look at some definitions of openness given by people in different fields, doing different sort of activities. The point here is not to see if our views discussed in our blog posts are correct, but rather to get a sense of the range of views on openness.

1. Meaning of "open," from others

Please read at least five of the following definitions of openness from others, being sure to read definitions from people in several different professions or who do a few different kinds of things.

http://pad.p2pu.org/p/What_does_%22open%22_mean_to_you

Then, please comment on what you've read in our Discourse discussion area [http://discourse.p2pu.org/t/reflection-on-what-others-have-said-about-openness-week-1/35] You could do one of the following in your comments, or something else related to what you've read. Please feel free to reply to comments made by others as well!

• You might compare these views on openness to your own view or those you read from other participants, considering similarities and differences. Or whether there is anything new or surprising to you in this list of meanings of openness.

• Another thing you could think about is whether there is any sort of significant relationship between what people do, and/or their profession, and their view of what openness means. Perhaps some people in similar lines of work agree on some aspects of openness?

2. Mind map on "everything open and free"

Here is a mind map you might take a look at, if you have time. It has quite a few links on open and/or free practices, movements, products and more. It doesn't include everything that could be under each of the "branches," but it has quite a bit.

You don't need to read through everything here, but it's nice to take a look to get a general overview of many aspects of openness. Click on any link(s) that look interesting!

http://www.mindmeister.com/28717702/everything-open-and-free?