#rp14 speaker: Delia Browne - Open education to the rescue!

Education and research are valuable necessities for our future. For countries, such as Germany, not largely blessed with natural resources, an educated and innovative workforce is the most valuable resource. Yet still, a lot of potentials are being underused or wasted in our education system.    

Open Education enables new dynamics for learning and emancipates education from social backgrounds. The idea here is simple: free access to learning materials and universally available learning platforms enable every person to educate themselves, according to their interests.

Australia may be relatively rich in natural resources but still needs well educated, young people. That’s why Delia Brown is fighting for Open Education and a reform of the antiquated copyright laws. As the National Copyright Director it is her job to convince the stakeholders and policy-makers in Australia that investing in the roll-out of the fibre-optic network simply isn’t enough. Effective and free e-Learning is predicated on reforming copyright laws.

Brown is a lawyer and expert advisor on copyright in the education sector. She’s involved in Creative Commons and is a co-founder and President of the Peer-to-Peer University (P2PU), a non-profit open learning community allowing users to take part in online courses, organise their own or come together in learning groups.

At re:publica 2014, Delia Brown, who recently published the “Idiots Guide to Creative Commons”, will talk about the potentials of Open Education and Open Access and what developments are still needed.

Das Wissenschaftsjahr 2014 – Die digitale Gesellschaft
The digital society is a society in change. Digital technologies permeate our daily lives and offer a variety of new possibilities. The Year of Science 2014 – the digital society shows how science and research drives these developments and dedicates itself to the outcomes of the digital revolution.
www.digital-ist.de

Photo: Delia Browne