CIPIT, as the Public Lead for Creative Commons Kenya, is pleased to invite you all to the Creative Commons “School of Open” Launch set to take place on the 23rd of February 2013 at Precious Blood Secondary School, Riruta. Through this event, CIPIT in partnership with the National Council for Law Reporting (Legal Lead for Creative Commons Kenya) and jamlab aims to introduce the concept of “Open” to high school students all over the country and engage them in the use of Open Education Resources. The chief guest at the launch will be Dr. Bitange Ndemo, PS in the Ministry of Information and Communication among other key invited guests. Proceedings will run from 09:30am to 12:30pm.
As a background, the School of Open is an open community project that aims to help anyone in the world understand what “open” means in the world around us, especially as it applies in the digital medium also known as the internet and how it can benefit creative endeavours across all fields including education, science, research and the arts.
The School of Open is a joint initiative being coordinated by two organisations: Peer to Peer University (P2PU) and Creative Commons (CC). While P2PU encompasses all types of courses, the soo is focused on the specific domain of openness. P2PU believe that open resources can improve access to and participation in research, education, technology and culture BUT not enough people know what “open” means or how to apply it.
As for CC, it is a non-profit organisation that offers a legal framework (through licenses) for the voluntary sharing of creative works on the web such music, videos, photos and educational resources like textbooks. With CC, creators can grant copy and reuse permissions in advance without having to negotiate rights each and every time. CC licenses also form the backbone of the Open Educational Resources (OER) movement. A movement of organisations and individuals that offer free educational resources under CC licenses to anyone in the world.