*Dear colleagues,As you may have heard, in March I spent a couple of weeks
at UNESCO for Mobile Learning Week and to network with folks there about
global goals for education and Wikimedia in education. A few really great
opportunities came up, but one of them is quite pressing. The UNESCO
Communications and Information Sector
<http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-information/> (CI) is
leading the initiative for the General Conference
<https://en.unesco.org/generalconference> to adopt a recommendation about
the use of OERs to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4). Some
background information on recommendations can be found here
<http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=23772&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html>.
A quick summary is that a recommendation, though not an enforceable policy
mechanism, requires that member states who apply to it adopt national
policies that align with the recommendation and report on their compliance.
Essentially, we have the opportunity to be a part of influencing policy
around the use of Open Educational Resources (OER) in education. UNESCO
adopting this policy will mean that governments around the world will be
strongly compelled to support the use of OER in education. For us, this
means that Wikimedia projects will have a stronger reputation in education
globally. Wikimedia projects are OERs that not only allow students to
consume information, but that support the critical consumption of
information as well as empower students and educators to be content
creators. Contributing to this policy recommendation will give us the
opportunity to advocate for that message, and support the work of community
members around the world who are doing education programs.We have been
formally invited to participate in the open invitation for comments on this
recommendation, and the deadline is set for June 1. I’m asking for your
input, so that we can make this comment as a collective. Here is how you
can participate: *Read the Recommendation.(There are both English
<https://www.oercongress.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Draft-OER-Recommendation-Version-Draft-18-April-2018-text-for-online-consultation-ENG.pdf>
and French
<https://www.oercongress.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Draft-OER-Recommendation-Version-Draft-18-April-2018-text-for-online-consultation-FR.pdf>
Versions)*Provide your input in this google form
<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdHGzJZQqs3kbWclQeN5xI7P9e2OY-mlXDP35PYrXtfNWYB7A/viewform?usp=sf_link>
by May 18. Please note that the document itself is full of UN and policy
jargon, and may be difficult to analyze. I’ve included some guiding
questions in the google form that will hopefully help you to provide input.
This invitation is a good first step in developing a closer relationship
with UNESCO for Wikimedia projects in Education, and I hope to be sharing
more opportunities with you in the future. best regards,Nichole*
--
*Nichole Saad*
WMF | Education Program Manager
nsaad(a)wikimedia.org
user: NSaad (WMF)