29C3 - Version 1.9
| Speakers | |
|---|---|
|
Michał "rysiek" Woźniak |
| Schedule | |
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| Day | Day 2 - 2012-12-28 |
| Room | Saal 6 |
| Start time | 14:30 |
| Duration | 00:30 |
| Info | |
| ID | 5203 |
| Event type | Lecture |
| Language used for presentation | English |
| Feedback | |
|---|---|
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OMG! OER!
How big business fights open education in Poland, and how open education fights back!
Polish government decided in favour of open-licensed e-textbooks. This is not to liking of big textbook publishers, reaping in profits hand over fist. While their black PR campaign focuses on technicalities, it seems obvious that their real beef is with the liberal licensing.
Polish schools are planned to get CC-By licensed e-textbooks prepared by academia in co-operation with business -- but the publishing business wants none of that. A well-funded black PR campaign is rages in Polish media in an attempt to convince parents and teachers (and through them, the government) to oppose e-textbooks.
Anything goes! From technical issues ("you will have to buy an expensive iPad to read those!") through playing on anti-government sentiments ("the government is trying to hijack the education process!") all the way to economy-related ("e-textbooks will hinder the free market"), and with legal threats sent to academia in order to coerce the universities not to participate (and hence ensure the failure of the programme). And media are happy to publish PR pamphlets as valid articles without even checking their sources...
All this, of course, because the publishing business would rather keep their stranglehold on textbook business in Poland rather then adapt and make money on open-licensed content.
I would like to talk how we got here, and how we (the Coalition for Open Education) try to fend off the well-funded and ruthless publishers' campaign. This, I believe, can be a valuable lesson for OER advocates from other places of the world.