UNDERSTANDING 
OPEN KNOWLEDGE 
Creating Track for Stanford University Online 
Education 
Shirley Ingles-Cruz
DISCUSSION: 
I. What does Open Knowledge mean in the context 
of Open Knowledge? 
II. What is knowledge? 
III. What is Open Knowledge then? 
IV. What contributes to Open Knowledge? 
V. What are the challenges facing Open Knowledge?
“Universal access to all knowledge” 
-- greatest dream of Library of Alexandria 
Information, knowledge, and culture are central to human freedom and 
human development. How they are produce and exchange in our society 
critically affects the ways we see the state of the world as it is and might be … In 
the past decade and a half, we have began to see a radical change in the 
organization of information production . 
-- Benkler Yochai
I. What does OPEN means in the context of Open Knowledge? 
 OPEN means any users allowing access to use for any lawful purpose 
without barriers that are inseparable from those gaining access to the 
internet itself . 
– Budapest Declaration 
 OPEN means anyone can freely access, use, modify, and share for any 
purpose (subject, at most, to requirements that preserve provenance and 
openness). Open data and content can be freely used, modified, and 
shared by anyone for any purpose. . 
– Open Definition 
 OPEN is synonymous with “free” or “libre” as define in the Definition of 
Free Cultural Works which states that free cultural works are works or 
expressions which can be freely studied, applied, copied and/or modified, 
by anyone, for any purpose. 
 OPEN is commonly referred to as “open content” or “open access”
The Open Definition was initially derived from the Open Source Definition 
(OSD), which was also derived from the Debian Free Software Guidelines 
(DFSG). “Open source” doesn't just mean access to the source code. The 
distribution terms of open source software must comply with the criteria set 
forth by the Open Source Initiative. The DFSG was initially designed as a set of 
commitments that has been adopted by the free software community.
The openness of the content could be best describe using the 4Rs 
Framework of David Wiley, which has also become the guiding 
principles for open educational resources (OER): (Wiley, D. 2009) 
1. Reuse 
– the right to reuse the content in its unaltered / verbatim 
form 
2. Revise 
– the right to adapt, adjust, modify, or alter the content 
itself 
3. Remix 
–the right to combine the original or revised content with 
other content to create something new 
4. Redistribute 
– the right to make and share copies of the original 
content, one revisions, or one remixes with others
II. What is Knowledge? 
KNOWLEDGE is not static. It is a network of prejudices, opinions, 
innovations, self-corrections, presuppositions and exaggerations. 
KNOWLEDGE is organization, not structure. 
KNOWLEDGE is not intended to fill minds but rather to open them. 
– George Siemens (2006)
Knowledge flow cycle 
1. Co-creation – The ability to build on/with the work of others opens doors for 
innovation and rapid development of ideas and concepts. 
2. Dissemination – analysis, evaluation, and filtering elements through the 
network. 
3. Communication of key ideas – (those that have survived the dissemination 
process) enter conduits for dispersion throughout the network. 
4. Personalization – bringing new knowledge to oneself through the experience 
of internalization, dialogue, or reflection. 
5. Implementation – understanding concept changes when acting on it, versus 
only theorizing or learning about it.
Types of Knowledge 
1. Knowing ABOUT – news events, basics of a field, introductory concepts in a discipline 
2. Knowing TO DO – to drive a car, solve a math problem, code a program, conduct 
research, manage a project 
3. Knowing TO BE – to embody knowledge with humanity (doing blended with 
consistency and daily existence), to be a doctor or psychologist (mannerism, 
professionalism), to be an ethical person, to be compassionate, to relate, to feel 
4. Knowing WHERE – to find knowledge when needed, web search, library, database, an 
organization, and increasingly, knowing who to approach for assistance 
5. Knowing to TRANSFORM – to tweak, to adjust, to recombine, to align with reality, to 
innovate, to exist at levels deeper than readily noticeable, to think. The “why of 
knowing” resides in this domain
The quad-space of self occurs in the larger space of organizations and 
society; just as we exist in different domains: physical, cognitive, social, and 
spiritual, we exist in different spaces: self, collective, organizational, and 
societal.
III. What is Open Knowledge then? 
Open Knowledge Foundation 
defines OPEN KNOWLEDGE as 
any content, information that 
people are free to use, re-use and 
redistribute – without any legal, 
technological or social restriction. 
As George Siemens said, 
“knowledge set free enables 
dynamic, adaptive, and 
personalized experience.”
IV. What contributes to Open Knowledge? 
IV.1 Technological change, digital identity and connected 
learning 
IV.2 Participatory Culture, Citizen Journalism and 
Citizen Science 
IV.3 Intellectual Property and License 
IV.4 Open access 
IV.5 Open Educational Resources (OER) & Open Textbooks 
IV.6 Archives and Depositories
IV.1 Technological change, digital identity and connected learning 
The prevalence of open spaces creates participatory culture, encourages 
diversity and provides vast network possibilities. It is said that we shape 
our tools and our tools shape us. 
Dr. Alec Couros, an advocate of OER, illustrates a significant shift in 
media: 
Atoms Bits 
Scarcity Abundance 
Consuming Creating 
Standardization Personalization 
Individuals Networks
New learning media and adaptation to technological changes
IV.2 Participatory Culture, Citizen Journalism & Citizen Science 
Technological advances made the civil society become more engaged 
in creating more media as compared in the past. What is dominant 
among the civil society today are blogging, re-posting, 
commenting, rating, and tagging that encourage citizens to 
participate and be more involved in online discussions and discourses. 
The involvement of the civil society to the cyberspace, social media in 
particular, gives rise to what they called “cyberutopianism” – those 
who use technology to propagate their political views and beliefs. 
Citizen journalism is reshaping the world – even ordinary citizens 
become involved in journalism, reporting issues that were overlooked 
by professional media/reporters. 
Citizen science on the other hand encourages volunteers to be 
involved in assisting to some scientific researches and studies.
Citizen Journalism & Connectivism
IV.3 Intellectual Property and License
The author 
has the right 
to his work 
FOREVER 
The idea that 
an IDEA CAN 
BE OWNED
IP encompasses the three (3) 
complex strands of jurisprudence:
Some INITIATIVES to resolve restrictions:
Intellectual Property in terms of Open Knowledge initiative 
looks at the issues of “public domain” – free for anyone to 
use, and “fair use.” 
The basic purpose of Open knowledge is for learning and 
research as a means to widen the reach of open 
educational resources (OER). 
Creative Commons advocated for OER as teaching, 
learning, and research materials that are in the public 
domain or have been released under an open license that 
allows free use and repurposing by others.
Open Publication and Creative Commons licenses are two of the known 
licenses granted for works to facilitate free use of OER. 
• Open Publication License 
The Open Publication works may be reproduced and 
distributed in whole or in part, in any medium physical or 
electronic, provided that the terms of this license are adhered to, 
and that this license or an incorporation of it by reference (with 
any options elected by the author(s) and/or publisher) is displayed 
in the reproduction. 
• Creative Commons 
It is the commonly used license in the OER community. 
Creative Commons helps you share your knowledge and creativity 
with the world. Creative Commons develops, supports, and 
stewards legal and technical infrastructure that maximizes digital 
creativity, sharing, and innovation.
Some INITIATIVES licensed under Creative Commons
IV. 4 Open Access 
Open Access Africa 2012 states that “Open-access” should be free for 
re-use immediate research articles which are available online. 
Veletsianos, G. and Kimmons, R. assumed that openness is seen as an 
effective vehicle for achieving scholarly goals due to its affordability, 
accuracy, accessibility, sustainability, dissemination and effective 
pedagogy. 
Comparisons: 
Open Access Toll Access 
 Getting new ideas by sharing 
 Collaboration 
 Publish for impact 
 Focus on quality 
 Fear of losing ideas 
 Competition 
 Publish or perish 
 Focus on quantity
IV.5 Open Educational Resources (OER) & Open Textbooks 
UNESCO Forum chose the term “open educational 
resources” to describe their efforts to develop a universal 
educational resource available for the whole humanity. 
The goal of OER advocates is to increase access to 
knowledge in order to improve the quality of and reduce 
costs of education through a collaborative efforts and 
cooperation among individuals, groups, or institutions. 
Nicole Allen offers three campus advocacies to solve 
textbook crisis such as Students advocacy, Libraries 
advocacy, and Institutions advocacy.
Some advocacies and initiatives:
IV.6 Archives and Depositories 
With the over abundance of information via the Internet, 
how are these vast information being managed and 
available to the humanity? 
Keepers of information are faced with archiving, and 
metadata indexing and harvesting concerns. 
The Open archive Initiative (OAI) had 
developed a protocol metadata 
harvesting, known as OAI-PMH, as an 
interoperability standard for content 
dissemination for easy access and 
uniformity for data exchange.
Some of these depositories: 
•HOPE – Harvard Open-Access Publishing Equity 
•COPE – Compact for Open-Access Publishing Equity
V. What are challenges facing Open Knowledge? 
V.1 Information overloads 
V.2 Global perspective 
V.3 Future of Open Knowledge
V.1 Information Overload 
Technological advancement made publishing, either online or in 
print, faster as compared in the past. 
The rise of the Internet has brought about the rise of abundance of 
information made available online virtually free for anyone and 
access to these information are virtually possible instantaneously. 
However, people are now faced with the dilemma of choosing 
which information can best serve their research needs. 
Dr. David Levy, a computer scientist and professor at the 
University of Washington, said that “the problem with 
information overload is actually focusing or concentrating to 
certain thing in order for it to be fully understood and effectively 
engage with others.”
The reliability to control and filter the flow of information has 
become a major concern. Stanford University has suggested 
alternative filters which include: 
Using technological tools as filters 
• Specialized databases 
– Google Scholar, which attempt to filter out 
non-scholarly content from web searches 
• Subject-specific indexes 
– PubMed for medical research or ERIC for education 
research 
Relying on the community as a filter 
Developing one’s own information literacy skills
V.2 Global Perspective of Open Knowledge 
International Initiatives for Open Access: 
• Budapest Open Access Initiative 
– supports the creation of open repositories of scientific 
documents and the edition of electronic journals 
• Bethesda Declaration 
– statement on open access publishing 
• Berlin Declaration 
– Open access paradigm as a mechanism for having 
scientific knowledge and cultural heritage accessible 
worldwide 
• IFLA Declaration in Library Science 
– favors open access for academic research publications 
• Lyon Declaration on Access to Information and Development 
– acknowledged that access to information, and the skills 
to use it effectively, are required for sustainable 
development
V.3 Future for Open Knowledge 
A very good example to say that Open Knowledge has a great 
future ahead is the Knowledge Unlatched. 
Knowledge Unlatched is a not-for-profit collaboration of 
libraries from around the world to share the costs of making 
books open access. Its vision is a healthy market that includes free 
access for end users. Its mission is centered on “opening access to 
scholarly books.” KU is helping stakeholders to work together for 
a sustainable open future for specialist scholarly books.
Understanding Open knowledge

Understanding Open knowledge

  • 1.
    UNDERSTANDING OPEN KNOWLEDGE Creating Track for Stanford University Online Education Shirley Ingles-Cruz
  • 2.
    DISCUSSION: I. Whatdoes Open Knowledge mean in the context of Open Knowledge? II. What is knowledge? III. What is Open Knowledge then? IV. What contributes to Open Knowledge? V. What are the challenges facing Open Knowledge?
  • 3.
    “Universal access toall knowledge” -- greatest dream of Library of Alexandria Information, knowledge, and culture are central to human freedom and human development. How they are produce and exchange in our society critically affects the ways we see the state of the world as it is and might be … In the past decade and a half, we have began to see a radical change in the organization of information production . -- Benkler Yochai
  • 4.
    I. What doesOPEN means in the context of Open Knowledge?  OPEN means any users allowing access to use for any lawful purpose without barriers that are inseparable from those gaining access to the internet itself . – Budapest Declaration  OPEN means anyone can freely access, use, modify, and share for any purpose (subject, at most, to requirements that preserve provenance and openness). Open data and content can be freely used, modified, and shared by anyone for any purpose. . – Open Definition  OPEN is synonymous with “free” or “libre” as define in the Definition of Free Cultural Works which states that free cultural works are works or expressions which can be freely studied, applied, copied and/or modified, by anyone, for any purpose.  OPEN is commonly referred to as “open content” or “open access”
  • 5.
    The Open Definitionwas initially derived from the Open Source Definition (OSD), which was also derived from the Debian Free Software Guidelines (DFSG). “Open source” doesn't just mean access to the source code. The distribution terms of open source software must comply with the criteria set forth by the Open Source Initiative. The DFSG was initially designed as a set of commitments that has been adopted by the free software community.
  • 6.
    The openness ofthe content could be best describe using the 4Rs Framework of David Wiley, which has also become the guiding principles for open educational resources (OER): (Wiley, D. 2009) 1. Reuse – the right to reuse the content in its unaltered / verbatim form 2. Revise – the right to adapt, adjust, modify, or alter the content itself 3. Remix –the right to combine the original or revised content with other content to create something new 4. Redistribute – the right to make and share copies of the original content, one revisions, or one remixes with others
  • 7.
    II. What isKnowledge? KNOWLEDGE is not static. It is a network of prejudices, opinions, innovations, self-corrections, presuppositions and exaggerations. KNOWLEDGE is organization, not structure. KNOWLEDGE is not intended to fill minds but rather to open them. – George Siemens (2006)
  • 8.
    Knowledge flow cycle 1. Co-creation – The ability to build on/with the work of others opens doors for innovation and rapid development of ideas and concepts. 2. Dissemination – analysis, evaluation, and filtering elements through the network. 3. Communication of key ideas – (those that have survived the dissemination process) enter conduits for dispersion throughout the network. 4. Personalization – bringing new knowledge to oneself through the experience of internalization, dialogue, or reflection. 5. Implementation – understanding concept changes when acting on it, versus only theorizing or learning about it.
  • 9.
    Types of Knowledge 1. Knowing ABOUT – news events, basics of a field, introductory concepts in a discipline 2. Knowing TO DO – to drive a car, solve a math problem, code a program, conduct research, manage a project 3. Knowing TO BE – to embody knowledge with humanity (doing blended with consistency and daily existence), to be a doctor or psychologist (mannerism, professionalism), to be an ethical person, to be compassionate, to relate, to feel 4. Knowing WHERE – to find knowledge when needed, web search, library, database, an organization, and increasingly, knowing who to approach for assistance 5. Knowing to TRANSFORM – to tweak, to adjust, to recombine, to align with reality, to innovate, to exist at levels deeper than readily noticeable, to think. The “why of knowing” resides in this domain
  • 10.
    The quad-space ofself occurs in the larger space of organizations and society; just as we exist in different domains: physical, cognitive, social, and spiritual, we exist in different spaces: self, collective, organizational, and societal.
  • 11.
    III. What isOpen Knowledge then? Open Knowledge Foundation defines OPEN KNOWLEDGE as any content, information that people are free to use, re-use and redistribute – without any legal, technological or social restriction. As George Siemens said, “knowledge set free enables dynamic, adaptive, and personalized experience.”
  • 12.
    IV. What contributesto Open Knowledge? IV.1 Technological change, digital identity and connected learning IV.2 Participatory Culture, Citizen Journalism and Citizen Science IV.3 Intellectual Property and License IV.4 Open access IV.5 Open Educational Resources (OER) & Open Textbooks IV.6 Archives and Depositories
  • 13.
    IV.1 Technological change,digital identity and connected learning The prevalence of open spaces creates participatory culture, encourages diversity and provides vast network possibilities. It is said that we shape our tools and our tools shape us. Dr. Alec Couros, an advocate of OER, illustrates a significant shift in media: Atoms Bits Scarcity Abundance Consuming Creating Standardization Personalization Individuals Networks
  • 14.
    New learning mediaand adaptation to technological changes
  • 15.
    IV.2 Participatory Culture,Citizen Journalism & Citizen Science Technological advances made the civil society become more engaged in creating more media as compared in the past. What is dominant among the civil society today are blogging, re-posting, commenting, rating, and tagging that encourage citizens to participate and be more involved in online discussions and discourses. The involvement of the civil society to the cyberspace, social media in particular, gives rise to what they called “cyberutopianism” – those who use technology to propagate their political views and beliefs. Citizen journalism is reshaping the world – even ordinary citizens become involved in journalism, reporting issues that were overlooked by professional media/reporters. Citizen science on the other hand encourages volunteers to be involved in assisting to some scientific researches and studies.
  • 16.
  • 17.
  • 18.
    The author hasthe right to his work FOREVER The idea that an IDEA CAN BE OWNED
  • 19.
    IP encompasses thethree (3) complex strands of jurisprudence:
  • 20.
    Some INITIATIVES toresolve restrictions:
  • 21.
    Intellectual Property interms of Open Knowledge initiative looks at the issues of “public domain” – free for anyone to use, and “fair use.” The basic purpose of Open knowledge is for learning and research as a means to widen the reach of open educational resources (OER). Creative Commons advocated for OER as teaching, learning, and research materials that are in the public domain or have been released under an open license that allows free use and repurposing by others.
  • 22.
    Open Publication andCreative Commons licenses are two of the known licenses granted for works to facilitate free use of OER. • Open Publication License The Open Publication works may be reproduced and distributed in whole or in part, in any medium physical or electronic, provided that the terms of this license are adhered to, and that this license or an incorporation of it by reference (with any options elected by the author(s) and/or publisher) is displayed in the reproduction. • Creative Commons It is the commonly used license in the OER community. Creative Commons helps you share your knowledge and creativity with the world. Creative Commons develops, supports, and stewards legal and technical infrastructure that maximizes digital creativity, sharing, and innovation.
  • 24.
    Some INITIATIVES licensedunder Creative Commons
  • 25.
    IV. 4 OpenAccess Open Access Africa 2012 states that “Open-access” should be free for re-use immediate research articles which are available online. Veletsianos, G. and Kimmons, R. assumed that openness is seen as an effective vehicle for achieving scholarly goals due to its affordability, accuracy, accessibility, sustainability, dissemination and effective pedagogy. Comparisons: Open Access Toll Access  Getting new ideas by sharing  Collaboration  Publish for impact  Focus on quality  Fear of losing ideas  Competition  Publish or perish  Focus on quantity
  • 27.
    IV.5 Open EducationalResources (OER) & Open Textbooks UNESCO Forum chose the term “open educational resources” to describe their efforts to develop a universal educational resource available for the whole humanity. The goal of OER advocates is to increase access to knowledge in order to improve the quality of and reduce costs of education through a collaborative efforts and cooperation among individuals, groups, or institutions. Nicole Allen offers three campus advocacies to solve textbook crisis such as Students advocacy, Libraries advocacy, and Institutions advocacy.
  • 28.
    Some advocacies andinitiatives:
  • 29.
    IV.6 Archives andDepositories With the over abundance of information via the Internet, how are these vast information being managed and available to the humanity? Keepers of information are faced with archiving, and metadata indexing and harvesting concerns. The Open archive Initiative (OAI) had developed a protocol metadata harvesting, known as OAI-PMH, as an interoperability standard for content dissemination for easy access and uniformity for data exchange.
  • 30.
    Some of thesedepositories: •HOPE – Harvard Open-Access Publishing Equity •COPE – Compact for Open-Access Publishing Equity
  • 31.
    V. What arechallenges facing Open Knowledge? V.1 Information overloads V.2 Global perspective V.3 Future of Open Knowledge
  • 32.
    V.1 Information Overload Technological advancement made publishing, either online or in print, faster as compared in the past. The rise of the Internet has brought about the rise of abundance of information made available online virtually free for anyone and access to these information are virtually possible instantaneously. However, people are now faced with the dilemma of choosing which information can best serve their research needs. Dr. David Levy, a computer scientist and professor at the University of Washington, said that “the problem with information overload is actually focusing or concentrating to certain thing in order for it to be fully understood and effectively engage with others.”
  • 33.
    The reliability tocontrol and filter the flow of information has become a major concern. Stanford University has suggested alternative filters which include: Using technological tools as filters • Specialized databases – Google Scholar, which attempt to filter out non-scholarly content from web searches • Subject-specific indexes – PubMed for medical research or ERIC for education research Relying on the community as a filter Developing one’s own information literacy skills
  • 34.
    V.2 Global Perspectiveof Open Knowledge International Initiatives for Open Access: • Budapest Open Access Initiative – supports the creation of open repositories of scientific documents and the edition of electronic journals • Bethesda Declaration – statement on open access publishing • Berlin Declaration – Open access paradigm as a mechanism for having scientific knowledge and cultural heritage accessible worldwide • IFLA Declaration in Library Science – favors open access for academic research publications • Lyon Declaration on Access to Information and Development – acknowledged that access to information, and the skills to use it effectively, are required for sustainable development
  • 36.
    V.3 Future forOpen Knowledge A very good example to say that Open Knowledge has a great future ahead is the Knowledge Unlatched. Knowledge Unlatched is a not-for-profit collaboration of libraries from around the world to share the costs of making books open access. Its vision is a healthy market that includes free access for end users. Its mission is centered on “opening access to scholarly books.” KU is helping stakeholders to work together for a sustainable open future for specialist scholarly books.