2nd Learning Reflection

I have struggled a little bit for time with this second section of the course, as it fell across a half-term holiday weekend for us. However, I do feel that my initial fears that the course would become merely a church of the OER-converted are being addressed a little. I think what is beginning to emerge now is a more sophisticated understanding of some of the barriers, difficulties and practicalities of OER. In particular I have been interested in discussions on the issue of creative origination. Yes, learning materials are often no more than a rehashing of other people's ideas, and I see no reason at all why you shouldn't use mine (as long as you let me use yours). However, if I was a photographer, graphic artist, musician or (as I am) a writer, I would have quite a different take on the subject. I listened to the various university lecturers banging on about 'free the resources' and I thought - well, you get paid to sit there and say that, and paid from the public purse. Of course you should free the resources, and frankly the idea of intellectual copyright for any of these highly-paid public servants is ridiculous. If you want privacy go private. But! When people have to make money from their own ideas, and make a living from these, it is an entirely different matter. I still think there is plenty of room for latitude here. If you want to borrow my work, link to it, use it within a different context that doesn't infringe upon my ability to use it then, as long as you ask and attribute I don't see why not. But we do need to understand OER from a more sophisticated and differentiated viewpoint than simply 'free the resources'. In fact in the past I have become sick to death of universities taking public project money, pursuing private ends and then hiding away the results, so I have no problems with freedom in this area. In fact it's time for a lot more. I pay you to think, I should be entitled to the results. You want to own your ideas then think in your own time.