The idea of open source education is an idea that could move the education levels of a developing country like SA to a whole new level. With the unequal distribution of resources and knowledge we experience in South Africa an open source policy could help shift resources to those places where they are needed the most. With the prospect of collaboration between schools of all walks of life the benefits could be remarkable.
Imagine a society where textbooks are available to everyone for free over the web and at lower cost in print. In our society textbooks are often too expensive for learners, open source could make these learning materials accessible.
The Cape Town Declaration is the first major step towards this future. In September 2007 a small group of open education activists met in Cape Town, this gathering was convened by the Open Society Institute and the Shuttleworth Foundation. This meeting led to the drafting of The Cape Town Declaration. “It is a statement of principle, a statement of strategy and a statement of commitment.”
The Purpose of this meeting was to hasten the international drive to promote open resources, technology and teaching practices in education. All participants are involved in ongoing open education initiatives.
Contributors at the meeting discussed how they could collaborate and unite their separate projects to achieve a broader goal.
The Declaration’s signatories have committed themselves to develop open education and open teaching practices, to continue growing the open source learning and teaching.
Here at Huddlemind we firmly believe in the benefits of open source education and have duly signed the Declaration. It is a big step forward towards the development and growth of our country.
