Summary
This founding symposium is focused on discussing issues related to the reuse of digital content for formal and informal education. The movement, which is commonly known as Open Educational Resources (OER), has been gaining momentum around the world through major projects sponsored by universities, governments and independent organizations. Seed funding supported many of the major projects, which are now being followed by governmental investments in the development of educational materials with open licensing. The number and quality of these resources continue to grow, but an important question remains. How can these resources be accessed, reused, revised, remixed, and redistributed effectively? The concerns are mostly based in two fields: first, a technical concern in the infrastructures necessary to produce and disseminate ever more flexible resources; second, cultural concern with the possibilities that are made available by technical “openness” but nonetheless exclude the non-target audience from making use of these quality resources. Within these broad themes, the symposium will focus on the localization of OER, particularly as it concerns those involved with K-12 education. The second edition of the Symposium is scheduled to occur in Brazil in mid-2012.

Themes of interest

* Development processes and techniques that facilitate the use, review, and remix of digital resources
* Providing access to open educational resources in non-ideal conditions: systems, platforms
* Professional development materials, courses, and initiatives focused on teachers and OER (technical, legal, pedagogical, cultural)
* The use of OER in teacher-education programs
* Pedagogical practices in the use and reuse of OER
* How to think about “culture” in the design of digital educational resources
* Benefits and drawbacks of the localization of OER
* Case studies of cross-cultural remix
* Use of OER across cultural groups
* Collaborative development of OER

Keywords

cross-cultural remix · K-12 · localization of OER · OER adoption · OER cross platform development · OER infrastructure · OER policy · reuse of digital content · technical challenges