[OSGeo-Edu] "OSGeo Teach-in" event proposal

[cschweik at pubpol.umass.edu]

Quoting "Tyler Mitchell (OSGeo)" <tmitchell at osgeo.org>:

> Without digging through the whole thread about Gary's material, can
> anyone summarise where we left this?
>
> http://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/edu_discuss/2006-August/000175.html
> http://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/edu_discuss/2006-August/000212.html

Here's my blurry recollection:

- Gary wanted to put an OSGeo logo on his material.
- There was some concern (can't remember who was involved here) that anything
with the OSGeo logo should go through some review process.
- We didn't have a review process, and there may have been a question on the
license to be used. We didn't have an agreed upon license.
- Gary waited, but had to proceed, and he consequently dropped the request and
moved forward.
- It was an example of what I personally thought we didn't want to have happen.
Here was a very active developer of open source geo educational content wanting
to connect, and my sense was he got frustrated and just dropped it and moved on
(I think Gary may be still on this list though... Gary?). I can't really blame
him.
- Up until now, our take as a group has been that we need to build a larger
database of tutorials -- any kind at this point. So we have a statement at the
top of the wiki saying that none have been officially reviewed or something like
that.

- So THESE QUESTIONS REMAIN

A) Can people put OSGeo logos on their tutorials?
B) Is there some process we need to go through to make a tutorial or edu
material tagged "OSGeo"?
C) Do we need to come up with a recommended license for content?

My personal view on this is that

1) OSGeo logos on tutorials are free marketing (a good thing). One idea might be
to develop some kind of statement that authors should use if they did use the
logo that says something like: "this tutorial is part of a general effort by the
OSGeo foundation to create a global, open access repository of educational
material related to open source geospatial theory and technologies. This
tutorial has not been reviewed by anyone at OSGeo. Any mistakes,
misrepresentations, or inaccuracies are the authors' alone." I'm not a lawyer,
so if someone on this list has a better suggestion -- go for it! Or Tyler or
others might object for valid reasons I don't understand. But this seems one
possible way past this impasse.

2) I think licensing should probably be left to the original author. I
personally see no reason why we shouldn't allow the opportunity for funds to
flow around educational workshops just as open source software groups are doing
by providing services around software. So I would hope if there was some agreed
upon license that it wouldn't stop that from happening. So there might be some
advantages to deciding on a "recommended" (but not mandated) license for new
authors.

Hope that helps and apologies if my memory confused something.

Charlie




>
> I think the current curriculum collection process touches this too,
> as we gather pointers to material we recognise as applicable.  But
> what about in cases where the curriculum content is not necessarily
> "open" but funding can come back to OSGeo and relevant courses can be
> delivered to the broader communit.  That's probably what it will boil
> down to from an Edu committee angle.
>
> Please share any thoughts on the conference mailing list:
> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/conference_dev
>
> Tyler
>
> On 23-Jun-08, at 5:00 AM, Arnulf Christl wrote:
>
> > Edu, the discussion around creating an "OSGeo Teach-in" brand or
> > OSGeo-coordinated event may be interesting to this committee. If
> > you are interested please feel free to join the discussion that has
> > currently been taken on by the conference committee. I suggest you
> > join the conference mailing list for the time being to avoid lots
> > of cross mails.
> > http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/conference_dev
> >
> > It was initially discussed a little too hotly (my bad) and we are
> > now trying to find a way how to decide which option works best for
> > OSGeo and any interested businesses and to subsequently develop a
> > policy on how to do it. Until now Edu has not been addressed
> > directly but as tutorials, educational material, teaching courses,
> > etc. are concerned I could imagine some interest here.
> > In case you don't know what I am talking about I have compiled some
> > links to explain the background:
> >
> > http://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/board/2008-May/002444.html
> > http://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/conference_dev/2008-June/000578.html
> > http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Licenses_for_Education_Material
> > http://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/conference_dev/2008-June/000580.html
> > http://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/board/2008-June/002555.html
> > http://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/conference_dev/2008-June/000595.html
> > http://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/conference_dev/2008-June/000605.html
> >
> > Best regards, Arnulf. _______________________________________________
> > Edu_discuss mailing list
> > Edu_discuss at lists.osgeo.org
> > http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/edu_discuss
>
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