[FOSS4G-Oceania] Fwd: [OSGeo-Discuss] Please share Open Principles in Science and Education ideas and philosophy

[John Bryant]

FYI. Worth a read for awareness of the GeoForAll initiative.

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Suchith Anand <Suchith.Anand at nottingham.ac.uk>
Date: Thu., 11 Oct. 2018, 6:26 pm
Subject: [OSGeo-Discuss] Please share Open Principles in Science and
Education ideas and philosophy
To: GeoForAll <geoforall at lists.osgeo.org>, ML osgeo discuss <
discuss at lists.osgeo.org>


Dear colleagues,


May i request all who are taking part in various events globally on science
and education to also make use of the opportunity to promote Open
Principles in Education by sharing GeoForAll ideas and welcoming all
interested to be part of this.


I first came across GIS by serendipity. More than twenty years back (in
1994) , I was a student in Civil Engineering in India and by pure chance I
came across a short article in a magazine in my college library on the
amazing Geographic Information System that is used by town planners. That
was the first time I heard about the wonderful technology called GIS! At
that time there was no GIS in the college where I did my undergraduate
degree. My dream that time was to get opportunity to do my final year
undergraduate project using GIS. I still remember the struggles  I faced to
just get access to learning GIS as very few universities had GIS that time
in India as it was very expensive. I spend nearly two years going around
different universities and places knocking so many doors to just to get
access to GIS. Unfortunately in spite of all my best efforts I failed that
time...


I was disappointed but I carried on working with hope and faith. I did my
final year undergraduate project in design of a hospital building!
(structural engineering project). Still I kept looking for opportunities to
get access to GIS. Years later (after I finished my undergraduate degree),
I finally got opportunity to learn GIS through another project and my
search for learning  GIS lead me to so many new opportunities . As some
wise people told me, FAIL stands for First Attempt In Learning. So when I
think back, even though my  efforts  to get access to GIS in my
undergraduate years failed, I learned lot of things from those experiences.
In fact, if I had not gone though those experiences , I might not have got
the determination to do everything in my abilities to keep the doors of GIS
education open to all so that no student anywhere should go through what I
went through.


When GeoForAll was started , I faced lot of ridicule and opposition from
some folks but I also got lot and lot of amazing support and help from so
many amazing colleagues globally. Thanks to all our amazing colleagues, we
have now truly made GIS education opportunities open to all.


Please share our resources with all
https://www.osgeo.org/foundation-news/please-share-geoforall-teaching-research-resources-colleagues-students/


Open principles in education (open educational resources, free and open
software, open data, open standards etc) are key for  true empowerment of
staff and students globally and making geospatial education and
opportunities accessible to all [1]. Millions of globally connected minds
working together on the common mission of enabling Open Education
opportunities for everyone will be key for making these developments
possible.


I am requesting all colleagues to keep the doors of education opportunities
open for all.   For me, Openness is not just about open source , open
standards or open data … It is about the Open mindsets  to help make
education opportunities inclusive to students from all economic backgrounds.


*Education + Empowerment = GeoForAll*


I am very grateful to get the opportunity to learn GIS. So many kind people
helped me on my journey to learn GIS . So it my duty now to do whatever I
can  to make sure the doors of education opportunities are open to all.


We look forward to working and building collaborations with all interested
in this education mission. Access to quality education and opportunities is
key for getting rid of extreme poverty and enabling broadly shared
prosperity for all. Please support Open Principles in Science and Education
for building a better world for everyone.


*The Future of Geo is Open for Everyone...*


Best wishes,


Suchith



[1]
https://blog.scielo.org/en/2018/07/13/geo-for-all-open-principles-in-geoeducation-and-science/

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