ICORE Calls for Openness as Default

Founder of International Community for Open Research & Education (ICORE) Dr Christian M. Stracke Appeals to Educators during Speeches at BI2020 in Oslo & ICDE in Moscow

Oslo/Moscow, October 2014 – ICORE's call for openness as default was well appreciated at the international conferences BI2020 in Oslo and ICDE in Moscow. In his BI2020 keynote and ICDE speech, ICORE Founder Dr Christian M. Stracke referred to the Declaration of Crete, demanding openness to be reestablished as the default for all publications to facilitate their educational usage. The Declaration of Crete results from the consensus of the participants in the ICORE and OEC Workshop during the International Conference for Learning Innovations and Quality (LINQ) last May 2014.

“In order to improve the educational quality, publications and resources must be available openly. This is essential to their widespread adoption and usage and to the introduction of open education.” Dr Stracke said regarding ICORE’s call.

Dr Stracke addressed a large, diverse audience of international education professionals during the ICDE International Conference 2014 on connecting the world through open, distance, and e-Learning in Moscow from 25 to 26 of September 2014 and during his keynote at BI2020 in Oslo on 13 October 2014, hosted by BI Norwegian Business School.

In his talks, Dr Stracke emphasised the necessity for change which educational institutions face, corresponding to the growing role of technology in the learning processes. However the introduction of new learning technologies alone cannot address the issues in learning quality which have appeared during the revolution which open education has unleashed, giving answer to challenges in globalization and society.

Dr Stracke demonstrated his conviction towards these aims through research projects such as Open Discovery Space (ODS: www.opendiscoveryspace.eu) and Inspiring Science Education (ISE: www.inspiring-science-education.net). As one of the largest European projects ever, ODS is introducing e-Learning in 28 countries and over 2,000 schools throughout Europe and is helping more than 10,000 teachers open up and modernize school education. On the other hand, ISE has focused itself on improving STEM education in Europe through high-quality, open educational resources based on real-world problems. These projects share a core concept in dynamic interaction between educational actors such as leaders, teachers, and policymakers, advancing learning relevance and flexibility in a quickly changing world.

The ICDE International Conference 2014 was organised by the Moscow State University of Economics, Statistics and Informatics (MESI) and the International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE). More information can be found at eng.mesi.ru/icde2014.

The BI2020 Conference in October 2014 was hosted and organised by the Development Manager for e-Learning at BI Learning Lab, June Breivik. The full conference programme, including videos of the speakers, is available online: www.bi.no/forskning/learninglab/bi2020/bi2020-konferanser/quality-through-innovation.

More information on the ICORE Declaration of Crete can be found at wiki.icore-online.org/index.php/ICORE_Declaration_of_Crete.

More information about the TELIT Institute and its efforts regarding innovations in learning quality can be found online at www.TELIT.wiwi.uni-due.de.

About ICORE:
ICORE – The International Community for Open Research and Education

A new initiative is bringing together interested experts and stakeholders from the fields of open education and open research – ICORE, the International Community for Open Research and Education (www.ICORE-online.org). ICORE is completely non-profit, requires no membership fees to join, and is open to both organizations as well as individuals. All ICORE members and partners share, support and strengthen the common objectives and activities for Open Research and Education.

Since May 2013, ICORE is taking shape as the bridge between the two worlds of open research and open education: ICORE founders and interested individuals met on 15th of March 2013 in Rome, Italy, to discuss the establishment of the initiative and future objectives within the topics of Open Research and Open Education. Over forty participants from more than a dozen countries gathered in Rome to provide their professional experience in order to elaborate on the ICORE mission. Their diverse professional and multi-disciplinary backgrounds brought a great deal of variety to the conversation during the meeting. All participants were united in their support of ICORE and the potential the initiative has to develop and promote the largely neglected connection between Open Education and Open Research on an international level.

Prominent experts from America and Europe were present to contribute to the formation of ICORE’s objectives and structure: As non-for-profit association ICORE is open for all organizations and individuals to connect and bridge Open Education and Open Research. Consequently ICORE does not demand membership fees and started as global initiative to bring together all active organizations from Open Education and Open Research to join forces. Moderated by ICORE's co-founder Christian M. Stracke from the German University of Duisburg-Essen, all participants discussed, voted and agreed on ICORE's core objectives and main focus on promoting and disseminating events, organizations, and initiatives active in the themes of Open Research and Open Education, as well as efforts towards their interconnection, ensures that participation is beneficial both for ICORE's objectives and its members.

Currently, ICORE has got around 300 members from five continents and is coordinated by regular online meetings and plenaries of all members. ICORE's management and organization is facilitated by the elected ICORE Management and Communication Board. To focus and develop specific tasks and activities ICORE has established two Working Groups: ICORE WG1 "Promoting the Connection of Open Research and Open Education" is addressing broad marketing by events, communication as well as mapping key terms for better understanding. ICORE WG2 "MOOCs about and for Open Research and Open Education" collects information about existing MOOCs as well as collaborators to prepare and offer an ICORE MOOC on connecting Open Research and Open Education together with all interested organizations and experts.

All information about ICORE, its objectives, achievements, meetings and WGs is available online at: www.ICORE-online.org

Contact:
University of Duisburg-Essen
The International Community for Open Research and Education
Faculty of Economics and Business Administration
Chair of Information Systems for Production and Operations Management
Universitätsstraße 9
45141 Essen
Germany

sebastian.vermette@icb.uni-due.de

This release was published on openPR.