Open Professional Development - A Definition

Open Source

  • A set of principles and practices on how to write software.
  • The source code is openly available.
  • According to the Open Source Definition currently maintained by the Open Source Initiative, one should not only get the source code but also have the right to use it.
  • The term open source has been used previously (here and here, as early as 1987) with a much wider definition and is still used in that wider meaning by many people who do not necessarily accept the Open Source Initiative's more limited definition of the term.
  • While often distributed free of charge, such an implication is not inherent. Rather, see FLOSS.
Open Content
  • Describes any kind of creative work published in a format that explicitly allows the copying and the modifying of the information by anyone, not exclusively by a closed organization, firm or individual.
  • The largest open content project is Wikipedia.
  • Royalty free.
  • Share alike.
  • May or may not allow commercial redistribution.
  • Content can be either in the public domain or under an open license (Creative Commons licenses, for example).
Open Education
  • An emerging movement.
  • Combines the established tradition of sharing good ideas with fellow educators and the collaborative, interactive culture of the Internet.
  • Built on the belief that everyone should have the freedom to use, customize, improve and redistribute educational resources without constraint.
  • Educators, learners and others who share this belief are gathering together as part of a worldwide effort to make education both more accessible and more effective (see the Cape Town Open Education Declaration).
With the above in mind, here's my take on the properties of Open Professional Development.

Open Professional Development
  • Open Enrollment - All that desire are welcome to participate.
  • Free of charge.
  • Combines the established tradition of sharing good ideas with fellow educators and the collaborative, interactive culture of the Internet.
  • Built on the belief that everyone should have the freedom to use, customize, improve and redistribute educational resources without constraint.
  • Not limited to the course we've named OpenPD. Thus more of a movement - like Open Education - than a particular class.
  • At times can be on-demand - but not limited to such. Sessions should be recorded and archived as a general rule.
Your thoughts? What am I missing? How do you see professional development evolving?

Image Source - Open Source Initiative

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