I was just reading some of the posts on the topic of this logo developed by UNESCO and was formulating some opinion about the issue.... then I happened upon Mark MCGuire's post of 27 Feb... Well said Mark....
I also do not think the logo in discussion is very attractive, conveys meaning correctly nor is it very functional. I did a Google search for OER logos and would say those that I am most personally attracted to are the simple ones. I particularly like this one... http://www.elearning.eps.manchester.ac.uk/blog/2011/open-educational-resources-oer-event-review/ But as Mark says... why have an official logo.... agreed... I am puzzled by the energy put into this issue... is having a single logo really so significant? Why not be open and encourage an assortment of logos which could all be free and usable when and where one chooses to borrow them. Promotion of one logo produced and sponsored by any particular organization seems to go against the flow of openness and freedom. The key here would be for the logo creators to make available the source so that others can easily adapt them for their own purposes. If at some point the majority of people tend to reuse a particular logo then so be it... it still does not mean it is official as there is no reason for "official" in the world of "open". Cheers Tim __________________________________ j. Tim Denny, Ph.D. Consultant - International Development, Education and ICT SKYPE - jtdenny Googletalk - denny.jt http://www.linkedin.com/in/jtdenny https://www.avuedigitalservices.com/VR/id130765695 ..... While SAT scores might predict your success in the classroom, beyond a basic level of intelligence your passion, motivation, initiative, networking and hustle matter more than your grade-point average. Dale Stephens founder of UnCollege.org https://www.sugarsync.com/referral?rf=esi2y0whdhk52&utm_source=txemail&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=referral On Mon, Feb 27, 2012 at 00:54, Mark McGuire <[email protected]>wrote: > Hi all > > Regarding the discussion about the OER Logo: > > http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-information/access-to-knowledge/open-educational-resources/global-oer-logo/ > > Why does anyone see a need for a logo to point out that something can be > used as an Open Educational Resource? Surely, an open license (preferably > CC-BY) is enough, as that covers the "O" part of an OER. Whether or not it > is useful, or suitable, as an Educational Resource is up to the person who > finds it. Anything else is redundant. Worse, it suggests that an OER is > somehow preferable if it has the stamp of approval of some individual, > group, or organization. Why set up a hierarchy of OERs, with some > designated as more "official", "recognized", or "approved" than others? > > As a design, the official Unesco OER logo is not very good. It harks back > to the book. It is medium specific (if the book is meant to signify > "education" what are we trying to say - that this particular artifact, > unlike others that lack this logo, may be used for educational purposes?). > The signification of the open hand is ambivalent (and, in combination with > the "arm" suggests a cartoon character). The use of text makes it language > specific. Is it important to communicate what language the creator of an > OER understands, especially if an OER with a CC-BY license can be > translated into any language? Which language variant of the logo do you use > then? An OER logo is only useful to the extent that any attempt to design > one is a lesson in how difficult, if not impossible, it is. In the end, the > design of such a logo, and detailed discussions about its use, is a signal > that the movement is becoming institutionalized. We should be wary of any > attempts to capture, control, or corral a practice that, by definition is > meant to be truly "Open". I would suggest forgetting about an OER logo and > just go about creating them with the appropriate license, using them, and > sharing them. > > Mark > ________________________________________ > > Dr. Mark McGuire > Senior Lecturer, Department of Applied Sciences > University of Otago, Box 56, Dunedin, 9054, New Zealand > email: [email protected] > phone: 0064 3 479-7156 > http://www.design.otago.ac.nz/ > http://www.markmcguire.net/ > Twitter: @mark_mcguire > > On 27/02/2012, at 3:37 AM, Stephen Downes wrote: > > On 25/02/2012 9:19 PM, Cable Green wrote: > > UNESCO – please change the license from CC BY ND… to either CC BY … or CC >> BY SA… so we can all use it. > > > I really wonder whether this narrow interpretation is accurate and in the > best interests of CC licensing generally. > > With the logo as it is, I feel free to slap it on my OER contents, so long > as they are OERs, pretty much no matter what CC license I use - CC-by-NC, > CC-NC, whatever. Because they are *all* open educational resources > (agitation by commercial entites to the contrary notwithstanding). > > If I were a *real* stickler for the letter of the law (which I'm not) I > would put an asterisk by the logo and ass the text at the bottom: * OER > logo (cc) UNESCO CC-by-ND > > What *their* license tells me is that (a) I can use it in this way, but > (b) only if I don't replace the hands with smiley faces (or my corporate > logo). > > Suggesting that ND means I cannot *attach* it to anything seems to me to > be a very narrow legalistic interpretation of ND. How can it be a * > derivative* or of a logo to *apply* (without changes) it to what it is > intended to designate? > > Personally, I probably won't use the logo - I don't understand why it was > created or what it is supposed to signify, exactly. But those who do choose > to use the logo should not feel constrainted by a limitation only a lawyer > could dream up. It's not a reasonable limitation, and UNESCO should not be > forced to recognize such a limitation as fact. >> >> > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "OER university" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected] > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/oer-university?hl=en?hl=en > Visit the OER univeristy page on http://wikieducator.org/OER_university > > > > _______________________________________________ > OER-forum mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.esn.org.za/mailman/listinfo/oer-forum > Unsubscribe: [email protected] > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "WikiEducator" group. 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