Get an account and access OKHE
We have chosen Medium because it’s open and makes it easy for you to engage with the course (you can read more about this in our post). We suggest that you share ideas on the topics of this module — thus contributing to the module — by writing posts on Medium and responding to others’ posts. For this, you will need a Medium account.
If you have a Medium account, you may use it for this module. To create a new account, click ‘Sign in’ (top-right — while it says ‘Sign in’, it allows you to create a new account too). You can choose to write as yourself, or using an alias. You can create an account from a Twitter/Facebook/Google account, which makes sign-in easy and allows you to with existing followers. If you wish to write anonymously, you may not wish to connect a social network associated with you — in this case, we would recommend email sign-up.
Important for students being assessed: Associate your account
So that we can assess your work, you must create a Medium account and associate it with your username. In EDUC66092 in Blackboard, follow the instructions under Assessment. Any problems, please contact the course leader (see handbook/Blackboard).
Access the publication
Open Knowledge in Higher Education is a Medium publication: a collection of posts by different writers, assembled by an editor. You are reading one of the posts now; you can return to the front page by clicking ‘Open Knowledge in HE’ at the top-centre of this page. Follow the publication to receive updates.
To receive notifications when new content is added, click ‘Follow’ from the front page of this publication.
Posts within Open Knowledge in HE fall into two categories. Core content is written by OKHE staff, and forms the initial learning content for the course. We believe in taking the conversation ‘beyond the classroom’ and that we can all learn through discussion; Contributor content is written by students being assessed on the module, and other contributors such as guest speakers.
We encourage discussion around this module and themes of open knowledge in HE. The most open way to do this on Medium is to browse/post to the OKHE tag. You can browse the tag by searching OKHE on Medium. To receive updates on new posts tagged with OKHE, use the link below and lick ‘Follow’.
By adding the OKHE tag to your posts, people will find them in the above way. Once the module sessions are underway, we encourage you to browse OKHE, and read/respond to posts of interest.
Please note that we do not control or own any tags, and take no responsibility for content published by other users.
While it is not a requirement of this module, engaging in conversation on a platform such as Medium is an opportunity for networking. Following people with similar interests is an opportunity to read other people’s ideas, and may lead to useful contacts or discussions.
Decide how to use your Medium account
On Medium, you are a writer without a blog. You are defined by who you are and what you have written, not by the URL or title of a blog. Thus, while you should think about what you will write about, you are free to let this evolve.
Before you publish anything, you should write a short bio (up to 160 characters).
You can add a bio by visiting your profile and clicking ‘Edit’.
For example, you could describe: your job, interests, what you aim to write about (as above, this can evolve). You might write something like:
Researcher in electrical engineering. Writing about policy in UK Higher Education.
By way of example, below are some profiles of OKHE staff past and present
How can others use your work?
When you publish something on Medium, you can specify how (if at all) it can be used by others, including choosing a Creative Commons (CC) license.
When you write your first(/next) post on Medium, before you click the final ‘Publish’ button, click ‘License’ to explore the options. This is a quick way to understand CC licenses, and you might choose to use one of them for your work.
How does this relate to OKHE/your practice?
Creative Commons and the idea of licensing and copyright play a major role in openness in HE. You can learn more about Creative Commons through their website and their Medium account.
Beyond Medium and this course, how do you publish your work? If you give a presentation at a conference or share a document to a mailing list, do you specify the terms under which it can be reused? How do you find and use others’ work? Have you reused a presentation which had usage terms?
