This week a coalition of more than 100 organizations, including Lumen Learning, called on President Obama to take executive action to ensure that publicly funded educational resources are open educational resources.

To my mind this is one of the most blindingly obvious policy changes needed in Washington – on par with other desperately needed changes like campaign finance reform. Rather than re-explain why this is true, I’ll reuse this brief video I made for Open Education Week several years ago. In the video I explain why all publicly funded educational resources should be openly licensed. The video uses research articles as its primary example, but the logic applies to videos, textbooks, curricula, simulations, and all other educational materials created with public funds.

https://youtu.be/CEgcYctYE1g

I was very happy to see the Open Education Group’s Review Project included in the letter’s list of evidence for why this policy change should be made. It’s good to know the work we’re doing is making a difference.

If you'd like to join the coalition in support of this effort, you can add your signature to the letter here: oerusa.org