The voices for will hear in episode 38 come from nearly antipodal locations but are very much connected as both Florence Devouard and Wayne Mackintosh were recognized in 2021 with Open Awards for Excellence in the Open Infrastructure category.

From one side of the globe, Wayne dialed in from Cromwell, New Zealand to share more about the award winning OER Foundation’s digital learning ecosystem that delivers open learning at scale supported completely by open source software (and at low cost).

And on the other side of this world, Florence Devouard was present from Marseille, France to tell us more about how the infrastructure of Wikifundi provides a way to bring the Wikipedia editing and exploration experience to places in Africa where internet connectivity is weak or absent.

Also joining in the call were Marcela Morales, Una Daly, and Alan Levine from OE Global.

In the OEG Voices Zencastr studio, clockwise from left, Marcela Morales, Florence Devouard, Una Daly, and Wayne Mackintosh (Alan Levine is off screen taking the photo!)

Listen in for more details on how the open infrastructures of the OER Foundation and Wikifundi are making open education available through ingenious uses of open source platforms and content.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

As our podcast introduction says, there’s much to take in at a global level, and in episode 38 we literally spanned the earth to bring you to fascinating projects and inspiring collaborators.

The situation is so different that what they need is not technical support but human support to feel more comfortable, more willing to jump in.

Florence Devouard

There are some skills in life that appear simple but are complex to learn, think about riding a push bicycle or learning to swim, you are not going to learn how to swim by reading a book… similarly if you want to learn how to learn on the internet using the tools of the internet it’s important to learn using those tools, rather than a single application like an LMS.

Wayne Mackintosh

The nomination period for the 2022 Open Awards for Excellence has closed and are currently in the process of being reviewed by the awards committee. Look for an announcement in October of the new list of award winners and expect to hear their voices into next year here at OEG Voices.

Web Sites and Moments Referenced in Episode 38

As mentioned, Florence met Jimmy Wales at Wikimania 2006, proven by Wikimedia Commons photo by Alex Schenck licensed CC BY-SA

Our open licensed music for this episode is from the Free Music Archive, a song called Polar Vortex by Parallel Park licensed under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license.

The introduction was created with the OEG Voices Mixer features voices of Lori-Beth L, Kristin H, Kevin H, Florence D, Patrina L, Clint L, Maren D, Ajita D, Gardner C, Wayne M, and Alex E (learn how to add your voice to the mix).