Open Adult Education, a free and accessible digital world

Maks is committed to promoting free open source software and the collaborative culture that comes with it. We did this as part of a European project (Erasmus +) led by the umbrella organisation All Digital. A unique way to promote digital skills and collaboration among animators.

We participate in the Open Adult Education project to acquire technical skills valuable to the job market (e.g. Linux, WordPress, data privacy, network security, data management, etc.). And to further develop soft skills (such as collaboration, sharing, peer-to-peer support, self-reflection, content co-creation, interoperability, …).

Open Adult Education is a European project in which MAKS is collaborating with All Digital (Belgium), Ynternet.org (Switzerland), Centro Studi Foligno (Italy) and Colectic (Spain). Its objective is to “promote open source software in informal adult education.” The creation of a training curriculum is a fundamental part of the project and is provided via an online pedagogical toolkit consisting of 18 training modules (https://open-ae.eu/openae-toolkit/), including: Floss Culture, Copyleft, Creative Commons, Wikidata, Personal Data Protection. Specifically, in collaboration with ARC, Atelier du Web de ST. Gilles and 2 volunteer “GNUragist”; 60 hours of training (online and face-to-face) given for ten multimedia facilitators from Maks and from CABAN-DIBAC (Collective of Brussels Actors for Digital Accessibility). We are also leveraging the momentum of the OPEN AE project to promote a conscious, enjoyable and efficient transition to collaborative FLOSS (free libre open source software) tools in our Digital Public Spaces.

Netizenship
An additional goal is to help students use open source software as a tool for professional and personal development and media literacy. Indeed, the use of FLOSS in adult and child education can encourage “Netizenship.” The term “netizenship” refers to a broader way of being “a producer and not just a consumer; to act as an active, responsible citizen and creator of content.”
The FLOSS culture promotes participation and collective intelligence by encouraging horizontal co-creation of solutions by operators. A “community of practice” pools the expertise of its members to find practical solutions (by sharing and exchanging knowledge and resources).

Open access for all
In the context of “BIG DATA,” people need continuing education about a culture of respect and protection of personal data in digital public spaces. GAFAMs (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft) advertising strategies are becoming increasingly invasive. They use hidden digital technologies that influence individuals’ behavior (called captology). The transparency of FLOSS technologies (free access to code) provides an alternative against the misuse of our private data. It is a matter of consciously choosing pragmatic and inclusive tools in line with our values: “open access for all.”

Open Adult Education project to acquire technical skills valuable to the job market