I have recently agreed to become a member of the ICORE Management and Communication Board, so it felt pertinent to explain a little more about the ICORE mission here on the Working Group blog.

What is ICORE?

Efforts towards opening up education through innovations like online cooperation, MOOCs and technology-enhanced learning have achieved broad awareness and agreement through the support of new policies launched by the European Commission. Nevertheless, investment in education and training is decreasing in many countries despite general recognition of its importance. Innovation and e-Learning can foster new ways of learning, however many contributions currently focus exclusively on technological opportunities. However educational change through refined pedagogies is extremely important to achieve the highest learning quality possible.

ICORE, the International Community for Open Research and Open Education was established with this objective in 2013 and launched at the international LINQ Conference in Rome in order to promote open education and its connections with open research. ICORE is bringing together interested experts and stakeholders from the fields of open education and open research. ICORE is completely non-profit, requires no membership fees to join, and is open to both representatives of organizations as well as individuals. In addition, ICORE is collaborating with leading European and international organizations motivated by a common vision, joining efforts for future strategies and activities which facilitate innovative learning in schools, universities, societies and at work.

ICORE offers membership to any organizations or individuals who support the association’s goals of promoting open research and open education as a fundamental social objective. This promotion is to be accomplished through the fostering of collaboration between relevant stakeholders in open research and education, such as international, regional and national policy makers, researchers, educators of all levels, students, research organizations as well as educational providers, among others. Activities for promoting and sharing open research and education include common events with all interested organizations (e.g., conferences, summer schools, etc.), an open and lively online community (the ICORE Wiki), the organization of scientific and educational initiatives and the establishment of creative partnerships between ICORE members to advance open research and open education internationally. ICORE is designed to make collaboration a rewarding experience for all members.

ICORE Management and Communication Board

The ICORE Management and Communication Board is a directorate to discuss and decide urgent requests and issues and to develop ICORE communications between ICORE Online Meetings. Its aim will be to further the ICORE message and build links with other organisations. The current board consists of Markus Deimann, Ignasi Labastida, Imma Subirats, Christian M. Stracke and myself.

ICORE Working Groups

ICORE has recently established 3 working groups:

• WG1: ICORE WG on Promoting the Connection of Open Research and Open Education
• WG2: ICORE WG on MOOCs and open online courses – This group will look at courses about and for Open Research and Open Education
• WG3: ICORE WG on Guide for Young Researchers

If you are interested in joining ICORE or finding out more see their website.