I2OE: Motivations for the movement

There are many motivations for Open Education (OE), particularly among advocates of universal education for all. Many people view the absence of universal education for children worldwide a "human rights violation", a view which I agree with. Obstacles to OE tend to be related to money: lack of funding for educational resources, which means that many Third-World countries' schools depend on donated resources, usually cast off from developed countries because they are no longer deemed fit for use; lack of wealth means lack of manpower in traditional industries such as farming in agrarian societies, such as Burkina Faso. (1 p. 14-21)

In addition to this, the worldwide consensus that "primary education should be universally free" runs into a paradox: funding is required for both formal and informal schooling, be it taxes or personal spending. (2 p.19-25) That education in literacy and numeracy is not a priority for many in developing countries has already been mentioned, but are we taking a colonialist look at lifestyles? There seems to be little value afforded to vocational training for work. Surely in an agrarian society, there would be more value in vocational training, though that is not to say that basic literacy and numeracy do not have their place.

Other OE motivations are those of spreading religion, and this has happened since the advent of religion, both in oral and written transmission. It is significant to note that Christian missionaries developed formal education in African colonies, and that education has always been a priority in synagogues.

In my opinion, OE is best exemplified by auto-didactism or semi-auto-didactism, where books can form a knowledge base and one tries to apply knowledge gained in the real world. An example of this would be of children carrying out science experiments in the home, such as growing crystals, etc. However, this tends to be a very middle-class/aspiring working-class trait, due to money and materials cost. In adult education, the same can be applied, but due to more complex material requirements (and less tax on children's books), usually greater expenses may be involved.