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    Free Culture and Open Science

    A course from OfiLibre
    MOOC RAC URJC: 1.4 ECTS

    Description

    This course was developed by the Office of Free Knowledge and Culture (OfiLibre) at Rey Juan Carlos University, reflecting its commitment to an open, transparent, collaborative university dedicated to the digital commons. Through six thematic modules, text materials, videos, and practical exercises, the course encourages reflection on the role of universities in the open knowledge ecosystem and provides concrete tools for action. All course materials are free (published as open access), so use them as you see fit.

    Why is this course necessary?

    Academic and scientific production today is caught between traditional models of knowledge control and an open, collaborative, and accessible horizon. Despite the impetus of institutional policies, national and international regulations, and declarations such as the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science, many members of the university community still lack the necessary training to publish openly, properly license their materials, or use free software tools in their daily work.

    This course aims to bridge that gap. It's not just about providing theoretical knowledge, but about empowering people to exercise their rights as producers and users of knowledge in open, ethical, and sustainable environments. The course combines a critical approach with a clear practical focus, starting from the real needs we face in the classroom, in research, and in university administration.

    Please note that this is a self-paced course, and you generally won't have instructor support. However, if you have any feedback on your learning experience, you can share it with the teaching team or send a message to ofilibre@urjc.es.

    Collaborating entities

    This course has been funded by the María de Guzmán Call for the Promotion of Excellence in Scientific Research, within its Line 2 of support for Open Science, which aims to strengthen institutional digital infrastructures and promote interoperability and Open Access to scientific knowledge.

     
    Logos of the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities and FECYT Innovation. María de Guzman Call for Proposals for the Promotion of Scientific Research of Excellence

    What you will learn

    This course is designed for teaching and research staff, technical, management, administrative and service staff, students, and in general anyone interested in Open Science and Free Culture. The course covers the following topics:

    • The principles of open science and free culture and their impact on the production and dissemination of scientific knowledge.
    • The legal foundations of intellectual property and open access licenses, especially Creative Commons licenses.
    • The main concepts of open science, such as open access, open data, and free software.
    • Practices for the creation, management and dissemination of knowledge based on openness, reuse and scientific collaboration.

    Requirements

    • No prior knowledge is necessary, as this is an introductory course aimed at people interested in cross-cutting aspects related to Open Science and Free Culture.
    • Given the general nature of the course, no prior qualification is required, although it may be considered especially interesting for students and researchers, present and future, of any degree and area of ​​knowledge

    Faculty

    Jesus M. Gonzalez Barahona

    Jesus M. Gonzalez Barahona

    King Juan Carlos University

    Coordinator of the Office of Free Knowledge and Culture at URJC, and Professor of Telematics Engineering. He has worked at Rey Juan Carlos University since 1999. He holds a degree in Engineering and a PhD from the Polytechnic University of Madrid, and previously taught at Carlos III University of Madrid. His research focuses on the empirical analysis of software development, particularly through quantitative methods and data visualization in virtual and augmented reality. He has led more than 35 research projects, many of them international, and has a substantial body of scientific publications. In the field of education, he has over three decades of experience in networks, data transmission, and telematics services, among other topics.

    Florence Claes

    Florence Claes

    King Juan Carlos University

    Academic Coordinator of Free Culture at Ofilibre. Full Professor at Rey Juan Carlos University, she has also taught at Nebrija and Isabel I Universities. During her doctoral studies, she collaborated with Complutense University of Madrid. She is the principal investigator of the Consolidated Teaching Innovation Group InnovaWiki, a member of the Ciberimaginario high-performance group, and has been a member since 2021. Her research focuses on online communities, Wikipedia as a collaborative space for knowledge creation, social networks, and digital opinion leaders. She has participated in international conferences and has over 30 scientific publications.

    Tomás Zarza Núñez

    Tomás Zarza Núñez

    King Juan Carlos University

    Academic Coordinator of Open Access Publications at Ofilibre. With a PhD in Fine Arts from the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), he is a tenured professor of Audiovisual Technologies and Projects, coordinator of the Drawing department, and has 28 years of university teaching experience. His career combines teaching, research, management, curating, and artistic creation focused on image, visual culture, technology, and artistic projects. He investigates personal memories, the use of images online, veracity, visual fraud, and artificial intelligence. He coordinates the MECA and CUVPAC research groups, has published over 20 scientific papers, participated in more than 70 exhibitions, and developed projects with highly relevant national and international institutions and companies.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    What type of audience might be interested in taking the MOOC?
    • Teachers who wish to publish in open source, incorporate free tools into their subjects, or promote critical thinking skills in their students.
    • Research staff seeking to meet the requirements of open science and improve the visibility and impact of their work.
    • Students interested in understanding new paradigms of knowledge and in making conscious use of digital resources.
    • Technical, library or management staff who wish to update their knowledge of licenses, infrastructures and processes related to open access.

    Critical understanding of the open science paradigm.

    Ability to analyze the conceptual, social and political foundations of open science and free culture, understanding their role in the transformation of the systems of production, communication and evaluation of scientific knowledge.

    Application of the legal framework of open knowledge.

    Ability to interpret and apply the basic principles of intellectual property in the academic and cultural field, identifying the conditions of use, reuse and distribution of works through open licenses, especially Creative Commons licenses.

    Management and open dissemination of research results.

    Ability to identify and use open access publishing mechanisms, institutional repositories and scientific dissemination practices that promote the accessibility, visibility and reuse of research results.

    Integration of open practices in knowledge production.

    Ability to incorporate openness principles in data management, the use of free software and the dissemination of knowledge, promoting transparency, reproducibility and collaboration in research and cultural creation processes.

    To conduct open science practices in research projects. To correctly publish open access materials, free software, or open data. To learn how to reuse and rework freely available materials. To understand the rights I can exercise when I receive a free work (including documents published in open access, open data, or free software). To be able to participate in free culture communities.

    To enroll in this course, simply log in or create your account and then click on the Start.

    Current versions of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Internet Explorer version 9 or higher.

    Enrollment and participation in a URJC MOOC is free. There are absolutely no academic penalties for dropping out. You can enroll in the same MOOC and/or others (as long as they are still being offered) at a later time.

    This MOOC is designed to be self-paced. You don't need to start at a specific time, although a learning pace of one topic per week is recommended.

    At the end of each module you will be assessed with a test on the basic concepts learned.

    If you are an undergraduate student at Rey Juan Carlos University, you must register for the course using your university account (@alumnos.urjc.es) to receive RAC credits upon successful completion. Credits will not be awarded to students who completed the course using an account other than their URJC account or who are not currently enrolled in an undergraduate degree program.

    🙋 You won't need to request the recognition, as it will appear automatically.

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