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Open Culture in #ASKnet: Access, Collaboration, and Shared Knowledge

In the #ASKnet community, OER are not abstract ideals. They are living, breathing stories and ecosystems of knowledge in the lives and projects of everyday innovators, told through community repair cafes, media kits, open learning guides, solar harvest dryers, and educational storytelling cards that amplify local voices.

These living resources are practical, creative, and context-driven, responding to the challenges of displacement, limited infrastructure, and the urgent need for skills that can sustain people and communities. Each OER becomes a spark of connection, linking hubs across borders, cultures, and languages in a shared practice of open learning.

Placing OER at the heart of all our open learning guides and #ASKtraining modules, #ASKnet ensures that learning is a collaborative, inclusive and evolving process where every hub can contribute new content, feedback, localized versions, and improvements.

From open tools to open futures

The ROSHOP project by YEF Uganda demonstrates how OER can turn architecture into a community-driven learning process. With openly shared blueprints and a rammed-earth construction guide on GitHub, ROSHOP empowers communities to design and build affordable, sustainable housing.

The documentation includes the technical steps and the underlying vision: to create dignified, resilient spaces for those living in displacement. Here, OER are more than step-by-step instructions, they provide a manifesto for shared futures, building on knowledge as common ground.

• #ROSHOP #ASKtraining Module
• #ROSHOP GitHub Construction step by step
• #ROSHOP Video Presentation

The real classroom is the community itself.

Access to OER remind us that education does not only happen in formal classrooms or expensive universities. For many, especially in regions where access is limited by cost, geography, or connectivity, the real classroom is the community itself.

Here, knowledge grows in conversations with elders, in the exchange of local practices, in the blending of traditional wisdom with modern skills. OER provide the frameworks and scaffolding to capture and circulate this knowledge, ensuring it remains open, adaptable, and relevant to those who need it most.

This is why OER matter in the #ASKtraining context. They are not only about sharing knowledge, but about strengthening agency. They help individuals and communities claim the power to teach, learn, and create on their own terms. Whether through GitHub repositories, field-tested construction manuals, or storytelling games, OER invite us to think of education as collective resilience, as innovation rooted in culture, and as a future where learning is not a privilege but a shared right.

#ASKtraining Platform & Open Learning Guides

In the #ASKnet ecosystem, OER are more than a principle—they are a core part of how knowledge and training are shared in practice. #ASKnet hubs use OER in many ways:

Training Materials & Workshops: The #ASKtraining modules use openly licensed materials so that hubs can adapt them to local languages, formats, and tools.

Media Kits & Creative Outputs: #ASKotec Media Kit includes content (A5 cards, quiz/games, workshops) that trainers and learners can remix, adapt, and share.

Open Learning Guides, Documentation & Licensing Guidance: The #ASKnet Open Learning Guides and Open Documentation Guide provide instructions on how to apply licenses, use GitHub repository and formats like Markdown, and how to edit and structure content for clarity and accessibility—important in remote or low-bandwidth settings.

Design for Accessibility: Community discussions in #ASKnet emphasises designing text for readability, including font size, layout, and formats that work offline or in low bandwidth. OER best practices are being built into how #ASKnet’s materials are created.

These open learning modules created by the #ASKnet members are available on the #ASKtraining platform, amplifying both the projects and skills base of every hub.

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