Registering and Licensing Open Educational Resources with Verifiable Credentials

Welcome to the repository accompanying the 3rd OER World Congress in Dubai on November 19-20, 2024. This project demonstrates how Verifiable Credentials (VCs) can be used to properly register and license an Open Educational Resource (OER).

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Use Cases
• Project Overview
• Verifiable Credential Details
• Presentation Slides
• License
• Acknowledgments

Introduction

This repository showcases a proof of concept for leveraging Verifiable Credentials to:

• Ensure the integrity of educational materials
• Authenticate the identity of authors
• Apply and verify open license conditions

By embedding metadata, timestamping, and author credentials into a cryptographically verifiable package, we provide a robust method to manage Open Educational Resources.

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Use Cases

This approach addresses the following critical challenges in managing Open Educational Resources:

1. Identify Newly Published OER

   • Enables tracking of the first publication of any digital resource to ensure proper attribution and licensing.

2. Pinpoint Authors

   • Links publications to verified human authors, ensuring transparency and accountability.

3. Discover and Re-Use OER Ethically

   • Allows users to respect license conditions when using, adapting, or republishing OER materials.

4. Track Citations

   • Facilitates the use of citations to measure the impact and identify the best OER.

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Project Overview

This repository includes:

• A Verifiable Credential (oer-credential.json) that demonstrates the integration of UUID metadata, timestamp, author identity, and licensing into a digitally signed package.
• A PowerPoint presentation (OER_World_Congress_Presentation.pptx) used at the 3rd OER World Congress.
• A Policy Brief (policy-brief.pdf) for UNESCO describing the concept in more detail

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Verifiable Credential Details

The Verifiable Credential integrates:

• Creative Work Metadata: UUID and metadata ensure the uniqueness of the resource.
• Timestamp: Indicates the publication date of the resource.
• Author Identity Credential: Verifies the author's identity using a national ID system.
• Open Licence Conditions: Specifies licensing directly within the credential subject using Creative Commons.
• Proof: A cryptographic signature ensuring the integrity and authenticity of the resource and its metadata.

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Presentation Slides

The accompanying PowerPoint presentation provides a detailed walkthrough of this proof of concept:

License

This project is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

You are free to:

• Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format.
• Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.

Under the following terms:

• Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made.

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For questions or discussions, feel free to open an issue or contact me directly.