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## General

### What is Openki?

Openki is an open education platform. Courses can be proposed, discussed, developed, organized and published. The focus is on the promotion of self-organization, the bringing together of people, groupings and initiatives, and ensure a barrier-free exchange of experiences and knowledge. The courses are accessible to all, regardless of their financial situation. The organization behind it is non-profit and Open Source.

Find out more about [Openki and its philosophy](http://about.openki.net/) or read about [the basic concepts behind the Openki platform](http://about.openki.net/?page_id=1216).


### What does the name "Openki" actually means?

Openki is an Ukranian word (опеньки), and is part of a mushroom or fungus commonly known as honey fungus. or [Armillaria mellea](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armillaria_mellea).
The name Openki refers to the [mycelium](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mycelium) of this fungus, which is the part of a fungus not normally considered when talking about a "mushroom". It consists of thousands of thin threads that form a dense net below ground. In the case of Openki, this can be as large as several square kilometers and hundreds of tons.

Many plants are connected by such mycelial threads. They need these to germinate, for food exchange or even to communicate with each other. Above the earth's surface, the fruit bodies of the mushrooms pop up unexpectedly and unpredictably.

An openki is fed on both living shrubs and trees, as later on from their dead organic material. On the philosophical level, the networks of Openki mycelium are a metaphor for an alternative model of education and knowledge exchange. It forms the hierarchical branch and root structure of the ancient Greek knowledge tree, in which subject areas are separated and subordinated, and connects them to become a horizontal network of knowledge.


### Who owns Openki?

Openki belongs to me, to you and to all who participate in it. The application is open source, is available under the [GNU AGPL license](https://www.gnu.org/licenses/agpl-3.0.de.html) and is therefore freely available for non-commercial use. Behind Openki is the collectively organized non-profit association "KOPF", which has been developing Openki during the last years.

### Is Openki a social network?

Yes and no. We provide a tool for self-organization. Social contacts naturally belong to this. Comparing to other providers of social media, however, we want you to stay hooked on our web site only for a little time, and then invest as much time as possible to organize collective learning processes in the real world with nice people, like you.


### I have an idea on how Openki could be technically improved. Can I contribute my ideas?
Nice! To make Openki even better, we need your feedback. We have also dozens of ideas that we find important, and we want to work on. But we are currently limiting ourselves to the most necessary functions because of our limited capacity to keep Openki as easy to understand as possible.
Nevertheless, we are aware that there are several additional features that could simplify the self-organization promoted by Openki, and thus we are always very glad to receive feedback.

Not only Openki's software is open-source, but its development and organization is also fully transparent. This means, for example, that you can see and participate in the discussion on our next technical steps in our [issue tracker](https://github.com/Openki/Openki/issues). Alternatively, you can send an email with your suggestions to: openki-core [at] lists.xiala.net.

You can also help translate Openki using the [online translator](https://openki.net/translate).


### Who administers the Openki.net website?
The administration and the technical maintenance (clean up, recognize problems and solve them, make improvements and much more) is done by a group of administrators working on a voluntary base mostly in Zurich but also in other Swiss cities. The goal is to set up similar administration groups for all the different resiong where Openki is (or will be) active.


## The Openki roles

### What is a participant?
A participant is any person who participates in a course. In addition to stay informed and join the various events, participants can also take over the roles of Mentor, Host, or Organizer.

### What is a Mentor?
Mentors are expected to have a certain level of knowledge and / or experience on the topic of the course, and thus help to guide the participants through the course. They are usually responsible for the preparation and follow-up of a course.

### What is an O-Team (organization team)?
The O-Team of a specific course has the right to administer this course on the Openki platform. For example, add new "Events", change the course description and invite other participants to the O-Team. Once someone proposes a course on Openki, they automatically become the first person of the O-Team.

### What is a host?
A "host" is the person who takes care of the place where a course is held: she has access to the event room, informs about its availability in advance, could be the owner of the place or a contact person to the owner, and is responsible for ensuring that the respective "house rules" are communicated and adhered to.

### What is a group?

Groups are already existing organizations, communities, etc., which use Openki to organize their courses.


## Courses

### What is an Openki-course?

An Openki course is much more than a typical "classroom" course, and it can include discussions on the participants' content and goals, as well as the engagement of mentors and the organization of events. Like a ship, all participants can control the course and continuously influence and change the goal. The types of possible courses could range from lectures, traditional lessons, workshops, discussion and working groups to alternative education projects and reading groups.

An Openki course can start simply as a "suggestion": Somebody introduces a concept - an idea, a wish, a question. Other people can "participate" in the course, which means to stay informed and join when the course takes place. A mentor might appear in and and a venue offered by someone else. As soon as a course leads to its first planned event, "it takes place". A course can be one-time or repeated, build on other courses, or stand alone.

### Which courses can be organized?
Any type of course: from cooking to nuclear physics and modern dance to Rainer Maria Rilke. The courses are divided into categories (science, sports, music, etc.). Discriminatory content, in particular sexist and racist, is excluded.

### Can courses cost something?
Yes, but all prices are intended only as a guide. As a desired donation, so to speak. This means that every one may give more or less than the suggested price, and so can participate. Only the costs (material, space, access routes ...) of a course can be fixed.

### I want to host a course but have no space ...
Depending on the region, Openki has a short or long list of available venues. All participants can also advertise their spaces - from factory to living room to garden - so that they can be found as a venue. How you get in touch with those responsible for the venue is different from venue to venue. The easiest way is to write to the user who has already written or already hosted an event in the corresponding venue (check the recent and/or past events in the venue's page).

### When does a course take place?
As soon as someone proposes a course, this is published as a "suggestion" and appears with a dashed line in the course overview.

However, in order for the course to appear in the calendar, someone from the O-Team must create an event. This is done after all the details (mentor, place, date, etc.) have been defined.

### How can I register for a course?
The exact registration process for a course depends on the course and the O-team and is communicated in the course description.

### Where can I find courses?
Everywhere where people come. The participants themselves are responsible for finding a suitable venue and a ["host"](# what-is-a-host) for their course. All can advertise their rooms - from factory to living room to garden - so that they can be found as a venue. How you get in touch with those responsible for the room varies from room to room. We are working on a list of all possible venues in your region.

### Can I archive course materials, documentation, or experience reports and use them at a later date?
There is currently no possibility to collect course materials and document the course. The goal is that the content of a course for further courses is prepared. Currently, however, the discussion, as well as shared links can be viewed in the course description. Therefore, past courses are still to be found in the course overview.

### In which language are the courses taking place? Why is the course description not translated?
Normally, courses are held in the language in which they are published. Multilingual courses are offered in several languages.

### Why do I find numerous courses in the course overview which have already passed?
The idea behind it is that a course is never really finished; An idea or a topic can remain current in the future. Thus users can develop a course at any time or access the documentation of it. The current courses with upcoming "Events" can be found in [Calendar](https://openki.net/calendar).


### I really need this tool for the organization of my course!
Many tools are already available on the web freely and humans can link them to Openki simply by link in the course description. Some examples:

* Create your own wiki: [https://www.wikispaces.com/content/classroom](https://www.wikispaces.com/content/classroom)
* Compose texts: [Etherpad](https://etherpad.wikimedia.org) or [Hackpad](https://hackpad.com)
* Simple voting: [Dudle](https://dudle.inf.tu-dresden.de/) or [Papillon](http://papilio.niadomo.net/create/) or [Framadate](http://framadate.org)
* More complex choices in a group: [https://loomio.org](https://loomio.org)
* Upload files: [https://wetransfer.com/](https://wetransfer.com/)


## Mentoring

### What is a mentor?
See ["What is a Mentor in?"](#what-is-a-mentor)

### Who can be a mentor?
All users can register for courses as mentors.

### Does a course always need a mentor?
No. There are also courses, with all participants participating equally in the learning process without needing a particular Mentor.

### How do I know if a Mentor is good?
If you are unsure, contact the person in advance. Handle according to a healthy human understanding.

### Why can not I ask for a fixed price as a mentor?

We believe that education (and thus the events on Openki) should be accessible to all - regardless of one's bank account and income.


## Groups

### What are groups?
Groups are already existing organizations, communities, etc. that use Openki to organize their courses.

### How can we register as a group with Openki?
Each user can create a new group under their account settings. [https://openki.net/group/create](https://openki.net/group/create)

### Can we as a group show openki courses on our own website?
Yes! You can find the different views for embedding for your group in the group settings. More info about these views (also called _Frames_) can be found in [the Openki wiki](https://github.com/Openki/Openki/wiki/Frames)

## Safety

### How is abusive behaviour through Openki prevented? for example discrimination, racism etc.
Identifying and addressing discriminating content is the responsibility of all users; moderation will be carried out by the administration, which will ensure full transparency regarding censored content (never happened until today).

### How do I know if I'm in danger when attending a course?
If you are unsure, contact the person in advance and handle according to common sense.

### How does Openki protect the privacy of its users?
Openki is keen to meet a wide variety of privacy requirements. These include modern encryption techniques as well as personalized privacy settings.

Openki does not sell user data to companies, it does not track your behavior and it does not let other companies track your behavior and interests. For example, we use the share buttons of [Shariff](https://www.heise.de/ct/artikel/Shariff-Social-Media-Buttons-mit-Datenschutz-2467514.html).

### How safe is the Openki webpage?
Openki.net is SSL encrypted by default. This is the same technology that your online banking uses. But your course participation, for example, is visible to other users. So you can choose not to use your real name in Openki if you want to avoid that.



## Technical

### Where can I find answers to technical questions?
Detailed technical documentation can be found in [GithubWiki](https://github.com/Openki/Openki/wiki/).


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