Authors Charles Leadbetter and Paul Miller define "Pro-Ams" as "people pursuing amateur activities to professional levels." Their book should be of interest to everyone following the growth of online instructional resources because many of the important technologies for sharing those resources, and many of the resources, are coming from outside traditional, credentialed organizations and groups. Additionally, highly talented individuals can use open knowledge resources to advance their pro-am knowledge and skills.
"From astronomy to activism, from surfing to saving lives, Pro-Ams - people pursuing amateur activities to professional standards - are an increasingly important part of our society and economy. For Pro-Ams, leisure is not passive consumerism but active and participatory, it involves the deployment of publicly accredited knowledge and skills, often built up over a long career, which has involved sacrifices and frustrations. The 20th century witnessed the rise of professionals in medicine, science, education, and politics. In one field after another, amateurs and their ramshackle organisations were driven out by people who knew what they were doing and had certificates to prove it. The Pro-Am Revolution argues this historic shift is reversing. We're witnessing the flowering of Pro-Am, bottom-up self-organisation and the crude, all or nothing, categories of professional or amateur will need to be rethought. Based on in-depth interviews with a diverse range of Pro-Ams and containing new data about the extent of Pro-Am activity in the UK, this report proposes new policies to support and encourage valuable Pro-Am activity."
"Some professionals will seek to defend their endangered monopoly. The more enlightened will understand that knowledge iswidely distributed, not controlled in a few ivory towers. The most powerful organisations will combine the know-how of professionals and amateurs to solve complex problems. That is true in astronomy, software development and online games. It should be the path that our health, education and welfare systems follow as well."
Although The Pro-Am Revolution is written from a UK social perspective, with UK statistics and examples, the ideas apply to countries around the world. The book is available as a pdf download. (Thanks to Stephen Downes' OLDaily for the link.) ___JH
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