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All sessions are available online except round tables, special activities, and workshops.
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Wednesday, October 7
 

11:50am EDT

Creatón STEM+: A Methodological Model for Teacher-Led, Territory-Based OER Co-Creation in Latin America
Wednesday October 7, 2026 11:50am - 12:20pm EDT
ID: 33734

Across open education initiatives, a persistent challenge remains: while access to Open Educational Resources (OER) has expanded, there is still a lack of contextualized, culturally relevant content, particularly in basic education contexts. At the same time, teachers are often positioned as users or adapters of resources rather than as authors of open knowledge.The Creatón STEM+ methodological model addresses this gap by providing a structured Open Educational Practice that enables teachers to collaboratively design, prototype and publish OER grounded in local realities. Developed and implemented across Colombia, Chile and Uruguay, the model responds to the need for cross-regional approaches to open education that are rooted in the Global South and in school-level educational contexts. Its implementation across these contexts enabled the model to be tested and analysed in diverse educational settings.The model integrates three key components: (1) a preparatory phase focused on principles of open education, inclusion, the STEM+ educational approach and the ethical use of technologies in OER creation; (2) an intensive co-creation Creatón based on a pedagogically adapted Design Thinking process; and (3) a post-Creatón phase that supports validation, refinement and publication of OER. Central to the model is the positioning of teachers as creators of situated pedagogical knowledge, working collaboratively on real socio-educational challenges from their territories.Findings from the analysis of the implementation process reveal key dimensions that shape the functioning of the model. The analysis highlights the centrality of collaborative work, pedagogical mediation and situated reflection in co-creation processes, as well as the need to structure learning beyond the intensive co-creation phase. At the same time, results show shifts in teachers’ understanding of STEM+, inclusion and open education, together with a significant increase in the perceived legitimacy of OER as a professional practice. Taken together, these findings suggest that the Creatón STEM+ methodological model not only has the potential to support the production of contextually relevant OER, but also contributes to repositioning open educational practices within teachers’ professional identity and everyday pedagogical work.This presentation will examine the methodological architecture of the Creatón STEM+ model, its core pedagogical principles and its implementation across diverse educational contexts in Latin America. It will also discuss how cross-regional collaboration can strengthen the development of contextualized open content and contribute to more equitable and sustainable open education ecosystems.The Creatón model offers a transferable framework for moving open education beyond access toward collective, teacher-led knowledge production in basic education, particularly in contexts where contextual relevance, inclusion and teacher agency are critical
Speakers
avatar for Nina Ibaceta Guerra

Nina Ibaceta Guerra

Researcher & Project Coordinator, CIDSTEM Institute at Pontifícia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso
Nina Ibaceta Guerra is a biologist and science educator with a PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Chile. She is a researcher and project coordinator at the Center for Research in Science Education and STEM Education (CIDSTEM) at the Pontificia Universidad... Read More →
avatar for Anna Vater

Anna Vater

Senior Project Manager, Siemens Stiftung
Anna Vater holds a B.A. in International Cultural and Business Studies from the University of Passau and an M.A. in Intercultural Cooperation and Communication from Munich University of Applied Sciences. She works as a Senior Project Manager at Siemens Stiftung, focusing on international... Read More →
Wednesday October 7, 2026 11:50am - 12:20pm EDT
6 DR4 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

11:50am EDT

Empowering People with Disabilities About Open Educational Resources- Bridging the Educational Gaps with Inclusive, Accessible and Innovative Practices
Wednesday October 7, 2026 11:50am - 12:20pm EDT
ID: 30909

An estimated 1.3 billion people in the world experience some form of disability (WHO 2023). People with disabilities in many parts of the world face considerable institutional and attitudinal barriers to access education, health care, and employment, which means they are at a higher risk of poverty, inequalities, and discrimination (Asian Development Bank 2022; Department for International Development 2000; 2022; United Nations 2018; 2024; WHO, 2022; 2023).  Education is a fundamental right for everyone, but individuals with disabilities face significant challenges in accessing education. The crushing reality of higher expenses of learning resources, lack of availability of inclusive and accessible resources, financial barriers, educational inequality and discrimination, and above all, limited networking opportunities deters individuals with disabilities from becoming active contributors of knowledge.  The development of Open Educational Resources (OER) accelerates innovation, but not necessarily for individuals with disabilities. The available open platforms and resources are scarce and do not meet the academic needs of individuals with diverse disabilities. Furthermore, it is assumed that individuals with disabilities lack participation in developing academic and non-academic open resources due to a lack of OER awareness and limited collaborative opportunities with individuals without disabilities. Previous studies are unavailable that highlight the academic and technological challenges faced by individuals with and without disabilities and how OER can support and enhance their creativity. As a neurodivergent open education expert, I hold that unless we create opportunities for individuals with and without disabilities to collaborate, true inclusion, innovation, and equitable knowledge creation will remain unattainable.This case study on empowerment and collaboration among people with and without disabilities aims to highlight their educational and technological challenges, provide them with online training on OER, and, as an outcome, develop a collective book on OER. A total of 10 individuals with neurodivergent, sensory, and physical disabilities, mainly from Asia and Europe, were selected. These participants were either working or studying at the university level. Another group of participants included 10 professors and academics. All participants were selected via the Global Forum for Teacher Educators—a virtual forum of teachers, educators, and individuals from over 75 countries. Initially, a form was circulated and individuals who showed interest were contacted. The project started in February 2025 and ended in January 2026. In the first phase, online panel discussions were organized to identify the educational and technological challenges faced by individuals with and without disabilities. In the next phase, eight hours of accessible synchronous and asynchronous training on OER were offered, incorporating hands-on collaborative activities. As a final output, interested participants wrote chapters on diverse topics, which were then published as OER in accessible formats. Collaboration in the project was ensured through inclusive team formation, joint writing activities, peer feedback, shared online platforms, and continuous dialogue between participants with and without disabilities, enabling meaningful co-creation of knowledge. At the end of the project, a focus group discussion was organized, during which participants highlighted that OER had enhanced their creativity and enabled them to share their ideas and viewpoints with a global audience. It helped develop understanding, empathy, creativity, and awareness of each other's learning needs. It also encouraged them to continue their creative work beyond the book project by using and producing OER on topics of their interest with others. This project highlights the significance of empowering people with and without disabilities about OER and promoting inclusive knowledge creation through collaboration and shared learning. By catalyzing human connection and creativity, it demonstrates how accessible open education initiatives can bring diverse voices together to co-create knowledge and inspire innovative ideas that benefit global learning communities.
Speakers
avatar for Munir Moosa Sewani

Munir Moosa Sewani

Assistant Professor of Education and Open Education Trainer, Department of Education, Sindh Madressatul Islam University
Dr. Munir is a neurodivergent teacher, independent researcher, open education expert, disability advocate, and educational theorist. He holds a PhD in Education and currently works as an Assistant Professor of Education. He is also the volunteer Founder and Director of the Global... Read More →
Wednesday October 7, 2026 11:50am - 12:20pm EDT
2 Room M MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

11:50am EDT

Procedural Planning Decision-Making in Open Education Practices
Wednesday October 7, 2026 11:50am - 12:20pm EDT
ID: 31121

Open Educational Resources (OER) have gained widespread recognition as a strategy to reduce the financial burden of learning materials and expand access to education. Over the past decade, institutions around the world have increasingly adopted open resources to improve affordability and remove barriers to learning. As the open education movement continues to evolve, the conversation is shifting beyond the adoption of OER toward the broader implementation of Open Education Practices (OEP). While the benefits of OER are well documented—particularly in relation to cost savings and student access—less attention has been given to the institutional planning processes and leadership decisions that make these initiatives sustainable over time.This session examines how procedural planning and institutional decision-making shape the development and growth of open education initiatives. Rather than focusing solely on outcomes such as cost savings or adoption rates, the presentation highlights the strategic planning frameworks, collaborative partnerships, and implementation strategies that support long-term OEP adoption. Institutional leaders, librarians, instructional designers, and faculty members often play interconnected roles in advancing open initiatives, and their collaboration is essential to building sustainable ecosystems that support open teaching and learning.Using the experience of Kean University as a case study, this session will illustrate how institutional leadership, libraries, faculty partners, and student success teams worked together to expand open education initiatives across the institution. In 2019, only seven course sections used materials that did not require students to purchase textbooks. By Fall 2024, approximately 33% of course sections no longer required students to purchase textbooks. This significant growth was the result of intentional planning, cross-campus collaboration, faculty development programs, and the creation of institutional infrastructure such as repository systems and technological platforms that support open scholarship and knowledge sharing.The session will also discuss key implementation considerations that institutions must address when expanding OEP. These include building faculty capacity through professional development, strengthening copyright and licensing literacy, and establishing policies that address student consent and privacy when learner-generated content is shared publicly. Participants will gain practical insights into how institutions can align open education initiatives with broader strategic priorities such as affordability, student success, equity, and academic innovation.Through discussion and reflection, attendees will explore how intentional planning, institutional leadership, and collaborative partnerships can support the long-term sustainability and impact of Open Education Practices.
Speakers
avatar for Muhammad Hassan

Muhammad Hassan

Associate Vice President and Chief Librarian, Kean University
Dr. Muhammad Hassan is Associate Vice President and Chief Librarian at Kean University, where he leads the Nancy Thompson Learning Commons. A scholar-practitioner in educational leadership, his work centers on advancing equity, academic excellence, and social mobility through integrated... Read More →
Wednesday October 7, 2026 11:50am - 12:20pm EDT
4 Room T MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

11:50am EDT

You Opened the Knowledge. The Institution Didn’t Open with It
Wednesday October 7, 2026 11:50am - 12:20pm EDT
ID: 33478

The open education movement has pulled off something remarkable. Over the past two decades, practitioners, advocates, and policymakers have steadily chipped away at barriers to knowledge. Open courseware, open textbooks, open pedagogy, and flexible licensing have made high quality learning materials available at a scale that would have been hard to imagine a generation ago. The supply side question, how do we make knowledge available, has largely been answered.The demand side has not.Across education systems, institutions that now have access to these resources are still producing the same outcomes they were before. The materials changed. The institutions did not. In the United States, the federal government poured $190 billion into pandemic recovery between 2020 and 2024, flooding schools with resources at an unprecedented scale. The 2024 NAEP results showed no real improvement. Forty percent of fourth graders scored below basic in reading. For economically disadvantaged students, it was over fifty percent. The resources showed up. The outcomes stayed the same.This session makes a simple argument. The gap between access and impact is not mainly about resource quality, discoverability, or even adoption support, though all of those matter. It is about institutional behavior. Schools and systems are not neutral pipelines that turn inputs into outcomes. They are organizations with habits, incentives, and self-protective routines. New resources, including open ones, get absorbed into those routines long before they reach students. They get used for compliance, reporting, initiative churn, or narrative maintenance. The system consumes the resource. The student experience does not change.In my own practitioner research, I call this load bearing dysfunction. These are problems that survive every attempt to fix them because they are quietly doing something the system depends on. When a school’s inability to implement a new resource helps preserve existing roles, workflows, or power structures, that “failure” is not really a failure. It is a feature.The open education field has invested deeply in creating and spreading resources. It has invested far less in understanding the systems those resources land in. This session introduces a diagnostic framework drawn from fifteen years working inside schools and districts, along with insights from organizational theory and systems thinking. It is built around a different starting question. Not how do we get this resource into the system, but what is the system protecting that will keep this resource from ever reaching students?This is not an argument against open education. It is an argument for widening its theory of change. Opening access is necessary, but it is not enough. If the institution stays closed, access does not translate into impact. The next phase of this work is not just better content. It is learning how to see and work with the systems themselves.
Speakers
avatar for Calvin Johnson

Calvin Johnson

Leadership Consultant, Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education / Statewide System of Support
Calvin Johnson has spent fifteen years building and studying the internal architecture of schools and school systems. As Head of School at a charter school in Springfield, Massachusetts, he led a turnaround that removed three state-imposed conditions, produced grade-level literacy... Read More →
Wednesday October 7, 2026 11:50am - 12:20pm EDT
5 DR3 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

12:25pm EDT

Silences in the Literature: Reimagining Qualitative Methods in Open Education Research to Disrupt Epistemic Hierarchies
Wednesday October 7, 2026 12:25pm - 12:55pm EDT
ID: 31007

Open education research has expanded rapidly alongside the global growth of open educational resources (OER), open pedagogy, and open knowledge practices. While the field has made intentional movement towards foregrounding its research in social justice, the methods used to collect and examine data in open education often continue to reproduce dominant epistemological frameworks that privilege Western, institutional, and positivist approaches to knowledge production. Making assumptions that “there must be gaps in the literature” when certain knowledge is not published in a peer-reviewed journal is just one example of epistemological hierarchies we’ll identify as an opportunity to dismantle with new qualitative approaches. Our session will engage the audience in exploring the idea that open education research would benefit from moving beyond inherited traditional methodological “norms” and instead consider the role that critical frameworks (e.g. Black Feminist, Critical Race Theory, Queer Theory, Poststructuralism, Postcolonial Theory, etc.) and concepts like reflexivity, positionality, and relationality could play in democratizing the research process to intentionally uplift historically marginalized ways of knowing. This session proposes a critical reimagining of qualitative research protocols in open education in order to better align research practices with transformative values like equity, student agency, power distribution, and the democratization of knowledge that the open movement champions.Attendees will be invited to critically examine how traditional qualitative protocols like the literature review, interview design, consent processes, data ownership, and authorship conventions have a tendency to reinforce epistemic hierarchies. The session will present practical strategies for researchers seeking to shift toward more inclusive and ethically grounded approaches, but it will also create space for participants to come together and brainstorm what it might look like, for example, to center open and participant-controlled data practices as well as reflexive transparency concerning positionality and power in the research process.
Speakers
avatar for Jasmine Roberts-Crews

Jasmine Roberts-Crews

Lecturer, Ohio State University
Dr. Jasmine Roberts-Crews is an educator, speaker, writer, and scholar advocate.She earned her bachelor's degree in communication studies and Spanish at the University of Michigan, her master's degree in communication at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and doctorate... Read More →
avatar for Lindsey Gwozdz

Lindsey Gwozdz

Assistant Dean of Libraries, Community College of Rhode Island
Lindsey Gwozdz joined CCRI in 2024 as the Assistant Dean of the Library, having spent 11 years prior as an Associate Professor and the Scholarly Communications Librarian at Roger Williams University. She also serves as the Fellow for Open Education at the New England Board of Higher... Read More →
Wednesday October 7, 2026 12:25pm - 12:55pm EDT
2 Room M MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

12:25pm EDT

Sweden Continues the Business: Reuse and International Collaboration for a New National Platform for OER
Wednesday October 7, 2026 12:25pm - 12:55pm EDT
ID: 33866

Open Educational Resources (OER) have long been promoted as a key mechanism for widening access to knowledge and strengthening education as a public good. Yet, in many national contexts, OER adoption has remained fragmented, dependent on local initiatives, individual champions, or short-term projects. In Sweden, this situation is now undergoing a significant transformation: OER are increasingly recognized as a shared national responsibility—“everybody’s business”—supported by emerging infrastructure, policy alignment, and cross-institutional collaboration (Pareigis, 2024).This session presents the development of Sweden’s new national platform for OER discovery and reuse, marking a shift from isolated institutional efforts toward a coordinated ecosystem. Central to this initiative is the implementation of a national aggregation service built on OERSI (Open Educational Resources Search Index), an open-source infrastructure designed to federate metadata across repositories and enable scalable, interoperable OER discovery (Klinger et al., 2023). By building on OERSI, Sweden aligns its national approach with international standards and practices, while leveraging an existing, community-driven technological framework—an approach previously explored in earlier OEGlobal sessions on federated OER infrastructures.The session will outline the strategic, technical, and organizational dimensions of establishing this national platform. It will address key questions such as: How can national infrastructures support local OER practices without centralizing control? How can serendipity (Busch, 2024) be fostered and which role did it play in the implementation of the platform? How can interoperability and metadata quality be achieved across diverse institutional repositories? Participants will gain insight into how Sweden’s higher education sector has mobilized around shared goals, including policy developments, national coordination mechanisms, and collaborative workflows for metadata aggregation and quality assurance.Positioned within the broader theme of OEGlobal 2026—“innovating open practices to uphold knowledge as a public good” —this session highlights how national infrastructures can serve as catalysts for systemic change. It demonstrates how open technologies like OERSI can enable not only technical interoperability but also cultural shifts toward openness, shared ownership, and long-term sustainability of OER.Key takeaways for participants include: (1) a practical understanding of how to design and implement a national OER platform using federated, open-source technologies; (2) lessons learned from cross-institutional collaboration and governance in a national context; and (3) insights into how aligning policy, infrastructure, and community engagement can accelerate OER adoption at scale. The session will be relevant for policymakers, library and IT leaders, open education practitioners, and researchers seeking to move from project-based OER initiatives to sustainable, system-level integration.By sharing Sweden’s experience, this session contributes to the global conversation on how to build resilient OER ecosystems—demonstrating that when supported by shared infrastructure and collective commitment, OER can truly become a public good.
Speakers
avatar for Jörg Pareigis

Jörg Pareigis

Director of Library, Karlstad University, Sweden
Director of Library including the Centre for Teaching and Learning at Karlstad University, Sweden. Open education advocate and co-organizer of Open Networked Learning www.opennetworkedlearning.se.
avatar for Axel Klinger

Axel Klinger

Chief Technology Officer, Technische Informationsbibliothek (TIB)
Axel Klinger is Chief Technology Officer at Technische Informationsbibliothek (TIB) where he leads the development of innovative software products and service offerings and develops and implements technology strategies for TIB digital services with focus on Open Science, Open Education... Read More →
Wednesday October 7, 2026 12:25pm - 12:55pm EDT
6 DR4 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

12:25pm EDT

The Impact of Open Textbooks in Taiwan: A Personal and Institutional Journey
Wednesday October 7, 2026 12:25pm - 12:55pm EDT
ID: 31961

The increasing cost of commercial textbooks, combined with rapidly changing student learning behaviors and widespread access to unauthorized digital materials, has created an urgent need to rethink how learning resources are developed and delivered in higher education. In Taiwan, these challenges have driven a national and institutional shift toward Open Textbooks (OTB) as a more equitable, flexible, and sustainable solution. This session will present a comprehensive overview of how Taiwan has advanced Open Textbook adoption through a combination of policy support and grassroots engagement. The movement was influenced by international open education advocacy, notably the 2018 lecture tour in Taiwan by James Glapa-Grossklag, which introduced practical models from the California Community Colleges system. Building on this foundation, the Taiwan Open Course and Education Consortium launched national initiatives (2019–2021; 2022–2024), further supported by the Ministry of Education’s Second Phase of the e-Learning Movement Project (2022–2025), involving 37 universities in promoting OTB adoption. At the institutional level, this session will highlight the implementation of Open Textbook initiatives at National Taipei University of Technology since 2021. These include structured programs for course adoption and collaborative OTB co-creation. To date, 46 faculty members have adopted 64 open textbooks across their courses, and 51 book reviews have been published to support wider dissemination and faculty engagement. In addition, two active communities are currently co-developing new open textbooks tailored to local educational contexts. Beyond presenting these initiatives, this session will offer a multi-perspective reflection on OTB adoption, incorporating insights from students, faculty, and administrators. It will explore how open textbooks enhance accessibility, support real-time content updates, and enable innovative teaching practices. The session will also address common challenges, including faculty readiness, sustainability, and quality assurance. Participants will gain practical strategies for initiating or scaling Open Textbook initiatives within their own institutions. The session is particularly relevant for educators, administrators, and policymakers interested in open education, digital learning, and equitable access to knowledge. By combining evidence-based outcomes with lived experiences, this session aims to provide transferable insights that support the global movement to democratize education through open content.
Speakers
avatar for Ta-Wei Li

Ta-Wei Li

Assistant Professor, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University
Ta-Wei Li is an Assistant Professor of Applied Chemistry at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University and served as Director of the Open Education Office from 2014 to 2021. From 2017 to 2021, he led the Taiwan Open Courseware and Educational Consortium (TOCEC) as President, helping... Read More →
avatar for Yu-Lun Huang

Yu-Lun Huang

Associate Professor and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University
Yu-Lun Huang received the B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Computer Science and Information Engineering from National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan, in 1995 and 2001, respectively. She has been a member of Phi Tau Phi Society since 1995. She is now an associate professor in the Department... Read More →
avatar for Jicheng Sun

Jicheng Sun

Project Manager, National Taipei University of Technology
Mr. Jicheng Sun is a Project Manager in the Office of Academic Affairs at National Taipei University of Technology (NTUT), Taiwan. His work focuses on promoting innovative teaching and digital learning initiatives across the university. He oversees multiple institutional projects... Read More →
Wednesday October 7, 2026 12:25pm - 12:55pm EDT
4 Room T MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

12:25pm EDT

Un-Grading Open: What Happens When Students Own the Outcome
Wednesday October 7, 2026 12:25pm - 12:55pm EDT
ID: 33553

What happens when students are no longer working toward a grade, but toward creating something meaningful, public, and lasting? This session explores the transformative potential of “ungrading” within open education, where students are invited to create, adapt, and contribute to Open Educational Resources (OER) without the constraints of traditional grading systems.Drawing on my experience supervising student-led OER projects in an Open Education Lab, this session examines what shifts when students are given ownership over both the learning process and the final product. Ungrading challenges conventional assumptions about motivation, accountability, and quality. While grades often serve as external motivators, removing them can create space for intrinsic motivation, creativity, and deeper engagement. But, it also introduces uncertainty for both students and instructors.Through real examples, I will share what this approach looks like in practice: projects that thrived under ungrading, as well as those that struggled. These experiences surface how students navigate autonomy, how collaboration evolves without competitive grading structures, and how instructors can support quality and rigor without relying on numeric evaluation. The session will highlight both the possibilities and the complexities of this approach, offering an honest reflection on what worked, what didn’t, and why.Participants will be invited to reflect on their own experiences with assessment and consider how autonomy influences engagement and learning. A short interactive activity will encourage attendees to think about how ungrading principles could be applied in their own teaching or institutional contexts, whether through small-scale experimentation or broader redesign.This session will also provide practical strategies for implementing ungrading in open education contexts. Key takeaways include how to design structured flexibility through milestones and feedback loops, how to support students in navigating ambiguity, and how to balance freedom with accountability. Attendees will also explore how OER creation can shift the focus from disposable assignments to authentic, impactful work that extends beyond the classroom.By centering student ownership and redefining success beyond grades, ungrading invites educators to rethink the purpose of assessment in open education. This approach not only supports creativity and curiosity but also positions students as active contributors to knowledge, rather than passive recipients.Participants will leave with a deeper understanding of the pedagogical implications of ungrading, as well as actionable ideas for integrating student-driven, open practices into their own work.
Speakers
avatar for Pranjal Saloni

Pranjal Saloni

Open Education Lab Supervisor, Ontario Tech University
I manage the Open Education Lab at Ontario Tech University, where I oversee student-driven projects that advance open educational practices and the creation of open resources. With a Bachelor’s degree in Software Engineering and Management, I bring an interdisciplinary perspective... Read More →
Wednesday October 7, 2026 12:25pm - 12:55pm EDT
5 DR3 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

1:40pm EDT

Charting the Course: A National Research Agenda for Open Education
Wednesday October 7, 2026 1:40pm - 2:10pm EDT
ID: 33577

The open education field has grown significantly over the past two decades, yet critical gaps in evidence remain and the research landscape is fragmented. Studies are often siloed, datasets go untapped, and parallel efforts rarely connect. Without a coordinated national research strategy, the field risks repeating itself rather than building the cumulative, scalable knowledge base that policymakers, funders, and practitioners urgently need.   In 2025, the National Consortium for Open Educational Resources (NCOER), a collaboration among the Midwestern Higher Education Compact (MHEC), New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE), Southern Regional Education Board (SREB), and Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE), supported by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, launched a national initiative to address this challenge. The result is a comprehensive Open Education and OER Research Agenda, developed through an extensive mixed-methods consultation process involving a national survey of 126 participants and in-depth interviews with 15 researchers, faculty, librarians, system leaders, and policy stakeholders across the United States and Canada.   This session will present the agenda's findings and invite the global open education community to engage with its six national research priorities:   •       Student Outcomes and Experiences — moving beyond affordability metrics toward deeper understanding of how students learn, engage, and persist in open environments; •       Long-Term Sustainability and Institutional Support — understanding how OER programs evolve, persist, and adapt over time, including funding models, governance, and recognition systems; •       Intersection of Open Education and Artificial Intelligence — examining how AI reshapes OER creation, pedagogy, student behavior, and the broader knowledge ecosystem; •       Evolution of Cost-Savings and Affordability Research — updating cost analyses and expanding research on student decision-making and the long-term academic impacts of affordability; •       Discipline-Specific Approaches, Needs, and Practices — identifying how disciplinary cultures and curricular structures influence OER adoption and open pedagogy; and •       Research Collaboration and Shared Infrastructure — addressing fragmentation by building coordinated research systems, aligning priorities across regions, and supporting shared data and cross-institutional inquiry.   Presenters will highlight key research gaps, share findings from the national consultation process, and discuss how the agenda can inform policy, practice, and investment in open education. Presenters will prioritize audience connections to broader themes of research in their context, with an emphasis on global research connections to the above themes. Participants will have the opportunity to identify priority research questions, consider how the agenda can shape their own work and partnerships, and reflect on how a shared research infrastructure might advance the global open education movement. 
Speakers
avatar for Kate Baca

Kate Baca

Policy Analyst, Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education
Kate Baca is a Policy Analyst with The Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education. Her work spans research and supporting Open Educational Resources and student success in post-secondary across the WICHE region. In her work at WICHE, she collaborates with a community of OER... Read More →
avatar for Amanda Coolidge

Amanda Coolidge

VP, Strategic Engagement and Growth, Pressbooks
Amanda Coolidge is VP of Strategic Engagement and Growth at Pressbooks, where she leads marketing, sales, and customer success and serves as product manager for the company's microcredential platform. She is the founder of Coolidge Collaborative and former Executive Director of BCcampus... Read More →
Wednesday October 7, 2026 1:40pm - 2:10pm EDT
5 DR3 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

1:40pm EDT

Congratulations Open Education! So What Will You Do After Graduation?
Wednesday October 7, 2026 1:40pm - 2:10pm EDT
ID: 33754

Imagine open education as a wonderful being that we’ve brought into the world, guided and worried about and celebrated as it’s grown up. What might be possible if open education graduates from school and now makes its way into the wider world? How does it carry forward and build upon the lessons learned, inspirations gained, relationships grown through its nurturing time in school?Through many years of innovations, explorations, and collaborative commitments, the open education movement has established a solid footing in school-based learning, especially as a means to increase educational equity through student cost savings and more inclusive pedagogies. It’s clearly earned a spot on the Honor Roll.Alongside this foundation in academic settings, we can glimpse at dramatically expanded impact for open education in the more fluid and expansive realms of lifelong learning. What we’ve learned about creating, adapting, and using open educational resources can be enabling values for more effective, engaging and inclusive lifelong learning that reaches beyond the traditional confines of schools.In this session, we’ll look across the threshold beyond academic settings, into where open education is already meeting people where they are in informal knowledge spaces. We’ll consider how lifelong learning is evolving in social media and YouTube, Wikipedia, journalism, and community organizations.  We’ll highlight some of the promising ways that open education is already showing up here through the experiences of MIT OpenCourseWare and other open knowledge programs, and take a comparative look at the methods and metrics for operating in academic vs non-academic learning settings. A concluding generative discussion will invite participants to explore together how the open education community might engage more broadly in informal lifelong learning with curiosity and intention.
Speakers
avatar for Curt Newton

Curt Newton

Director, MIT OpenCourseWare, MIT Open Learning
Curt Newton leads MIT OpenCourseWare in supporting millions of global learners and educators every year with freely shared materials from over 2,500 MIT courses. He joined OpenCourseWare in 2004, shortly after its launch, captivated by the promise of open education, and worked as... Read More →
Wednesday October 7, 2026 1:40pm - 2:10pm EDT
6 DR4 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

1:40pm EDT

Global South Knowledge in Northern Systems: Rethinking Teacher Integration Through Open Educational Practices
Wednesday October 7, 2026 1:40pm - 2:10pm EDT
ID: 31224

Across many education systems in the Global North, internationally trained teachers are increasingly recruited to address persistent teacher shortages and respond to growing linguistic and cultural diversity in classrooms. However, the professional integration of these educators often unfolds within institutional frameworks that implicitly privilege Northern epistemologies, pedagogical traditions, and professional norms. As a result, the knowledge and pedagogical expertise developed in the Global South frequently remain undervalued or invisible within host education systems.This presentation examines how open educational practices (OEP) can provide a transformative framework for rethinking the integration of internationally trained teachers while promoting knowledge as a global public good. Drawing on doctoral research conducted in Ontario’s French-language and French immersion school systems in Canada, this study focuses particularly on educators trained in Cameroon who are navigating professional entry and adaptation within Canadian schools.Using a blended ethnographic and critical autoethnographic methodology, the research explores how internationally trained teachers negotiate professional identity, knowledge legitimacy, and pedagogical adaptation as they transition between educational systems. The findings highlight persistent epistemic asymmetries that shape teacher integration processes, where internationally trained educators are frequently expected to adapt to dominant institutional models while their own professional knowledge remains under-recognized.The presentation argues that open educational practices—including open educational resources (OER), collaborative knowledge-sharing networks, and transnational professional learning communities—can help challenge these asymmetries by enabling more equitable forms of knowledge circulation between the Global South and Global North. Through open platforms and collaborative knowledge ecosystems, internationally trained educators can participate not only as recipients of professional development but also as contributors to global pedagogical knowledge.By situating teacher integration within broader open knowledge ecosystems, this session proposes a shift away from assimilation-based models toward a model of reciprocal epistemic exchange, in which diverse pedagogical traditions are recognized as valuable sources of educational innovation.Ultimately, the presentation highlights how open educational practices can support migrant educators, democratize knowledge production, and foster more inclusive and globally connected education systems.
Speakers
EK

Eric Keunne

PhD Candidate & School Principal (K-12), York University (Glendon Campus), Toronto, Canada
Eric Keunne is a PhD candidate in French Studies at York University whose research examines the professional integration of internationally trained teachers in Ontario’s French-language and French immersion school systems. His work focuses particularly on educators trained in Cameroon... Read More →
Wednesday October 7, 2026 1:40pm - 2:10pm EDT
4 Room T MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

1:40pm EDT

OER and Knowledge Without a Market Share
Wednesday October 7, 2026 1:40pm - 2:10pm EDT
ID: 30932

In the limited funding available for the creation of open access materials, both at institutional levels and through other means, the focus has been on return on investment, on courses with high enrollment or on general education courses that would be useful for multiple institutions. This approach has made sense as it speaks very clearly to the goal of OER to lower textbook costs on a significant scale for students. However, it does not take into consideration courses with topics that contribute rather to access of materials that students would not normally receive, rather than an aggregate amount of savings.  This session will consider this concept from the perspective of a medievalist. Those in my field have had an increasing problem with general medieval literature textbooks is that they are often unable – or unwilling – to keep up with the current issues in medieval studies, particularly those related to diversity, such as the relatively new approach to the global Middle Ages, and marginalized communities, such as people with disabilities. Yet, textbooks with the goal of rectifying this oversight tend to be singularly focused and do not necessarily include a broad range of sources, which makes them difficult to use as the primary book in especially a survey course. OER is particularly well-situated to remedy these issues because it does not rely on publishers who are concerned with market shares in terms of what they decide to produce, and it is flexible for multiple uses in a variety of pedagogical situations, even brief lessons. As an example, we will discuss the funding, creation, and publication of an open access textbook that serves as an introduction to medieval disability studies for undergraduates, in particular. There are very few resources for teaching medieval disability to undergraduate students because it is only now becoming a topic of consideration even at the graduate level. Thus, there is a dearth of organized textbooks that include everything needed. There is a Medieval Disability Sourcebook: Western Europe, but its aim is to provide primary sources, not serve as a textbook to the subject. This open access textbook on Medieval Disability introduces students both to the topic of disability in the Middle Ages as well as to the broader study of disability. There are introductions to the different types of sources that we can analyze, including literature, archaeology, material culture, art, etc. It focuses on physical as well as invisible disabilities, language and translation issues, social integration, treatments, and technologies, among other topics. In particular, it focuses on addressing popular misconceptions about historical disability. This open access textbook provides the missing resource that many in the field have been requesting. But yet it is a resource that is difficult to “sell” to traditional publishers because the field is itself small. This example allows us to consider the democratization of knowledge beyond the market share.
Speakers
avatar for Kisha Tracy

Kisha Tracy

Professor, English Studies, Fitchburg State University
Dr. Kisha G. Tracy is a Professor and Chair of English Studies and Chair of the General Education Program at Fitchburg State University. She received her Ph.D. in Medieval Studies from the University of Connecticut. In addition to several articles, her first book was published by... Read More →
Wednesday October 7, 2026 1:40pm - 2:10pm EDT
2 Room M MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

2:15pm EDT

Empowering Secondary Education via Open Higher Education Modules: The UHCOOL Framework
Wednesday October 7, 2026 2:15pm - 2:45pm EDT
ID: 31964

The rapid evolution of global education standards has placed unprecedented pressure on secondary schools to deliver specialized, high-quality elective curricula. While universities possess an abundance of digital expertise, translating this knowledge into accessible K-12 formats remains a significant hurdle. Traditional digital initiatives, such as standard MOOCs, often fail to achieve meaningful impact in high school settings because they lack integration with local teachers and pedagogical adaptability. This results in a structural discrepancy where rural and under-resourced schools remain isolated from higher education’s intellectual wealth.To address this, we present the "University/High-school Collaboration On Online Learning" (UHCOOL) framework, spearheaded by the "ewant" open education platform. UHCOOL moves beyond simple content sharing to establish a sustainable governance model for digital knowledge transfer. Its primary goal is to democratize access to advanced subjects by transforming complex university-level curricula into modular, flexible Open Educational Resources (OER) specifically tailored for secondary education.The operational core of UHCOOL is a collaborative nexus involving universities, secondary schools, and industry partners. Rather than delivering a "one-size-fits-all" curriculum, the project utilizes a sophisticated dual-layered digital architecture. By providing each high school with a localized Open Learning Environment (OLE) based on the Moodle platform, the system empowers local educators to act as curators rather than just facilitators. Teachers can access high-level university "benchmark courses"—including videos, assessments, and slide decks—and then adapt or merge these modules with their own localized teaching strategies. This ensures that university faculty's expertise is supported by high school teachers' classroom management skills.The effectiveness of this decentralized OER model is evidenced by its rapid adoption. A flagship course on semiconductor technology, for instance, bridged the gap for nearly 2,000 students across 51 schools in its first year, with participation expected to nearly double by 2025. Feedback indicates that providing a robust "pedagogical skeleton" allows teachers to focus on student engagement and critical thinking rather than starting curriculum design from scratch.In conclusion, the UHCOOL initiative illustrates that the true democratization of education lies in the balance between openness to resources and local pedagogical autonomy. By reframing university content as adaptable modules within a cross-institutional framework, we provide a scalable solution for educational equity. This model serves as a vital blueprint for leveraging OER to ensure specialized knowledge is a public good accessible to all learners, regardless of location.
Speakers
avatar for Ken-Zen Chen

Ken-Zen Chen

Associate Professor and Associate Director of HERO Center, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University
Ken-Zen Chen serves as an Associate Professor at the Institute of Education, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (NYCU), Taiwan. His scholarly work focuses on digital learning ecosystems, institutional collaboration, and the practical application of Open Educational Resources... Read More →
YJ

Yun-Chia Jasmine Chang

Professor and Director of HERO Center, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University
Professor Yung-Chia Chang is a faculty member in the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University and a key contributor to the HERO Center’s work on open higher education resources. She received her B.S. and M.S. degrees in Industrial... Read More →
WL

Wei-I Lee

Research Fellow of HERO Center, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University
Wei-I Lee is a professor in the Department of Electrophysics at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University and has served as the director of the Research Center of Higher Educational Resources for Openness (HERO Center). He obtained his B.S. in Electrophysics from National Chiao Tung... Read More →
Wednesday October 7, 2026 2:15pm - 2:45pm EDT
4 Room T MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

2:15pm EDT

Listening to Teachers: A U.S.–Finland Collaboration to Develop Open AI Literacy Resources
Wednesday October 7, 2026 2:15pm - 2:45pm EDT
ID: 31135

An Erasmus-supported collaboration between Mount St. Joseph University (United States) and Laurea University of Applied Sciences (Finland) brings multidisciplinary students together to explore artificial intelligence and digital innovation through international, project-based learning. In shared courses offered across both institutions, students work in global teams during the semester to design and prototype AI-related projects that address real-world problems. Through this project-based learning model, students engage in iterative design, collaborative problem solving, and reflective discussion about the social and ethical implications of artificial intelligence. These collaborations culminate in intensive project weeks in which students travel between campuses, refine their ideas through collaborative workshops, and present their work to international audiences. The partnership emphasizes experiential learning, cross-cultural collaboration, and the development of practical solutions to emerging technology challenges. Through these experiences, students gain exposure to different educational systems, technological perspectives, and cultural approaches to innovation while developing skills in teamwork, communication, and applied AI literacy.This session foregrounds the role of international academic exchange in shaping these learning experiences. The Erasmus partnership allows students to move beyond virtual collaboration and participate in short-term study-abroad exchanges where they work together in person during intensive project weeks. These exchanges provide opportunities for students to experience different educational cultures, develop intercultural communication skills, and engage directly with peers from other national contexts. For institutions seeking to integrate emerging technologies into global learning initiatives, the project offers a model for combining study-abroad programming, collaborative coursework, and interdisciplinary innovation.As part of this collaboration, students also contribute to the development of open educational resources (OER) designed to support educators navigating generative artificial intelligence in teaching and learning. Working alongside faculty mentors, students translate their project experiences into openly licensed teaching materials that provide practical guidance on ethical AI use, assignment design, and responsible integration of AI tools. Because these materials are openly licensed, they can be freely shared, adapted, and improved by educators around the world. In this way, OER not only disseminates the outcomes of the project but also creates opportunities for ongoing global collaboration, enabling educators in different countries to build upon shared materials and contribute new perspectives and practices.These student-generated resources are informed by a qualitative study examining how K–12 teachers are currently navigating generative artificial intelligence in their classrooms. Interviews with teachers across subject areas and school contexts reveal how educators are redesigning assignments, establishing boundaries for acceptable AI assistance, and negotiating new expectations for academic integrity as student AI use expands. These insights help ensure that the resulting OER materials address real classroom needs rather than abstract policy debates.This presentation will be of particular interest to educators and program leaders interested in global exchanges, short-term study abroad, and international collaborative learning. By connecting student mobility, project-based learning, and open educational resource development, the project demonstrates how global partnerships can create meaningful learning experiences while contributing openly licensed teaching materials that support educators navigating generative AI in classrooms worldwide.
Speakers
avatar for Rebecca J. Allen

Rebecca J. Allen

Chair of Department of Computer Science and Mathematics, Mount St. Joseph University
Rebecca J. Allen, PhD, is Assistant Professor and Chair of Computer Science and Mathematics at Mount St. Joseph University. Her interdisciplinary research focuses on artificial intelligence in education, participatory research, and open educational resources that support equitable... Read More →
BB

Brook Batch

Asst. Professor, Mount St. Joseph University
Dr. Brook Batch is an Assistant Professor of Social Computing at Mount St. Joseph University. Her research explores the intersection of technology and education, with a focus on computing education, students’ development of research and writing practices, and the use of generative... Read More →
TU

Tero Uusitalo

Senior Lecturer, Laurea University of Applied Sciences
MSc Tero Uusitalo is a Senior Lecturer in the Business Management Department at Laurea University of Applied Sciences. His research focuses on working life connected pedagogy, international research, development and innovation as well as the development and application of artificial... Read More →
TT

Taru Tallgren

Senior Lecturer in Degree Programme in Business Management, Laurea University of Applied Sciences
Taru Tallgren is a Senior Lecturer in the Business Management Department at Laurea University of Applied Sciences. Her research focuses on working‑life‑connected and coaching‑based pedagogy, as well as pedagogical innovations that support flexible open learning models and equitable... Read More →
Wednesday October 7, 2026 2:15pm - 2:45pm EDT
2 Room M MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

2:15pm EDT

The California ZTC Degree Grant Program: Preliminary Outcomes and What We’re Learning
Wednesday October 7, 2026 2:15pm - 2:45pm EDT
ID: 33763

In 2021, California made a historic commitment to college affordability by authorizing the largest public investment to date in Open Educational Resources (OER) and Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) pathways. This landmark initiative aims to reduce the financial burden of course materials and improve equitable access to higher education. Beginning in 2022, all California Community Colleges received dedicated funding to support the development, implementation, and scaling of ZTC pathways across disciplines. By 2026, colleges across the system are actively developing more than one thousand ZTC pathways, representing a transformative shift in how instructional materials are selected, delivered, and experienced by students. As the largest system of higher education in the United States, the California Community Colleges provide a unique opportunity to examine the large-scale impact of OER and ZTC adoption on student success, retention, and overall educational experience.This session will explore early findings from the ZTC grant program while also highlighting emerging research directions and unanswered questions. Participants will gain insight into how colleges are approaching ZTC implementation, including the strategies they have found most effective as well as the challenges they continue to navigate. The session will also examine how researchers are estimating cost savings across more than 100 institutions, offering a closer look at methodologies used to quantify financial impact at scale. In addition, attendees will hear student feedback from ZTC courses, providing valuable perspective on how these initiatives influence learning, engagement, and access.The session will further highlight a complementary study conducted by researchers at UC Irvine’s School of Education, supported by the Arnold Ventures Foundation, which seeks to evaluate the effectiveness of both statewide and institutional policies aimed at reducing student cost burdens. Finally, participants will receive access to instruments used for institutional and student surveys, enabling them to apply similar assessment approaches within their own contexts. Together, these insights will provide a comprehensive view of the promise and complexity of scaling ZTC pathways across a large and diverse higher education system.
Speakers
avatar for James Glapa-Grossklag

James Glapa-Grossklag

Dean, Educational Technology, Learning Resources and Distance Learning; and Technical Assistance Provider, College of the Canyons; and ZTC Grant Program California Community College Chancellor’s Office
James Glapa-Grossklag is Dean, Educational Technology, Learning Resources, and Distance Learning at College of the Canyons (USA). He serves as Technical Assistance Provider for the California Community Colleges' Zero Textbook Cost Degree Program, the largest-ever public investment... Read More →
RA

Richard Arum

Professor of Sociology and Education and former dean of the School of Education at University of California, Irvine., University of California, Irvine.
Richard Arum is Professor of Sociology and Education and former dean of the School of Education at University of California, Irvine. He served as senior fellow at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and director of Education Research Programs at the Social Science Research Council... Read More →
SS

Sabrina Solanki

Research & Program Director for the Postsecondary Education Research & Implementation Institute at the University of California, Irvine., University of California, Irvine.
Sabrina Solanki is Research & Program Director for the Postsecondary Education Research & Implementation Institute at the University of California, Irvine. Her research focuses on higher education policy, STEM education, and the evaluation of education interventions. In her current... Read More →
avatar for Alyssa Nguyen

Alyssa Nguyen

Senior Director of Research and Innovation, The RP Group
Alyssa Nguyen is the Senior Director of Research and Innovation for The RP Group and brings over 15 years of experience in the California Community Colleges. Her work is dedicated to uncovering and implementing student-centered practices that close equity gaps and promote student... Read More →
LC

Larry Cooperman

Consultant, University of California, Irvine
Larry Cooperman retired from the University of California, Irvine in 2020, where he directed open education from 2007-2018. Since his retirement, he has consulted the Technical Assistance Provider for the California Community Colleges Zero-Textbook-Cost (ZTC) program. Currently, he... Read More →
Wednesday October 7, 2026 2:15pm - 2:45pm EDT
6 DR4 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

2:15pm EDT

Who Owns Learning? Sovereignty, Solidarity, and Open Education Across Divided Worlds
Wednesday October 7, 2026 2:15pm - 2:45pm EDT
ID: 33604

In a time shaped by geopolitical conflict, displacement, and widening inequalities in access to education, some basic questions feel newly urgent: Who owns learning? Who gets to participate in it?Who gets to shape it?Who gets to carry it across borders? This session takes up these questions through open education, transnational didactics, and trauma-informed teaching, drawing on a 13-week open, blended course developed at the University of Stuttgart.The course brings together student teachers from Germany, Ukraine, Lebanon, and more than ten other countries into a shared online learning space that deliberately foregrounds human connection, creativity, and curiosity. Working in transnational teams, participants design project-based learning (PBL) experiences. 17 projects including toolkits, lesson plans, videos and websites were developed.The session involved chat prompts, polls and pointed reflection questions for participants to actively engage with during the 30 minutes.  Conference attendees will learn how the course moves beyond delivering content to become a space where open, educational sovereignty can be practiced—where learners and educators co-create meaningful, context-sensitive learning across cultural and political boundaries.This course is situated within global conversations, including UNESCO’s vision of inclusive and equitable education and the International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE) focus on access and innovation in digital learning. At the same time, it does not avoid the realities many participants are living through. War, instability, and uncertainty are present in the space. For that reason, the course draws on trauma-informed principles, intentionally creating conditions of psychological safety, flexibility, and trust—conditions that make open, genuine collaboration possible.A central idea guiding the course is anti-fragility. Rather than simply trying to withstand disruption, the design invites uncertainty and diversity to become sources of learning. Students take on the role of designers, negotiating perspectives, constraints, and opportunities as they work. In doing so, curiosity and creativity are not added extras—they emerge naturally through the process, removing barriers, alongside growing intercultural awareness and resilience.In this session, participants will see how open, transnational learning spaces can function as sites of both solidarity and agency. The session will share concrete design strategies for structuring international collaboration, integrating trauma-informed approaches, and connecting practice to global frameworks. Examples from student projects will show how shared challenges can lead to inventive, locally meaningful solutions.
Speakers
avatar for Richard Powers

Richard Powers

Professor, University of Stuttgart, Department of Education
Richard J. Powers is a professor, instructional designer, and international educator at the University of Stuttgart and City Colleges of Chicago. His work focuses on open education, international collaboration, and project-based learning in global, online environments, alongside Universal... Read More →
Wednesday October 7, 2026 2:15pm - 2:45pm EDT
5 DR3 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

3:00pm EDT

OER Beyond Gen Ed: Lessons from Washington’s Professional-Technical Programs
Wednesday October 7, 2026 3:00pm - 3:30pm EDT
ID: 31247

Open Educational Resources (OER) initiatives have largely focused on general education courses such as math, English, and introductory sciences. However, professional-technical (ProfTech) programs face a different set of challenges when it comes to course materials. These fields often rely on expensive, commercial textbooks, rapidly evolving industry content, certification-aligned materials, and highly visual or technical resources.Washington State’s Open ProfTech initiative explores how open textbooks can be developed in professional-technical programs across community and technical colleges. Through statewide collaboration, faculty authors worked with instructional designers, editors, illustrators, migration specialists, copyright and OER experts, and accessibility specialists, coordinated by SBCTC, the state agency serving Washington’s community and technical colleges, to create openly licensed textbooks aligned with industry expectations.This session shares practical lessons from this initiative, including the unique challenges of developing OER in professional technical education disciplines, strategies that helped faculty authors succeed, and what other institutions or systems should consider when launching similar efforts. Rather than focusing on project details alone, the presentation highlights key insights about supporting proftech faculty, managing rapidly changing content, and building sustainable infrastructure for open publishing in technical fields.Participants will leave with practical ideas for expanding OER beyond general education into workforce and career programs.
Speakers
avatar for Boyoung Chae

Boyoung Chae

Policy Associate, Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges
Boyoung Chae is a Policy Associate of Educational Technology and Open Education with the Washington State Board for Community & Technical Colleges (SBCTC). She completed a master’s in Instructional Systems from Pennsylvania State University and a PhD in Instructional Technology... Read More →
avatar for Monique Belair

Monique Belair

Program Administrator, Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges
Monique Belair is a Program Administrator for Educational Technology and Open Education with the Washington State Board for Community & Technical Colleges (SBCTC). She is currently managing her second U.S. Department of Education grant for the Washington Open ProfTech Project. Monique... Read More →
avatar for Ashley Montenegro Ramirez

Ashley Montenegro Ramirez

Program Administrator, Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges
Ashley Montenegro Ramirez is a project manager in open education and workforce development. She manages and supports the development of open textbooks for Washington’s community and technical colleges, with a focus on accessibility, quality assurance, and collaborative project management... Read More →
Wednesday October 7, 2026 3:00pm - 3:30pm EDT
7 DR5 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

3:00pm EDT

Open All the Way Down: A Freely Reusable Toolkit for Scaling OER, Access, and Equity
Wednesday October 7, 2026 3:00pm - 3:30pm EDT
ID: 33595

Open educational resources promise to democratize access to knowledge, but the organizational capacity to implement OER sustainably is rarely open itself. Colleges and institutions that want to launch or scale OER and Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) initiatives must typically build their infrastructure, workflows, faculty support systems, and assessment frameworks from scratch. This is its own barrier to the public good that open education aspires to serve.This session argues that opening up institutional knowledge, not just course content, is the next frontier for the open education movement. It introduces the CRC OER/ZTC Toolkit, developed at Cosumnes River College (CRC) in Sacramento, California, as a case study in what it looks like to treat implementation infrastructure as a public good.CRC serves a diverse student population in which many learners come from low-income households and communities historically underserved by higher education. Textbook costs were a documented barrier: students were delaying purchases, attempting courses without required materials, and in some cases dropping classes they could not afford. Beginning in 2021, a faculty librarian and OER coordinator began building the systems needed to address this - supporting faculty in adopting, remixing, and creating OER; developing workflows for identifying and advertising ZTC courses; and using student success data to make the case for continued institutional investment. By fall 2025, 78% of CRC course sections were designated Zero Textbook Cost, with documented gains in enrollment, course success rates, and degree completion.The CRC OER/ZTC Toolkit packages the lessons from this work into an openly licensed, freely reusable website. It includes implementation guides, faculty adoption workflows, open pedagogy resources, student focus group templates, and a data dashboard framework for tracking equity outcomes. Every element carries an open license, meaning any institution, anywhere, can copy, adapt, and redistribute the toolkit without asking permission and without starting from zero.This is the session's central contribution to the OEGlobal community: a concrete example of open licensing applied to the institutional infrastructure of OER work, not just the content.When colleges share their implementation knowledge openly, they extend the democratizing potential of open education beyond individual courses to the systems that make open education sustainable and scalable. This approach is especially significant for under-resourced institutions that lack the grant funding or staffing to build these systems independently.Attendees will have the opportunity to explore the toolkit directly and will leave with a clear understanding of its components, the equity impact data behind it, and practical strategies for adapting it to their own institutional or regional context. The session welcomes practitioners at any stage of OER work. Though it was designed for community colleges, the lessons learned could be applicable to any institution.
Speakers
avatar for Andi Adkins Pogue

Andi Adkins Pogue

Librarian, OER/ZTC Coordinator, Cosumnes River College
Andi Adkins Pogue is a faculty librarian and the OER/ZTC Coordinator at Cosumnes River College who has spent 16 years supporting equitable access to learning. She has been instrumental in building one of California's most active ZTC programs. She has authored OER, earned a Creative... Read More →
Wednesday October 7, 2026 3:00pm - 3:30pm EDT
5 DR3 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

3:00pm EDT

Slowing Down to Lead: Design Lessons from the Rebus Luminary Fellowship
Wednesday October 7, 2026 3:00pm - 3:30pm EDT
ID: 33914

Postsecondary leaders are exhausted. They are navigating defunded institutions, a shifting political landscape, rapid AI expansion, and the quiet accumulation of uncompensated labor that education has always asked of its practitioners. The Rebus Luminary Fellowship for Education Leaders was our response to that reality.This presentation shares our experience co-designing and facilitating the Luminary Fellowship – a three-month program for fifteen postsecondary leaders across Canada and the United States, developed in partnership with the Leadership Learning Community (LLC), a nonprofit with deep roots in liberatory leadership practice. We'll speak honestly about what it meant to build a space where connection, creativity, and curiosity weren't just aspirations on a slide but conditions we had to actively create.There is a meaningful difference between valuing something and designing for it. We valued slowness, so we built long check-ins and resisted the urge to pack every session with content. We valued trust, so we thought carefully about what a participant should receive before ever showing up to a session, like a welcome care package in the mail. We valued an honest community, so we gave sessions enough breathing room for discomfort to surface and built in 1:1 check-ins between sessions to tend to what the group couldn't. The Liberatory Leadership Framework, developed by LLC, became our recurring lens: a shared vocabulary that participants could carry across sessions and bring back to their own institutions.This presentation will walk through the program's arc – three virtual sessions and a culminating in-person summit in Vancouver – with particular attention to the design choices behind each phase and how we adapted in real time. We'll reflect on the genuine collaboration between Rebus and LLC: what it looked like to co-design across organizations, how we distributed facilitation, and what we learned when things didn't go as planned. We'll also share what we heard from participants themselves – that the strategies mattered, but what stayed with them was simpler and harder to name: the feeling of not being alone in this work.Our hope is that this session sparks an honest conversation about what it actually takes to make space for human connection in open education programming – the choices behind the design, what we learned along the way, and what we'd do differently. For anyone building fellowships, communities of practice, or professional development experiences, we think the Luminary Fellowship offers a useful, honest case study in what intentional community building can look like.
Speakers
avatar for Apurva Ashok

Apurva Ashok

Executive Director, The Rebus Foundation
Apurva Ashok is the Executive Director of The Rebus Foundation, a global non-profit and Canadian charity advancing liberatory futures through education. Apurva is an accomplished leader in Open Education, and is recognized for her ability to inspire systemic change and build institutional... Read More →
Wednesday October 7, 2026 3:00pm - 3:30pm EDT
6 DR4 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

3:00pm EDT

The Work at the Hinge: Mini Structures and Human-Centered Open Education
Wednesday October 7, 2026 3:00pm - 3:30pm EDT
ID: 31087

Open education often assumes a shared threshold, as if practitioners are all standing before the same door with the same key, the same confidence, and the same amount of time to turn the handle. They are not. For some, the door opens easily into spacious possibility. For others, it sticks, locked by uncertainty, time scarcity, inaccessible information, perfectionism, policy confusion, or the quiet fear of getting it wrong in public.This session argues that if Open Education is serious about access, it cannot reserve its gentleness for students alone. It must meet practitioners at the threshold too, attending to the tiny details where entry is either made possible or made impossible. Drawing from two semesters of program design and implementation at a Hispanic-Serving Institution, I share a practical model of “mini structures” as threshold design: an inquiry-based OER exploration mini-grant that pays faculty for rigorous search and decision-ready documentation (rather than requiring premature adoption), paired with a scaffolded sequence of mini-lessons that translate complex Open Educational Practices into bounded steps with clear outcomes, examples, and time expectations.The core claim is simple: a door is only open if someone can actually get through it. In many institutional contexts, the primary barriers are not ideological resistance. They are practical and quietly determinative: not knowing where to start, and starting alone. I highlight the hinge details that repeatedly change follow-through without lowering rigor: bounded time containers (30–45 minute work sessions with a concrete deliverable), “what counts” guidance that reduces ambiguity, risk reduction through private drafts and optional publicness, and documentation-as-scaffolding (trackers, evaluation lenses, landscape briefs) that makes decisions visible, retrievable, and shareable.Grounded in care ethics, I frame these choices as infrastructure rather than tone: care operationalized through systems that assume human variance as normal. Participants will leave with a replicable set of design patterns and a lightweight blueprint for building mini infrastructure in their own programs.
Speakers
avatar for Megan Brittany-Fruia Zara

Megan Brittany-Fruia Zara

Open Education Librarian, The University of Texas at Arlington
Megan Zara is an Open Education librarian and program designer at the University of Texas at Arlington Libraries. Her work sits at the intersection of Open Education, access, and care ethics, with a focus on building scaffolded systems (mini-grants, mini-lessons, and decision-ready... Read More →
Wednesday October 7, 2026 3:00pm - 3:30pm EDT
2 Room M MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

3:35pm EDT

From Classrooms to Careers: Equipping Today’s Students with the Workforce Skills of Tomorrow Through OER
Wednesday October 7, 2026 3:35pm - 4:05pm EDT
ID: 33396

Across disciplines and institutions, instructors face growing challenges related to student engagement and academic integrity. These challenges are compounded by the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and rapidly shifting workforce demands. AI enables students to produce work that is not their own in seconds. Meanwhile, our workforce requires students to develop an ever-increasing set of skills and knowledge in order to obtain entry-level jobs. Traditional print textbooks and resources cannot keep up. Rather, these rapidly evolving technologies and workforce needs require students to learn from the most engaging, up-to-date, and relevant resources possible — like OER!Drawing on global data from the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025, this session highlights the skills and competencies increasingly valued by employers worldwide. We’ll share practical strategies for customizing OER to support skill development, respond to emerging technologies, and meet local and industry-specific needs, all while maintaining academic rigor and relevance.Attendees will move beyond theory to practical application. This session progresses from a high-level overview of workforce skill trends to the creation of customized, ready-to-use, openly licensed classroom materials. Participants will receive a template they can plug into the generative AI of their choosing (e.g., ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini) to create five ready-to-implement, skill-building activities rooted in the emerging skills and competencies noted in the Future of Jobs Report 2025. These activities are also designed to meet course objectives, incorporate OER content, and drive meaningful student engagement.This session showcases how AI can serve as a co-pilot in OER creation rather than a threat to academic integrity, offering a proactive stance on emerging technology. Ultimately, this gives instructors hands-on experience with the skills the labor market requires of their students (i.e., AI literacy). Additionally, by focusing on universal workforce skills, this session is accessible to educators at various stages of OER adoption and inclusive of diverse global disciplines, from agriculture to nursing to finance.Participants will leave this session being able to:Identify the key challenges college educators are facing, including maintaining student engagement, managing the impact of AI, and equipping students with ever-changing, in-demand career skills.Analyze emerging workforce skills and trends from the World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report 2025 and apply them to specific academic disciplines.Explain how OER can be customized to support skill development while maintaining academic rigor.Apply a structured AI prompt template to generate 1) skills-based learning activities aligned with course objectives, open content, and industry-specific needs, and 2) aligned instructional support materials (e.g., grading rubrics, scaffolding for struggling students).Refine AI-generated activities to ensure they support individual course contexts, follow accessibility best practices, and meet activity design preferences.
Speakers
avatar for Lindsay Josephs

Lindsay Josephs

Marketing and Communications Lead, OpenStax, Rice University
Lindsay Josephs (she/her) is the higher education marketing and communications lead at OpenStax, the world’s largest publisher of OER textbooks. Lindsay creates and manages marketing campaigns for OpenStax's 60+ college textbooks and reading engagement tool, Assignable. She’s... Read More →
Wednesday October 7, 2026 3:35pm - 4:05pm EDT
2 Room M MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

3:35pm EDT

From Vision to Impact: A Change Approach Toward Accessible Digital Educational Resources
Wednesday October 7, 2026 3:35pm - 4:05pm EDT
ID: 32293

At HAN University of Applied Sciences, we aim to create an ecosystem where students and educators have effortless access to high‑quality learning resources, open, semi‑open, and commercial, so they can assemble the optimal blend for their teaching and learning needs. At HAN, we believe that education should be accessible to everyone. In a time when it can sometimes be difficult to determine what is true and what is false, it is up to us to provide students with reliable information. Preferably through learning materials in various formats, so that students can choose the materials that suit them and enrich their studies. It’s also about using public resources wisely. Why keep reinventing the wheel? If we openly share and reuse the best materials, we gain in both quality and efficiency.Rather than positioning openness as a standalone objective, HAN has developed a institution‑wide approach that embeds Open Educational Resources (OER) into everyday practice. This approach is grounded in five pillars: support, professional development, recognition & rewards, change management, and technical infrastructure.1. Support. We provide hands‑on guidance to educators and teams as they search for, select, create, and share educational resources. We are setting up a Content Support Team (CST) to assist instructors and teams. This support covers educational, legal, aesthetic, and technical questions, allowing instructors to focus on the content itself. 2. Professional development. To strengthen OER literacy, we invest in targeted training programmes that help educators navigate copyright, Creative Commons licensing, accessibility requirements, and open pedagogical practices. To underpin this approach, we developed a competency profile for OER, grounded in existing frameworks and literature, as the foundation for our professionalisation programme. Modular workshops, e-learning, coaching trajectories, and learning communities build confidence and enable sustainable adoption. 3. Recognition and rewards. OER creation and sharing often remain invisible forms of academic labor. At HAN, we address this by recognizing contributions to open knowledge within workload models, team goals, and performance dialogues. Faculty who develop openly licensed materials, improve existing resources, or experiment with open pedagogy receive acknowledgment consistent with the broader recognition and rewards movement in higher education.4. Change management. To achieve openness on a larger scale, cultural, structural, and behavioral changes are necessary. That is why we are adopting a structured approach to change management to align leadership, foster faculty engagement, dispel misconceptions about open licenses, and establish a clear governance framework. Managers are coached in this process as part of the change initiative. The faculties develop their own implementation plans, ensuring that their chosen approach fits within the existing challenges within the faculty.  5. Technical infrastructure. Finally, a sustainable OER ecosystem depends on robust, architecture-aware technology. HAN strives to create an integrated environment in which faculty and students can discover, combine, and reuse materials from various repositories and platforms. We prioritize a single HAN learning materials repository where all learning materials are stored, from which quality checks can be performed, and from which they can then be easily shared openly.
Speakers
avatar for Marijn Post

Marijn Post

Policy Advisor Learning with Technology, HAN University of Applied Sciences
Marijn Post is a leading expert in OER with extensive experience in digital learning and open education policy. In 2022 she won the national (SURF) Award for her work in the field of OER. She developed strategies for recognizing and rewarding OER contributions, but also developed... Read More →
avatar for Marja Versantvoort

Marja Versantvoort

Projectmanager HAN approach Digital Educational Resources, HAN University of Applied Sciences
Master’s in EducationIn 2016, Marja led a five-year national flagship project. This was a collaboration among 17 Dutch bachelor’s programs in Nursing, aimed at creating a community centered on the open sharing and collaborative development of educational resources. Following that... Read More →
Wednesday October 7, 2026 3:35pm - 4:05pm EDT
6 DR4 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

3:35pm EDT

Open Knowledge Content Curation: From Scientific Information Watch to Self and Active Learning
Wednesday October 7, 2026 3:35pm - 4:05pm EDT
ID: 33736

In the context of infobesity, managing knowledge and mastering scientific and societal information actuality is more and more a challenge for teachers, researchers and students. Content curation tools developped some years ago, help finding, selecting, commenting, elevating and sharing relevant open web information from diverse sources. One of those tools called Scoop.it appears well suited for so-called serious information and has been used by ourselves, other scientists and teachers individually or in groups of interest. Teachers can indeed build content hubs on their discipline, for instance geography, history or biology. Researchers in basic, medical and also social sciences can establish their personal databases, document their research topics and share specific contents according to their competencies. Learners and curious laypeople can benefit from knowledge selected and accumulated and from information follow-up by recognized specialists We are reporting on our experience of using Content Curation for Research, Teaching and Learning in basic, medical and health immunology for more than 10 years. We are agregating scientific information such as selected published papers but also grey literature, press releases and web posting on blogs and websites. Societally relevant information from social netwotks can also be collected and archived. Commenting and elevating information individually and/or through analysis of subtopics is adding value to such material. Sharing on social networks is an opportunity, while archiving and retrieving later is an asset. Two projects were posted on Open Education Resources Surfing the Wave of Immunology Knowledge and more (SWIK+). becoming later Self and Active Learning in Immunology and more (SALIM+), after applying and evaluating the tool in real learning context. Content Hubs aggregating curated OPEN medical immunology resources, from systemic and mucosal immunity to clinical and applied immunology (allergy, rheumatology, neurology, biotherapies) and societal health concerns (vaccine hesitancy) actualized regularly, are offering students, teachers and researchers selected relevant information, helping them stay abreast of information wave. We used it for distance learning during Covid pandemy with chinese students and developped innovative self and active learning with french and chinese medical students for initiation in clinical research in a master module. Learners can use the selected material offered by their teachers or other researchers. Themselves are asked to select, collect, read and comment medical and scientific information related to a chosen topic of interest. They discover not only scientific published literature, but also web material posted by press or media available to laypeople, as well as discussions on social networks. Such self and active learning different from top down courses they receive in medical training is much appreciated, making them curious and even coined by students as fun. Content curation, compared to artificial intelligence, adds human flair to search practices and stimulates users to develop interest and taste for information watch, mandatory for research activities during training and for life long learning in their profession. Other advantages of content curation tool are sharing which remains a challenge, allowing to retrieve information later, also offering networking opportunities but hindrance reported is time consuming like any information watch.
Speakers
avatar for Gilbert Faure

Gilbert Faure

Professeur, Université Lorraine, CREM
Professor Emeritus in Immunology at Université Lorraine, Faculté de Médecine,  I have been pursuing teaching activities in the context of the Sino-French Training programs between Nancy, Wuhan and Kunming for more than 20 years, after a career in Medical Immunology. I had responsibilities... Read More →
Wednesday October 7, 2026 3:35pm - 4:05pm EDT
5 DR3 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

4:20pm EDT

Oak’s Open Knowledge Graph: The Missing Foundation for Curriculum-Aligned AI in Education
Wednesday October 7, 2026 4:20pm - 4:50pm EDT
ID: 33911

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming educational technology, yet most AI tools in education lack a critical foundation: they have no formal understanding of how curriculum knowledge actually fits together. AI tools can discuss topics fluently, but cannot reliably sequence learning, identify what a student needs to know before tackling a new concept, or verify that a lesson genuinely addresses the standards or objectives it claims to. They guess because, typically, national curricula have existed only as documents written for humans, not in any form that digital tools can meaningfully interrogate.This is a solvable problem. At Oak National Academy, a UK government-backed provider of free teaching resources used in three in four schools in England [1], we are building an answer. With over 100,000 open-licence resources spanning 17 national curriculum subjects, including more than 13,000 lessons, we hold a distinctive position: a large-scale, publicly trusted body of curriculum-aligned content, all freely available [2]. This session presents our work to build a knowledge graph that encodes curriculum structure in a form that AI tools can read, query, and reason about, along with the lessons we have learned so far from releasing it openly to the sector.Our knowledge graph is a structured map of how curriculum knowledge connects, specifying which concepts must come before others, how topics in one subject relate to another, and what a sequence of learning actually looks like from a pupil’s perspective. When that map is machine-readable and openly available, it transforms what AI tools can do. Rather than guessing at curriculum relationships, AI tools can query structured data. The result is AI tools that genuinely support learning progression, plan well-sequenced, coherent curriculum materials, and identify gaps in available resources. This provides the solid foundations for safe and effective AI in education in any national context. We have begun sharing our early knowledge graph capability [3] with a range of external organisations, including AI developers and edtech companies, to develop and stress-test this shared foundation.England's forthcoming curriculum refresh offers a concrete illustration of why this matters. As the curriculum changes, AI tools trained on old frameworks risk undermining rather than supporting learning. We have been supporting the Department for Education in creating a digitised curriculum, designed with structured, machine-readable capabilities, such as knowledge graphs, in mind. When available, this will significantly increase the depth and richness of our knowledge graph, enabling even more reliable and sophisticated AI applications across the sector.Open education principles are at the heart of this work: every organisation rebuilding curriculum structure from scratch is duplicating effort. A common, openly licensed foundation redirects that energy toward the applications and innovations that actually benefit learners. In this session, we will share our experience and learnings, including the architectural decisions made, the standards chosen, and our licensing strategy, to enable any institution seeking to make its domain knowledge machine-readable to build upon this work.
Speakers
avatar for John Roberts

John Roberts

Interim CEO, Oak National Academy
John Roberts is the interim CEO of Oak National Academy, the UK government-backed provider of free, open-licence teaching resources used in three in four schools in England. A co-founder of the organisation, he previously led the product and engineering team behind Aila, the UK's... Read More →
Wednesday October 7, 2026 4:20pm - 4:50pm EDT
6 DR4 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

4:20pm EDT

Offline AI, Open Knowledge: Delivering OER to Schools Without Internet
Wednesday October 7, 2026 4:20pm - 4:50pm EDT
ID: 31657

Description:Across Africa, and some parts of Asia millions of learners sit in classrooms that are rich in curiosity but poor in connectivity. For these students, the promise of open education , freely accessible, world-class knowledge for anyone, anywhere, remains largely theoretical. The internet is the assumed delivery mechanism for most OER platforms, and where the internet is absent or unreliable, so too is access to open content.AXAM is an offline AI-powered learning platform built to close that gap. Developed through the NSF Innovation Corps (I-Corps) program, AXAM packages high-quality open educational resources, beginning with MIT OpenCourseWare transcripts and expanding to broader OER collections, into a locally deployable system that runs entirely without an internet connection. Students interact with AXAM through a conversational AI interface powered by a lightweight large language model, asking questions, exploring concepts, and receiving contextualized responses drawn from curated OER content. No cloud. No bandwidth. No barriers.This session presents the AXAM model as both a technical case study and a provocation for the open education community. The presenter will walk through the architecture of the system: how OER content is processed, embedded, and stored in a vector database; how a quantized language model runs efficiently on low-cost hardware; and how multilingual retrieval supports learners across English, French, Swahili, and Kinyarwanda and others. Crucially, the session will move beyond the technical to examine what deployment actually looks like in contexts where infrastructure, teacher capacity, and institutional trust are all variables that no algorithm can fully anticipate.The lessons from building and testing AXAM are honest ones. Multilingual performance is uneven; Kinyarwanda retrieval lags significantly behind English, raising important questions about whose languages open AI systems are truly built for. Hardware constraints shape every design decision. Community trust must be earned before any technology is adopted. These are not edge cases; they are the core design conditions for open education in much of the world.What this session ultimately offers is a replicable framework, a set of architectural principles, deployment considerations, and community engagement strategies that any institution, NGO, or open education practitioner can adapt for their own low-connectivity context. The goal is not to present AXAM as a finished solution, but to share what has been learned in the process of building it, and to invite the global open education community into the next phase of that work.Because openness without accessibility is just a promise. And a promise that only reaches those with a stable internet connection is not yet open enough.
Speakers
avatar for Emmanuel Olimi Kasigazi

Emmanuel Olimi Kasigazi

Entrepreneurial Lead, Axam AI
Emmanuel Olimi is a data and LLM engineer, open education advocate, and founder of AXAM,  an offline AI-powered learning platform designed to deliver MIT OpenCourseWare and other open education content to students in low-connectivity schools across the world. Born in Uganda and now... Read More →
Wednesday October 7, 2026 4:20pm - 4:50pm EDT
7 DR5 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

4:20pm EDT

Resilience and Responsiveness: Lessons of Open Practices in Emergencies
Wednesday October 7, 2026 4:20pm - 4:50pm EDT
ID: 33611

We are living through a period of significant global instability, marked by political uncertainty, challenges to multilateralism, and increasing risks of conflict and disruption. These dynamics place pressure on education systems worldwide, raising urgent questions about how to ensure continuity, accessibility, and relevance. In this context, Open Educational Resources (OER) and broader open education practices offer a promising foundation for more resilient and adaptable systems, as they combine the affordances of digital technologies with relational, learner-centred approaches, an integration that proved essential during the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper examines what lessons from open education in emergency contexts can inform the development of more robust open ecosystems globally.This study argues that effective open education systems must demonstrate two key characteristics: responsiveness to user needs and resilience to external pressures. While these qualities are widely discussed, they remain under-examined in terms of how they are enacted across different contexts. In particular, emergency settings such as conflict, displacement, or systemic disruption offer a unique lens through which to observe how open practices adapt under pressure.To investigate this, the presentation reports on findings from a qualitative comparative study of open education initiatives in both emergency and non-emergency contexts. The analysis draws on semi-structured interviews conducted with two groups: (1) learners engaging with open educational platforms, and (2) stakeholders involved in governance and decision-making processes. This dual perspective enables an examination of both user experience and systemic organisation. The findings, derived through thematic analysis, highlight patterns across contexts, with particular attention to how responsiveness to user needs and resilience to external pressures are operationalised in practice. The study is guided by two research questions:1. How do user needs in open educational platforms differ between emergency and non-emergency contexts? 2. How do governance structures and processes differ across these contexts? This research contributes to the emerging field of Open Education in Emergencies by extending its focus beyond short-term crises to include longer-term and systemic disruptions. By examining practices at the margins of education systems, it seeks to surface insights that are often overlooked in more stable contexts and to amplify perspectives that are less visible in dominant policy and research narratives. In doing so, it also aims to shift the framing of educational provision from a logic of institutional interest toward a logic of user need and long-term resilience.The expected outcome is a conceptual framework that organises effective practices into four dimensions: Relevance, Openness, Independence, and Pluralism. This framework will synthesise findings from across contexts to identify transferable strategies for designing open education systems that are adaptable, scalable, and equity-oriented. Ultimately, the research aims to demonstrate how insights from emergency contexts can inform more robust and inclusive open education ecosystems globally.
Speakers
avatar for Adriana D’Amico

Adriana D’Amico

Education Policy Student - Intern Researcher @ Monash Virtual School, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Adriana D’Amico is a postgraduate student currently enrolled in an Erasmus Mundus Master program on education policies from global development. During her bachelor in Economics and social sciences she took part in both advocacy activities, working with a team to promote pluralism... Read More →
Wednesday October 7, 2026 4:20pm - 4:50pm EDT
5 DR3 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

4:55pm EDT

How Open Is a University? A Framework for Comparison
Wednesday October 7, 2026 4:55pm - 5:25pm EDT
ID: 34812

In 2024, the State Distance University of Costa Rica added the word “open” to its institutional description, a change that carries numerous implications that are not always clear to those both inside and outside the institution.At the end of that year, we have the incredible opportunity to be part of a publication called the Handbook of Open Universities Around the World—the only university in Central America to participate—and this experience allows us to analyze just how open the UNED of Costa Rica really is.Furthermore, this Handbook “provides rich analytical perspectives on the status and challenges of single-mode distance learning universities as an educational phenomenon while unpacking the premise of ‘openness’ itself.” (Mishra, Sanjaya & Panda, Santosh, 2025).Analyzing how openness manifests itself across 47 universities worldwide from various fields and perspectives provides us with numerous experiences, best practices, methodologies, and procedures that will ultimately allow us to improve our open practices in areas as diverse as: “business models and finances, operations, instructional systems, enrollment patterns, learner support, quality assurance, professional development, and others.” (Mishra, Sanjaya & Panda, Santosh, 2025).This is why we wish to share UNED’s experience in analyzing its openness within the framework proposed by the editors.
Speakers
avatar for Diana Hernández Montoya

Diana Hernández Montoya

Coordinator of the Fabrication Laboratory and OER Hub, Universidad Estatal a Distancia de Costa Rica
Diana is a teacher focused on human talent, innovation, and technology. Currently works doing research and is the coordinator of the Fabrication Laboratory (Fab Lab) of the Universidad Estatal a Distancia. She has degrees in preschool and primary education, educational technology... Read More →
avatar for Ana María Sandoval Poveda

Ana María Sandoval Poveda

Member of the Fabrication Laboratory and OER Hub, Universidad Estatal a Distancia de Costa Rica
Mathematician, educator, editor, and makerAna María is an academic producer and researcher at the Kä Träre Fabrication Laboratory. She received her professional training at the University of Costa Rica (UCR), in the School of Teacher Education (Faculty of Education) and the School... Read More →
Wednesday October 7, 2026 4:55pm - 5:25pm EDT
5 DR3 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

4:55pm EDT

OER: The Twelfth High Impact Practice
Wednesday October 7, 2026 4:55pm - 5:25pm EDT
ID: 33896

At the culmination of a two-year, multi-institutional study that included almost 700,000 student records for analysis, AAC&U has added OER to its list of High Impact Practices (HIPs). HIPs are well-established practices that lead to positive student outcomes, namely for students historically underserved in higher education. It is our hope that in naming OER as a HIP, institutional leaders will pay attention to the positive impacts OER can bring to their campuses and organize to institutionalize OER in new and exciting ways. We seek to advance movement on UN Sustainability Goal 4: Quality Education to ensure all learners have access to quality learning materials.In this presentation, we will summarize the key findings of our study, focusing on course withdrawal rates, course grades, and time to completion. We found that context matters very much in predicting the rate of withdrawal in courses with OER, but in most cases, withdrawal rates were lower in courses that used OER, especially at doctoral institutions, and we note key differences in withdrawal rates when OER are merely adopted versus revised, remixed, or created. Most notably, in regards to course grades, the number of A’s increased in every context where OER were used versus not.  We also noted decreases in the time to credential, especially at community colleges for students that took more than four years to finish their credential–for students that took 6 or more OER courses during their course of study, they finished their credentials on average almost a year faster than those that took zero OER courses. Additionally we will highlight findings from our instructor survey, representing the voices of over 200 individual instructors that transitioned to OER over the course of the study period. The survey captured their motivations and experiences in implementation, as well as their perceptions on how well their OER implementation went based on those motivations and support structures. We also examined how teaching practices changed after using OER.We will also provide recommendations for leveraging OER as a HIP on your campuses to advance OER initiatives and programs as an equity strategy to help all students, but especially those that have been historically underserved by higher education. AAC&U as an organization advocates to democratize higher education as a public good, and the addition of OER to the current list of HIPs is a strategic choice to support OER in higher education as not only an affordability strategy for students, but to help students persist and succeed in their education.
Speakers
avatar for C. Edward Watson

C. Edward Watson

Vice President for Digital Innovation, American Association of Colleges & Universities
Dr. C. Edward Watson is the Vice President for Digital Innovation. He provides leadership for the association’s national and state-level advocacy to advance quality in undergraduate student learning. This includes programming and a scholarly agenda that focuses on general education... Read More →
avatar for Jessica Chittum

Jessica Chittum

Assistant Vice President for Curricular and Pedagogical Innovation and Director of VALUE Operations, American Association of Colleges & Universities
Jessica Chittum, PhD, is the Assistant Vice President for Curricular and Pedagogical Innovation and Director of VALUE Operations in the Office of Curricular, Pedagogical, and Digital Innovation (OCPDI) at AAC&U. In this role, Jessica engages in project management, research, professional... Read More →
avatar for Heather Miceli

Heather Miceli

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, American Association of Colleges & Universities
Heather Miceli is the Assistant Director of the Institute on Open Educational Resources and a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at AAC&U in the Office of Curricular, Pedagogical, and Digital Innovation. Her current work at AAC&U is focused on OER adoption as an equity strategy for student... Read More →
avatar for Beth Perkins

Beth Perkins

Assistant Director for Research and Assessment, American Association of Colleges & Universities
Beth Perkins, PhD, is the Assistant Director for Research and Assessment in the Office of Curricular, Pedagogical, and Digital Innovation at AAC&U. She provides methodological, analytical, logistical, and implementation support to the AAC&U VALUE Scoring Collaborative. In addition... Read More →
Wednesday October 7, 2026 4:55pm - 5:25pm EDT
7 DR5 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

4:55pm EDT

The Seven-Year Evolution of a Z-Course Boot Camp
Wednesday October 7, 2026 4:55pm - 5:25pm EDT
ID: 33944

Since 2019, the Open Educational Resources Committee at Fort Hays State University (FHSU) has offered an annual Z-Course Boot Camp event to teach faculty interested in converting to zero-cost course materials about reasons to consider switching, project management, copyright and licensing, OER authoring tools, accessibility, (more recently) generative artificial intelligence, and publishing and sharing. The boot camp is taught by a combination of librarians and instructional designers and is aimed primarily at faculty who have received a Z-Course Grant to convert their course to use zero-cost course materials, although it is open to all faculty.  This session discusses the evolution of the boot camp through several formats, from a two-day in-person event, to a synchronous Zoom event, to a one-day event, to its current form as an asynchronous course offered in Blackboard Ultra, FHSU’s LMS. The boot camp has always had a strong emphasis on feedback and revision.  In its asynchronous form, the camp begins with a welcome module that introduces participants to resources available to support OER work at the institutional and state level and provides a syllabus and list of relevant terminology. Each module contains readings and/or videos, a discussion requiring participants to apply and share new knowledge and skills, and a brief survey to capture participants’ feedback and suggestions for how the module could be improved. The camp ends with a final survey and a certificate for participants who complete it. We are currently on the second iteration of the asynchronous boot camp and expect to continue to update it iteratively every year.  The current iteration contains the following modules:Why Open, which contains testimonial videos from faculty and readings about student needs and behaviors around course material costsProject Management, which contains a worksheet walking participants through searching for existing OERs, readings and videos about textbook structure and elements and textbook mapping for revision projects, and an exercise in which students review an existing textbookAccessibility, which talks about current regulations and best practices and includes a reflection and persona exerciseAI and OER, which is currently fairly minimal, with a single reading and a discussion about concerns and opportunitiesCopyright and Licensing, which contains readings about evaluating copyright, requesting permission to use student work, and finding free-to-use mediaAuthoring Tools, which contains a comparison between Pressbooks and Libretexts (the two OER authoring platforms for which FHSU provides support) and instructional videos on how to use bothPublishing and Sharing, which discusses how to implement peer review, add metadata, publish, print on demand, and promote new open resources within the OER and scholarly communities
Speakers
avatar for Claire Nickerson

Claire Nickerson

Associate Professor and Open Initiatives Librarian, Fort Hays State University
 Claire Nickerson is an associate professor and the Open Initiatives Librarian at Fort Hays State University (FHSU) in Kansas. She also sits on Open Up Learning Kansas, the statewide OER steering committee for the Kansas Board of Regents (KBOR). At FHSU, she chairs the institutional... Read More →
Wednesday October 7, 2026 4:55pm - 5:25pm EDT
6 DR4 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

5:30pm EDT

Beyond the PDF: Finding and Remixing Living OER with the Pressbooks Directory
Wednesday October 7, 2026 5:30pm - 6:00pm EDT
ID: 31580

Educators around the world are hungry for open educational resources, but too often what they find are static PDFs locked behind clunky repositories, difficult to discover and even harder to adapt. The Pressbooks Directory represents a fundamentally different kind of OER repository: a free, open, and searchable collection of over 8,500 open access books, built not just to be read, but to be remixed, localized, and made your own.This hands-on session will introduce participants to the Pressbooks Directory as a discovery and adaptation platform that goes well beyond traditional static repositories to offer rich, interactive, and genuinely reusable content. Unlike PDF-based repositories that can feel like a dead end once downloaded, the Pressbooks Directory surfaces books that are alive: structured into chapters, embedded with H5P interactive activities, and filterable by license, subject area, interactivity level, and contributing institution. Whether you're an instructor building a course in sociology, a librarian curating resources for an allied health program, or an instructional designer looking to scaffold learning in a second language context, the Directory gives you the tools to find what you need. Critically for a global audience, the Directory empowers localization. Participants will see examples of how educators have adapted content for specific national contexts, and other instances of tailoring resources to their learners. This session directly addresses one of the most persistent barriers in open education: discoverability and reusability. Where many national and institutional repositories remain siloed, metadata-poor, and technically inaccessible to non-specialists, the Pressbooks Directory offers a community-powered alternative spanning hundreds of institutions worldwide. And with new texts being added every day, the collection grows continuously — a living ecosystem rather than a static archive.Participants will leave this session knowing how to search and filter the Directory to find high-quality, openly licensed content; how to evaluate books for adaptability based on license type, interactivity, and structure; and how to begin remixing that content immediately using Pressbooks' built-in tools. Pressbooks’ built in cloning tool makes it incredibly easy for educators to adapt content to fit their needs.In a landscape where digital infrastructure remains fragmented and individual educators often carry the weight of OER adoption with limited institutional support, the Directory lowers the barrier to meaningful adaptation — not just downloading, but genuinely remixing content to fit local languages, curricula, and contexts.No prior experience with Pressbooks is required. Whether you are brand new to OER or a seasoned open practitioner looking to discover a powerful new repository, this session offers practical, immediately applicable skills for finding and building with open content at scale.
Speakers
avatar for John McLeod

John McLeod

Sales Team Lead, Pressbooks
John McLeod, Sales Team Lead, brings over four decades of experience in higher education. From his early days supporting students at the University of Alberta Bookstore to his current role guiding institutions through the evaluation and adoption of Pressbooks, John plays a vital role... Read More →
Wednesday October 7, 2026 5:30pm - 6:00pm EDT
5 DR3 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

5:30pm EDT

Measuring Student Perceptions of Open Educational Practices in a Co-Created Course
Wednesday October 7, 2026 5:30pm - 6:00pm EDT
ID: 33803

This session shares findings from a mixed-methods research study examining how students’ awareness, attitudes, and engagement with Open Educational Practices (OEP) shift over the course of a semester in a higher education setting. The study is grounded in an undergraduate course on Open Educational Practices at a Canadian university, where students engaged with key concepts such as Open Educational Resources (OER), open pedagogy, Creative Commons licensing, remixing, co-creation, learner agency, accessibility, and social justice. The course itself was intentionally designed as a co-created learning environment, inviting students to contribute to shared knowledge building and reflect on the role of openness in their emerging professional practice.This session addresses how students experience and interpret openness when they are not only introduced to open concepts, but also invited to participate in open practices. The research asks how student awareness of OEP changes across a semester, what benefits and challenges students identify, how willing they are to engage in open practices in the future, and what factors appear to shape positive or negative shifts in their perceptions.The study uses a pre- and post-course design that includes surveys, reflective writing, and optional follow-up interviews. Survey items explore familiarity with OEP and OER, perceived quality and usefulness, confidence, willingness to share or co-create materials openly, and views on accessibility, equity, and institutional support. Reflection and interview data add depth by highlighting how students make meaning of openness in relation to their lived experiences, academic identities, and future educational or professional contexts.In this session, attendees will be introduced to the course and research design, invited to consider key themes emerging from the data, and encouraged to reflect on what these findings suggest for open course design and student engagement. Attention will be given to the pedagogical and ethical implications of asking students to move from consumers of knowledge to contributors within open learning environments.Attendees will leave with practical insights for designing or revising courses that introduce OEP in meaningful, learner-centred ways. This session will be especially relevant for educators, educational developers, researchers, and open education advocates interested in understanding how students perceive openness, what supports deeper engagement, and how open education can be enacted in ways that are participatory, reflective, and socially responsive.
Speakers
avatar for Brandon Carson

Brandon Carson

Sessional Instructor and Research Associate, Ontario Tech University
Brandon Carson is an open education scholar-practitioner whose work sits at the intersection of teaching and learning, educational technology, and higher education change. With more than 17 years of experience in the post-secondary sector, Brandon has supported initiatives related... Read More →
Wednesday October 7, 2026 5:30pm - 6:00pm EDT
6 DR4 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA
 
Thursday, October 8
 

10:30am EDT

AI Enhanced Open Pedagogy: Empowering Students as OER Creators in Mathematics
Thursday October 8, 2026 10:30am - 11:00am EDT
ID: 34040

Open Educational Resources (OER) and Open Pedagogy have long emphasized learner agency, collaboration, and knowledge sharing. As generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools become increasingly integrated into educational contexts, there is a timely opportunity to examine how these tools can be leveraged ethically and productively within open educational practices. This session presents an exploration of AI‑enhanced Open Pedagogy in undergraduate mathematics courses, where students were positioned not as passive consumers of content, but as creators of openly licensed knowledge.In this study, students engaged in renewable assignments that contributed directly to the OER community. Learners created mathematical problems, explanations, and learning resources, openly licensed their work, and agreed to shared it publicly. AI tools such as ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot were used as learning partners, supporting brainstorming, exploring alternative solution paths, generating practice questions, and refining explanations. Students were explicitly guided to use AI critically such as verifying outputs, reflecting on reasoning to ensuring that all final submissions demonstrated their own understanding.Survey results revealed that the majority of participants preferred this AI‑enhanced Open Pedagogy approach over traditional assignments. Students reported reduced stress, improved confidence, stronger conceptual understanding, and deeper engagement with the material. Many learners highlighted how AI tools supported metacognitive processes such as self‑checking answers, identifying gaps in understanding, and simplifying explanations for broader audiences. Importantly, students consistently emphasized that AI did not replace learning, but rather supported reflection and critical thinking.Participants also expressed enthusiasm about contributing to openly available resources and valued the authenticity of producing work that extended beyond the classroom. However, findings showed that student‑created OERs were often limited in format, underscoring the need for intentional design strategies. This session highlights the importance of brainstorming diverse, interdisciplinary, and creative OER formats with students early in the course to fully realize the potential of Open Pedagogy.The session will conclude with practical lessons learned, ethical considerations for AI use in open contexts, and future directions, including integrating student‑created questions into platforms such as MyOpenMath for global sharing.Key takeaways for attendees include:Practical strategies for integrating AI tools into Open Pedagogy while preserving academic integrity and learner agencyDesign principles for renewable assignments that promote creativity, reflection, and opennessStudent perspectives on AI use in OER creationActionable ideas for expanding the scope and impact of student‑generated OERsThis session offers an early but promising model for how AI‑enhanced Open Pedagogy can support active learning and transform mathematics education within the global open education movement.
Speakers
avatar for Virginia Thompson

Virginia Thompson

Associate Professor, CUNY York College
Professor Thompson currently teaches 100‑level gateway courses in the Mathematics & Computer Science Department at York College. She coordinates all Mathematics General Education (GE) courses, which includes orienting new faculty to the curriculum, updating syllabi, choosing textbook... Read More →
Thursday October 8, 2026 10:30am - 11:00am EDT
8 DR6 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

10:30am EDT

From Print to Audiobook: Amplifying Student Voices Through Open Pedagogy
Thursday October 8, 2026 10:30am - 11:00am EDT
ID: 31683

This session explores the creation of an open audiobook for College of DuPage’s introductory-level speech communication OER textbook, Exploring Communication in the Real World. The audiobook was developed to expand access to learning materials while engaging students as collaborators in the creation of open educational resources. Designed to accompany and reinvigorate an existing OER speech communication textbook, the audiobook leverages open pedagogy by involving students in the recording, editing, and production of chapter segments. Through this process, students contributed directly to a resource that benefits future learners while developing practical communication, media production, and collaboration skills. This session will discuss how students can transform into a speaker in narration, an audio technician in editing and post-production, and a textbook editor in suggesting or discovering what content may be outdated or may not be clearly understood by students. Presenters will give examples of what was discovered by working with students as co-creators of course material content. The project demonstrates how open pedagogy can transform students from consumers of course materials into active knowledge creators. Participants will learn about the project’s design, including workflows for student participation, accessibility considerations, and strategies for maintaining quality in a collaborative production process. Presenters will give an overview of textbook selection and considerations for selecting this content over others, including information on how a multimedia version of the text can enhance or complement the digital or print version. The session will also explore how open audiobooks can expand the format of OER to better support diverse learners, including those who benefit from multimodal and accessible content. This presentation invites discussion about how institutions and the broader open education community can support innovative forms of open content that democratize knowledge production and make learning materials more inclusive, adaptable, and sustainable. This project was a collaboration between the Library's OER Grant Program and Media Lab. Presenters welcome questions about the process of open publishing and the differences between digital, print, and audio with special consideration for funding, licensing, and necessary skills. In addition, the post-production process, scope of work for students, part-time staff, and full-time staff, and how the success of the program was measured will be discussed. This session will include interactive elements such as links, resources, and audio samples of the work created so attendees can visualize the process along with the presentation. Attendees will be provided with access to the published audiobook at the conclusion of the session. 
Speakers
avatar for Lauren Kosrow

Lauren Kosrow

Digital Content and Open Access Librarian, College of DuPage
Lauren serves as the Digital Content and Open Access Librarian at College of DuPage and chair of the OER Steering Committee. In this role, she facilitates the Faculty Support Grant program and provides leadership for the college’s textbook affordability initiatives. Lauren has an... Read More →
avatar for Danielle Oakes

Danielle Oakes

Media Lab Supervisor, College of DuPage
Danielle Oakes, MLIS, works as Media Lab Supervisor at the College of DuPage Library. Past credentials include work in multiple libraries, archives, and museums in Illinois with a focus on emerging and/or vintage technologies. This Guinness World Record holder has been published for... Read More →
Thursday October 8, 2026 10:30am - 11:00am EDT
2 Room M MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

10:30am EDT

Open Pedagogy in Action: Enhancing Information Literacy Through Student-Led OER Revision
Thursday October 8, 2026 10:30am - 11:00am EDT
ID: 32228

Open pedagogy provides students with opportunities for their work to have purpose outside of the classroom through the creation or improvement of open educational resources (OER; Witt, 2020). One potential application of open pedagogy is for students to collaborate with their instructor to update an OER (Tillinghast et al., 2020). OER textbooks in particular need updating as new research is conducted and the findings reported in the textbook may be found to be inaccurate or incomplete given the current body of knowledge. In this case study, students across two semesters of an introductory-level child development course collaborated with the instructor to update the research findings reported in the course OER. Throughout the course, students used social annotation to flag citations that were five years or older. A librarian demonstrated to the students how to find scholarly articles using the campus library databases. Students at the end of the term were assigned to chapters to find a scholarly article to update one of the outdated citations. The article was first approved by the instructor to check that it was indeed scholarly and appropriate for the textbook. Then, students organized the information from the article into tables with suggestions for where and how the article could be cited in the textbook . Because students were learning how to identify, use, and create information in this open pedagogy project, it was expected that information literacy skills would be developed. To test this expectation, the students in the course were invited to complete information literacy self-reports of their skills before and after the project (using a measure adapted from Sommer et al., 2021). There was a focus on examining changes in source evaluation skills, given that the project emphasized finding and identifying appropriate sources for updating the OER textbook. Students reported an increase in source evaluation skills based on their indicated level of confidence in items such as “evaluate internet sources,” and “select information most appropriate for the need” from the beginning (M = 3.72, SD = .54) to the end of the semester (M = 4.25, SD = .50; t(90) = 7.73, p < .001). In open-ended responses to skills developed, 72 students mentioned research and source finding skills (e.g., “I learned how to use the library’s databases to find a relevant article”), 48 stated identifying outdated information (e.g., “I developed a focus on comparing information that is modern to information that is outdated”), 38 mentioned critical thinking (e.g., “Looking at sources and realizing not everything in a textbook is law”), 22 mentioned reading and note taking skills (e.g., “It gave me an opportunity to dissect the textbook in many sections”), and 18 mentioned deeper comprehension and engagement (e.g., “It helped me get a better understanding of the concepts”; note that students mentioned multiple skills in their responses). Taken together, the findings indicate that having students collaborate on updating an OER textbook benefits the students involved in developing important skills and benefits future students through an improved textbook. 
Speakers
avatar for Virginia Clinton-Lisell

Virginia Clinton-Lisell

Associate Professor, University of North Dakota
Dr. Virginia Clinton-Lisell began her career in education as an ESL teacher in New York City. She then obtained her PhD in Educational Psychology with a minor in Cognitive Science at the University of Minnesota where she was trained in educational research. She has published over... Read More →
Thursday October 8, 2026 10:30am - 11:00am EDT
4 Room T MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

10:30am EDT

Reframing the Past, Reimagining the Future: OER Project’s Approach to History and Climate Education
Thursday October 8, 2026 10:30am - 11:00am EDT
ID: 33807

As access to information expands globally, the question is no longer whether knowledge is available, but whose knowledge is represented and how it is framed. OER offers a powerful opportunity not only to remove cost barriers but also to rethink the narratives and perspectives embedded in educational content—and OER Project brings this opportunity to social studies, an often-overlooked discipline that so greatly impacts our present and future. This session explores how openly licensed history and climate curricula offered by OER Project can contribute to a more inclusive and democratic approach to learning. In social studies education, the phrase “to the victor go the spoils” too often underpins historical narratives. Many state standards lean heavily toward a more “traditional narrative,” and textbook publishers therefore follow their lead. OER provides an opportunity to transcend these narratives and open a conversation about who history is about and who it is for. The nature of OER allows for an expanded view of history, enabling students to learn about the diverse underpinnings of our past. OER Project history courses—Big History and World History—were designed to meet standards (because yes, standards are important), but also to provide opportunities for students to learn a more comprehensive and inclusive history, from the impact of Islamic scholars on our understanding of science to the contributions of lesser-known individuals who shaped history, such as Sorqoqtani Beki, who used her networks to shape the Mongol Empire, and Manuel Quezon, who helped more than 1,300 Jewish refugees escaping persecution find a home in the Philippines. OER Project: Climate is a course designed to bring climate change into all classrooms. We believe solving the climate crisis is not a topic that should be contained to science classrooms; solutions are interdisciplinary, and we believe all students—and teachers—should feel equipped to understand and confront the issue. Participants will consider how incorporating multiple perspectives—across regions, cultures, and voices—can help learners better understand complexity, challenge dominant narratives, and engage more critically with historical interpretation. In addition to social studies content, the session highlights the role of open resources in addressing urgent global challenges. Using a climate change course grounded in solutions-oriented thinking, we will explore how OER Project can empower learners not just with knowledge of problems but with frameworks for action and agency. This approach reflects a broader shift in education toward equipping learners to navigate uncertainty and participate meaningfully in shaping the future. Attendees will have the opportunity to learn about a variety of OER Project resources that help democratize knowledge and to reflect on how they could incorporate these resources into their own teaching. By the end of the session, participants will leave with practical strategies for evaluating and implementing open resources that prioritize inclusivity, representation, and learner agency. 
Speakers
CK

Chelsea Katzenberg

Academic Lead, OER Project
Chelsea Katzenberg is the Academic Lead at OER Project where she is responsible for managing the content development and updates for all OER Project courses. Before joining OER Project, Chelsea was a founding member of a charter high school in the South Bronx, where she taught world... Read More →
AM

Angelina Meadows Comb

Director of Education, OER Project
Angelina Meadows Comb serves as Director of OER Project, where she leads the development of innovative K-12 social studies curriculum and educator resources. Her leadership advances collaboration and empowers educators to strengthen teaching and learning nationwide.
Thursday October 8, 2026 10:30am - 11:00am EDT
6 DR4 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

10:30am EDT

Service Learning: Decolonizing Open Education Through African Knowledge Co-Creation
Thursday October 8, 2026 10:30am - 11:00am EDT
ID: 33634

Service Learning: Decolonizing Open Education through African Knowledge Co-CreationIn Eastern, Western, Central and Southern Africa, Catholic Higher Education Institutions (CHEIs) are at a critical crossroads. While international knowledge systems have expanded through digital transformation and Open Educational Resources (OER), much of the content, pedagogy, and epistemology remains rooted in colonial legacies that marginalize indigenous knowledge systems and African voices. Open Education has expanded access to knowledge globally, yet critical gaps remain regarding whose knowledge is represented and legitimized. In African CHEIs, colonial legacies through Christianity continue to shape curricula, often marginalizing indigenous knowledge systems and local epistemologies (Ngungi Wa Thiong’o, 1968; Andrew Furco, 1996; Linda Tuhiwai Smith, 1999; Boaventura de Sousa Santos, 2014 & Pete, J. 2019).This presentation examines how open practices can advance the decolonization of education by repositioning knowledge as a contextualized public good for all. Drawing on over a decade of practice in Service Learning and OER, the session presents case studies from selected African CHEIs where students and communities co-create knowledge. Practical examples include: (1) Service Learning projects where students document indigenous knowledge and community innovations as open resources (local language use); (2) collaborative development of localized OER to support context-relevant teaching (faculty led); and (3) regional initiatives promoting open knowledge sharing across CHEIs in 13 Nations of Africa.These practices demonstrate how open pedagogy can shift universities from knowledge transmitters to knowledge co-creators embedded in society’s local context. The session contributes to the conference theme by showcasing African-led innovations that not only adopt but reimagine open education through equity (Solidarity Service Learning), relevance (Empathy), and epistemic justice(Synodality). The conference Pathway of Innovating Open Content to Democratize Knowledge provides a unique opportunity to reimagine education as a public good for all, emphasizing accessibility, inclusion, and contextually relevant. By embracing open practices, African institutions especially CHEIs can democratize knowledge production and dissemination while reclaiming epistemic agency in the 21st century. In a nutshell, this presentation explores the intersection of open education, service learning, and decolonization within African education contexts. While OER and open practices aim to democratize knowledge, they often reproduce global inequalities when detached from local realities. Drawing from the presenter’s work as a regional director in Service Learning and involvement in international OER initiatives, the session highlights three practice-based case studies from several African universities:Service Learning as Open Knowledge Creation: At Catholic Higher Education Institutions and other partner universities in Eastern, Western, Central and Southern Africa, students engage with communities to co-create knowledge. Projects include documenting indigenous agricultural practices, community health solutions, prison ministry and local innovations. Localizing Open Educational Resources: Through curriculum integration efforts, faculty and students collaboratively adapt and develop OER that reflect African context thus embedding local case studies, languages, and lived realities. This addresses the disconnect between imported content and contextual relevance.Regional Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing: Cross-institutional initiatives have fostered networks of educators working on open practices, enabling sharing of resources, pedagogies, and strategies for embedding openness within teaching, learning, and research.
Speakers
avatar for Judith Pete

Judith Pete

Lecturer & Research Coordinator, Tangaza University
Dr. Judith Pete is a Senior Lecturer, Global Researcher and Africa Director for Service Learning at Higher Education institutions in Africa for over a decade. Worked in Regional Non-Governmental Organizations in different managerial and leadership capacities. She is currently the... Read More →
Thursday October 8, 2026 10:30am - 11:00am EDT
5 DR3 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

11:05am EDT

Connecting the Opens in Europe: From Strategy to Alliance-Building for Knowledge as a Public Good
Thursday October 8, 2026 11:05am - 11:35am EDT
ID: 32921

Across Europe, open education has often developed alongside, rather than together with, related movements such as open science, open access, and open knowledge policy. Yet in a period marked by rapid digital transformation, artificial intelligence, and pressure on public-interest infrastructures, fragmentation is becoming a strategic weakness. This session examines how “connecting the opens” can provide a stronger foundation for open education by linking policy, practice, and community across sectors.The presentation draws on three connected strands of work. First, it discusses SPARC Europe’s Connecting the Opens position paper (https://zenodo.org/records/17572650), which makes the case for intentionally aligning Open Science and Open Education to build a more equitable and future-oriented higher education system in Europe. Second, it presents insights from the feasibility work for a possible European Open Education Alliance (https://zenodo.org/records/18862080), which identified strong support for a broader coordinating structure able to strengthen policy coherence, infrastructure conversations, shared understanding, and collective action across countries. Third, it reflects on the contribution that community-based activities can make to sustaining exchange, experimentation, and implementation, exploring the European Network of Open Education Librarians as an example of this approach.Rather than presenting these as separate initiatives, the session argues that they represent three layers of the same change strategy: conceptual alignment, ecosystem coordination, and community practice. Taken together, they suggest that open education can gain greater visibility, legitimacy, and impact when understood not as an isolated field but as part of a wider movement to uphold knowledge as a public good.The session will offer participants a strategic framework and practical insights for thinking about how open education communities can connect across institutional, national, and thematic boundaries. It will be of interest to policymakers, network leaders, librarians, educators, and open practitioners seeking ways to move from dispersed activity toward durable collaboration.
Speakers
avatar for Paola Corti

Paola Corti

Senior Open Education Expert, SPARC Europe
Paola Corti is a Senior Open Education Expert at SPARC Europe, and she manages the European Network of Open Education Librarians (ENOEL); she supports librarians in taking action to implement the UNESCO OER Recommendation. She also works part of her time at Politecnico di Milano (Italy... Read More →
avatar for Vanessa Proudman

Vanessa Proudman

Director, SPARC Europe
Vanessa Proudman is Director of SPARC Europe, working to make Open the default in Europe. Vanessa has well over 20 years of experience in international, national and regional policymaking and advocacy in the areas of Open Access, Open Science, Open Culture and Open Education with... Read More →
avatar for Paul Stacey

Paul Stacey

Independent Consultant, https://paulstacey.global
Based in Vancouver Canada Paul Stacey is an independent consultant on open education and the strategic use of open in education, science, culture and other sectors. From 2022 through to current times Paul helped SPARC Europe connect Open Science with Open Education through their... Read More →
Thursday October 8, 2026 11:05am - 11:35am EDT
2 Room M MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

11:05am EDT

From Campsite to Commons: Reimagining Who Builds and Owns Open Knowledge
Thursday October 8, 2026 11:05am - 11:35am EDT
ID: 33568

For decades, National Geographic Education has translated the work of Explorers, storytellers, educators and community leaders, into classroom-ready resources, reaching millions of educators and learners worldwide. But like many institutions, we found ourselves “making camp”: Publishing high-quality content that was widely accessed, yet largely static. Difficult to adapt, remix, or meaningfully co-own across contexts.This session explores what it takes to move from that campsite to a true commons.In partnership with the Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education (ISKME), we are building the PowerED by National Geographic Society Hub on OER Commons: Not just as a repository, but as a participatory ecosystem. This shift is not primarily technical; it is cultural. It asks: Who builds knowledge? Who adapts it? Who owns it?At the center of this work is a reimagining of authorship. National Geographic Explorers are no longer only sources of expertise; they are co-creators alongside educators and, increasingly, learners. Together, they design open educational resources that are intended to be adapted: across geographies, cultures, and learning environments. An Explorer’s fieldwork becomes not a finished product, but a starting point for collective knowledge-building.We will share key strategies that have supported this transition from publishing to shared ownership:Designing modular OER templates that invite remix, localization, and reinterpretationBuilding capacity through an OER Fundamentals Academy, where educators learn to license, adapt, and publish their own workUsing platform analytics (e.g., remixing, downloads, global participation) to understand how knowledge moves and evolvesCreating feedback loops that position educators and communities as contributors—not just consumersParticipants will engage with real examples from the hub, including co-created lessons on topics such as volcanism and cultural storytelling, and see how these resources evolve as they are remixed and recontextualized. We will also share early insights from our academy model, where participants reported increased confidence in contributing to OER and a stronger sense of belonging within a global knowledge community.Ultimately, this session invites a shift in perspective: What if open education is not a collection of resources, but a shared space we build and rebuild together?
Speakers
avatar for Tyson Brown

Tyson Brown

Director, National Geographic Society
Tyson Brown leads the Dissemination, Platforms and Explorer Experience team for the National Geographic Society. In this role, he contributes to the organization’s strategic plan, leads product development and marketing for a library of materials, and delivers delightful content... Read More →
PC

Patrick Cavanagh

Manager, Content Design, National Geographic Society
Patrick has been with the Education division of National Geographic Society for ten years. His background is in graphic design, and he also has training and experience in project management. He co-leads the Society's OER initiative.
Thursday October 8, 2026 11:05am - 11:35am EDT
4 Room T MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

11:05am EDT

Identify, Connect, and Refresh: A Practical Framework for Multi-Institutional Collaboration to Democratize Educational Resources
Thursday October 8, 2026 11:05am - 11:35am EDT
ID: 32112

This abstract documents the author and his team’s application of a three-step framework to facilitate collaboration among the six technical institutes of higher education in Singapore. These national institutes are namely Singapore Polytechnic (SP, the author’s affiliation), Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Temasek Polytechnic, Nanyang Polytechnic, Republic Polytechnic, and Institute of Technical Education. The collaboration enabled the democratization of shared educational resources on their jointly-developed one-stop online portal known as POLITEMall, by applying the practical framework of identify, connect, and refresh. The first step of the framework is to strategically identify which institute is to be in charge of creating and maintaining which subject modules (also known as courses in the United States) on POLITEMall. For instance, SP is renowned for engineering among the six institutes and is hence responsible for the online modules related to built environment, engineering, and maritime. This strategy maximizes the academic quality and rigor of the online modules on POLITEMall, as the most qualified lecturers will be responsible for the modules in their relevant fields. The massive workload to create and maintain all the 297 diverse online modules is also equitably shared among the respective institutes in charge. Subsequently, the second step of the framework is to intentionally connect learners to the online modules that are directly relevant to them. For instance, students in the mechanical engineering diploma courses (also known as programs in the United States) will be pre-enrolled in online modules such as Mechanics and Thermofluids (the author’s module in SP). This strategy ensures learners are intentionally aligned to their educational needs and interests, hence also enhancing knowledge retention of the online modules. Nonetheless, all of the approximately 120,000 full-time and part-time students and staff across the six institutes can virtually self-enroll for free to access any of the 297 diverse online modules on POLITEMall. Lastly, the third step of the framework is to periodically refresh the online modules for sustained quality, relevance, and currency of the shared educational resources on POLITEMall. For instance, at the end of every semester after student feedback surveys, lecturers will bridge any content gaps within their online modules during the breaks. Moreover, subject-matter expert lecturers from the six institutes have mutually agreed to convene every two to three years to review the POLITEMall online modules, ensuring their content remains relevant and current. Today’s world is increasingly fragmented and more nations are working in silos. The future of our global and local educational landscapes should instead be based on open knowledge, communication, and collaboration. By applying this practical three-step framework of identify, connect, and refresh, institutes can move beyond initial silos and toward a more sustainable future of shared educational resources and democratized knowledge on a national level.
Speakers
avatar for Ying-Wei Leong

Ying-Wei Leong

Senior Lecturer (Distinguished Educator) and Teaching & Learning Mentor, Singapore Polytechnic
Mr. Ying-Wei Leong is currently a Senior Lecturer (Distinguished Educator) and Teaching & Learning Mentor in the School of Mechanical & Aeronautical Engineering, Singapore Polytechnic. He teaches engineering core modules and also supervises final year projects, including an industry... Read More →
Thursday October 8, 2026 11:05am - 11:35am EDT
5 DR3 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

11:05am EDT

Innovating Practices Around Open Education Through BarCamps and Unconferences. Learnings from 14 Years of OERcamps
Thursday October 8, 2026 11:05am - 11:35am EDT
ID: 33851

Open education is widely understood in terms of access and sharing: making resources available, reusable, and visible across contexts.These practices have been central to the development of the field and remain essential for broadening participation in education. At the same time, less explicit attention is often given to how knowledge is collaboratively constructed in participatory settings and to the intentional design of such processes.This presentation explores collaborative knowledge construction as a complementary dimension of openness, using OERcamps as long-standing, practice-based examples.For 14 years now, OERcamps have brought together educators, practitioners, and community members in formats that intentionally balance minimal (but strong) structure with high levels of participant agency.Instead of relying on predefined agendas, participants collectively identify topics, propose sessions, and iteratively shape discussions throughout each event.Across multiple iterations, recurring patterns can be observed: participants move fluidly between roles as learners, contributors, and facilitators; knowledge is not simply shared, but continuously refined through dialogue; and responsibility for outcomes is distributed across the community.These dynamics create environments in which knowledge is treated as evolving and situated, rather than fixed and final, and in which learning emerges through interaction rather than transmission.By examining these patterns, the presentation situates OERcamps within broader conversations about participation, collaboration, and community-building in open education.It argues that participatory formats can extend existing open practices by complementing access and sharing with processes that enable ongoing knowledge construction and collective sense-making.In this way, OERcamps can be understood as examples of how open education can move beyond resource-centered approaches without replacing them, and how communities can take an active role in shaping knowledge practices.Rather than positioning this approach as an alternative to established practices, the session offers a differentiated perspective: openness can be understood as a spectrum that includes access, sharing, and participatory knowledge practices.Recognizing this spectrum allows for more intentional design of open education initiatives that respond to diverse goals, contexts, and institutional settings.Participants will be introduced to concrete design principles derived from the OERcamp experience, including strategies for enabling participant-driven agendas, supporting fluid role transitions, and fostering shared ownership of learning processes.The session will also address practical considerations for adapting such approaches to different institutional and cultural environments, including constraints related to time, resources, facilitation, and organizational structures.By connecting long-term practice with broader conceptual reflection, this presentation contributes to a more nuanced understanding of how open education can evolve—both by expanding access to resources and by creating spaces where knowledge is collaboratively constructed and continuously developed.
Speakers
avatar for Jöran Muuß-Merholz

Jöran Muuß-Merholz

Founder of Agentur J&K, Team OERcamp at Agentur J&K
Jöran Muuß-Merholz, expert on open and progressive learning and working.In 2009 Jöran started his agency “J&K - Jöran und Konsorten” (“Jöran and fellows”) to strengthen the connections between the educational and the digital world. Jöran is consulting educational organizations... Read More →
avatar for Nicole Hagen

Nicole Hagen

Co Editorial Director, Team OERcamp at Agentur J&K
Dr. Nicole Hagen is a member of the OERcamp team for the J&K agency in Hamburg, Germany. Her key responsibilities include researching content, preparing editorials and publishing on subjects related to openness and education. In addition to her primary interests, Nicole has a keen... Read More →
avatar for Frank Homp

Frank Homp

Co Editorial Director, Team OERcamp at Agentur J&K
Frank is a second-generation NOERd — he joined the game when it was already in full swing. On the one hand, he regrets that a bit, since he’s only now getting to know so many great people and past projects. On the other hand, he feels that this sometimes allows him to look at... Read More →
Thursday October 8, 2026 11:05am - 11:35am EDT
8 DR6 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

11:05am EDT

TESSFEG: An Open Source Gamified Simulations System for Democratizing Technical Knowledge for Global Learners
Thursday October 8, 2026 11:05am - 11:35am EDT
ID: 32456

The rapid advancement of frontier technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and Quantum Computing indirectly threatens to widen the global knowledge gap. While these fields define the future of industry, high quality engineering education even in open access remains largely gatekept by high-bandwidth requirements or complex proprietary software. This session introduces TESSFEG - an open source, mission-driven digital platform designed to reinvent how young learners engage with the emerging technological fields. By transforming abstract STEM concepts into tactile, interactive and engaging engineering challenges, TESSFEG serves as a functional prototype for fulfilling crucial goals such as the UNESCO Sustainable Development Goal 4 (Quality Education). TESSFEG utilises a rigorous yet user friendly 2D simulation environment bult to ensure high-performance learning that remains accessible even on low bandwidth network and low spec-hardware. The platform replaces shallow metaphors with real mathematical and physical laws, such as Ohm's law and strict Boolean logic. Learners engage in an authentic engineering design loop : moving from passive learning to active investigation and iterative testing under realistic simulated environments.Moreover, TESSFEG demonstrates a strong connection to real-world engineering challenges as the mission modules will directly mirro contemporary global research initiatives such as processing telemetry data from deep space probes or designing systems for ecological conservation and sustainable development. This approach shifts motivation from simple progression to understanding how technology impacts the world. To ensure global inclusivity, TESSFEG employs universal design principles and adaptive learning interactions. The interface minimizes text in favor of standard scientific symbols and interactive tutorials, facilitating participation across linguistic barriers. Designed as a lightweight 2D browser tool, it is optimized for environments with fluctuating internet connections, making it a scalable resource for remote connectivity. As an open source tool, TESSFEG is a collaborative invitation to the open education community. Finally, TESSFEG demonstrates that while at present, we cannot solve global educational inequality effortlessly, we can invent tools that make the vision of open knowledge a reality.
Speakers
avatar for Pariton Langpoklakpam

Pariton Langpoklakpam

Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU)
Pariton Langpoklakpam is a citizen scientist and educator currently pursuing M.Sc Physics at IGNOU. With a foundational degree in Physics Honours from Manipur University, his work focuses on the intersection of frontier technology and open education. Pariton is the lead architect... Read More →
Thursday October 8, 2026 11:05am - 11:35am EDT
6 DR4 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

11:50am EDT

A Massachusetts Initiative to Connect OER with Responsible AI Use
Thursday October 8, 2026 11:50am - 12:20pm EDT
ID: 33662

As open education continues to evolve, practitioners are being asked to rethink how emergent technologies, particularly generative artificial intelligence (AI) can strengthen, rather than undermine, the core values of openness. This session explores how open educational practices can adapt to rapid technological change while remaining grounded in human connection, creativity, and the public good.The session draws on the Career and AI Readiness while Remixing Open Textbooks through an Equity Lens (CA-ROTEL) initiative, a collaborative project bringing together faculty and support teams across multiple institutions in Massachusetts. The project is supported by a $1.98 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to adopt open-source textbooks and create ancillary materials for general education courses that are applicable across public college systems. Framingham State University is the lead recipient and has partnered with UMass-Lowell and Northern Essex Community College on the initiative. CA-ROTEL integrates open educational resources (OER), ethical uses of generative AI, and career-connected learning into general education courses that serve diverse learner populations.Rather than positioning AI as a shortcut or efficiency tool, CA-ROTEL approaches it as a participatory and reflective technology, one that can support creativity, deepen learning, and help students articulate transferable skills when used transparently and responsibly. Faculty participating in the initiative remix openly licensed textbooks and create ancillary materials that are culturally responsive, adaptable, and locally relevant. Generative AI is used intentionally to support authentic learning activities, such as modeling workplace scenarios, discussing the ethics of AI, generating prompts for reflection and revision, and helping learners practice describing their knowledge and skills for future academic or professional contexts.This session will share how CA-ROTEL intentionally combines open licensing, faculty support, and collaborative professional development to build sustainable open educational ecosystems. Particular attention will be given to the processes that enabled both materials and teaching practices to circulate across institutions while remaining flexible enough to support local context and instructional autonomy.Speakers will highlight how integrating generative AI and career readiness prompted faculty to critically examine their own perspectives on AI and to more intentionally embed the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) Career Competencies within their curricula. Through CA-ROTEL’s structured professional development, faculty gained a practical, values-aligned framework for thoughtfully integrating AI with OER that  moves  beyond experimentation toward purposeful pedagogical design.As a result, instructors reported increased confidence and readiness to incorporate AI-enhanced learning activities into their courses. This preparation directly supports students in developing essential digital literacy and career-relevant skills, better positioning them to navigate and contribute to today’s AI-influenced workplace.This session positions CA-ROTEL as a transferable case study, not a fixed model. While the initiative emerged within a specific regional context, its methods—remixing OER, supporting faculty through open workflows, and treating AI as a tool for inquiry rather than compliance—are intentionally designed to share. The session invites participants to consider how similar approaches might be adapted to different educational systems, languages, policy environments, and cultural contexts.Dr. Robert Awkward will facilitate this session, offering perspective on the ways the CA‑ROTEL project is influencing OER development in Massachusetts and contributing to wider conversations about openness and educational innovation.
Speakers
avatar for Susan Tashjian

Susan Tashjian

Academic Innovations Programs Manager, Northern Essex Community College (NECC)
Susan Tashjian is Academic Innovations Programs Manager at Northern Essex Community College and a CA-ROTEL principal investigator. She supports faculty in instructional innovation, OER adoption/creation, and practical AI integration. Her work emphasizes equitable access, culturally... Read More →
avatar for Donna Mellen

Donna Mellen

Executive Director of Academic Technology, University of Massachusetts Lowell
Donna Mellen is the Executive Director of Academic Technology at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, where she leads campus initiatives focused on learning platforms, open education, digital accessibility, and partnering with faculty to scale inclusive, learner‑centered teaching... Read More →
avatar for Robert Awkward

Robert Awkward

Assistant Commissioner for Academic Effectiveness, Massachusetts Department of Higher Education
Dr. Robert Awkward is an educator and scholar based in Massachusetts whose work explores the intersection of open education, inclusive pedagogy, and emerging technologies in higher education. His interests focus on how open practices—such as OER, collaborative knowledge creation... Read More →
avatar for Ben Atchison

Ben Atchison

Professor of Mathematics, Framingham State University (FSU)
Benjamin Atchison is a Professor of Mathematics at Framingham State University and is a CA-ROTEL principal investigator. He served as an Assessment Coordinator for the original ROTEL grant (2021-2025). He is a long-time OER adopter and an advocate for the development and adoption... Read More →
Thursday October 8, 2026 11:50am - 12:20pm EDT
5 DR3 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

11:50am EDT

An Open Introduction to Film: Lessons from a NotebookLM Case Study
Thursday October 8, 2026 11:50am - 12:20pm EDT
ID: 33808

The transition to Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) for foundational survey courses poses a unique challenge: how do we replace beloved, publisher-provided textbooks that come bundled with extensive, high-quality supplementary resources? At the College of San Mateo, an AANAPISI and Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI), the Film 100 (Introduction to Film) course is a core degree requirement and a highly popular general education transfer course. As part of a statewide Acceleration Grant initiative aimed at converting the entire Film AA degree to full ZTC status by Fall 2027, our team is addressing this challenge through the creation of Reframing Cinema, a new, OER ZTC textbook.Crucially, Reframing Cinema is built from a decolonial lens, integrating film history and analysis while centering BIPOC, AANAPISI, and HSI film traditions as constitutive of film history rather than supplementary to it. However, writing a culturally responsive textbook is only half the battle. To truly support both student success and widespread instructor adoption, the text needs a robust ecosystem of visual aids, study materials, and a structured delivery method that rivals commercial publisher packages.This session presents a case study on how we are leveraging Google’s NotebookLM and other generative AI tools to build this comprehensive, scalable, open-access ecosystem. We will showcase how we use generative AI to develop custom images and infographics to illustrate complex film craft concepts, and how NotebookLM transforms the foundational OER text into dynamic study materials—such as interactive podcasts, explainer videos, and study guides—that seamlessly align with the course's decolonial framework.Beyond generating individual assets, we will discuss how we are packaging the textbook and all AI-enhanced supplementary materials into a comprehensive, ready-to-use Canvas Course Shell. This turnkey model allows future instructors to simply copy and adapt the shell, effectively removing the logistical barriers and overwhelming workload often associated with transitioning to ZTC materials. We view this holistic approach as a scalable framework that can support ZTC degree pathways across film and other disciplines.By sharing our work-in-progress, we aim to spark an active dialogue about the intersection of artificial intelligence, open education, and culturally responsive pedagogy. How can we creatively leverage emergent AI tools to build media-rich, inclusive resources? And how do these tools empower faculty to center equity without succumbing to burnout? Participants will leave with actionable strategies for building their own scalable, AI-supported OER frameworks.
Speakers
avatar for Tamara Perkins

Tamara Perkins

Film Professor and Filmmaker, College of San Mateo
Tamara Perkins is an award-winning documentary director, producer, and educator with over 20 years of filmmaking experience and over six years teaching film at the College of San Mateo (an AANAPISI and Hispanic-Serving Institution). Deeply committed to equity-centered pedagogy, she... Read More →
Thursday October 8, 2026 11:50am - 12:20pm EDT
6 DR4 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

11:50am EDT

From Conference Spark to Campus Change: Students as Co-Creators of Open Practice
Thursday October 8, 2026 11:50am - 12:20pm EDT
ID: 31878

What happens when a student encounters open education for the very first time, not in a classroom, but in the dynamic, participatory space of a conference? This session explores that question through the shared journey of an experienced open education practitioner and an undergraduate education student who, just two years ago, attended an open education conference together. For the student, the experience was transformative. What began as exposure quickly evolved into curiosity, and now into action: a senior capstone project designed to investigate and expand open education awareness at her home institution, where knowledge of open practices remains limited.Framed within the conference theme “Come Invent With Us! Innovating Open Practices to Uphold and Uplift Knowledge as a Public Good,” this session positions students not as passive recipients of open education, but as active agents in “hacking” and reshaping the open ecosystem. Together, the presenters will share their intergenerational and cross-role perspectives on entering, navigating, and contributing to the open education movement.At the heart of the session is the student’s emerging research design. She is developing a faculty survey to assess awareness of, and interest in, open educational practices, alongside plans for student-centered outreach and focus groups. These efforts aim to surface both barriers and opportunities for open education adoption at her institution, while also elevating student voice as a critical yet often underrepresented dimension of open praxis. Participants will be invited to contribute feedback on survey design, question framing, and strategies for engaging both faculty and students in meaningful dialogue about openness.This interactive session aligns with the “Hacking the Open Ecosystem and Praxis for the Public Good” track by centering experimentation, co-creation, and grassroots innovation. It highlights how small, relational entry points, such as bringing a student to a conference, can catalyze broader institutional and cultural shifts. Attendees will engage in rapid ideation activities to help refine the student’s research instruments and outreach strategies, effectively becoming co-designers in a real-time open education initiative.The session is also grounded in emerging literature on the value of student participation in academic conferences and high-impact practices. Research suggests that undergraduate engagement in scholarly communities enhances students’ sense of belonging, professional identity, and academic motivation (Kuh, 2008; Lopatto, 2010). Additionally, involving students as partners in educational innovation aligns with calls for more inclusive and participatory approaches to knowledge creation (Cook-Sather, Bovill, & Felten, 2014).By weaving together lived experience, research design, and participatory engagement, this session invites attendees to consider: What might be possible if we more intentionally invited students into the open ecosystem, not just as beneficiaries, but as co-inventors of the future of knowledge as a public good?
Speakers
avatar for Sydney DelMastro

Sydney DelMastro

Student, Endicott College
Sydney DelMastro is a student at Endicott College, majoring in English Secondary Education with a minor in Spanish. Her academic work and field experiences have focused on supporting diverse learners and creating inclusive, engaging classroom environments. She has completed field... Read More →
avatar for Lisa Young

Lisa Young

Founder & Principal, EduEssentials Consulting
Dr. Lisa Young is a longtime advocate for open education and learner centered innovation in higher education. She recently retired after more than 30 years with the Maricopa County Community College District, where she served in several leadership roles, including Faculty Administrator... Read More →
Thursday October 8, 2026 11:50am - 12:20pm EDT
2 Room M MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

11:50am EDT

Futures Thinking in Open Education, and What to Do When the AI Bubble Bursts
Thursday October 8, 2026 11:50am - 12:20pm EDT
ID: 34012

Education done with some sort of “open” ethos has existed for decades, changing shape and direction as new technologies like the World Wide Web and mobile connectivity made learning possible in new places and new ways. Over the last few years, what we previously referred to as machine learning has been repackaged with applications and software layers that communicate with humans in their native language – AI has arrived. But questions surrounding the onset and expansion of AI in the OER and broader Open Education spaces have increased, while conclusive answers about the direct and indirect impacts of its use elude us. What is AI able to do for us that we were previously unable to do, and at what social, financial, legal, and environmental costs? What changes between learners and across collaborators when various blackbox AI tools remain unreliable in their outputs? How do financial inequities shift as AI is taken up unequally by different groups, closing some gaps and further stratifying others? How do OER practitioners change their approaches to copyright and content sharing or reuse as AI models scrape and churn all content, not just that which has been openly licensed? And how might people at all levels of OER leadership and practice consider the implications on the environment, weighing them against the increased potential to democratize education? This session will explore key questions beyond just AI technology itself, but as Heidegger theorized nearly a century ago, the question concerning technology is not simply a technological question.This session will also discuss the process of futures modeling pioneered by Jim Dator, and how images of the future can be created based on trends and patterns of the past and present. Specific focus will be given to opening up the possibility that the current AI ecosystem may experience a bubble burst, similar to the Dot-com bubble in the late 1990ʻs. How do we assess the durability of our work in Open Education in the context of a potential AI bubble burst? And what do we do when it happens? While the future itself cannot be predicted, it is worth considering how Open Education changed as a result of previous seismic shifts in technology. At minimum, we can prepare to tackle undesirable future trajectories while charting paths towards those which uphold (and expand) efforts in Open Education to democratize access to public knowledge and level the learning playing field for anyone, anywhere.
Speakers
avatar for Billy Meinke-Lau

Billy Meinke-Lau

Director, Instructional Design and Development, Outreach College, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Billy Meinke is the Director of Instructional Design and Development (IDD) of the Outreach College at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, leading a team developing online programs and Open Educational Resources (OER). He has worked across many areas of Open Education, and enjoys... Read More →
Thursday October 8, 2026 11:50am - 12:20pm EDT
8 DR6 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

11:50am EDT

What If Open Learning Began with the World Each Learner Brings?
Thursday October 8, 2026 11:50am - 12:20pm EDT
ID: 32255

What if open learning began not with content, but with the world each learner already brings? Open education has done transformative work in widening access to knowledge, resources, and participation. But in an age of artificial intelligence, when information is increasingly abundant and instantly available, a deeper educational question comes into view: what helps learners make meaning from what they encounter, connect it to their own lives, and locate themselves in relation to one another and the world?This session explores that question through a story-first approach to open learning. Rather than beginning with abstract content, predetermined curricular structures, or decontextualized competencies, this approach begins with something personally meaningful to the learner: a language, a family story, a migration history, a food tradition, a place, or another lived point of connection. From there, learning expands outward into broader historical, cultural, ecological, and interdisciplinary understanding. The aim is not simply to make learning more engaging, but to create a form of education that is more humanly relevant, contextually grounded, and responsive to the realities learners already inhabit.At the center of the session is the proposition that openness must now do more than expand access to materials. It must also create conditions for curiosity, connection, recognition, and agency. When learners are invited to begin with their own worlds, openness becomes not only a matter of availability, but also of relevance, participation, and meaning. This has important implications for how we think about global learning, intercultural understanding, and the future of education in diverse, multilingual, and technologically mediated contexts.The session introduces a story-first model for open learning that is designed to be adaptable, translatable, and usable across settings. Participants will consider how such an approach might complement and extend existing understandings of openness by foregrounding lived experience, human connection, and local context. The session will be especially relevant to educators, designers, and institutional leaders interested in the relationship between AI, global learning, and more meaningful forms of open education.After a brief framing of the core idea, participants will be invited into guided reflection and discussion around one central question: What would change in open education if learning began not only with open content, but with the world each learner brings? The goal is to generate both practical and conceptual insight for participants seeking more human-centered, future-facing approaches to open learning, approaches that preserve the values of openness while making space for identity, context, curiosity, and connection.
Speakers
PL

Paula Laurel Jackson

What If Open Learning Began with the World Each Learner Brings?, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Project Zero
Paula Laurel Jackson is a Research Fellow and Education Architect exploring global learning, identity, human development, and the future of education in the age of AI. Drawing on research and field-based work across 56 countries, she examines how learning can become more meaningful... Read More →
Thursday October 8, 2026 11:50am - 12:20pm EDT
4 Room T MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

12:25pm EDT

Digital Resilience of ePortfolios for Open Education – Lessons for the Future
Thursday October 8, 2026 12:25pm - 12:55pm EDT
ID: 31780

The focus of this session is to describe, discuss, and debate the collaborative process that was used to publish an edited open-access, online book on ePortfolios that consists of 43 chapters from 85 authors around the globe and was published in 9 months. The goal of the session is to provide “lessons learned” that others can use to publish their own collaborative open-access books and resources.The book is entitled Digital Resilience of ePortfolios During and Beyond the COVID-19 Pandemic: Lessons for the Future, and it delves into the transformative role that ePortfolios have played during and after this global crisis.  We have both previously experienced the challenges of academic book publishing: financial cost, extended time to publication, and restricted access for readers.  Thus, we selected the Pressbooks publishing platform for this book to decrease the financial cost (virtually zero with an institutional license), increase publication time (9 months), and increase access (online open access).We sent out a global call for chapter proposals via international listservs in November 2024.  Based on this invitation, we received 73 proposals in January 2025 from authors around the globe who were passionate and curious about the international use of ePortfolios.  During the month of February, we reviewed the proposals and sorted them into 8 themes.  We then invited authors from 47 proposals to submit full chapters.  These authors submitted the first draft of their chapters in May.  These chapters were then anonymized, converted to a Google Doc, and placed in a unique Google folder for each chapter.  Each author was then required to peer review two related chapters using a peer review template created in Google Docs.  This peer review process took place during the months of June and July and ended with the selection of 43 chapters for the book.  At the beginning of August, each chapter team was provided access to their Google folder, which contained the two peer reviews.  Authors then revised their chapters and uploaded their revised work along with a table describing how they had addressed the required revisions. In September, we reviewed each of the revised chapters, suggested final revisions, and then received preprint approval from each of the author teams.  We then finalized publication, copyright, and accessibility criteria with our institutional library, resulting in the launch of our open access, online book in October 2025 during International Open Access Week.There are four main lessons learned that we would like to share with others from the collaborative, open-access, online publishing experience:Clarity and communication (everyone is clear on expectations of the publication process (e.g., peer reviews) and receives constant and consistent communication about the process).Planning and timelines (a clear plan has been established and communicated with the authors, with an emphasis on the importance and rationale for timelines (deadlines)).Review process integrity (importance of ensuring anonymity throughout the peer review process)Operational challenges (importance of having a support team (e.g., IT and librarians) to overcome publishing challenges (e.g., copyright and accessibility issues)).
Speakers
avatar for Norm Vaughn

Norm Vaughn

Professor, Mount Royal University
Norman Vaughan, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Department of Education at Mount Royal University in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.  He has co-edited the Digital Resilience of ePortfolios During and Beyond the COVID-19 Pandemic (2025) book as well as co-authored Principles of Blended... Read More →
avatar for Mphoentle Modise

Mphoentle Modise

Associate Professor, University of South Africa
Mpho-Entle Puleng Modise, PhD, is a multi-award-winning Associate Professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instructional Studies, College of Education, at the University of South Africa. Her research areas include digital transformation in open distance e-learning, faculty and... Read More →
Thursday October 8, 2026 12:25pm - 12:55pm EDT
2 Room M MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

12:25pm EDT

From AI Disclosure to Human Declaration: Centring Human Authorship in OER Creation
Thursday October 8, 2026 12:25pm - 12:55pm EDT
ID: 32892

As AI tools become increasingly common in the creation of Open Educational Resources, the open education community faces a pressing question: how do we talk honestly about AI use in a way that is transparent, nuanced, and fair to the humans doing the work?Rather than debating whether AI should be used in OER creation, this session starts from a different premise: that authors are already using these tools, and that the more productive question is how to support transparent, human-centred disclosure of that use. Most approaches to AI disclosure focus narrowly on what the AI produced — treating it as a binary of used or not used. The KPU AI Declaration Framework for OER Creation takes a different approach, asking not "what did AI do?" but "what was the relationship between the author and AI?" — recognising that human involvement, judgment, and creative direction are essential to the process.The framework is an adaptation of the Artificial Intelligence Disclosure (AID) Framework developed by Kari D. Weaver at the University of Waterloo, reworked for the specific context of OER creation. Where the original framework was oriented toward research processes, the KPU adaptation identifies ten categories of activity relevant to OER development — from conceptualisation and instructional design to media creation and accessibility features — giving authors a structured way to describe their AI use throughout a publishing project. To capture the nuance of the human-AI relationship at each stage, the framework incorporates the Me & My Machine (MMM) labels developed by Fontys University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands — with adaptations to better suit a Canadian and North American context. The five labels (Craftsperson, Handyperson, Cyborg, Curator, and Generator) describe a spectrum from fully independent human creation to AI-generated content, without judgment. Even where AI generates most of the content, human effort is present in the crafting of prompts, the shaping of outputs, and the decisions made throughout — and the incorporation of the label system into the AI declaration framework makes that contribution visible. To support authors in applying the framework, the presenters developed a self-assessment rubric that guides them in selecting the appropriate label for each category — moving beyond definitions to practical descriptions of what each level of human-AI collaboration looks like. An interactive version of the rubric is also available to guide authors through the process of building their own declaration statement. A Pressbooks front matter template brings everything together into a format authors can import directly into their OER projects. The framework has been well received at KPU, with authors appreciating the structure and guidance it provides. Interest has extended beyond OER creation to staff evaluating their AI use across a range of resource types. While developed in an OER context, the framework is applicable to any resource creation project — a deliberate design choice that reflects that the questions it addresses are not unique to open education. This session walks participants through the categories, labels, rubric, and template, and discusses how human-centred AI disclosure might be implemented in other contexts. 
Speakers
avatar for Amanda Grey

Amanda Grey

Open Education Strategist, Kwantlen Polytechnic University
Amanda Grey, MLIS, is the Open Education Strategist at Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) in British Columbia, Canada. Over the past several years, she has worked across the full spectrum of open education practice, supporting educators in textbook affordability, OER adoption and... Read More →
KM

Karen Meijer

Scholarly Communications & Copyright Librarian, Kwantlen Polytechnic University
Karen Meijer, MLIS, MA, is the Scholarly Communications and Copyright Librarian at Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) in British Columbia, Canada. She has worked in publishing since 2003 and has been active in the field of Open Education in its many forms since 2015. Throughout... Read More →
Thursday October 8, 2026 12:25pm - 12:55pm EDT
5 DR3 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

12:25pm EDT

Teachers as Changemakers: Adopting OER for Environmental and Sustainability Education in Middle School
Thursday October 8, 2026 12:25pm - 12:55pm EDT
ID: 32351

This session presents findings from recent research focused on the availability and efficacy of Open Educational Resources (OER) for environmental and sustainability education, specifically tailored for learners in Grades 5 through 7. In a time of escalating environmental challenges, ranging from climate change, biodiversity loss, and resource conservation, education is essential in promoting change.  The middle years are a critical time for this education; children are forming their values, critical thinking, and a sense of responsibility. When environmental education reaches this age group, it can shape not only what they understand, but what they do about it and who they become. This is captured in a saying by Baba Dioum, “In the end, we will conserve only what we love; we will love only what we understand; and we will only understand what we are taught.”However, there are barriers to teaching this. Although several countries, including Canada, have committed to integrating environmental and climate education, progress has been slow, teachers lack access to resources and don’t have the time or expertise to create their own, and teachers are intimidated by topics like climate change which are highly controversial and political. Teachers want to empower their students, but they need the right tools.OER offer an opportunity to provide equitable, scalable, and adaptable materials. These digital resources allow educators to customize content to reflect local environmental contexts and specific learner needs. Furthermore, OER for environmental education align with UNESCO’s Sustainable Development Goals, particularly Goal 4 (Quality Education), Goal 10 (Reduced Inequalities) and Goal 13 (Climate Action).Despite their potential, the extent to which existing OER meet the needs of kindergarten to Grade 12 (K-12) educators is not well understood. This study identifies existing resources that align with Grade 5 to 7 curriculum standards, as well as gaps and areas for improvement to ensure OER can be effectively integrated into K-12 curriculum. The research also provides a systematic process for analyzing OER that can be applied to other K-12 subjects and educational standards, including the use of AI technologies to analyze resources.The outcome of this study is a curated collection of resources within the OER Commons Climate Hub which teachers can integrate immediately into their curriculum. This supports educators in accessing high-quality materials that promote environmental awareness and sustainable practices among youth. Ultimately, these findings are intended for educators, policymakers, GLAM institutions (galleries, libraries, archives, museums), and environmental organizations to encourage OER use for environmental education and to contribute to the broader discussion on OER adoption in K-12.  This research contributes to the development of environmentally conscious and empowered citizens and supports UNESCOs Sustainable Development Goals, including promoting ongoing dialogue on the role of OER in K-12 and the importance of environmental education across all subjects
Speakers
avatar for Emily Grady

Emily Grady

Master's student, Athabasca University
Emily Grady is in her final year of Athabasca University's Master of Education in Open, Digital and Distance Education, specializing in instructional design. As an avid outdoorsperson, a parent, and an environmental advocate, her personal, academic and professional interests center... Read More →
Thursday October 8, 2026 12:25pm - 12:55pm EDT
8 DR6 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

12:25pm EDT

The Open Science Adoption Gap in Research Training
Thursday October 8, 2026 12:25pm - 12:55pm EDT
ID: 33915

Open science has become a central element of global science policy and open education. International initiatives such as the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science (2021) encourage transparency, accessibility, and collaboration in research. Universities and research agencies have increasingly implemented infrastructures and policies supporting open access publishing, open repositories, and open research data. However, open science requires not only open infrastructures but also capacity building for the collective process of knowledge creation (Peršić and Straza, 2023). How are future researchers educated to embrace open practices and become part of this open ecosystem? This session examines the relationship between open science policies and the educational practices (Cronin, 2017) that prepare researchers to engage in open science. It provides a Latin American perspective by examining how open science is translated into research training within a public university in Uruguay. The study analyzes how open science concepts and practices appear in social sciences undergraduate studies and humanities programs at a large public university. The research focuses on the curricular content of 56 undergraduate courses related to research training, including methodology, epistemology, statistics, information science, and digital technologies.Using qualitative content analysis supported by AI-assisted tools, the study explores whether open education and open science principles—such as open educational resources, open access, open data, open peer review, and collaborative research—are explicitly or implicitly present in course programs. The results reveal a significant gap between the institutional promotion of open science and the educational preparation of future researchers. Explicit references to open science are largely absent from the analyzed curricula. While some courses address elements related to the public nature of science, data management, or research transparency, the systematic teaching of open science practices remains limited.Drawing on sociological perspectives on academic habitus (Bourdieu, 1990) and theories of technological appropriation, the session argues that the adoption of open science depends not only on policies and infrastructures but also on how openness becomes embedded in teaching and learning the professional grounds and practices of open research. From an open education perspective, integrating open science into research training curricula may represent a crucial step in enabling universities to move from policy adoption toward the meaningful practice of openness in knowledge production.The session invites participants to reflect on how global open science agendas encounter local academic traditions, institutional constraints, and epistemic inequalities (Fricker, 2007) in research training. It aims at answering how higher education institutions can bridge the gap and connect open science policies with open education strategies that support the development of new generations capable of working within open knowledge ecosystems.
Speakers
avatar for Mariana Porta Galván

Mariana Porta Galván

Universidad de la República
Mariana Porta is a sociologist and holds a PhD in Informatics in Education from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul and Universidad de la República (UFRGS–Udelar). She is a faculty member and researcher at Universidad de la República, Uruguay, where she works at the intersection... Read More →
Thursday October 8, 2026 12:25pm - 12:55pm EDT
6 DR4 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

12:25pm EDT

Wikipedia and Open Education
Thursday October 8, 2026 12:25pm - 12:55pm EDT
ID: 34909

This presentation explores how might we transform a university’s course catalog, expert faculty, and multimedia archives into a global public good through the Wikimedia ecosystem. We explore formal, institutional-scale collaborations that move beyond traditional classroom or departmental-level projects in higher education. A focus of the effort we have underway at MIT is the shift toward a "multimedia-first" strategy. By integrating video lectures and course materials into Wikimedia Commons, partnerships can go beyond text to bridge critical knowledge gaps in, for example, climate science, technology history, and women's history.The session will address critical issues of this type of collaboration:Navigating the social and technical challenges of high-volume, automated contributions across multilingual projects.Transitioning a text-centric culture to effectively host, curate, and search complex digital assets like video and structured metadata.Moving from isolated, project-based "edit-a-thons" to permanent models that align with a university’s core mission of knowledge dissemination.Historically, university engagement with Wikipedia has been siloed within departments or library collections. This interactive session invites the GLAM, education, and multimedia communities to help shape a new model of engagement that respects the volunteer-led spirit of the movement while amplifying the reach of specialized academic knowledge to billions.
Speakers
avatar for Andrew Lih

Andrew Lih

Wikimedian in Residence, MIT Open Learning, MIT Open Learning
Andrew Lih has a long history in the Wikimedia movement and was the 2022 Wikimedia Laureate. He was among the first to use Wikipedia in the classroom at the university level, at the University of Hong Kong in 2003. Since then, he has been a champion of partnerships with universities... Read More →
avatar for Peter B. Kaufman

Peter B. Kaufman

Associate Director, Resource Development, MIT Open Learning, MIT Open Learning
Peter B. Kaufman is Associate Director of Development at MIT Open Learning. Educated at Cornell and Columbia, he is the author of The New Enlightenment and the Fight to Free Knowledge (Seven Stories Press, 2021) and The Moving Image: A User’s Manual (The MIT Press, 2025). An educator... Read More →
Thursday October 8, 2026 12:25pm - 12:55pm EDT
4 Room T MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

1:40pm EDT

After the Origin Story: Inheriting, Reframing, and Growing a Library-Led OER Program
Thursday October 8, 2026 1:40pm - 2:10pm EDT
ID: 33691

What if an OER program isn't a program at all — it's an ecosystem? Not a single initiative, not one flagship, but an interconnected web of relationships and program lines that meet faculty where they are, with different levels of support, funding, and librarian involvement at each entry point. That's not how most OER programs are designed from the start. It's often how they end up; and this session is an honest account of what it takes to get there deliberately. When the presenter joined a mid-sized regional R1 university library as Open Education Librarian in 2023, she stepped into exactly that kind of inherited complexity. A program existed, small, functional, and built on the work of a predecessor, but it lacked differentiation, clear pathways, and a coherent story that faculty could easily understand or act on. The programs that did exist had grown organically, which meant they were also quietly accumulating complexity: overlapping eligibility criteria, administratively burdensome payment structures, and no formal mechanism for maintaining the OER that had already been created. The work of the past two-plus years has been threefold: nurture and honor what already existed, redesign what wasn't working, and build new pathways where gaps were clear. The result is a six-line program ecosystem that covers the full range of faculty OER engagement: from high-investment original creation and course-level remixes to no-cost embedded partnerships with programs and departments, to high-impact online course rebuilds, to new editions of aging existing OER. Some program lines carry direct department-level funding; others are supported entirely through librarian time, graduate assistant partnerships, and strategic collaboration with instructional designers and program directors. Together, they provide a clear, campus-facing answer to a question many institutions struggle to answer simply: here are all the ways you can work with Open Education at this institution, and here is who is eligible for what. This session will walk through the arc of that ecosystem's development: what was inherited, what was reframed, what was built new, and what is currently being formalized as the program prepares for a deliberate public relaunch. It will address the administrative lessons learned, including why individual faculty payment structures became untenable and how shifting to department-level payments dramatically reduced complexity, as well as the ongoing challenge of sustaining a multi-line program with a small team and no external grant funding. Attendees will leave with a practical framework for thinking about OER programs as ecosystems of relationships and initiatives rather than single projects; concrete, low- and no-cost program models tested in a library-led, resource-constrained context; and a realistic picture of what it looks like to inherit, reframe, and grow an open education program over time. This session is especially relevant for OER practitioners, academic librarians, and program coordinators navigating program development without the benefit of a clean slate or a large grant — which is to say, most of us. 
Speakers
avatar for Christine Rickabaugh

Christine Rickabaugh

Open Education Librarian, University of Arkansas Libraries
Christine Rickabaugh is a former early childhood educator who traded crayons and glitter for Pressbooks and Creative Commons licenses — and hasn't looked back. Now the Open Education Librarian at the University of Arkansas Libraries, she leads the university's OER program, chairs... Read More →
Thursday October 8, 2026 1:40pm - 2:10pm EDT
5 DR3 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

1:40pm EDT

Building the Open Education Association: A Framework for Field-Building
Thursday October 8, 2026 1:40pm - 2:10pm EDT
ID: 33985

This session will walk through what it took to build the Open Education Association from the ground up, and what that process can offer to open education advocates looking to strengthen coordination in their own regions and contexts.The Open Education Association is a newly founded national organization dedicated to strengthening and expanding the open education field across the United States. Rooted in the decades-strong open education community, it represents a national coordinating body shaped entirely by the people working within it. Its development began not with a formal plan, but with a conversation at the 2023 Open Education Conference, where practitioners reflected on what the field still needed to move forward collectively.From there, SPARC, the four regional interstate higher education compacts, and DOERS co-hosted a national discussion series that examined the case for a national strategy. Those conversations pointed to a consistent theme: the field did not need a single program; it needed stronger coordination among existing efforts. A subsequent needs assessment survey gathered input from more than 1,000 community members across all 50 states. The findings confirmed that the field was not lacking solutions. It was lacking the coordination to make those solutions visible and accessible to everyone who needed them.Practitioners identified four priority areas where greater support was needed: finding OER, responding to political and technological change, securing funding, and accessing tools and resources. Just as telling, only 14% of respondents viewed the field as well-coordinated nationally, making the case for a national coordinating body clear.The association responded to those findings by developing governance structures, a membership model, and a first-year programming agenda through a series of open working sessions with the broader community. That process required making real decisions about scope, priorities, and how to balance accessibility with sustainability. It also meant sitting with the tension of building something new while being careful not to duplicate the work that existing organizations were already doing well. This session will present that development arc honestly, including what worked, what required pivoting, and what the association's early days have looked like in practice.Every national context is unique, and this session is not intended to be prescriptive. Rather, it is an opportunity to share our process openly so that others can consider what may be relevant in their own context. For anyone considering coordinating infrastructure at any scale, this session offers frameworks and hard-won lessons in how to build something that reflects the needs of the people it is meant to serve.
Speakers
avatar for Nicole Allen

Nicole Allen

Director of Open Education, SPARC
Nicole Allen is the Director of Open Education for SPARC, leading efforts to advance openness and equity in education. She oversees a state and federal policy program, a librarian community of practice, and a leadership program for open education professionals. Nicole has dedicated... Read More →
avatar for Joy Shoemate

Joy Shoemate

Director of Online Education, College of Canyons
Joy Shoemate is the Director of Online Education at College of the Canyons where she supports instructors’ successful integration of technology into teaching and learning to promote student success, persistence and completion in distance education courses. She also oversees the... Read More →
avatar for Aishah Abdullah

Aishah Abdullah

Open Education Project Manager, SPARC
Aishah Abdullah works for SPARC as the Open Education Project Manager. In this role, she helps support SPARC's open education work and provides support to the Open Education Association. She began her journey in open education as a student advocate at her community college and continued... Read More →
Thursday October 8, 2026 1:40pm - 2:10pm EDT
8 DR6 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

1:40pm EDT

Reimagining Open Practices at Scale: How Massachusetts Is Using Strategic Planning and Privacy-Conscious AI to Advance and Deepen the Utilization of OER
Thursday October 8, 2026 1:40pm - 2:10pm EDT
ID: 33812

The Massachusetts Department of Higher Education's Open & Low-Cost Educational Resources Advisory Council (OLERAC) Strategic Planning Committee embarked on a comprehensive, year-long initiative to determine national best practices in OER implementation, identify systemic barriers facing the open education community, and explore OLERAC's potential role in expanding educational access. This presentation shares our complete methodological approach, evidence-based findings, and actionable recommendations developed for the Commissioner and the Board of Higher Education. Our multi-phase research methodology combined rigorous desk analysis of published policy and operational content from OER programs nationwide, semi-structured interviews with OER program leads across North America representing diverse institutional types (community colleges, four-year institutions, and state systems), and systematic review of internal operational, policy, and budgeting documentation from existing OER programs. Critically, we pioneered the use of closed large language models for rapid qualitative analysis while developing novel methodological frameworks and engagement documents to maintain participant privacy and data security - a pressing consideration for public institutions navigating emergent AI technologies while upholding ethical research standards. Attendees will gain practical insights into how our work directly addresses the conference theme of reimagining open practices, policies, and pedagogy to solve real-world problems at scale. We will share concrete, transferable strategies for scaling OER adoption across institutional boundaries, overcoming common implementation barriers including faculty engagement, sustainable funding, and technical infrastructure – while noting sustained faculty engagement remains an ongoing challenge. We also explored Early College and Dual Enrollment students, an emergent population that stands to benefit disproportionately from reduced material costs and improved access to high-quality learning materials before matriculating to college, though this warrants further investigation.The implications of this work extend far beyond Massachusetts. With Massachusetts public higher education students saving $21.5 million in FY24 alone, a remarkable 33% increase over FY23, and experiencing 20% lower DFW (Drop/Fail/Withdraw) rates when using no-cost textbooks compared to traditional materials, our findings offer compelling, evidence-based pathways for other states and institutions pursuing similar large-scale OER initiatives. We will present specific data on student outcomes, institutional adoption rates, and the relationship between OER implementation and equity metrics. We will also address critical questions about the intersection of openness and emergent technology: How can institutions responsibly leverage AI tools while maintaining privacy and ethical standards? What role should advisory councils play in shaping state-level OER policy?How might open practices be extended to reach students earlier in their educational journeys, particularly those from underrepresented and low-income backgrounds? Our presentation offers replicable components for strategic planning that balances innovation with accountability, demonstrating how open education can serve learners through cost savings and improved success, faculty through increased teaching & learning choices and the opportunity to use open pedagogy, and communities through expanded access to higher education.By transparently sharing our methodology, findings, challenges, and recommendations, we invite the open education community to learn from our successes, adapt our approaches to their local contexts, and collaborate on solving shared challenges, embodying the very spirit of openness, equity, and practical problem-solving this conference track celebrates.
Speakers
avatar for Robert Awkward

Robert Awkward

Assistant Commissioner for Academic Effectiveness, Massachusetts Department of Higher Education
Dr. Robert Awkward is an educator and scholar based in Massachusetts whose work explores the intersection of open education, inclusive pedagogy, and emerging technologies in higher education. His interests focus on how open practices—such as OER, collaborative knowledge creation... Read More →
CZ

Carey Zigouras

Access Services Manager, Massachusetts Maritime Academy
Carey Zigouras has managed the Massachusetts Maritime Academy Library in Buzzards Bay, Ma. since 2022.  A former high school English teacher, she is interested in first year college students’ information literacy skills and their previous experiences with libraries.  She joined... Read More →
avatar for Sarah C. Hutton

Sarah C. Hutton

Education and Clinical Services Librarian, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School
Dr. Sarah C. Hutton (she/her/ella) is an academic research librarian, educator, and data analyst whose work spans open education, governance frameworks, organizational theory, and strategic planning. At the Lamar Soutter Library at UMass Chan Medical School, she supports multi-institution... Read More →
Thursday October 8, 2026 1:40pm - 2:10pm EDT
6 DR4 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

1:40pm EDT

The Keys to Opening Open Pedagogy: Unlocking Student-Created Digital Escape Rooms Through Renewable Assignments
Thursday October 8, 2026 1:40pm - 2:10pm EDT
ID: 31985

Use the clues to find the keyTo opening open pedagogy.Escape rooms set the learning toneWhere students can create and own.In an introductory Library course, students are tasked with creating digital escape rooms for their peers to pilot test, learn from, and rise to the challenge of finding the key to escape based on a series of clues. Students have the option to license their digital escape rooms using Creative Commons licensing and have an understanding that they are creating an Open Educational Resource (OER) to teach future students. Marketed as content created by students for students, these digital escape rooms are renewable assignments. Renewable assignments are grounded in (OER) open pedagogy research (Wiley & Hilton, 2018) and theoretical frameworks such as self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000) and redistributive, recognitive, and representational principles of social justice (Lambert, 2018). In an effort to empower students and include diverse voices in the creation of learning materials, the digital escape rooms are creatively designed by students for future students as they teach and learn the value of libraries, information literacy concepts, or what they want students to know about the syllabus.Participants will gain insight into how this assignment integrates multiple technologies such as  PowerPoint for interactive slide challenges, Canvas quizzes with embedded video content (and closed captioning), Canva for designing, and Springshare tools such as LibWizard and LibGuides for structured clues with multiple landing pages that deliver research-based adventures. These multiple levels of digital escape rooms from basic to more advanced provide scaffolding opportunities in online classes for learners to develop skills using information literacy frames such as Research as Inquiry, Searching as Strategic Exploration, Information Creation as a Process, and Information Has Value (ACRL, 2016).The session will outline the open pedagogical framework that was a key takeaway from completing the Open For Anti-Racism (OFAR) training. Open pedagogy transforms students from passive consumers of information to active creators using online learning as the modality for escape rooms, which are popular entertainment for students. Peer to peer instruction increases confidence (Tullis & Goldstone, 2020), aligning this assignment with research that demonstrates increased engagement, motivation, and deeper learning when students proudly publish their work. Wiley and Hilton (2018) highlight renewable assignments as improving student agency and achievement of learning outcomes with work that has lasting value. DeRosa and Jhangiani (2017) emphasize that open educational practices foster inclusivity by amplifying diverse voices in the creation of knowledge in student-authored OER.Attendees will leave with ideas and strategies for implementing digital escape rooms as renewable assignments in their courses, examples of student-created escape rooms for syllabus content,library orientations, and a framework for assessing creativity and information literacy outcomes. The session will also address scalability, sustainability, and alignment with institutional goals such as Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) initiatives, equity-minded teaching practices, and OER creation.This approach democratizes knowledge as student content creators share their lived experiences, embed their cultural knowledge and how they understand the course by creating these digital escape rooms. 
Speakers
avatar for Natalie Lopez

Natalie Lopez

Librarian, Department Chair, Academic Senate President, Crafton Hills College
With twenty years of professional experience in libraries from: Private Research (The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens), Academic (California State Polytechnic University, Pomona; Palomar College, Crafton Hills College), and Public (Rancho Mirage Library and Conservatory... Read More →
Thursday October 8, 2026 1:40pm - 2:10pm EDT
2 Room M MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

1:40pm EDT

What Would You Do with $100? Student-Centered OER Advocacy in the Library
Thursday October 8, 2026 1:40pm - 2:10pm EDT
ID: 32429

What happens when you put up a poster board in the library and simply ask students about their textbook purchasing experience? The answers are funny, heartbreaking, and powerful.  "Textbook Madness" is a tabling event designed to meet students where they are, turning an everyday library space into a site of community, storytelling, and open education advocacy. The format is deliberately simple and low-tech: poster boards invite students to share their most expensive textbook cost and what they would do with that money if they didn't have to spend it on course materials. The responses reveal the very real financial burden students carry and open the door to conversations about open educational resources (OER) and the movement to make knowledge more accessible. Over two iterations of the event, more than 250 students have participated, generating a rich collection of quantitative and qualitative data. That data is not just displayed on a poster board, it becomes a tool for institutional advocacy. Student-generated figures on textbook costs have been presented directly to undergraduate student government and to university leadership, making the case for expanded OER adoption in concrete, human terms. This presentation will walk attendees through that full arc: from the initial design of the event to data collection and analysis, to the advocacy conversations it has made possible at the highest levels of campus administration. An additional component of the event was the distribution of student advocacy cards, a resource designed to empower students to become active voices for OER on their own campuses and in their own academic communities. These cards extend the reach of the event beyond the library table and invite students into a broader movement. This session is grounded in the belief that open education advocacy is fundamentally a relational practice. Numbers matter, but it is the act of listening, of creating space for student experience, and of transforming that experience into collective action, that builds a truly sustainable OER advocacy community. The library, often imagined as a quiet backdrop to academic life, can be reimagined as a frontline space for that work. Attendees will leave with a replicable, low-cost model for community-centered OER advocacy that can be adapted across institutional contexts. Whether you are a librarian, an instructional designer, a faculty member, or an administrator, this session offers both a practical framework and an invitation to think differently about where and how open education advocacy happens AND who gets to lead it.
Speakers
avatar for Khrisma McMurray

Khrisma McMurray

Open Education and Teaching Librarian, Indiana University Indianapolis
Khrisma McMurray is the Open Education and Teaching Librarian at IU Indianapolis, where she turns library spaces into sites of student empowerment through OER advocacy. Within her role she leads OER initiatives such as Open Education Week, Open Education Award, and OER Development... Read More →
Thursday October 8, 2026 1:40pm - 2:10pm EDT
4 Room T MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

2:15pm EDT

Building Bridges Between Higher Education and K-12 Through Open Lifelong Learning
Thursday October 8, 2026 2:15pm - 2:45pm EDT
ID: 30484

This session presents a transformative multi-sectoral partnership model between Erciyes University and the Murat Kantarcı Science and Art Center (BİLSEM), a collaboration recently distinguished in the European-wide SAMUELE Compendium: “University Lifelong Learning Applied Cases that Inspire.” As one of the premier cases selected from 17 European countries, this initiative serves as a strategic roadmap for integrating University Lifelong Learning (ULLL) into institutional governance, research, and societal impact through open and inclusive ecosystems.The core of this session addresses a persistent challenge in global education: the structural and pedagogical "space between" academic research in higher education and its practical enactment in K-12 classrooms. Led by Prof. Dr. Fatma Bozkurt and Çelebi Kalkan, this partnership redefines lifelong learning not merely as an isolated continuing education activity, but as a holistic, integrated domain for institutional transformation. We demonstrate how Erciyes University’s strategic vision for sustainability and social responsibility is actualized through a formal partnership with BİLSEM, a specialized institution for gifted and talented students.The session will explore three primary dimensions of "Connecting the Dots":Institutional Synergy and Governance: We will detail how the governance structures of a major university can be aligned with K-12 centers to create a seamless, open learning pathway. This includes the integration of lifelong learning into the university’s broader mission of "social contribution."Pedagogical Innovation (The Think-Feel-Act Model): Participants will be introduced to the UNESCO-recognized "Think-Feel-Act" pedagogical framework. We will showcase how this model is utilized to train prospective teachers, allowing them to engage in real-world sustainability workshops and "green entrepreneurship" activities as part of their lifelong learning journey.European Alignment and Scaling: Drawing from the SAMUELE Compendium findings, we will discuss how this case contributes to the "European Higher Education Area" by fostering resilience, inclusivity, and responsiveness to societal crises like climate change.Key Takeaways for Attendees: Attendees will gain a comprehensive understanding of how to build and sustain "Open Learning Ecosystems" that leverage cross-institutional resources. We will share specific strategies for bridging the gap between higher education faculty and K-12 practitioners, ensuring that open education resources and methodologies are not just developed, but effectively implemented and scaled. By the end of the session, participants will be equipped with a proven framework for institutionalizing multi-sectoral partnerships that empower both educators and learners as active agents of change in their communities.This session is particularly relevant for policymakers, university administrators, and K-12 educators seeking to "reinvent our shared global vision" by breaking down institutional silos and fostering a truly open, lifelong learning culture.
Speakers
avatar for Fatma Bozkurt

Fatma Bozkurt

Professor Doctor, Erciyes University
Prof. Dr. Fatma Bozkurt, Erciyes Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Uygulamalı Matematik Bölümü'nde seçkin bir profesördür ve Almanya, BAE, Kuveyt ve Türkiye'de 18 yılı aşkın uluslararası öğretim ve araştırma deneyimine sahiptir. Akademik liderliği, özellikle Z kuşa... Read More →
avatar for Çelebi Kalkan

Çelebi Kalkan

Expert Teacher, Murat Kantarcı Science and Arts Center
Çelebi Kalkan, Türkiye'deki Murat Kantarcı Bilim ve Sanat Merkezi'nde (BİLSEM) STEM+A eğitimi, sürdürülebilir kalkınma ve iklim değişikliği pedagojisi alanlarında uzmanlaşmış bir öğretmendir. UNESCO Yeşil Eğitim Ortaklığı üyesi ve Scientix STEM Elçisi olarak... Read More →
Thursday October 8, 2026 2:15pm - 2:45pm EDT
5 DR3 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

2:15pm EDT

Learning in the Wild: A Large-Scale Analysis of GenAI as a Dialogic Open Educational Resource
Thursday October 8, 2026 2:15pm - 2:45pm EDT
ID: 33533

The rapid adoption of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) has transformed how self-directed learners interact with knowledge. While GenAI tools like ChatGPT are used globally as de facto Open Educational Resources (OER), empirical evidence regarding authentic learning through these human-AI dialogues - outside of formal institutional settings - remains limited. This presentation shares the results of a large-scale, mixed-methods study that analyzes learning as it happens "in the wild."Grounded in the Dialogic OER Framework (Author, 2026), this research extends traditional OER models (like Wiley’s 5Rs) by introducing three process-oriented dimensions: Responsiveness, Reciprocity, and Reflexivity. We operationalize this framework through a computational and statistical analysis of 50,000 naturalistic conversations from the WildChat dataset - a corpus of over one million real-world ChatGPT interactions.Our methodology utilized keyword-based filtering and rule-based classification to identify 6,693 learning-oriented conversations (13.4% of the sample). These were then analyzed using natural language processing (NLP), lexical complexity metrics, and metacognitive marker detection.Key findings include:Distinct Discourse Patterns: Learning conversations exhibit significantly higher reciprocity compared to non-learning tasks, characterized by longer interaction chains (M=3.19 vs 2.41 turns) and a higher density of follow-up questions (d = 0.36, p < .001).Knowledge Co-Construction: Over 28% of learning interactions showed explicit markers of knowledge co-construction, such as critical evaluation of AI responses and iterative refinement of queries. This suggests that GenAI is not merely a static content source but a partner in emerging Open Educational Practices (OEP).The Evolution of Scaffolding: Within multi-turn learning episodes, we observed a significant increase in lexical diversity (Type-Token Ratio) alongside a decrease in verbosity (d = -0.23, p < .001). This indicates that as learners engage with the AI, their prompts become more precise and sophisticated - a sign of self-directed scaffolding and internalization.Global Equity and Access: Cross-cultural analysis revealed that regions with limited access to formal higher education, such as the Middle East and North Africa, showed the highest proportions of learning-oriented AI use (29.4%). This highlights GenAI's potential to serve as a truly open and accessible resource in underserved contexts.By presenting these findings, we aim to bridge the gap between "Openness as Content" and "Openness as Interaction." We will discuss the practical and ethical implications of these emergent technologies for the future of the open education movement, specifically how we can support learners in developing the "Reflexivity" needed to navigate AI-driven learning landscapes.
Speakers
avatar for Eyal Rabin

Eyal Rabin

Lecturer, Holon Institute of Technology
Dr. Eyal Rabin is a leading researcher in artificial intelligence and education at the Institute for Applied AI Research in Education, Israel’s Ministry of Education, and a lecturer at the Holon Institute of Technology (HIT). His work focuses on the integration of artificial... Read More →
Thursday October 8, 2026 2:15pm - 2:45pm EDT
8 DR6 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

2:15pm EDT

Multilingual Glossary – an OER Addressing Social Injustice in Learning Pharmacology at Nelson Mandela University
Thursday October 8, 2026 2:15pm - 2:45pm EDT
ID: 33338

South Africa has 12 official languages and a multilingual population, with IsiZulu (24.4%) and isiXhosa (16.3%) being the largest languages, and English (8.7%) being one of the least spoken languages in the country [1]. Nevertheless, English dominates the academic learning and teaching across all public universities, with some South African Higher Education Institutions also offering courses in Afrikaans [2].Academic achievements are influenced by numerous factors and linguistic barriers have been extensively documented as significant obstacles to student success [3]. The Bachelor of Pharmacy student cohort at Nelson Mandela University is demographically and culturally diverse.  English does not represent the primary language of communication among the students therefore overcoming the language barrier requires deliberate and targeted pedagogical intervention to ensure equitable academic outcomes. Pharmacology modules in the Bachelor of Pharmacy, are presented in English, posing a significant linguistic challenge for students with poor command of this language.  The disparity between the language of instruction and students’ primary language can create a comprehension and learning gap, which can be seen as a form of social injustice. A thorough understanding of pharmacological terms is key for pharmacy students to engage more easily with the material and achieve better academic results.  This understanding increases confidence in the topic and helps graduates improve collaboration with other healthcare professionals in the workplace, ultimately optimising patient therapeutic outcomes and quality of life.The multilingual glossary was compiled through a comprehensive review of nearly fifty pharmacology reference books, journals, and publications. Upon reviewing the definitions, the researchers focused on simple, understandable English terminology, thereby facilitating translation into South African indigenous languages, which lack specialised medical terminology.This glossary will be a tool that students can easily engage with and will incorporate the referenced English definitions of some of the most commonly used pharmacology terms and their translation into isiZulu, isiXhosa and Afrikaans. The glossary project rollout and growth is being constructed in similar ways as Together, an openly licensed, free and collaborative picture book project funded via the Global Open Education Graduate Network. As an Open Educational Resource (OER), Together has been used to create international learning communities and foster engagement in learning [4] [5]. Our multilingual glossary of pharmacological terminology is being developed to address the linguistic challenge experienced by pharmacy and health science students in South Africa, whilst simultaneously establishing a foundation for both local and global collaboration to enhance learning among healthcare professionals requiring pharmacological knowledge. The multilingual glossary is envisioned to not only be a reference tool but also an Open, dynamic, contributory platform through which users may add terminology and translations across multiple languages, including all the other indigenous South African languages. Current outputs do not reflect the wealth of languages and diversity the landscape engages with [6]. If the medium allows, an audio pronunciation of each term will be considered. The use of the glossary as a mobile application could facilitate convenient content accessibility. Besides being a study resource, the tool could be used in game-based learning pedagogies or the gamification of learning.
Speakers
avatar for Gino Fransman

Gino Fransman

Project Leader: OpenEdInfluencers, Nelson Mandela University
Gino Fransman is the founder of the Open Education Influencers project (https://openedinfluencers.mandela.ac.za) at Nelson Mandela University in South Africa. He is the current Africa Hub Coordinator for the UNESCO Open Education for a Better World [OE4BW] program, plus both a mentor... Read More →
avatar for Doina Naude

Doina Naude

Nelson Mandela University
Doina Naude is an academic professional and clinical pharmacy expert based in South Africa. With over two decades of experience spanning clinical practice, pharmaceutical industry, and higher education, she brings a unique blend of practical expertise, intercultural perspective, and... Read More →
avatar for Janet Barry

Janet Barry

Nelson Mandela University
Janet Barry is a registered pharmacist and academic based in South Africa, currently serving as Stream Coordinator of Pharmaceutical Chemistry in the Bachelor of Pharmacy programme at Nelson Mandela University. She holds a B.Pharm degree (1995) from the University of Port Elizabeth... Read More →
Thursday October 8, 2026 2:15pm - 2:45pm EDT
2 Room M MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

2:15pm EDT

The Open EdTech Advantage: Winning Support (and Funding) in a Proprietary World
Thursday October 8, 2026 2:15pm - 2:45pm EDT
ID: 34005

The evolving landscape of technology demands a fundamental shift in how we approach the procurement of EdTech tools. Higher Ed institutions need access to and control over technology that is inherently transparent, and tools they can not only inspect for ethical use and data privacy but also confidently modify and trust for long-term sustainability. In an era where every vendor claims to have “AI inside,” the real competitive advantage is not a license key but a community: the students, faculty, and staff who can shape, sustain, and continuously improve the tools they use every day.Over the past two decades we have seen how open source technologies and open approaches to EdTech can offer benefits for the institution as well as educators and most importantly, students. Yet one of the recurring challenges with open source software in education is advocating for open source not only as a solution for testing out innovations, but as an enterprise service. For open educators and learning technologists this presents an ongoing issue, balancing the requirements of institutional IT and purchasing policies with the needs of educators and students. With cyber security, responsible use of AI and accessibility all increasingly important, is there any room left for open solutions and services alongside an institution's core digital estate?This session reframes Open EdTech Advocacy from a plea for cheaper software into a strategic investment in human capacity. We will show how choosing open source is less a procurement decision and more a strategy that lowers total cost of ownership, reduces vendor lock-in, grows institutional expertise, and can deliver solutions that truly evolve to fit the needs of a community. We will explore strategies for making the case for open-source tools and open edtech platforms at multiple levels of an institution, from Leadership and Budget Holders, IT Teams and Central Services, to Faculty and Academic Units, as well as Students and Future Professionals.This presentation will also showcase several new Open EdTech case studies (based on interviews conducted with teams of instructional designers over the past 2 years) that show who and how institutions who are at the forefront of Open EdTech adoption develop, scale and deploy open source educational services, including Stanford University, Princeton University and SUNY Oneonta. At a time when openness in education and on the web is more contested than ever before, these case studies offer practical advice for learning designers and learning technologists, as well as strategic insights for anyone navigating funding and procurement processes for open source technologies and looking for practical know-how and resources to help you advocate for similar initiatives in your own institution.
Speakers
avatar for Taylor Jadin

Taylor Jadin

Systems Administrator and Director of Operations, Reclaim Hosting
Taylor is Reclaim Hosting’s Systems Administrator and Director of Operations, as well as a proud husband and father, teacher, musician, avid camper, and unashamed nerd. He is passionate about educating and empowering people who want to make cool stuff on the web! Before joining... Read More →
Thursday October 8, 2026 2:15pm - 2:45pm EDT
6 DR4 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

2:15pm EDT

The Pit Stop Program at NC State: Where Emerging Educational Technology Meets Open Practice
Thursday October 8, 2026 2:15pm - 2:45pm EDT
ID: 33663

As emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Virtual Reality (VR) reshape the educational landscape, what is their impact on core open educational practices? This session explores the development and outcomes of the Open Pedagogy Pit Stop program at NC State University, a cohort initiative that builds upon a successful incubator model to integrate interactive technologies with open pedagogy. The program is designed for instructors who have identified a specific teaching problem they want to address through the application of emerging technologies in an open pedagogy framework. Rather than viewing emergent tools in isolation, our program examines their practical and ethical implications within the framework of open education. We will share key curriculum decisions, successes, and challenges encountered while cultivating a supportive, cross-campus community of practice. This community-centric approach demonstrates how, when purposefully aligned with open principles, interactive technologies such as AI and VR can deepen human connections among faculty and staff while supporting student creativity and curiosity.At the heart of the Pit Stop program is a collaborative cohort model designed to break down institutional silos. By bringing together an interdisciplinary group of faculty and staff for a shared incubator experience, the program transforms isolated experimentation with AI and VR into a robust community of practice. This peer-to-peer environment provides a safe space to grapple with the ethical and practical implications of emerging tools, ensuring participants feel supported as they co-create, troubleshoot, and redesign their courses around open pedagogy principles. By the end of Pit Stop, participants will have developed a tangible, technology-enhanced teaching solution rooted in open pedagogical principles. They will leave the program with both a practical deliverable and the confidence to apply emerging tools in support of student-centered learning.The team of facilitators includes representatives from the NC State University Libraries, the Office for Faculty Excellence, and DELTA (Digital Education and Learning Technologies Applications). Pit Stop is free of charge to NC State faculty, thanks to grant support from the NC State Foundation & the Betsy Etheridge Brown Open Education Resource and Pedagogy Endowment.Session attendees will receive a practical roadmap for developing similar programs at their own institutions. We will cover strategies for combining new technologies with open education principles to achieve community-driven, impactful outcomes, alongside methods for documenting resulting innovations for scholarly dissemination. Pit Stop’s results to date will highlight the program’s positive impact on both faculty development and student engagement, offering a strong, reproducible model for advancing a culture of openness through the ethical and intentional application of emergent technologies.
Speakers
avatar for Maria Gallardo-Williams

Maria Gallardo-Williams

Director of Faculty Development, North Carolina State University
Maria Gallardo-Williams, PhD, is the Director of Faculty Development in the Office for Faculty Excellence at North Carolina State University. With a background in chemistry education, she spent most of her academic career as a faculty member in the Department of Chemistry. During... Read More →
avatar for David Tully

David Tully

Principal Librarian for Student Affordability, North Carolina State University Libraries
David is the Principal Librarian for Student Affordability at NC State University Libraries, focused on advancing student success by reducing the financial barriers to higher education. Through leadership in open education and strategic fundraising, he works to expand access to affordable... Read More →
avatar for Katya Mueller

Katya Mueller

Libraries Fellow, North Carolina State University Libraries
Katya Mueller (pronounced KA-tee-uh MAW-luhr) is a Libraries Fellow (2024-2027) at North Carolina State University Libraries. She works on the Libraries’ open education initiatives in supporting the use of OERs in coursework and designing programs that empower faculty to meaningfully... Read More →
avatar for Tyler Kroon

Tyler Kroon

Research Librarian for Engineering, North Carolina State University Libraries
Tyler Kroon is a Research Librarian for Engineering at North Carolina State University. He plans and teaches library instruction sessions, research workshops, and provides research consultation services for engineering students and faculty. He serves as the library liaison to the... Read More →
avatar for Campbell Barnes

Campbell Barnes

Graduate Research Assistant, North Carolina State University Libraries
Campbell Barnes is the Graduate Research Assistant for the Open Knowledge Center at NC State University Libraries, where she supports faculty and student success through open educational initiatives. She is a facilitator on the Open Pedagogy Pit Stop and Open Pedagogy Incubator programs... Read More →
Thursday October 8, 2026 2:15pm - 2:45pm EDT
4 Room T MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

3:00pm EDT

Advancing Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Open Education During Politically Challenging Times
Thursday October 8, 2026 3:00pm - 3:30pm EDT
ID: 32094

As Open Education (OE) continues to expand across higher education in the United States, the commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) remains central to its promise of democratizing knowledge. In a political climate marked by increased scrutiny of diversity initiatives, legislative challenges, and public debate about the role of equity in education, EDI-focused work has become both more difficult and more essential. This session explores how the Community College Consortium for Open Educational Resources (CCCOER) Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee has worked to advance inclusive OE practices while navigating a challenging political environment.The committee’s work centers on advocating for OE Practices that empower contributions from diverse learners and educators who have been underrepresented, particularly those served by community colleges. Through professional development, resource sharing, and community dialogue, the committee has focused on identifying ways to advance equity in the open movement and to increase the representation of marginalized educators and students. At the same time, the committee has had to adapt its approaches in response to shifting political pressures that may challenge the language, framing, or implementation of EDI efforts.Hosted by the current Co-Chairs of the committee, this presentation will highlight the challenges faced, key changes, and strategies developed to sustain meaningful EDI work while engaging with our broad community. These strategies include creating safe spaces for dialogue, supporting open advocates doing this work, and highlighting diverse voices, all within the OE community.Drawing on examples from committee initiatives, programming, and collaborative resource development, the session will illustrate how OE networks can continue advancing equity even in politically sensitive contexts. Presenters will discuss lessons learned as the committee navigated the shifting higher-education landscape while continuing its work on priorities and mission. The session invites discussion about how the OE community can remain resilient and values-driven while responding thoughtfully to evolving political realities. By sharing experiences from the CCCOER EDI Committee, this presentation contributes to broader conversations about how OE can remain a powerful vehicle for equity, diversity, and inclusion, even when the political environment complicates such work.
Speakers
avatar for Wayde Oshiro

Wayde Oshiro

Head Librarian, Leeward Community College
Wayde Oshiro is a professor and library director at Leeward Community College, Hawaiʻi, with over two decades of experience in academic librarianship. Since 2015, he has co-led the University of Hawaiʻi Community Colleges System's OER initiative across seven campuses. He co-chairs... Read More →
avatar for Lauren Kosrow

Lauren Kosrow

Digital Content and Open Access Librarian, College of DuPage
Lauren serves as the Digital Content and Open Access Librarian at College of DuPage and chair of the OER Steering Committee. In this role, she facilitates the Faculty Support Grant program and provides leadership for the college’s textbook affordability initiatives. Lauren has an... Read More →
Thursday October 8, 2026 3:00pm - 3:30pm EDT
2 Room M MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

3:00pm EDT

Conversations in Care: Strategies for Collective Healing in the Open Education Movement
Thursday October 8, 2026 3:00pm - 3:30pm EDT
ID: 34001

 “No individual can meet all the needs of the world. Humans are not built to do big things alone; we are built to do them together.” - Emily & Amelia NagoskiOpen education leaders refer to ourselves regularly and proudly as members of a global open education community. Yet what does our belonging mean to us? How does our belonging sustain us? To be in community is a reciprocal relationship built on trust, shared interest, and care. This session dives deeper into this notion of care, or the obligation we have to past, present, and future generations as human beings. Deep unrest and destabilization in political, civic, and environmental sectors ultimately depletes our capacity to engage in care. This loss is particularly significant for leaders with the responsibility to manage and make direct decisions for open education efforts. During these times of great uncertainty and constant change, how do we continue to labor toward meaningful, transformative, and sustaining open education? How could we come alongside one another, learn from one another, and offer necessary support?    This session seeks to take the pulse of the current open movement. We examine stories from 10 interviews with English-speaking open education leaders from around the world. Leaders hold formal or implied authority over an institution’s or department’s open education program, initiative, committee, or task force. Interviews rely on open-ended questions that allow leaders to name unmet needs in open education advocacy, to reflect on the extent of reciprocity of care in their work, to surface personal moments of awe in and outside of open work, and to assess authentic representation and shared decision-making within open education efforts. We see these conversations as an opportunity to give and receive care through focused discussion, intentional listening, and shared reflection. These sessions are also agentic, revealing the motivations, hopes, and actions that leaders seek to offer and receive from their global community.    This presentation invites participants to consider how we are able to show up for ourselves and one another within open initiatives and spaces in this current historic moment. We spotlight and celebrate the strategies of our global open community that address common negative experiences like overwhelm, job precarity, and discrimination. Through a critical examination of current working conditions in open leadership, we promote practitioner well-being and collective care. We hope participants at all stages in this discovery process will come away with a greater sense of agency and belonging.
Speakers
avatar for Natalie Hill

Natalie Hill

Scholarly Communications Librarian and Liaison to African American Studies, Anthropology, Education, Global Studies, & Psychology, Colby College
Natalie Hill is dedicated to open education advocacy, ensuring equitable access to information, and increasing representation of historically underrepresented groups in teaching, learning, and research materials. Before joining Colby College in 2023, she worked in library, instructional... Read More →
avatar for Veronica Vold

Veronica Vold

Education Consultant, Equinox Learning Design, LLC
Veronica Vold, PhD, created Equinox Learning Design, LLC to champion equity in higher education. With Open Oregon Educational Resources, she led an instructional design team and created statewide initiatives for accessibility and design justice. As an education consultant, she provides... Read More →
Thursday October 8, 2026 3:00pm - 3:30pm EDT
8 DR6 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

3:00pm EDT

Designing AI to Support Learning, Not Bypass It: A CLT-Grounded MOOC Case from NTHU
Thursday October 8, 2026 3:00pm - 3:30pm EDT
ID: 33853

The rapid integration of generative AI (GenAI) into higher education has produced a complex and often contradictory evidence base. A three-level meta-analysis found that GenAI significantly promotes higher-order thinking (g = 0.851) but shows no significant effect on creativity or reflective capacity (Wang & Fan, 2025). A broader synthesis of 68 experimental studies found a moderate positive effect on learning outcomes (SMD = 0.45), yet with extremely high heterogeneity (I² = 95%), indicating that AI's impact varies enormously depending on how, when, and for whom it is deployed (Han et al., 2025). These findings compel open education practitioners to move beyond the question of whetherto adopt AI, toward the more consequential question of how to design AI tools that reliably produce learning gains rather than cognitive by-pass.This session reflects on the experience of National Tsing Hua University (NTHU), Taiwan, in integrating five GenAI-powered features into its open MOOC platform through the principled application of Cognitive Load Theory (CLT). We contend that CLT, with its precise account of working memory constraints, element interactivity, and the distinction between intrinsic and extraneous cognitive load, offers the most rigorous and actionable theoretical foundation available for AI tool design in large-scale open education. This contention is itself a reflective one: having experimented with broader, multi-theoretical frameworks, we found that CLT's specificity is precisely what makes it generative for design practice.Two empirically grounded risks frame this design challenge and inform our reflections throughout. The first is cognitive offloading (Skulmowski, 2023): when learners over-delegate memory and reasoning to external tools, they tend to retain only gist-level representations rather than the richly organized long-term memory schemas that support transfer and genuine expertise development. The second is the AI placebo effect (Skulmowski, 2024): learners systematically overestimate their own contributions when using AI, producing an illusion of competence that circumvents the productive cognitive struggle necessary for schema formation. Taken together, these risks reveal that AI tools designed without explicit attention to cognitive architecture may perform well on surface-level engagement metrics while undermining the deeper learning they are meant to support.Against this backdrop, the session presents five AI features developed on the platform, each designed to address specific CLT mechanisms. The AI Panda chatbot applies Load Reduction Instruction (Martin & Collie, 2025) through Socratic dialogic scaffolding. AI Integrative Questions maintain productive intrinsic load for schema construction at the close of each course chapter. AI Mind Maps address the split-attention and transient information effects characteristic of video-based MOOC delivery. AI Notes operationalize the worked example effect by reducing the extraneous burden of concurrent note-taking. AI Practice and Open-Ended Questions dynamically calibrate task demands in response to the expertise reversal effect, while leveraging retrieval practice to consolidate long-term retention.We close by reflecting critically on the institutional, administrative, and instructional design tensions encountered during implementation, and by sharing early outcomes from the deployment of these features in NTHU's Pre-AP program. We invite attendees to interrogate whether CLT offers a transferable design language for open education institutions navigating the pressures of AI adoption without sacrificing pedagogical integrity.
Speakers
avatar for Tonny Menglun Kuo

Tonny Menglun Kuo

Division Director, Division of Learning Support and Research Planning, Center for Teaching and Learning Development, National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan
Tonny Menglun Kuo, Ph.D. is Assistant Professor in the Interdisciplinary Program of Management and Technology (IPMT) at the College of Management and Technology, National Tsing Hua University (NTHU), Taiwan. He concurrently serves as Division Director of Learning Support and Research... Read More →
Thursday October 8, 2026 3:00pm - 3:30pm EDT
6 DR4 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

3:00pm EDT

OERs for Kids, Edited by Kids – Online Engagement to Maximise Accessibility and Learning Outcomes
Thursday October 8, 2026 3:00pm - 3:30pm EDT
ID: 32792

Young people overwhelmingly use online sources for extra-curricular learning, particularly now that many carry a smartphone everywhere. In this new era, resource providers (such as publishers) have an obligation to ensure that our young audience have highest-quality OERs to refer to freely. We must meet young learners in their preferred sphere, and provide trusted sources of information to combat the misinformation which is so prevalent online, causing negative mental health outcomes for young people. Beyond this, for STEMM learning, we should inspire and actively engage with young learners, to ensure we are using a shared language, shaped by our young audience themselves. If we do this successfully, we will maximise learning outcomes and boost STEMM participation throughout the key stages of education. This enables new generations to not just suffer through their formal education but to fall in love with science, and remain science-literate throughout their lives. This is the mission of Frontiers for Young Minds. Discover how our non-profit OER project works with top scientists globally, to re-write their peer-reviewed publications into short kid-friendly articles, published as open access OERs, across all fields of STEMM, free to read for anyone with an internet connection. We offer a case study on how to go beyond high-quality OER publishing by offering an online platform for direct engagement: in our unique peer-review process, every manuscript submitted is reviewed with our global network of kids aged 8-15. By taking in their feedback, we create a shared language of understanding directly between young people and active scientists, ensuring that everything we publish is accessible AND fun-to-read for the young peers of our reviewers. Our Young Reviewers gain critical thinking skills, and by having direct contact with both a Science Mentor (PhD-holding adults vetted by the FYM team and working with the kid reviewers locally) and our Authors (who are leading researchers and whose peer-reviewed research we have likewise already validated), they gain the revelation that science really IS for everyone, helping them engage with STEMM. By raising their “science capital”, we increase the likelihood of them remaining engaged, science-literate citizens, thus boosting public trust in science, and even creating the active scientists of the next generation in future.And interestingly, we can show that the learning goes two ways: our Young Reviewers, by giving their direct and unfiltered feedback to the scientist Authors, empower researchers with that new, shared language they can use to communicate their research to anyone.
Speakers
avatar for Laura Henderson

Laura Henderson

Head of Program – Frontiers for Young Minds, Frontiers Research Foundation (Frontiers Media SA)
Laura Henderson is an academic publishing professional with 20 years’ experience across respected international presses. Now part of the Frontiers Research Foundation, she strategically directs the unique science-engagement project, Frontiers for Young Minds (FYM). Passionate... Read More →
Thursday October 8, 2026 3:00pm - 3:30pm EDT
7 DR5 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

3:00pm EDT

Re-Designing an International, Student-Led, Co-Curricular, Community-Engaged, Experiential Learning Project for OA
Thursday October 8, 2026 3:00pm - 3:30pm EDT
ID: 33695

This design case details the development of an international, student-led, co-curricular, community-engaged, experiential learning project during its first two years, during which staff and faculty guided and mentored undergraduate students as they developed a process for mentoring young writers in the US and East Africa and creating an anthology of their stories. This project was later converted to an open access approach for creating OER. I discuss critical challenges and successes regarding the design of the project that were made during this period, following the organization of teams for mentoring young writers, editing the anthology, raising funds for printing, and implementing an evaluation plan. I will focus specifically on the challenges and benefits of a minimally-funded project that placed much of the decision-making in the hands of the students. The project lasted for twelve years and resulted in twelves volumes of stories in English and Kinyarwanda, many of which are available for free online. It wasn't until after the first twelve years that the project members considered OA approaches. I conclude with implications for developing and converting to OA a project of this complexity and discuss the successes and failures that the project encountered during the first two years of its implementation (2008-2010) and beyond. I discuss the current emphasis of the project on preparing educators to create OA juvenile titles that can be adapted and translated into underserved languages. 
Speakers
avatar for Beth Lewis Samuelson

Beth Lewis Samuelson

Associate Professor, Indiana University Bloomington
Beth Lewis Samuelson is Associate Professor in the Indiana University Bloomington School of Education, with distinguished contributions in service, teaching, and research and 20 years of experience in higher education. Her research specializations include language awareness and language... Read More →
Thursday October 8, 2026 3:00pm - 3:30pm EDT
5 DR3 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

3:35pm EDT

Activating Open Collections for Education: Developing Decolonial OER from Cultural Heritage Collections
Thursday October 8, 2026 3:35pm - 4:05pm EDT
ID: 32593

As museums and archives increasingly release digital collections under open licenses, millions of cultural heritage objects are now freely accessible online. Yet their pedagogical potential remains largely untapped, and educators often face challenges discovering, contextualizing, and integrating these materials into teaching.Since its launch in 2022, Curationist enables global users to search more than 5.4 million objects from the open-access collections of museums and archives worldwide, connecting curious minds to the histories, stories, and ideas these works inspire. Building on this foundation, Curationist is developing Open Educational Resources (OER) that activate museum collections for use in educational settings.This work responds to persistent gaps in educational materials about cultural heritage in regions shaped by colonization and political conflict. Cultural heritage in these contexts is often vulnerable to loss, displacement, and contested interpretation. At the same time, curricula frequently simplify these histories or rely on archival records shaped by colonial frameworks. Accessible resources that foreground Indigenous knowledge systems and multi-language cultural heritage remain limited.This session shares Curationist’s approach to developing open educational materials for undergraduate students that explore cultural heritage and at-risk histories in times of conflict. Using openly licensed museum objects and archival materials, these resources encourage critical engagement with how conflict, colonization, and cultural resilience shape the preservation and interpretation of heritage.Grounded in a collaborative and decolonial model of knowledge production, this initiative brings together educators, scholars, and community contributors to develop educational content while redistributing resources. By activating open museum collections for teaching and learning, this approach offers a model for expanding access to cultural heritage and democratizing knowledge through open education.
Speakers
AF

Amanda Figueroa

Platform Director, Curationist Foundation
Amanda Figueroa works at the intersection of cultural heritage, digital access, and community engagement. Her work focuses on making collections more accessible, contextualized, and usable for diverse audiences. She brings experience in bridging institutional collections with public-facing... Read More →
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Nicole Malli

Community Director, Curationist
Nicole Malli is the Community Director at Curationist, where she brings extensive experience in cultural heritage, community partnerships, and public programming to expand engagement with open access collections. With a background in cultural anthropology, she focuses on building... Read More →
Thursday October 8, 2026 3:35pm - 4:05pm EDT
2 Room M MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

3:35pm EDT

Building the Next Generation of Open Educators: Open Textbooks, Networks and Conversations for the Future
Thursday October 8, 2026 3:35pm - 4:05pm EDT
ID: 33737

The #RhodesMustFall student protests of 2015 highlighted the alienation that students in South Africa experience at universities whose colonial origins still dominate institutional culture, resulting in societal and institutional injustices that make it challenging for students to transition to university (Luckett and Shay, 2017). Ten years on, despite a variety of institutional responses to address the issues, transformation is still a work in progress. Open education is considered a global response to address social injustices in Higher education (HE) such as lack of access to quality, localized, relevant teaching and learning materials. Interviews with open textbook authors and student co-creators have shown the authoring process enabled pedagogical change, collaboration with multiple authors and students (Cox et al. 2024).Student voice was amplified and acknowledged during the protests. The inclusion of student voice can continue to bring about transformation and is essential for shaping conversations about the future of HE considering students are embedded in their lived realities and are uniquely placed to understand the needs of their communities. This presentation will address the question: How do we partner with students in OER authoring and bring students into conversation about open education and the future of higher education?There is a growing body of literature describing student partnership but previous work has not included student recognition for co-creating curricula and course materials and how to bring students into conversation with open education practitioners.  This presentation will introduce students as partner models and specifically relate them to openness. Three examples of partnership will be introduced, a University of Cape Town pilot project: student fellowships in Digital Open Textbooks for Development. An exciting example of student authorship process in open textbook production “Science is tough but so are you” (Willmers et al. in press). The UNITWIN network of Open Education (UNOE) will be described, including its objectives. The important new and different approach of UNOE has been to begin its collaborative multi-national work with a project enabling student voice.Interviews were carried out with academic authors and students. Students also wrote their own reflections on their experiences. The current UNOE student fellowships project will include outputs and documents collected during the process and reflections of the student co-ordinator responsible for growing the student network. Student fellowships at UCT highlighted the strong student voice concerned with issues of social justice and building sharing resources into future HE systems. The findings from interviews revealed the power of open textbook initiatives to serve as vehicles for promote multilingualism, ‘localisation’ (including translation), epistemic representation and institutional change (Masuku et al. 2025). This presentation highlights a pathway for Open Education sustainability, renewed focus on epistemic justice through open education and students as partners. This research and practice has implication for democratising knowledge, authoring content for specific contexts and circumstance. UNESCO student fellows project if designed to build an open community of academics and students who can support and guide new types of content, knowledge and network for sustainable open education with the aim of addressing epistemic injustice.
Speakers
avatar for Glenda Cox

Glenda Cox

Building the next generation of open educators: open textbooks, networks and conversations for the future., University of Cape Town
Associate Professor Glenda Cox works in the Centre for Innovation in Learning and Teaching (CILT) at the University of Cape Town (UCT). She leads the Digital Open Textbooks for Development (DOT4D) initiative at UCT. She holds the UNESCO chair in Open Education and Social Justice and... Read More →
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Nico Pampier

Student, University of Caoe Town
Advisor on Sustainable Development | AI Enthusiast| SDG 16 Youth Leader | Human Rights and Education Advocate | UN Youth Representative from South Africa | UNHCR Young Champion for Refugees | Current UNESCO Unitwin network on Open education student fellowship co-ordinator
Thursday October 8, 2026 3:35pm - 4:05pm EDT
7 DR5 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

3:35pm EDT

Creating Community Through Curiosity: Student Authored Open Texts at the Queensland University of Technology
Thursday October 8, 2026 3:35pm - 4:05pm EDT
ID: 33465

In this session, we explore how library‑led open publishing can foster connection, creativity, and curiosity by transforming student research into openly shared, community‑building resources.Undergraduate and postgraduate research projects showcase independent inquiry, yet these outputs can all too often remain invisible, read only by supervisors or assessment panels before disappearing into institutional archives. By reimagining these works as contributions within open publications, we can strengthen student belonging within scholarly and professional communities while championing more collaborative publishing practices.Drawing on a series of recent publications made available through QUT Open Texts, we demonstrate how library expertise, open publishing workflows, and collaboration can elevate individual projects into collective assets with broader impact. Each initiative began through conversations with professional and academic staff who recognised the value of surfacing student work. In response, the QUT Open Texts team partnered with Liaison Librarians and academics to create publications that highlight student achievements and model open, supportive scholarly communication practices.Vacation Research Experience Scheme (VRES)In 2024, QUT’s Faculty of Science Liaison Librarians identified an opportunity to present undergraduate VRES projects using the university’s Pressbooks platform. By transforming student outputs into individual chapters within an open publication this, now ongoing, initiative helps students see themselves as contributors to the research community. It introduces students to more advanced concepts including intellectual property (IP), copyright and open licensing while supporting their journey as emerging researchers.From Campus to CollaborationFrom Campus to Collaboration captures the experiences of postgraduate students completing real‑world, partnered research in data science and artificial intelligence. The resulting open publication provides an exemplar for future students, supervisors, and partners while modelling how open publishing pathways can strengthen connections and shape more responsive postgraduate research opportunities.AusiSTAR: The NextGen PlaybookAcademics involved in the AusiSTAR program expressed a strong interest in highlighting student achievements and capturing the unique industry focused, collaborative learning experiences fostered through the Next Generation Graduates Program. By openly publishing student reflections and insights, the publication demonstrates networks across universities, industry, and the public, and shows how open dissemination can sustain communities of innovation and practice.Each of these projects required close partnership with the QUT Open Texts team to navigate the complexities of publishing student‑authored work. Working with different editorial teams meant the Open Text team had to develop flexible workflows, balancing varied timelines, and creating new processes to support student‑owned IP and open licensing. Collectively, these initiatives provide a template for transforming individual student projects into shared open resources with broad appeal. Through accessible platforms like Pressbooks, we can champion creativity and empower students to see their work, and themselves, as active contributors within a more open scholarly community.
Speakers
avatar for Sal Kleine

Sal Kleine

Scholarly Impact Librarian (Acting), Queensland University of Technology
Sal Kleine is a Scholarly Impact Librarian (acting) and Liaison Librarian at Queensland University of Technology (QUT). Her work spans information literacy, scholarly communication, and open educational resources, with a particular focus on open scholarship through her management... Read More →
avatar for Michael Hawks

Michael Hawks

Faculty of Business and Law Liaison Librarian, Queensland University of Technology
Michael Hawks supports the Graduate School of Business, School of Management and the School of Advertising, Marketing and Public Relations in QUT’s Faculty of Business and Law. As an academic librarian, he has a keen interest in digital engagement and has contributed to innovative... Read More →
avatar for Gabrielle Hayes

Gabrielle Hayes

Faculty of Science Liaison Librarian, Queensland University of Technology
Gabrielle Hayes is a Liaison Librarian at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Brisbane, Australia. With a practical background in developing Open Educational Resources (OER), her work includes co-authoring Research Right and editing the QUT Faculty of Science VRES 2024... Read More →
Thursday October 8, 2026 3:35pm - 4:05pm EDT
8 DR6 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

3:35pm EDT

Cross-Institutional Assessment of Student Outcomes Associated with Course Material Cost in Massachusetts Public Higher Education
Thursday October 8, 2026 3:35pm - 4:05pm EDT
ID: 34006

Beginning in the 2021-2022 academic year, the Massachusetts Open and Low-Cost Educational Resource Advisory Committee (MA OLERAC) implemented a statewide process to collect and standardize data on no- and low-cost course materials. OLERAC coordinated with institutional research offices at each of the twenty-eight undergraduate-serving public institutions of higher education in Massachusetts to collect data. Institutions included community colleges, state universities, and the University of Massachusetts System.The first year was a slow roll out with traditional data collection like cost savings and the number of no- or low-cost course sections offered to students. In subsequent years, data collection was expanded to include a comparison of student academic outcomes in courses with materials cost greater than $50 ("traditional"), less than $50 ("low-cost"), and $0 ("no-cost," including open educational resources, library and other free resources). Productive (ABC) and non-productive (DFW) grades were tracked for each student in every course system-wide, comparing academic outcomes among courses with traditional, low-cost, and no-cost materials. Data were further disaggregated by race, gender, and Pell Grant eligibility.In this session, we describe the process and challenges of large-scale, cross-institutional data collection and present two years of academic outcome data. Among Massachusetts public institutions, courses with no-cost materials are associated with lower DFW rates than courses with either traditional or low-cost materials. When the data are disaggregated, the correlation of improved course outcomes and no-cost course materials is consistent across almost all gender, race, and economic groups.Together with numbers of low-cost and no-cost sections and course materials cost estimates, the system-wide academic outcome data show that the use of no-cost teaching and learning materials represents a cost-savings for students, offers faculty additional tools that may be customized to engage students, and is positively linked with student academic performance. That means students who enroll in such sections are better able to persist, increase enrollment intensity, and ultimately complete their degree at a lower cost.Key takeaways from this session are a description of the types of OER data collected by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, strategies for cross-institutional data collection, and assessment of the impact of no- and low-cost course materials on course grades for students from diverse demographic backgrounds. We will also discuss how to identify key partners needed to effectively implement data collection processes within a State’s Department of Higher Education and how to develop strategies to address the data collection challenges experienced when data submission is not mandatory.
Speakers
avatar for Connie Strittmatter

Connie Strittmatter

Strategic Projects Librarian, Fitchburg State University
Connie Strittmatter is the Strategic Projects Librarian at Fitchburg State University. In her current position, she supports Fitchburg State’s open and affordable education initiative by delivering workshops on OER topics, working individually with faculty to incorporate OER into... Read More →
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Amanda Simons

Professor and Chair of Biology, Framingham State University
Amanda Simons is the Chair of Biology at Framingham State University. She is the author of Chromosomes, Genes, and Traits, an OER textbook written with the support from a ROTEL program grant. She is currently serving as a faculty fellow for the Massachusetts Department of Higher... Read More →
avatar for Bernadette Sibuma

Bernadette Sibuma

Director, Online Learning, Massachusetts Bay Community College
Bernadette Sibuma, Ed.D., is the Director of Online Learning at Massachusetts Bay Community College.  She serves as a current member of the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education’s Open and Low-Cost Educational Resources Advisory Council (MA OLERAC) and the OLERAC Assessment... Read More →
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Emma Wood

Scholarly Communication Librarian, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
Emma Wood is the Scholarly Communication Librarian at the University of Massachusetts - Dartmouth. She encourages the adoption of Open Educational Resources (OER) among faculty and helps students understand and access OER materials. She serves as a member of the Massachusetts Department... Read More →
avatar for Robert Awkward

Robert Awkward

Assistant Commissioner for Academic Effectiveness, Massachusetts Department of Higher Education
Dr. Robert Awkward is an educator and scholar based in Massachusetts whose work explores the intersection of open education, inclusive pedagogy, and emerging technologies in higher education. His interests focus on how open practices—such as OER, collaborative knowledge creation... Read More →
avatar for Emily Alling

Emily Alling

Associate Dean, Library Services, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
Emily Alling is the Associate Dean for Library Services at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in North Adams, Massachusetts and leads the open and affordable textbook in initiative at her institution. She is a member of the Massachusetts Open and Low Cost Educational Resources... Read More →
SS

Suzanne Smith

Director of Research and Evaluation, Massachusetts Department of Higher Education
Suzanne Smith is the Director of Research and Evaluation at MA Department of Higher Education.  She liaises with the Massachusetts Open and Low Cost Educational Resources Advisory Council (OLERAC) Assessment Committee to collect OER key performance indicator data from the 28 public... Read More →
Thursday October 8, 2026 3:35pm - 4:05pm EDT
5 DR3 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

3:35pm EDT

The Content Mafia: How Publishers Weaponize Copyright to Control Educational Resources
Thursday October 8, 2026 3:35pm - 4:05pm EDT
ID: 33913

This session examines eight common practices in educational publishing—edition cycling, access codes and DRM, regional pricing, bundling, inclusive access programs, copyright term extensions, orphan works, and author rights transfer—and explores how Open Educational Resources offer structural alternatives to each challenge. Rather than focusing on what's broken, we'll demonstrate what's possible when educational materials are designed for access from the start.For each publishing practice, we'll show how OER provides concrete solutions: continuous community updates replace fixed edition cycles; open formats work offline and across devices; zero-cost access eliminates currency fluctuations and affordability barriers; modular design lets instructors select exactly what students need rather than buying predetermined bundles transparent licensing prevents orphan works while protecting student privacy; and open licenses let authors retain control while enabling global adaptation and sharing.This session confirms the work OER advocates are already doing while providing practical language and evidence for advancing open alternatives. We'll explore how different business models serve different purposes, examine which practices create barriers to educational access, and equip participants with tools to advocate effectively for student-centered approaches in their own contexts. Attendees will leave with actionable strategies, international examples, and a framework for discussing educational materials that centers learning outcomes and equitable access.
Speakers
avatar for Beth Chenette

Beth Chenette

Associate Librarian, Texas A&M University Libraries
Elizabeth Chenette is an Associate Librarian, member of the OpenEd team, and Reserve Services Coordinator at Texas A&M University Libraries in College Station, Texas. With an MLS from the University of North Texas, Elizabeth has worked in higher education for 13+ years. She has Creative... Read More →
Thursday October 8, 2026 3:35pm - 4:05pm EDT
6 DR4 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

4:20pm EDT

Designed for Humans: Invitations and Boundaries for the Future of Open Courses
Thursday October 8, 2026 4:20pm - 4:50pm EDT
ID: 33860

Designed for Humans: Invitations and Boundaries for the Future of Open Courses explores strategies to move open education beyond static content delivery toward human-centered, equitable learning design that reinforces course integrity while navigating both the promise and pressure of generative AI. Framed through the lens of "invitations" and "boundaries," we highlight course design as an expansion of and integration with OER textbooks. Grounded in research on learner engagement, equity, and Universal Design for Learning, this model was developed and refined in a diverse community college setting with 13,000 students, but the model is adaptable. We invite attendees to bring their institutional contexts, student populations, and constraints to the conversation, and choose what to reuse, revise, remix, or set aside.Invitations and Boundaries Explained"Invitations" encourage students to actively participate, identify content relevance, and build confidence. "Boundaries" preserve course integrity, protect learning outcomes, and keep students on track. When thoughtfully designed, they make open education more usable, supportive, and equitable.The Course as OERBuilding on our “Designed for Humans” work with faculty and institutions, we share a course-as-OER model, treating the course as an intentionally-curated learning experience that includes:Curated, interactive engagement activities tied to OER contentRelevance to students' lived experiencesFocused videos and strategic OER textbook excerptsLocalized content that reflects and speaks to student populationsLow-stakes assessments to reinforce understandingAuthentic assessments that build resumes, college applications, and scholarship possibilitiesThese elements broaden access to knowledge while encouraging active participation rather than passive consumption or AI shortcuts.A Repeatable Module PatternEach module follows a consistent, scaffolded structure:Engagement activity - invites immediate connection, introduces concepts2-minute journal - includes a quick knowledge check with questions drawn from the activityCurated OER content - aligned to learning objectivesLightning lecture - 3-5 minutes, targeted and specificAnonymous poll - low-stakes engagement, formative feedbackCurated OER content - second touchpoint reinforcing the conceptLightning lecture - 3-5 minutesQuiz - question pools created from unique OER and video content Discussion board video post - students apply initial learning Following module - students revisit initial post and respond using newly-learned content and collaborative problem-solvingThis module pattern creates a rhythm that helps students get into the flow. As one student noted, “Once I got started, I didn’t want to stop. I just had to see the next module’s (engagement activity), and before I knew it, I was halfway done with the next module.”For Every Learner, EverywhereOER gives educators the instructional material; intentional course design integrates that material with purpose. Both matter deeply as institutions worldwide serve learners with differing levels of preparation, confidence, time, access, and technological fluency. Attendees will leave with a course framework, examples, and revision ideas they can apply, adapt, and share across disciplines, institutions, and borders. OER works best not as a textbook substitute, but as a foundation for a learning experience that meets students where they are. By reimagining what openness looks like in practice, this session offers a path toward open courses that are truly designed for humans.
Speakers
avatar for Claire Sparklin

Claire Sparklin

Professional Faculty: Communication, Washtenaw Community College
Claire Sparklin is a Communication Faculty member at Washtenaw Community College in Michigan and a former instructional designer whose work centers on AI, instructional design, Open Educational Resources (OER), and authentic student engagement. In addition to her college teaching... Read More →
avatar for Michelle Westerdale

Michelle Westerdale

Learning Experience Designer, Washtenaw Community College
Michelle Westerdale is a Learning Experience Designer at Washtenaw Community College in Michigan. She partners with faculty to create online courses focused on authentic student experience, current pedagogy, and sustainable course design. She brings together her background as a teacher... Read More →
Thursday October 8, 2026 4:20pm - 4:50pm EDT
6 DR4 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

4:20pm EDT

For the Benefit of All: Rethinking OER Access Through Discoverability and Student Navigation
Thursday October 8, 2026 4:20pm - 4:50pm EDT
ID: 33697

Open Educational Resources (OER) and Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) pathways are often presented as equity-minded solutions for reducing financial barriers in higher education. Across California Community Colleges, substantial institutional effort has gone into course conversion, pathway mapping, funding, and reporting. Yet an important practical question remains: even when OER or ZTC options exist, can students actually find them, understand them, and intentionally choose them within the systems they use to plan and register for classes? This session examines that gap between institutional availability and student-facing usability.Drawing on findings from a mixed-methods ZTC Degree Feasibility Study involving 19 participating California community colleges, this presentation shares findings from an exploratory convergent design that integrates three sources of evidence: a multi-institutional student survey on awareness, preferences, and decision-making; student focus groups on navigation strategies and barriers; and semi-structured interviews with counselors, faculty, IT professionals, and administrators on operational feasibility. Together, these sources allow us to compare what institutions say is available with what students are realistically able to perceive and navigate.Across the data, several patterns emerged. Many students do not recognize the terms “OER” or “ZTC,” even when they are enrolled in courses that meet those definitions. Students consistently express interest in lower-cost and no-cost options, but cost is only actionable when it is visible, trustworthy, and easy to interpret at the moment of decision-making. Students also report confusion when labels are unclear or inconsistent, and some describe enrolling in courses marked ZTC or OER that still required payment for course materials. These findings suggest that access is not only a question of whether open options exist, but whether those options are embedded in student-facing systems in ways that support confidence, choice, and follow-through.This session introduces the concept of ambient discoverability: the idea that students should be able to identify and pursue OER and ZTC options without needing prior insider knowledge or familiarity with specialized terminology. Framed this way, OER access becomes not just a content issue, but a system design issue involving registration interfaces, degree planning tools, advising workflows, scheduling practices, and reliable backend data. Participants will leave with a practical framework for evaluating discoverability in their own settings and with concrete strategies for improving student-centered implementation. By reframing access through discoverability, navigation, and trust, this session speaks directly to the conference theme of protecting knowledge as a public good and ensuring that open education functions in practice, not only in principle. Open education is not fully open if only students with insider knowledge can find their way to it.
Speakers
avatar for Cheryl Bailey

Cheryl Bailey

Instruction & Systems Librarian, Irvine Valley College
Cheryl Bailey, MLIS, MA, is an Instruction and Systems Librarian whose work centers on equitable access to higher education, particularly for neurodiverse students. She earned her MLIS from San José State University and her MA from California State University, Long Beach, and is... Read More →
avatar for Rachel Fleming

Rachel Fleming

OER & Equity Librarian, Irvine Valley College
Rachel Fleming, MLIS, is the OER and Equity Librarian at Irvine Valley College. She earned her MLIS from San José State University and is currently completing her first year in the CSU Channel Islands Doctorate in Educational Leadership for Equity and Justice (DELEJ) program. Over... Read More →
Thursday October 8, 2026 4:20pm - 4:50pm EDT
5 DR3 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

4:20pm EDT

Open Access in Action: The Real-World Impact of Transformative Agreements
Thursday October 8, 2026 4:20pm - 4:50pm EDT
ID: 32841

This session brings transformative agreements to life through compelling real-world examples, researcher voices, and measurable institutional outcomes. Moving beyond theory, attendees will explore how TAs are streamlining the path to open access publication —including testimonials from researchers and institutions about the simplicity of the process and the tangible difference it has made to their work's reach and impact. From increased citation rates and global visibility to reduced administrative burden and cost transparency, this session demonstrates why transformative agreements are reshaping the publishing landscape — one institution, one researcher, one article at a time.
Speakers
avatar for Sarah Whalen

Sarah Whalen

Director, Open Research Americas, Wiley
 With over 20 years of publishing experience, Sarah started her career in book publishing as the international coordinator for the Alfred A. Knopf imprint at Penguin Random House. After shifting to scholarly publishing, she gained expertise in journal production and editorial management... Read More →
Thursday October 8, 2026 4:20pm - 4:50pm EDT
7 DR5 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

4:20pm EDT

The Structural Value of Openness: Open Infrastructure for Public Good
Thursday October 8, 2026 4:20pm - 4:50pm EDT
ID: 34004

Broadly conceived, open education is a collection of values and practices that seek to create, share, and expand access to knowledge for the public good. The work of open education happens in many ways across higher education. Faculty and students teach and learn with OER, librarians guide us through knowledge discovery and cataloging processes, and staff develop and support programming to cultivate communities of practice. Often these practices are disjointed across the institution and rarely connected to a university’s wider mission. However, at the City University of New York, the development of the CUNY Academic Commons demonstrates the structural value of openness: how openness can serve as an infrastructural commitment and guiding principle for an institution and the knowledge that it produces. Using the City University of New York as a case study, and in particular the open-source technological infrastructure of the CUNY Academic Commons, this presentation will explore how open infrastructure supports inclusive, student-centered pedagogical approaches, fosters faculty, staff, and student agency in knowledge creation, and connects the work within the university to its mission to serve the public good.The City University of New York is the largest urban public institution of higher education in the United States, comprising 26 colleges spread across the five boroughs of New York City.  Founded as the Free Academy 1847, CUNY has a history of openness and activism. The university’s foundational principle contends that higher education should be accessible to all the city’s residents, and despite persistent lack of funding and chronic austerity, CUNY continues to provide affordable access to higher education and serve as a transformative engine of social mobility for all New Yorkers. In 2009, a group of CUNY faculty, staff, and graduate students used the open-source software frameworks WordPress and BuddyPress to launch the CUNY Academic Commons, a digital platform to “support faculty initiatives and build community through the use(s) of technology in teaching and learning.” Over the years, and more recently with OER funding from New York State, the CUNY Academic Commons has grown to over 50,000 users who have built 40,000+ websites and administer over 2,200 groups. In addition to the Commons, other projects have emerged across CUNY, creating an open-source ecosystem and community of practice that develops alternatives to corporate, siloed tools for teaching and learning at CUNY. As a community-developed and maintained platform, the CUNY Academic Commons evolves in response to users' needs and desires. Faculty teach and students take courses, some of which involve co-developing projects and public-facing resources. University staff create websites to publicize their departments and research centers. Graduate students create personalized portfolios to share their academic and non-academic work. Colleagues leverage groups to share research projects and connect across the city. This presentation will detail how the openness and flexibility of the CUNY Academic Commons gives us a vision of what a university for the public good is and could be: diverse communities of practice facilitating and engaging in the creation of knowledge for all.
Speakers
avatar for Laurie Hurson

Laurie Hurson

Assistant Director of Open Education, The Graduate Center, The City University of New York (CUNY)
Laurie Hurson is the Assistant Director of Open Education at the CUNY Graduate Center's Teaching and Learning Center, where she focuses on faculty development and the implementation of open educational practices. Her work includes developing and leading initiatives such as the Open... Read More →
Thursday October 8, 2026 4:20pm - 4:50pm EDT
8 DR6 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

4:55pm EDT

Augmenting Open Educational Resources at Scale: AI-Driven Approaches to Adoption, Adaptation, and Distribution
Thursday October 8, 2026 4:55pm - 5:25pm EDT
ID: 34028

Artificial intelligence (AI) is ushering in a significant shift in education, introducing systems capable of adapting to learners with unprecedented precision and immediacy. Rather than functioning as static tools, AI-driven platforms now provide context-aware guidance, personalized learning pathways, and real-time feedback that reshape how knowledge is acquired and applied. While these advances can enhance instructional effectiveness and deepen student engagement, they also raise critical concerns about access, as unequal availability risks widening existing gaps in educational opportunity.This presentation examines a new initiative from LibreTexts, a widely adopted, not-for-profit platform, that advances the integration of AI into open educational resources to create a scalable, adaptive, and equitable learning ecosystem. The initiative develops and deploys a comprehensive suite of intelligent tools across the LibreVerse, including context-aware AI tutors embedded within digital textbooks, automated generation and evaluation of formative homework, AI-assisted writing and research support, AI-guided coding and data science tools within Jupyter environments, and AI-enabled social annotation to foster deeper collaboration and engagement.The initiative is organized around five core development areas: (I) AI tutor–enhanced textbooks providing contextualized, always-available guidance grounded in vetted OER; (II) AI-supported homework systems enabling scalable question generation and automated evaluation; (III) AI-assisted writing tools supporting both student learning and instructor content creation; (IV) AI-integrated coding and data science environments enabling collaborative problem-solving; and (V) AI-enhanced social annotation to strengthen interaction, comprehension, and critical thinking.Complementing these advances are robust faculty development programs that support effective adoption and adaptation, alongside a rigorous assessment framework to evaluate learning outcomes, user experience, and system performance for continuous improvement. The anticipated result is a nationally scalable, openly accessible AI-powered ecosystem that improves student comprehension, engagement, and achievement while reducing equity gaps through free, personalized learning support. Instructors benefit from integrated tools for content creation, assessment, analytics, and pedagogy. Grounded in transparency and openness, the initiative establishes a trustworthy AI infrastructure enabling seamless interoperability across textbooks, assessment systems, coding environments, writing tools, and collaborative platforms.This initiative it builds on the proven foundation of the LibreVerse, reaches a truly global audience, and operates under a mission-driven, nonprofit model that maximizes impact. LibreTexts has an established record of developing transformative educational technology and high-quality content for post-secondary learning, with current engagement levels reaching roughly 250 million student interactions per year. This scale enables new AI-driven capabilities to be deployed and adopted rapidly. As a nonprofit dedicated to broad dissemination of OER and open-source tools, LibreTexts removes profit-driven barriers, ensuring innovations can be distributed widely, quickly, and at minimal cost.The project is also innovative in both design and implementation. Its integration within the LibreVerse leverages one of the world’s largest OER repositories, creating a powerful feedback loop of rapid deployment, widespread adoption, and continuous refinement based on authentic learning behavior. Key technical innovations include context-aware AI systems trained on open educational content and aligned with pedagogical best practices, cross-platform interoperability across the entire ecosystem, and transparent development pipelines that allow educators and researchers to audit, extend, and adapt the tools. 
Speakers
avatar for Delmar Larsen

Delmar Larsen

Professor and CEO, University of California, Davis and LibreTexts
Delmar Larsen is a Professor of Chemistry at the University of California, Davis, and a leading advocate for open education. He is the founder and CEO of the LibreTexts project, one of the world’s largest open educational resource (OER) platforms, providing freely accessible, customizable... Read More →
Thursday October 8, 2026 4:55pm - 5:25pm EDT
6 DR4 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

4:55pm EDT

Beyond Open Access: The CARE–KNOW–DO Framework for Transformative Open Education
Thursday October 8, 2026 4:55pm - 5:25pm EDT
ID: 33905

What if openness meant more than access?Open education has made knowledge available to millions — but availability is not transformation. This interactive session introduces the CARE–KNOW–DO framework: a decade in the making, empirically validated across four continents, and built on a deceptively simple proposition: that responsible values, open knowledge, and sustainable action are not separate goals but a single, integrated process of meaningful learning.Who this session is forResearchers, project coordinators, and network leaders who design, study, or advocate for open education — and who want models that do more than describe openness, but actually operationalise it by catalysing its impact.The problem we're addressingOpen education has a well-documented gap: it excels at content delivery but rarely connects affective-cognitive learning with social responsibility and real-world action. Curricula align with SDGs on paper; learners rarely feel it in practice. CARE–KNOW–DO was built specifically to close that gap.What CARE–KNOW–DO is — and what it has doneDeveloped across four major international projects — EC-funded weSPOT (2013–15), ENGAGE (2015–17), CONNECT (2020–24), and the ongoing METEOR (2025–) — the framework has evolved from early inquiry-based learning designs to AI-enhanced, socially impactful open education ecosystems. Its reach is not theoretical:Implemented in 80+ schools across Latin America, Europe, and Africa.Engaged 55,000+ learners, educators, and community partners, with particular reach into underserved regionsDemonstrated measurable gains in engagement, participation, and progression.Extended to education in emergencies through the CatchUp programme — evidence of its relevance where equitable learning recovery matters most.Recognised with the 2025 Open Education Award for Excellence (Open Practices — Open Pedagogy).What makes it originalMost frameworks treat engagement, knowledge, and action as a sequence. CARE–KNOW–DO demonstrates — through large-scale empirical work — that they are interconnected dimensions, not steps. Change one and you change all three. That insight has direct consequences for how we design curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment across open education and digital transformation, including emerging technologies such as AI.In practice, it means: real-life challenges tied to the SDGs, genuine co-creation of knowledge with families and communities, and ethical, critical engagement with emerging technologies — including AI-Unplugged approaches and human-led AI-supported knowledge mapping.What you'll do in this sessionThis is not a presentation with a Q&A bolted on. You will:Encounter the framework through international. implementation examples — including crisis contexts and AI-enhanced designs.Share your own practices advancing Agenda 2030 and SDG-aligned research or proposals.Apply structured reflection to map CARE–KNOW–DO onto your own institutional, network, or project context — including future proposals.Leave with a concrete starting point — not just inspiration.The bigger pictureBy bridging research, policy, and practice, this session contributes to a shared and urgent question: what does open education owe the world beyond open access? The answer CARE–KNOW–DO proposes is both ambitious and achievable — and this session is the place to pilot it.
Speakers
avatar for Alexandra Okada

Alexandra Okada

Associate Professor on Global Education and Digital Transformation, The Open University
Dr Alexandra Okada is Associate Research Professor in Global Education and Digital Transformation at The Open University UK and Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She is an internationally recognised expert in open learning and AI for sustainable futures, focusing on equity... Read More →
Thursday October 8, 2026 4:55pm - 5:25pm EDT
5 DR3 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

4:55pm EDT

How Can Open Education and Artificial Intelligence Be Sustained to Build a Better World?
Thursday October 8, 2026 4:55pm - 5:25pm EDT
ID: 33726

The Open Education for Better World OE4BW (https://oe4bw.org/) program was born in 2017 after the second World OER Congress held in Ljubljana, Slovenia.OE4BW is a international, online and tuition free mentoring programme with the goal to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) through the development of Open Education projects in a yearly cycle.After 8 years implemented, it has developed 420 projects by 607 participants from 53 countries, based on voluntary work of a committed group of coordinators and prestigious and high-skilled mentors. Till today, the program has been mostly sustained by the UNESCO Chair in Open Education, Mitja Jermol, and the UNESCO National Commission of Slovenia.Although the continuous work and relative success in some countries like India, the program struggles to strengthen its mission/vision accordingly to its growth and opportunities, posing serious questions on its future sustainability. Also, OE4BW has been allocated as a program in the International Research Center on Artificial Intelligence IRCAI, which obliges and challenges to shift focus towards AI development and deployment.This session will present and discuss the previous attempts and the results of workshops to create a short and mid-term strategy mission for OE4BW (2030), complemented by a sustainability model that creates value and revenue. This sustainability model has to be the foundation to uptake new opportunities within IRCAI, embrace AI in its foresight as a core component, build on successful projects, hubs and countries, exploit recent promising partnerships, explore recognition and credentialing practices.The discussion should lead to connect a lifelong-learning, participatory Open Education approach to enhance design, development and deployment of AI, specially in contributing to the achievement of the SDGs. There is the assumption, also to be discussed, that the focus of AI development should be orientated for solving educational needs and challenges, like continuous teacher-professional development aligned to AI Competence for Teachers (UNESCO). But the underlying questions in these and other scenarios is: how can it be sustainable?
Speakers
avatar for Werner Westermann

Werner Westermann

Can K-12 teachers and students build Open Source AI tools for education?, International Research Center on Artificial Intelligence IRCAI
Werner Westermann Juárez works at the Civic Education Program, at the Library of National Congress of Chile since 2015. He is a History, Geography and Social Sciences Teacher and Bachelor Graduate in History (Pontificia Universidad Católica, Chile) and a Master’s on Open Education... Read More →
Thursday October 8, 2026 4:55pm - 5:25pm EDT
8 DR6 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

4:55pm EDT

When Open Content Moves Beyond Vision: Tactile and Multisensory Design for Accessibility
Thursday October 8, 2026 4:55pm - 5:25pm EDT
ID: 33897

Most educational content is often created assuming that learning primarily happens through vision. My work in graphic design has been shaped by a related question: how can communication go beyond just vision? This question arose because I experienced a vision problem caused by retinal detachment. While visual approaches work for many people, they can also create barriers for learners with visual impairments and for contexts where visual access is limited or unreliable. This session explores how graphic design can expand open content by engaging touch, material, and physical interaction.Drawing from practice-based research in tactile and multisensory design, the presentation introduces methods for creating accessible learning materials that go beyond visual methods. Examples include 3D-printed tactile graphics, embossed typographic systems, and hands-on learning tools that can be produced using accessible fabrication techniques and shared as open resources. These approaches demonstrate how design can turn information into physical forms, enabling learners to access content through multiple sensory channels.This session positions accessibility not only as a requirement, but as a generative strategy for innovating open content. Open education has made significant progress in improving access through open licensing and digital distribution. However, much of this content remains visually dependent. Expanding open content to include tactile and multisensory formats can better support diverse learners, including those with visual impairments, as well as those working in environments where screens, bandwidth, or visual attention are limited.The presentation will address how these materials can be shared, adapted, and reproduced. By sharing design files, utilizing common tools like desktop 3D printers or embossing techniques, and encouraging local adaptation, educators and practitioners can create context-responsive learning materials. This method supports the larger goals of open education by supporting not only access, but also participation and co-creation.Attendees will gain an understanding of how graphic design can help develop new types of open content that are inclusive, adaptable, and scalable. The session encourages participants to rethink the role of design in open education, not just as a tool for visual communication, but as a way to shape how knowledge is experienced, shared, and understood across different sensory and material conditions.
Speakers
avatar for Taekyeom Lee

Taekyeom Lee

Associate Professor of Graphic Design, Indiana University
Taekyeom Lee is an award-winning interdisciplinary graphic designer and design educator whose work explores emerging technologies, digital fabrication, and accessible visual communication. He is an Associate Professor of Graphic Design at Indiana University Bloomington and received... Read More →
Thursday October 8, 2026 4:55pm - 5:25pm EDT
7 DR5 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

5:30pm EDT

Beyond Epistemicide: The Polymath Protocol for Decentralized Knowledge Creation in the Global South
Thursday October 8, 2026 5:30pm - 6:00pm EDT
ID: 33364

The global open education movement has successfully removed financial paywalls for millions of learners. However, by focusing primarily on access to content rather than the origin of content, we have inadvertently created a system of "epistemicide" in the Global South. When a student in Nigeria or India is taught to see the world predominantly through the lens of Western-centric case studies, educational materials, and academic canons, education transitions from a process of liberation to one of cultural assimilation. This creates a global monoculture of thought that devalues localized problem-solving frameworks, indigenous knowledge systems, and regional languages.This session directly challenges the foundational premise of modern open education: that the mere distribution of Global North content is inherently an objective good. We will examine how hard metrics prove this disparity. With over 75% of research articles published in English and less than 5% of major open educational resources originating from authors based in the Global South, we are training the next generation of thinkers to solve the problems of the West rather than the urgent issues facing their own communities.The primary goal of this session is to pivot the conversation from OER 1.0 (access to existing materials) to OER 2.0 (local agency and decentralized authorship). To achieve this, I will introduce "The Polymath Protocol"—a theoretical, decentralized epistemic infrastructure designed to invert the current flow of global knowledge.We will explore how this protocol leverages non-proprietary, open-source networking to connect regional "Knowledge Hubs." Furthermore, we will dive into how emerging technologies, such as federated AI models, can be trained locally on indigenous data and regional dialects. This ensures that learners are not subject to the algorithmic bias and cultural homogenization inherent in monolithic, centralized tech giants.By moving away from a top-down, one-way funnel of expertise, the Polymath Protocol offers a viable architectural alternative that prioritizes cognitive diversity and true epistemic justice.Key Takeaways for Attendees:A Critical Framework: Attendees will learn to critically evaluate the "open-washing" of research and recognize the hidden cultural tax imposed on non-Western learners by the current academic hierarchy.Actionable Technical Alternatives: Participants will explore the mechanics of federated AI and decentralized storage as practical tools for preserving linguistic and intellectual diversity in digital education.Policy and Advocacy Strategies: Educators and policymakers will gain insights into the structural shifts required to fund local knowledge creators, move toward credit interoperability, and foster a truly democratic, multi-centered global knowledge ecosystem.This session is designed for educators, technologists, and advocates who believe that the future of human learning should not be a corporate monoculture, but a rich, resilient, and localized ecosystem of diverse ideas.
Speakers
avatar for Dhairya Chauhan

Dhairya Chauhan

Computational Physics Researcher & AICTE Ideation Lab Contributor, Earth School
Dhairya Chauhan is an emerging researcher and AICTE Ideation Lab Fellow whose work sits at the intersection of computational physics, mathematical modeling, and the future of equitable education. Shared by the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) for his contributions... Read More →
Thursday October 8, 2026 5:30pm - 6:00pm EDT
7 DR5 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

5:30pm EDT

Designing Open Support Ecosystems for First-Year Open and Distance Learners: Lessons from PASE SUAyED
Thursday October 8, 2026 5:30pm - 6:00pm EDT
ID: 33916

This presentation explores the design of an open support ecosystem for first-year students in distance higher education through the case of PASE SUAyED, an initiative developed at UNAM to accompany students during their transition into open and distance learning. In many conversations about open education, access is often framed in terms of content availability. However, students' ability to enter, navigate, and remain in digital learning environments also depends on the availability of guidance, orientation, and affective support. From this perspective, openness can be understood not only as access to educational materials, but also as access to resources that help learners develop confidence, belonging, and strategies for participation. PASE SUAyED was conceived as a support initiative for first-year students in the university's open and distance education system. Its purpose is to offer practical, accessible, and student-centered resources that respond to the challenges of transition, self-management, digital participation, and persistence. An important dimension of the project is its potential evolution toward a more open portal of support resources that can be shared more broadly with learners beyond the immediate institutional setting. By sharing this case, the session invites participants to rethink openness through the lens of student support and to consider how institutions can build more humane and inclusive ecosystems for learners entering digital and distance modalities.
Speakers
avatar for Indira Ochoa

Indira Ochoa

Director of Digital Transformation Projects for Education at the Coordination of Open University and Digital Education (CUAED, UNAM), National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM)
Indira Ochoa Carrasco holds a Master’s degree in Communication and Educational Technologies from the Latin American Institute of Educational Communication and a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the National Autonomous University of Mexico. She is also certified in Flipped... Read More →
avatar for María José Barrera Olmedo

María José Barrera Olmedo

Head of the Research and Development Project Department (CUAED), National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM)
María José Barrera Olmedo holds a PhD in Psychology from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, a Master’s degree in Psychology and Education from the University of Cambridge, and a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology with honors from UNAM. Her academic training has focused... Read More →
avatar for Anabel de la Rosa Gómez

Anabel de la Rosa Gómez

Coordinator of Open University and Digital Education (CUAED), National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM)
Dr. Anabel de la Rosa Gómez is the Coordinator of Open University and Digital Education (CUAED) at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). She holds a Ph.D. in Psychology from UNAM, where she also earned her undergraduate degree with honors. As a distinguished academic... Read More →
Thursday October 8, 2026 5:30pm - 6:00pm EDT
6 DR4 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

5:30pm EDT

Inventing Together: Collaborative Product Strategy in the Open edX Ecosystem
Thursday October 8, 2026 5:30pm - 6:00pm EDT
ID: 33996

As open education communities step into a critical role on the frontlines of disseminating knowledge as a public good, the challenge extends beyond creating open resources to designing sustainable, collaborative systems that ensure their relevance and impact. This session explores how the global Open edX community offers a compelling model for “inventing together” through a community-driven approach to product strategy and governance.Open edX is an open source teaching and learning platform used by millions of learners worldwide, with more than 2,000 active instances and a robust network of contributors spanning institutions, organizations, and countries. Stewarded by a nonprofit, the platform reflects the values of openness not only in content but also in its development and decision-making processes. What makes Open edX particularly distinctive is its investment in a formal product management organization—an uncommon feature in open source ecosystems. This model brings together nonprofit staff and community members to collaboratively shape the platform’s roadmap, aligning contributions with shared strategic priorities.This session will examine how the Open edX product management function operates as a bridge between vision and execution in a distributed, participatory environment. Attendees will learn about key practices such as gathering and synthesizing user input, reviewing and prioritizing product proposals, and ensuring that contributions align with long-term goals. Central to this approach is a commitment to learner impact: decisions are guided not only by technical feasibility or contributor interest, but by the potential to improve teaching and learning outcomes at scale.We will also explore the challenges inherent in building a product organization within an open source community. These include balancing openness with strategic coherence, navigating diverse stakeholder needs, and maintaining momentum across a decentralized contributor base. At the same time, this model presents significant opportunities: it fosters deeper community engagement, enables innovation across sectors, and creates a shared sense of ownership over the platform’s future.By connecting this work to the broader open education ecosystem—including organizations like OEGlobal and initiatives such as MIT Open Learning—the session highlights how open source infrastructure can strengthen global efforts to expand equitable access to knowledge. Participants will gain insight into how collaborative product strategy can serve as a mechanism for resilience and collective thriving, supporting the conference’s call to catalyze human connection, creativity, and curiosity.Ultimately, this session invites attendees to consider how similar approaches might be applied in their own contexts, and how open communities can work together to design systems that not only share knowledge, but actively sustain and evolve it for the benefit of all.
Speakers
avatar for Jenna Makowski

Jenna Makowski

Senior Product Manager, Open edX Platform, Open edX, Axim Collaborative
Jenna Makowski has led the product organization for the Open edX project since 2022.
Thursday October 8, 2026 5:30pm - 6:00pm EDT
8 DR6 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

5:30pm EDT

Open as a Strategic Imperative for Sustaining Public Systems
Thursday October 8, 2026 5:30pm - 6:00pm EDT
ID: 33427

When public institutions work together and pool resources to address common curriculum and educational technology needs, there are many benefits. These collaborative projects can leverage collective expertise, generate efficiencies, and distribute workload and costs. This session looks at the findings from a two-year initiative in British Columbia, Canada, that investigated models and mechanisms for enabling this kind of institutional collaboration. We will explore key things that foster and sustain collaborative ventures as well as the structural barriers, and make a case for investing in open approaches on a system level, including open communities, technologies, content, and infrastructure.
Speakers
avatar for Josie Gray

Josie Gray

Interim Director, Open Education, BCcampus
Josie Gray (she/her) is the Interim Director of Open Education at BCcampus, where she leads a team that develops and implements initiatives that advance open education practices in the B.C. post-secondary system. She is passionate about accessibility, open, and thinking critically... Read More →
Thursday October 8, 2026 5:30pm - 6:00pm EDT
5 DR3 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA
 
Friday, October 9
 

10:30am EDT

Democratizing Knowledge Through the Localization of OER at the School and Classroom Level in Lebanon
Friday October 9, 2026 10:30am - 11:00am EDT
ID: 33951

Relevancy:OER can facilitate the democratization of education because they are freely available for both receiving and sharing knowledge (Ossiannilsson, 2023). The open education community can use OER to invite more knowledge holders to contribute to the production and development of relevant resources that reflect those who will use them and that support their goals. However, the ways in which local knowledge holders, especially in the Global South, engage with OER is understudied. Arinto et al. (2017) have developed levels of social inclusion to understand and support the local participants in the Global South to engage with OER. Therefore, this presentation will show an example of how theory and participatory research can be used by the open education community to support innovative, inclusive open content. Research Design and Goals:I used the model from Arinto et al. (2017) as a framework to further understand the possibilities of localized OER. I conducted a case study of Lebanese Alternative Learning (LAL), a grassroots nonprofit organization in Beirut, Lebanon, which had created a digital platform called Tabshoura aligned with the Lebanese curriculum. LAL’s goal is to use this platform to support teachers and students navigating challenging and changing circumstances like the economic and refugee crises in 2023. LAL sought to understand how and why teachers engaged with Tabshoura to grow the platform, so I used a photovoice approach to understand teachers’ experiences with this OER (Wang and Burris, 1997). Teachers submitted photos and brief captions in response to a prompt, and I interviewed teachers and observed their classrooms while they taught with Tabshoura. Research Takeaways:This case study offered the opportunity to study how open content can facilitate the democratization of education by focusing on a particular use of localized OER by teachers in the Global South at the classroom and school level. The teachers reported the decisions they made about how to use Tabshoura to implement the appropriate pedagogical approaches to enable students to direct their own learning and to collaborate with other students. They used the platform to:Facilitate alternative learning outside the classroom with the use of a mobile app.Reorder lessons, simplify activities, and combine Tabshoura with additional activities to meet students’ individual needs. Edit and create content on the platform with support from LAL. Overall, the teachers expressed confidence in Tabshoura’s reliability for their goals. Many teachers also reported they felt encouraged and supported through their community with LAL, within their schools, with parents, and with students. From this case, I created a supplemental model to Arinto et al. (2017) to showcase how Lebanese teachers developed agency by engaging with OER to support their students. Presentation Takeaways:Conducting participatory research in this study showed how centering teachers helped to further define how OER can support democratizing education at the classroom and school level. The open education community can advance open content by studying and supporting those who are already sharing and receiving knowledge through OER in order to meet their goals, even in challenging circumstances.
Speakers
avatar for Bethany Eldridge

Bethany Eldridge

Research Associate, University of Michigan
Bethany Eldridge recently completed her PhD in Educational Studies at the University of Michigan. Her research focused on understanding how teachers of vulnerable students in Lebanon engaged with an open digital platform called Tabshoura, which was developed by a grassroots nonprofit... Read More →
Friday October 9, 2026 10:30am - 11:00am EDT
7 DR5 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

10:30am EDT

Indigenous Languages, Multimedia, and OER: From Decolonising the Mind to Democratising Knowledge
Friday October 9, 2026 10:30am - 11:00am EDT
ID: 33198

This session highlights the transformative power of indigenous languages and their ability to provide access to knowledge through multimedia Open Educational Resources. It draws from the influential ideas of Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, especially his book 'Decolonising the Mind', to demonstrate that language is more than just a means of communication; it embodies culture, identity, and ways of knowing. The talk moves beyond criticizing the system to argue that true decolonization in education involves actively creating and sharing knowledge in indigenous languages.During the session, we will explore ongoing work in Yorùbá, showing how multimedia OER can take various forms: traditional storytelling, audiovisual learning tools, terminology databases, and digital content rooted in cultural contexts. These resources are designed to make information freely accessible and to promote more culturally responsive teaching. They also aim to reach young people, particularly those in the diaspora who often feel disconnected from their linguistic and cultural roots.What is exciting is how a multimedia approach: combining text, audio, visuals, and interactive features can greatly improve understanding, memory, and cultural connections. We will also address the real challenges involved: developing terminology, ensuring quality, and establishing standards for languages that have historically been minoritised. At the same time, we will highlight collaborative, community-driven methods of knowledge production.A key part of the discussion will focus on open licensing and its role in democratising access to knowledge. When educational resources are free and adaptable, communities are no longer just passive recipients; they become co-creators capable of shaping content to fit their own contexts. This shift redistributes power away from dominant knowledge systems and encourages more inclusive, diverse learning approaches.Participants will leave with practical ideas for creating multilingual, multimedia OER and strategies for integrating indigenous knowledge into both formal and informal education. This session will especially benefit educators, researchers, technologists, and cultural practitioners passionate about decolonization, digital humanities, language revitalisation, or open education.Ultimately, this session emphasises that indigenous languages are not secondary; they are central to our global knowledge systems, where access, representation, and cultural authenticity are foundational to how we learn.
Friday October 9, 2026 10:30am - 11:00am EDT
4 Room T MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

10:30am EDT

Opening Pathways to Educational Research: What We Learned from 1200+ Journals Open-Access Status
Friday October 9, 2026 10:30am - 11:00am EDT
ID: 32962

How can educators fully participate in scholarly knowledge-making when so much of the field remains restricted by paywalls or publication fees? This presentation shares findings from a comprehensive study of 1,205 education journals and their current open-access status. Using this dataset, we map the distribution of publishing models across the field, including subscription-based journals, hybrid journals, and fully open-access journals, in order to examine how openness operates in practice rather than as an abstract ideal. Although open access is often described as a public good that broadens the reach of scholarship, the publishing landscape in education reveals a far more uneven and contradictory reality. Many journals still depend on reader-side paywalls, while others shift the financial burden to authors through article-processing charges. In both cases, access remains constrained, and participation in scholarly communication is shaped by financial privilege.This session makes those structural barriers visible by showing how both pay-to-read and pay-to-publish systems limit who can access research, who can contribute to it, and whose work is most likely to circulate widely. Particular attention is given to hybrid-access models, which often preserve inequity under the appearance of openness. While hybrid journals may offer an open-access option, that openness is frequently available only to authors or institutions with the resources to pay publication fees. As a result, hybrid publishing can reproduce exclusionary dynamics while still allowing journals to claim alignment with open values.Beyond describing the problem, the session introduces the journal dataset as a practical resource for educators, librarians, academic leaders, and policy advocates. Participants will see examples of journal policies and publishing arrangements that illustrate the complexity of the current landscape. They will also be invited to consider how the dataset can support local decision-making, including identifying publication venues aligned with open-access values, reviewing institutional publishing guidance, and informing conversations between faculty, libraries, and campus leadership. A simple follow-along checklist will be shared that attendees can adapt for advocacy, policy review, or strategic planning.The session’s central claim is that open access should not be treated as a niche concern left solely to libraries or individual authors. Instead, colleges and universities can take a more active role in reducing barriers to knowledge by aligning promotion and tenure expectations, funding practices, publishing guidance, and institutional policy with long-term commitments to broader public access. Attendees will leave with a clearer understanding of the education journal landscape, a stronger vocabulary for discussing the limitations of hybrid openness, and concrete starting points for action within their own institutions.
Speakers
avatar for Lance Eaton

Lance Eaton

Senior Associate Director of AI in Teaching & Learning, Northeastern University
Lance Eaton, PhD, is Senior Associate Director of AI in Teaching & Learning at Northeastern University. His dissertation focuses on academic piracy and open-access practices. He has published and presented on open access, open education, and open pedagogy for the last 10 years.
avatar for Danielle Leek

Danielle Leek

Project Director, Scottsdale Community College
Danielle Leek, PhD, is an instructor at Johns Hopkins University. She is also Project Director for the federally funded Open 4Peer Review initiative at Maricopa Community Colleges and Founder and Principal at Danielle Leek Consulting.
Friday October 9, 2026 10:30am - 11:00am EDT
2 Room M MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

10:30am EDT

Students as Co-Creators: Advancing Equity and Engagement Through Collaborative Open Educational Resource Development in Undergraduate Biology
Friday October 9, 2026 10:30am - 11:00am EDT
ID: 33709

Open Educational Resources (OER) are widely recognized for their role in reducing financial barriers to education; however, their potential to transform teaching and learning through open pedagogy remains underutilized, particularly in STEM disciplines. This study examines a student–faculty co-creation model implemented in undergraduate biology courses at Xavier University of Louisiana, a Historically Black College and University (HBCU), where students are positioned as active contributors to the development of openly licensed instructional materials. By engaging students as co-creators, this project seeks to advance equity-centered teaching practices while deepening student learning and engagement.In this initiative, undergraduate biology students collaborate with faculty to design and develop OER materials aligned with course learning objectives, including annotated lecture slide decks, formative assessments, and study guides. These materials are intentionally designed to be culturally relevant and reflective of the diverse identities and experiences of the student population. The project emphasizes inclusive pedagogy by integrating student voice into the creation of academic content, thereby challenging traditional hierarchies of knowledge production in higher education.A mixed-methods research design is used to evaluate the impact of this co-creation model. Quantitative data include pre- and post-course surveys measuring science identity, sense of belonging, and self-efficacy in biology, as well as comparisons of course performance between student participants and non-participants. Qualitative data are collected through reflective journals, focus groups, and semi-structured interviews to capture students’ perceptions of their roles as contributors, their engagement with course content, and the perceived relevance of the materials they help create. Additional evaluation includes faculty feedback on the usability and effectiveness of student-generated OER in subsequent course offerings.Preliminary findings suggest that participation in OER co-creation enhances student ownership of learning, strengthens conceptual understanding, and fosters a stronger sense of belonging in STEM. These outcomes are particularly meaningful for students from historically underrepresented backgrounds, who often experience barriers to inclusion within traditional STEM learning environments. Furthermore, this project demonstrates that student-generated OER can serve as both a pedagogical tool and a mechanism for amplifying diverse perspectives in scientific education.This work contributes a scalable and replicable model for integrating open pedagogy into undergraduate STEM curricula. All developed materials will be openly licensed and disseminated through public repositories to support broader adoption and adaptation. By centering student voice, promoting equitable participation, and expanding access to culturally relevant resources, this project advances the broader goals of open education.
Speakers
avatar for Christopher Bolden

Christopher Bolden

Assistant Professor, Xavier University of Louisiana
Christopher T. Bolden, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology at Xavier University of Louisiana. Trained in clinical and translational science, he earned his PhD in Biomedical Sciences (Clinical & Translational Science) from the University of Arkansas for Medical... Read More →
Friday October 9, 2026 10:30am - 11:00am EDT
5 DR3 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

10:30am EDT

Sustainable Open Education: Ideation, Advocacy, Policy, Networks and Champions
Friday October 9, 2026 10:30am - 11:00am EDT
ID: 33861

Open Educational Resources (OER) and OER-enabled Open Education Practices have transformative potential to improve educational quality, increase student retention, strengthen student engagement, expand access and widen participation, reduce costs for learners, foster cross-border and cross-sector collaboration, and enable the localization and contextualization of learning materials. Importantly, they also help advance international commitments, such as the Sustainable Development Goals—particularly SDG 4, which emphasises inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning opportunities.Despite this promise and proven potential, the sustainability of open education remains uneven and fragile. Across contexts, efforts are often constrained by a lack of supportive institutional and governmental policies, limited capacity and resources, and infrastructural challenges. Open education initiatives frequently remain project-based rather than embedded within core institutional operations. Additionally, weak integration within networks and communities of practice, limited responsiveness to emerging developments, and over- or underutilization of Open Education champions and policy entrepreneurs and a lack of support mechanisms also contribute to stalled progress.This presentation argues that achieving sustainable open education systems requires a more intentional andinterconnected approach centred on five key elements: ideation, advocacy, policy, networks, and champions. Drawing on findings from the recently defended PhD thesis, “Prepare for the Long Run: Strategies for Affecting Governmental OER Policy Developments by International Organisations,” the session explores how these elements interact to create enabling environments for sustainable open education. The study examined how international organizations influence the development of governmental OER policy and how these efforts are perceived by policymakers, experts, and advisors across 33 countries, states, and provinces.The findings from the PhD research highlight that sustainable change does not emerge from isolated interventions but from sustained processes of ideation—where shared visions and narratives around openness are developed and refined—and advocacy, which translates these ideas into compelling cases for action tailored to specific policy contexts. Policy plays a critical role in embedding open education within formal systems and ensuring continuity beyond individual projects or funding cycles. However, policy alone is insufficient without strong networks that facilitate knowledge exchange, collaboration, and mutual learning across sectors and geographies. These networks amplify impact, support capacity building, and help align local practices with global developments.Equally important are champions and policy entrepreneurs—individuals and groups who actively promote, translate, and operationalize open education within their contexts and drive policy developments. These actors bridge gaps between ideas, policy, and practice, often serving as catalysts for institutional and systemic change.By integrating ideation, advocacy, policy, networks, and champions, this presentation proposes a framework for advancing sustainable open education ecosystems. It emphasizes the need to move beyond fragmented, short-term initiatives toward coordinated, long-term approaches that embed openness within the core of education systems.
Speakers
avatar for Igor Lesko

Igor Lesko

Co-Executive Director, Open Education Global
Igor Lesko, PhD, is Co-Executive Director of Open Education Global (https://www.oeglobal.org/),  an international nonprofit organizationpromoting and mainstreaming open education worldwide. Originally from Slovakia and based in South Africa since 2003, he has over 16 years of experience... Read More →
Friday October 9, 2026 10:30am - 11:00am EDT
6 DR4 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

11:05am EDT

From Quality to Transparency: Leveraging AI for Assessment and Version Tracking in Open Educational Resources
Friday October 9, 2026 11:05am - 11:35am EDT
ID: 32776

Open Educational Resources (OER) are designed to be openly reused, revised, and remixed, resulting in continuous and often decentralized evolution of content. While this dynamic nature is central to the ethos of open education, it also creates persistent challenges related to quality assurance, transparency, and the fair recognition of contributors. In current OER ecosystems, quality evaluation is frequently manual, subjective, and difficult to scale, while existing versioning mechanisms primarily document structural changes without capturing their semantic, pedagogical, or epistemic impact. As a result, it remains unclear how individual contributions influence the overall quality of a resource over time.This presentation proposes two novel perspectives: 1. AI-driven content quality assessment and 2. AI-based version tracking. Building on recent advances in generative AI and natural language processing, we explore how large language models and semantic evaluation techniques can be used to assess textual OER along multiple criteria. These criteria are operationalized to enable systematic, scalable, and partially explainable assessments that approximate human judgment while maintaining consistency across large collections of resources.Crucially, this work extends the role of quality assessment beyond static evaluation. By comparing successive versions of an OER, AI-based assessments can be used to measure how specific edits influence quality dimensions. Based on this foundation, the presentation introduces an AI-driven approach to version tracking that integrates semantic comparison with quality-aware evaluation. The proposed framework identifies meaningful changes between versions, classifies them according to their functional and pedagogical relevance, and links them to shifts in quality metrics. Overall, this research positions AI not as a replacement for human judgment, but as an augmentative tool that can enhance transparency, scalability, and fairness in OER practices. It offers a conceptual and technical foundation for rethinking how quality, contribution, and evolution are interconnected in the next generation of open educational infrastructures.
Speakers
avatar for Shahla Rasulzade

Shahla Rasulzade

PhD candidate, DIPF | Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education
I am Shahla Rasulzade, a PhD candidate in Computer Science and a system architect working on the OERInfo project, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). My research focuses on the intersection of artificial intelligence and Open Educational Resources... Read More →
Friday October 9, 2026 11:05am - 11:35am EDT
6 DR4 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

11:05am EDT

Innovating Open Simulation: Transforming Healthcare Education Through Open Content, Access, and Equity
Friday October 9, 2026 11:05am - 11:35am EDT
ID: 33834

Healthcare education increasingly relies on simulation to prepare learners for real-world clinical practice. However, the cost of simulation technology has grown rapidly, often outpacing even textbook expenses and creating significant financial barriers for many programs and students. Educators must recognize the range of higher-education costs that extend well beyond the price of textbooks.Despite its educational value, published simulation resources frequently fail to meet the diverse needs of healthcare learners and providers. Many scenario libraries are proprietary, restricted to specific vendor platforms, and limited by access controls, rendering them inaccessible for adaptation or public use. Additionally, commercially developed scenarios often lack representation of specialty populations, including Indigenous communities, LGBTQ+ individuals, and socioeconomically diverse groups. Simulations must reflect diverse populations to prepare healthcare providers to deliver equitable, patient-centered care. A lack of diversity in simulation scenarios limits learners’ ability to practice inclusive and culturally responsive care.A consistent framework for simulation design, delivery, and evaluation is essential to ensure high-quality learning experiences. Embedding standards of best practice in simulation supports alignment with educational theory and intended learner outcomes. Such frameworks also enhance reproducibility and promote equity across programs, increasing the accessibility and adaptability of simulation in varied healthcare contexts.Simulation as a learning modality encompasses multiple components, including electronic health records (EHRs) for clinical decision-making and documentation, facilitator guides, operational logistics, learner materials, and structured prebriefing and debriefing. Because EHRs are integral to clinical practice, their inclusion in simulation enhances authenticity and better prepares learners for realistic workflows.Open Educational Resources (OER) offer a promising paradigm for healthcare simulation. Using platforms such as Pressbooks, educators can develop openly licensed simulation content that is modular, customizable, and globally accessible. Open digital frameworks reduce financial barriers, foster collaboration, and support innovation across institutions and disciplines.This presentation will highlight an in-progress undergraduate nursing simulation exemplar being developed as a comprehensive, openly licensed resource adaptable for programs worldwide. The project demonstrates how a fully developed OER simulation including integrated EHR materials, facilitator guides, and learner resources can advance global accessibility, curricular alignment, and equitable learning across diverse settings.The presentation will also describe key principles for developing OER-based simulation that reduce barriers and increase access. Presenters will provide practical examples of adapting open simulation resources for diverse contexts and discuss strategies for building collaborative networks that support sustainability and ongoing development. Participants will leave with actionable strategies to transform simulation education within their own settings.
Speakers
avatar for Teresa Connolly

Teresa Connolly

Associate Professor, University of Colorado Anschutz College of Nursing
Dr. Teresa Connolly is an Associate Professor of Teaching at the University of Colorado College of Nursing on the Anschutz Medical Campus. She has been a nurse for over 20 years, a professor for 13 years, and has worked with open educational resources (OER) for more than 7 years... Read More →
avatar for Fara Bowler

Fara Bowler

Associate Professor, University of Colorado Anschutz College of Nursing
Dr. Fara Bowler is an Associate Professor at the University of Colorado College of Nursing, where she serves as Assistant Dean of Clinical Simulation Science and Senior Director of Clinical Partnership and Placements. With over a decade at the institution, she has led innovative simulation... Read More →
Friday October 9, 2026 11:05am - 11:35am EDT
4 Room T MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

11:05am EDT

Scaling OER Adoption in the Arab Region: The OER SMART Model
Friday October 9, 2026 11:05am - 11:35am EDT
ID: 32534

The session will present the design, implementation, and impact of the “OER SMART” project that was supported by UNESCO and implemented by Al-Quds Open University from Palestine and Queen Rania Center from Jordan, aimed at promoting OER concepts, reuse, and practices in Palestine and Jordan, with potential for scaled-up impact across the Arab region.The project focused on improving the understanding, capabilities and institutional preparedness for OER implementation within contexts where access to quality has been uneven. The project emphasised a comprehensive needs assessment to identify the requirements of educators and policymakers as well as key stakeholders in higher education. A self-paced, multilingual online training course was designed covering OER concepts and open licensing, quality assurance, planning for pedagogical use, and development of OER policy.The project's integrated model is a key innovation that combines digital learning with capacity building through Training of Trainers (ToT). A training was conducted for forty participants from universities and ministries of education in Palestine, Jordan to act as OER ambassadors to create a multiplier effect and sustain the knowledge. Results from the evaluations revealed that there was an increase of above 20% in the knowledge and skills of the participants, suggesting that the use of structured digital content in conjunction with participatory training was effective. The session will demonstrate the various formats of the OER SMART course including mobile apps, learning objects, web-based and open multimedia resources.  These elements demonstrate how open education can be designed to be inclusive, interactive and tailored towards various education settings.The session will importantly reflect on the challenges of implementing OER in developing and fragile contexts, including policy gaps, language barriers and sustainability issues. The presentation will share practical strategies to overcome challenges related to building communities of practice; aligning OER with relevant national education strategies; and enhancing regional collaboration.This session, aligned with the OEGlobal 2026 theme, emphasizes how collaborative and context-sensitive open education practices can serve to defend knowledge as a public good, especially in underrepresented regions. This provides a model that institutions and policy makers can use to upscale the OER initiative, while ensuring quality and impact.
Speakers
avatar for Mahmoud Hawamdeh

Mahmoud Hawamdeh

Project Manager, Al-Quds Open University
Dr. Mahmoud Hawamdeh is an EdTech researcher and educational expert with over 25 years of experience in higher education, particularly in digital pedagogy, policy, and innovation. He is a current project manager for national education reform and a prominent figure at Al-Quds Open... Read More →
Friday October 9, 2026 11:05am - 11:35am EDT
5 DR3 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

11:05am EDT

Scaling OER Peer Review with Artificial Intelligence: A MERLOT Pilot Study
Friday October 9, 2026 11:05am - 11:35am EDT
ID: 33987

Open educational resources (OER) are expanding rapidly across disciplines and repositories, yet the peer review systems designed to evaluate them have not scaled at the same pace. As a result, many high-quality OER remain unreviewed, limiting their discoverability, credibility, and adoption. Because peer review typically relies on volunteer disciplinary experts, communities such as the Biology Editorial Board of MERLOT face persistent backlogs of materials awaiting evaluation. In addition, OER are sometimes perceived as lower quality simply because they are inexpensive and relatively easy to produce, despite the rigor of many existing resources. This project explores whether artificial intelligence  (AI) can meaningfully support OER peer review workflows while maintaining the rigor and transparency expected in scholarly evaluation. In partnership with industry collaborators, we are piloting an AI-assisted review system that applies the MERLOT Peer Review rubric to OER. The system uses structured prompts to guide AI in generating rubric-aligned draft reviews addressing key evaluation dimensions: quality of content, potential effectiveness as a teaching tool, ease of use, and accessibility.Importantly, the goal of this work is not to replace expert reviewers but to investigate how AI might augment human review processes. The AI generates structured preliminary evaluations that can assist with summarizing materials, rubric alignment, and draft review generation. Human reviewers then assess the AI-generated reviews using the same rubric criteria to determine whether the AI evaluation is coherent, accurate, and useful for disciplinary review boards. A composite review containing both AI and human review would be submitted as the final review. The study design compares AI-generated reviews with expert human peer reviews across a sample of OER drawn from established repositories such as MERLOT, OpenStax, and the Open Textbook Library. Pilot testing begins with a small set of materials to refine workflows and prompt design, followed by a larger evaluation set allowing comparison of scoring alignment between AI and expert reviewers. Key metrics include agreement between AI and expert ratings across rubric dimensions, reproducibility of AI scores across repeated evaluations, and rubric-based assessments of the clarity and completeness of AI-generated reviews.Additional system capabilities include automated citation verification through open databases such as PubMed and the Directory of Open Access Journals, link validation to identify outdated or broken resources, and analysis of visual elements. These tools allow AI to assist with time-consuming review tasks while preserving the need for disciplinary expertise in evaluating scientific accuracy and pedagogical appropriateness.This presentation will describe the design of the AI-assisted review workflow, the process of translating a human peer review rubric into structured AI prompts, and preliminary findings from early pilot testing. We will also discuss limitations and ethical considerations, including where AI evaluation is reliable, where it requires human oversight, and how AI-supported review might responsibly scale peer review capacity within open education ecosystems.By examining how AI can support, but not replace, expert peer review, this work contributes to broader conversations about the future of open knowledge infrastructures and the responsible integration of emerging technologies into open education systems.
Speakers
MP

Michael Plotkin

Associate Professor, Department Chair. Co-Editor MERLOT Biology Editorial Board, Mt. San Jacinto College
Michael Plotkin is associate professor and department chair of biological sciences at Mt. San Jacinto College in California. He is an active member of the college’s honors enrichment program and has held roles in several OER initiatives, including serving as a reviewer for the California... Read More →
avatar for Medora Huseby

Medora Huseby

Associate Professor, Colorado State University
Medora Huseby is a member of the teaching faculty in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology at Colorado State University, where she focuses on open educational practices and student engagement in open education. She chairs the Open Educational Resources (OER) Committee... Read More →
Friday October 9, 2026 11:05am - 11:35am EDT
7 DR5 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

11:05am EDT

The 20-Year Journey of Open Education in Japan: Moving from Institutional Initiatives Toward a Nation-Wide Collaborative Ecosystem
Friday October 9, 2026 11:05am - 11:35am EDT
ID: 33739

Open Education (OE) in Japan has reached a significant turning point, marking 20 years since the launch of OpenCourseWare (OCW) initiatives. This session provides a comprehensive overview of the Japanese OE movement, focusing on the collaborative efforts led by member universities of Open Education Japan (OEJ). By reflecting on twenty years of history, this presentation analyzes the ongoing journey of Japanese higher education institutions as they strive to move beyond individual institutional repositories toward a nationwide collaborative ecosystem.The journey began in 2005 with the formation of the Japan OCW Consortium (JOCW), involving early adopters such as the University of Tokyo, Kyoto University, Osaka University, Keio University, Tokyo Institute of Technology, and Nagoya University, alongside Hokkaido University. This initial phase focused on the "openness" of high-quality lecture materials through institutional OCW platforms. The second phase of this retrospective examines the expansion into Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). Since the establishment of JMOOC in 2013, OEJ member universities have played a pivotal role in diversifying open content, leveraging their unique academic strengths to contribute to a collective pool of open knowledge. The session will also detail OEJ's collaborative governance model. Unlike top-down mandates, Japan’s OE movement has been characterized by a bottom-up, community-driven approach. This network has facilitated the exchange of usable knowledge and best practices, serving as a foundation for the collaborative framework that the community is currently endeavoring to solidify. A distinctive highlight of this inter-university synergy is the development of the cross-university OCW search system (https://search.oejapan.org). This platform was established to bridge fragmented institutional efforts, allowing users to search across the diverse OCW repositories of multiple universities from a single entry point. By aggregating metadata and providing a unified search interface, this initiative serves as a tangible example of how Japanese institutions are collaborating to improve the discoverability and accessibility of open resources, moving closer to a shared national infrastructure. Finally, the presentation addresses future prospects and the persistent hurdles to achieving a fully integrated ecosystem. While significant progress has been made through systems such as the cross-university portal, the transition to a resilient, nationwide network remains a work in progress. Key topics include the impact of generative AI, the shift toward Open Educational Practices (OEP), and the necessary policy shifts to sustain this collaborative vision. 
Speakers
avatar for Katsusuke Shigeta

Katsusuke Shigeta

Professor, Information Inititative Center / Hokkaido University
Dr. Katsusuke Shigeta is a Professor at the Information Initiative Center and Director of the Data-Driven Education Initiative Center at Hokkaido University. He serves as the President of Open Education Japan (OEJ) and was previously a member of the Board of Directors for Open Education... Read More →
avatar for Takaya Yamazato

Takaya Yamazato

Professor, Institute of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Nagoya University
Dr. Takaya Yamazato is a Professor and Deputy Director at the Institute of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Nagoya University, Japan. He earned his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Keio University in 1993. He joined Nagoya University as an Assistant Professor in 1993 and later served... Read More →
Friday October 9, 2026 11:05am - 11:35am EDT
2 Room M MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

11:50am EDT

Embedding No-Cost and Low-Cost Materials in Program Design
Friday October 9, 2026 11:50am - 12:20pm EDT
ID: 33233

Open Educational Resources (OER) and other affordable learning materials are often adopted at the course level, yet students experience programs across a sequence of courses. Program-level information can illustrate how performance aligns across a program or course sequence and how students engage with course materials and learning activities over time. Because program-level quality and effectiveness assessment guides how programs are structured and reviewed, these processes create opportunities to consider the learning experience, including access to materials and possible barriers to successful, on-time completion. From this perspective, course material choices can function as elements of program design and support progression, completion, and performance. Open Education Practices contribute to this work through shared development, collaboration across faculty, and iterative improvement that aligns materials with the student experience and program goals. The session will discuss how these considerations appear within existing institutional contexts and how they can inform ongoing cycles of program review, evaluation, and improvement.
Speakers
avatar for Joshua Nave

Joshua Nave

Director of Academic Affairs, Tennessee Higher Education Commission
Joshua Nave, Director of Academic Affairs at the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC), works with institutional and system leaders to ensure academic programs align with state priorities and support Tennessee’s evolving workforce and student needs. In his role, he supports... Read More →
Friday October 9, 2026 11:50am - 12:20pm EDT
4 Room T MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

11:50am EDT

Filmbuilding: A Framework for Connection, Creativity, and Collective Learning
Friday October 9, 2026 11:50am - 12:20pm EDT
ID: 33723

At a time when access to knowledge and the ability to meaningfully engage with it is increasingly fragmented, educators are being called not just to share information, but to cultivate connection, creativity, and collective agency.  This session introduces Filmbuilding as an open, adaptable framework that transforms learners from passive recipients of knowledge into active co-creators of meaning, relationships, and real-world solutions.Filmbuilding is a collaborative, project-based approach in which participants co-create short films through an emergent, iterative process that prioritizes curiosity, lived experience, and shared authorship.  Unlike traditional media education models that emphasize technical skill acquisition or predefined outcomes, Filmbuilding operates as an open educational practice that is inherently flexible, culturally responsive, and transferable across contexts.Drawing from implementations in various settings — including city-wide initiatives like Filmbuilding Malden, school-based programs at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School, and partnerships with organizations such as METCO and international sister city programs — this presentation demonstrates how Filmbuilding functions as a connective infrastructure.  It creates spaces where diverse participants collaboratively explore identity, community, and complex social challenges through visual storytelling.Aligned with the OE Global 2026 theme of “inventing together to uphold knowledge as a public good,” this session highlights how Filmbuilding expands access not just to content, but to the processes of knowledge creation itself.  Participants engage in real-time collaboration, navigating ambiguity, negotiating perspectives, and building shared understanding; skills essential for both open education practitioners and global citizens.The session will illustrate how Filmbuilding fosters:Human connection through structured yet open-ended collaboration across cultural and institutional boundariesCreativity and curiosity by centering exploration over correctness and process over productCollective resilience by enabling participants to engage with real-world issues in ways that are experiential, relational, and solution-orientedShared ownership of knowledge by positioning participants as co-creators who shape, interpret, and contribute meaningfully to the learning processImportantly, Filmbuilding is not presented as a fixed program, but as a scalable and adaptable framework that can be integrated into diverse educational ecosystems, including K-12 classrooms, higher education, community organizations, and cross-cultural exchanges.  Its alignment with open education principles lies in its emphasis on co-creation, accessibility, and the democratization of storytelling as a tool for knowledge production.Attendees will leave with a clear understanding of how Filmbuilding can be applied within their own contexts to foster deeper engagement, strengthen community ties, and empower learners to collaboratively address complex challenges.  The session will conclude with a Q&A inviting participants to explore potential adaptations, partnerships, and future applications within the global open education movement.
Speakers
avatar for Tom Flint

Tom Flint

Founder & Director of Filmbuilding, Filmbuilding
Tom Flint is a moving image educator and filmmaker whose work sits at the intersection of film and cultural exchange. He is the founder and director of Filmbuilding, an educational initiative in which communities co-create films to explore and engage with real-world challenges. At... Read More →
Friday October 9, 2026 11:50am - 12:20pm EDT
5 DR3 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

11:50am EDT

Hard Choices, Moral Decisions, and Democracy: Overcoming the “Moral Deficit” Assumption by Building OER Texts
Friday October 9, 2026 11:50am - 12:20pm EDT
ID: 33863

After two decades of teaching philosophy, one thing stands out: students show up knowing far more about ethics than standard textbooks give them credit for. They make moral choices long before they set foot in a philosophy classroom. Yet ethics textbooks often neglect this prior experience, tacitly assuming that students’ lack of philosophical knowledge and skill is not only an academic issue, but a moral deficit to be corrected. In other words, students cannot make real moral choices until they have studied philosophy.This presentation argues that this "moral deficit" assumption is wrong on two counts. First, it is morally wrong because it fails to recognize that students are already engaged in authentic moral reasoning. Community college students regularly navigate moral complexity in balancing work, family, and academic issues. Second, it is pedagogically wrong; good teaching does not begin by implicitly insulting students. It begins grounded in the experiences they bring to the classroom. Democratic education holds that the classroom is the place where students' own concerns are connected to larger issues and traditions; the teacher functions as a bridge between student experience and broader concerns. A curious teacher, genuinely interested in students' lives, is better positioned to build that bridge. In philosophical ethics, this means that concepts like supererogatory — actions that are morally good but not required — are introduced not as technical vocabulary, but as names for things students already understand. The concept illuminates existing student experience; it is not positioned as correcting some sort of deficit. Ideally, it also sparks curiosity about how philosophical resources might be acquired and deployed in ways that make students’ lives richer.OER content is uniquely positioned to contribute to this democratic vision. Freed from the cost and profit concerns of commercial publishing, OER can be focused and grounded in student experiences. As editable, living texts, they can be flexible — capable of functioning as part of a learning ecosystem rather than a static authoritative text. Additionally, because OER is accessible, it can serve students beyond the classroom — as a resource they return to beyond college. For many community college students, this may be their only philosophy course; OER designed around their experiences gives philosophical ethics its best chance of sticking.This presentation draws on the ongoing development of an OER ethics textbook to ground the discussion, before inviting participants to collaboratively build a practical Framework for Experience-First OER Ethics Design — a set of core design principles and guiding questions that can be used to audit existing content or construct new materials that treats student experience as a resource. This framework might be applied for content well beyond a course in philosophical ethics, given ethical concerns permeate throughout the curriculum. The presenter will bring draft framework elements drawn from this ongoing textbook development, which participants will critically engage with, refine, and expand together. Participants leave with materials they helped shape and can apply in their own contexts.
Speakers
NS

Nakia S. Pope

Associate Professor, Northwest Vista College
Nakia is an Associate Professor in philosophy at Northwest Vista College, where he has taught ethics and other philosophy courses for over seven years. He's been involved in faculty development, curriculum design, assessment, and other administrative pursuits at a variety of institutions... Read More →
Friday October 9, 2026 11:50am - 12:20pm EDT
6 DR4 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

11:50am EDT

Strategic Partnerships to Support Open Initiatives Across STEM
Friday October 9, 2026 11:50am - 12:20pm EDT
ID: 33178

While STEM disciplines account for a substantial share of undergraduate OER, science education remains underrepresented in the discourse, leadership, and conceptual framing of the open education movement. However, there are many intersections and areas of mutual interest, particularly in the age of Generative AI.  In this session, we showcase the many ways that the RIOS Institute has focused on critical intersections within the Open Ecosystem as a way to achieve our mission to transform and decolonize undergraduate science education. We highlight OCTOPUS - an open education and open science curriculum project, VECINA - an academic-community research partnership which has informed the development of course-based undergraduate research experiences, and various projects focused at the intersection of open education and AI. As we take participants through these intersections, we emphasize the understanding of the culture and histories of STEM and how they promote or sometimes counter open ethos.  The OCTOPUS Project (Open Collaboration for Transformative Open Pedagogy to support Undergraduate Open Science Education) supports educators to integrate Open Pedagogy in undergraduate Open Science education. By positioning students as co-creators of knowledge and fostering democratic, collaborative, critical, ethical and justice-oriented approaches to science, our goal is to achieve a cultural shift towards universal scientific practice that is open, equitable, and designed to serve the public. The Visualizing Environmental and Community Information for Neighborhood Advocacy (VECINA) project embraces the tradition of open scholarship by creating a collaborative of data researchers between researchers, students, and community members. Open challenges the hierarchies in STEM which dictate who is a researcher. The project itself focuses on making data and its analysis open to other researchers, including student researchers, but also relevant and accessible to the community through community leadership. This challenges and broadens academic STEM definitions of impactful scholarship and research. The scope of these projects have spanned mathematics, biology, computer science, and Latin American studies and the projects within VECINA have spanned healthcare, environmental justice, and education. This version of open challenges the siloed nature of disciplinary research and the spaces in which it occurs while also serving to introduce the next generation of researchers into open science and education.The RIOS Institute also provides numerous opportunities for participants to engage in privacy-protected free spaces to grapple with difficult questions arising for Open Ed in the face of AI.  We highlight how some open pedagogies can be enabled by Generative AI, for example by allowing play and exploration. And how Open pedagogy can be leveraged to engage students in critical use of AI through activities such as co-construction of Generative AI class policies, and in student constructed AI tools. The unique role of STEM offers opportunities to shed light on the development and understanding of AI itself.  For example, within many STEM classes, the fundamental science underpinnings of AI are discussed, from data analysis and stochasticity to programming and modeling. This new age of accessible Generative AI has spurred a variety of initiatives within STEM focused on AI literacy and navigating the information landscape. 
Speakers
avatar for Karen Cangialosi

Karen Cangialosi

Director of Open Education and Open Science, RIOS Institute
Dr. Karen Cangialosi is a passionate change agent, dedicated educator, and student advocate with national recognition in open education, STEM ed, and digital pedagogy. As a Professor of Biology at Keene State College (now emeritus), she brought open education into the biology curriculum... Read More →
CD

Carrie Diaz Eaton

Professor and Chair/Executive Director, Digital and Computational Studies, Bates College/RIOS Institute
Dr. Carrie Diaz Eaton is Professor and Chair of Digital and Computational Studies at Bates College, and co-founder and Executive Director of the RIOS Institute which focuses on improving postsecondary STEM education ecosystems. They are deeply committed to decolonizing education and... Read More →
KB

Kaitlin Bonner

Associate Professor of Biology/Director of Professional Development, St. John Fisher University/RIOS Institute
Dr. Kaitlin Bonner is an Associate Professor of Biology and Open Education Faculty Fellow at St. John Fisher University. As a passionate educator and student advocate, she brings a deep commitment to making STEM education more inclusive, accessible, and affordable. Her teaching spans... Read More →
Friday October 9, 2026 11:50am - 12:20pm EDT
2 Room M MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

12:25pm EDT

Critical Open Educational Practices: Beyond Access, Toward Pedagogical Transformation
Friday October 9, 2026 12:25pm - 12:55pm EDT
ID: 33846

What does it actually look like when an educator stops asking “how do I cover the content?” and starts asking “who is this course designed to serve?” That question, and the work that follows, is at the center of this session.This presentation draws on findings from a qualitative case study of seven educators from the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MinnState) system, along with the presenter’s experience facilitating a Community of Practice focused on Critical Open Educational Practices (Critical OEPs). Grounded in critical pedagogy, Critical OEPs provide a framework organized around four pillars: collaborative dialogue, critical reflection, inquiry-based learning, and transformative action. This study offers a practice-based account of how educators take up Critical OEPs over time within a structured Community of Practice. The session highlights key findings related to how educators came to understand and use Critical OEPs in their teaching, how this work shaped their pedagogical decisions, and how they connected it to broader questions about purpose, equity, and responsibility in education.Educators moved into this work through multiple pathways. Some were responding to the cost of course materials and questions of access. Others brought years of experimentation with teaching practices, commitments to equity and learner belonging, or disciplinary traditions that already emphasized collaboration and applied learning. Rather than adopting a new model, many recognized that they were already doing parts of this work and began to name and extend those practices.As educators engaged with Critical OEPs, they described ongoing negotiation of authority and learner agency. Grading became a central site of this work, including experimentation with specifications grading, revision policies, and project-based assessment. Classroom dialogue raised similar questions about how much structure to provide and how to support meaningful participation. Equity was not discussed in the abstract. It appeared in decisions about removing financial barriers, making expectations visible, and responding to the realities learners bring with them into the classroom, including prior educational experiences and access to support systems.This work does not happen outside of institutional conditions. Workload, course size, technology systems, and policy expectations shaped what was possible in any given semester. Within these constraints, the Community of Practice functioned as a critical support structure. Participants described it as a space of instructor care, where collaboration replaced isolation and where reflection led to concrete changes in teaching. Several participants left with redesigned courses, new assessment approaches, and plans for continued leadership in open and equity-focused work. While grounded in a specific institutional context, these findings speak to broader questions about how open practices are taken up across diverse educational settings.This session offers a shift in how open education can be understood and supported. It moves the conversation beyond access and resource use toward pedagogy, authority, and responsibility. It also highlights the importance of creating structured spaces where educators, instructional designers, and others supporting open education initiatives can think together about practice and take action within the realities they face.Attendees will be invited to reflect on their own entry points into open practice, identify practices they may already be using, and consider one next step for extending Critical OEPs in their own contexts.
Speakers
avatar for Lori-Beth Larsen

Lori-Beth Larsen

Doctoral Candidate (expected April, 2026), Winona State University
Lori-Beth Larsen is a doctoral candidate in Education at Winona State University. Her research focuses on critical pedagogy, open education, and the question of what teaching is actually for. Her dissertation, Critical Open Educational Practices, is a qualitative case study exploring... Read More →
Friday October 9, 2026 12:25pm - 12:55pm EDT
4 Room T MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

12:25pm EDT

DocIAComp. Artificial Intelligence and Open Education: Toward a Teaching Competency Framework
Friday October 9, 2026 12:25pm - 12:55pm EDT
ID: 33768

The integration of generative artificial intelligence into education has rapidly reshaped the conditions under which teaching and learning take place, bringing renewed urgency to the question of the competencies teachers need to engage with it in pedagogically meaningful, critical, and responsible ways. At the same time, many of the existing conceptual and implementation frameworks associated with educational technology approach this issue from a predominantly technical or instrumental perspective, with limited connection to normative or pedagogical approaches, including those related to open education. In this context, the challenge is no longer simply to learn how to use AI tools, but to define the knowledge, skills, and attitudes teachers require in order to integrate them within complex, situated, and ethically grounded educational settings. In response, this paper presents DocIAComp, a teacher competency framework for the pedagogical use of artificial intelligence in education, grounded in the principles of open education. The framework is based on the premise that teacher competence in AI cannot be reduced to technical mastery or effective tool use alone, but must be understood in relation to a broader set of principles and practices associated with open education, including openness, reuse, adaptation, accessibility, collaboration, co-creation, and ethical responsibility. From this perspective, open education is not limited to access to resources, but encompasses forms of knowledge production, review, and circulation that are being profoundly transformed by the presence of AI. Accordingly, the framework situates the pedagogical use of AI in direct relation to open educational resources, open educational practices, inclusion, cognitive justice, and the preservation of human agency in education. The study adopted a sequential qualitative design with empirical validation in three stages: first, a systematic review of international and regional frameworks and guidelines on teacher competencies, artificial intelligence, and open education; second, the development of a preliminary competency chart based on that review; third, its validation through surveys administered to students and graduates of the postgraduate program in Educational Technology at the Technological University of Uruguay (UTEC), followed by a theoretical-empirical triangulation of the resulting data to consolidate the final DocIAComp framework. The resulting framework is organized into eight competency areas: Professional Engagement with AI; Curation, Creation, and Adaptation of Educational Resources with AI; Pedagogical Design with AI; Mediation and Support of Learning with AI; Open, Authentic, and Transparent Assessment with AI; Ethics, Rights, Data, and Licensing in AI Ecosystems; Inclusion, Accessibility, and Cognitive Justice with AI; and Research, Openness, and Continuous Improvement with AI. These areas provide institutions with a concrete instrument for diagnosis, teacher education, curriculum design, and the development of institutional policies, with criteria that are transferable across diverse regional and institutional contexts. The paper concludes that DocIAComp constitutes an original contribution that centers attention on open educational practices as a way of harnessing the potential of AI without relinquishing equity, human agency, and the public value of knowledge, thereby offering a grounded and replicable roadmap for education on a global scale.
Speakers
avatar for Giovanna Gabriela da Rosa Suárez

Giovanna Gabriela da Rosa Suárez

Departamento de Innovación y Emprendimiento, Universidad Tecnológica (UTEC), Uruguay
PhD in Informatics in Education from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS, Brazil), with a Master’s degree in Technology and Society from the Federal Technological University of Paraná (UTFPR, Brazil), and postgraduate specializations in Educational Technology and... Read More →
avatar for Sofía Rasnik Favotto

Sofía Rasnik Favotto

Centro Universitario Regional Litoral Norte, sede Paysandú, Universidad de la República del Uruguay (UdelaR)
PhD in Informatics in Education from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS, Brazil), with a Master’s degree in Technology-Mediated Educational Processes from the National University of Córdoba (Argentina), and a Doctorate in Law and Social Sciences from the University... Read More →
Friday October 9, 2026 12:25pm - 12:55pm EDT
2 Room M MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

12:25pm EDT

OpenBody Atlas: Visualizing Human Biology and Drug Interactions Through Open, Interactive Learning
Friday October 9, 2026 12:25pm - 12:55pm EDT
ID: 33765

What if anyone could see, in real time, how a drug travels through the human body and transforms its function?What if this knowledge were not restricted to textbooks, but openly accessible, interactive, and collaboratively built for all?OpenBody Atlas is an open, innovation-driven platform designed to reimagine how human biology and pharmacology are explored, understood, and shared as a public good. While traditional medical education relies on static, discipline-specific resources, this project introduces a systems-level approach that integrates anatomy, physiology, and pharmacology into a unified, interactive environment. The session aligns with the principles of open practices by demonstrating how collaborative, interdisciplinary innovation can produce scalable and inclusive knowledge systems.At its core, OpenBody Atlas functions as a dynamic interface of the human body, where users can navigate across biological systems and visualize functional processes in real time. Its defining innovation lies in the integration of a pharmacological layer: users can select a drug and observe its journey through the body, including mechanisms of action, receptor interactions, metabolic pathways, and systemic effects. This transforms passive learning into an exploratory, data-driven experience that bridges foundational science with applied therapeutics.This session will highlight how open practices—such as open-source development, community contribution, and peer-reviewed knowledge sharing—can be applied to build and sustain such a platform. OpenBody Atlas is conceptualized as a participatory ecosystem where students, educators, and researchers collaboratively create, validate, and expand content. By combining research-based knowledge with lived experiences and diverse medical perspectives, the platform supports a more inclusive and globally relevant understanding of healthcare.A key focus of the session will be the innovation framework behind the platform: how interdisciplinary thinking (spanning biomedical sciences, digital design, and open systems) can be leveraged to address gaps in current educational models. The session will also explore how this approach aligns with broader open movements, including open science, open data, and open education, positioning OpenBody Atlas as a convergence point for these initiatives.Participants will gain practical insights into designing open, scalable knowledge systems that move beyond institutional boundaries. The session will demonstrate how such models can be adapted across disciplines and contexts, particularly in resource-limited settings where access to integrated, high-quality educational tools remains a challenge. By emphasizing openness, interactivity, and collaboration, OpenBody Atlas presents a replicable model for innovation in knowledge sharing.Key takeaways include: understanding how open practices can drive innovation in complex knowledge domains; identifying strategies for building collaborative, interdisciplinary platforms; and recognizing the potential of open systems to democratize access to scientific and medical knowledge. Participants will also be invited to engage with the concept and explore opportunities for contribution and co-creation.
Speakers
avatar for Yash Sale

Yash Sale

OpenBody Atlas: An Open-Source Platform Integrating Anatomy, Physiology, and Pharmacology, SSSPM’s Dr N J Paulbuddhe College of Pharmacy Ahilyanagar Maharashtra India Asia
Yash Sale is a Bachelor of Pharmacy student with a strong academic foundation in anatomy, physiology, and neuroscience. He has completed certifications from premier institutions including the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar, St George's... Read More →
Friday October 9, 2026 12:25pm - 12:55pm EDT
5 DR3 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

12:25pm EDT

The Global Open Graduate Network’s Pilot Hubs: A Networked Approach to Scaling Open Education Research
Friday October 9, 2026 12:25pm - 12:55pm EDT
ID: 33857

Since 2013, the Global Open Graduate Network (GO-GN) has supported doctoral and postdoctoral research in open education and practices worldwide. In 2023, we conducted a 10 year anniversary strategic review (Farrow et al., 2024) with our membership and the wider GO-GN and open education communities. This review captured the network’s achievements to date and future aspirations, including exploration of a more federated approach for the network.This presentation reports on the outcome of this work, which focused on a pilot programme to establish and evaluate four regional hubs (Asia-Pacific, Canada, Ibero-America and Kenya). We will report on the development of these regional hubs across six continents, relating insights from the evaluation and reflecting on how other open education networks might approach questions of scale, diversity and sustainability.Through exploring a federated model, GO-GN has sought to reconcile tensions between scale and responsiveness, enabling regionally situated communities to define priorities, build capacity, and exercise leadership while remaining connected to a wider international network. This directly addresses persistent gaps in open education relating to equity, representation, and the inclusion of Global South perspectives.The session’s value lies in its combination of strategic reflection and practical insight. It moves beyond abstract commitments to openness by demonstrating how governance, sustainability, and participation can be reconfigured through distributed models. The evaluation findings provide evidence of what works, what remains challenging, and how networks can evolve to better align their values with their impact.For conference participants, the relevance is twofold. First, it offers a transferable framework for designing and sustaining open education initiatives that are both globally connected and locally meaningful. Second, it contributes to a broader conversation about how openness can be reimagined as a dynamic, negotiated process. In doing so, the session provides actionable insights for researchers, practitioners, and network leaders seeking to build more inclusive, resilient, and context-sensitive forms of open education across borders.
Speakers
avatar for Robert Farrow

Robert Farrow

Senior Research Fellow, The Open University (UK)
Programme Lead, Open Education Research Hub and Co-Director of Global Open Graduate Network 
avatar for Beck Pitt

Beck Pitt

Senior Research Fellow, The Open University (UK)
Co-Director of Global Open Graduate Network
avatar for Carina Bossu

Carina Bossu

Senior Lecturer, Co-Director of Research Capability Hub, The Open University (UK)
Dr Carina Bossu is a Senior Lecturer in Academic Professional Development with the Institute of Educational Technology at the Open University, UK. Her work and research have been focused on Open Educational Resources (OER) and Open Educational Practices (OEP) in higher education... Read More →
SD

Saraswati Dawadi

Research Fellow, The Open University (UK)
Saraswati Dawadi's current research is around language assessment, equity and inclusion in education, girls’ empowerment and professional development through online learning. She is the evaluation lead for the GO-GN Pilot Hubs.
Friday October 9, 2026 12:25pm - 12:55pm EDT
6 DR4 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

1:40pm EDT

Compensating the Creator: Four Grant Models of Tiered OER Support
Friday October 9, 2026 1:40pm - 2:10pm EDT
ID: 33369 While OER provides immediate cost savings for students, the creation of those materials still requires labor. To more fairly compensate the authors of OER textbooks, ancillary materials, and open pedagogy assignments, many institutions have created grant initiatives to subsidize faculty work encouraging the creation of OER (Finlay, 2024). This presentation will examine four programs at U.S. institutions that take a tiered approach to faculty incentives. This will allow others to learn from existing initiatives and potentially design or update their own.
After reviewing the programs, we will analyze program design, student outcomes, and propose best practices for tiered OER grant programs. Programs analyzed include Boise State University; Texas Tech University; Open Oregon Educational Resources, a state-level organization; and the Private Academic Library Network of Indiana (PALNI), a library consortium. Each of these grant initiatives offers instruction to faculty on OER and open pedagogy, as well as having at least three tiers of available funding for adopting, revising, remixing, and creating materials. While they differ in the specific types of activities at each tier, all four programs include options for adopting OER as is, creating your own, and adapting a course to be no- or low-cost to students. To support this, all of the programs require some form of professional learning opportunity for participants, though they vary in terms of the types and degree required. This is a necessary element for faculty who may be unaware of the complex nuances of copyright, licensing, and sharing OER (Elder & Gallant, 2022). By reviewing two university programs and two organizations that serve multiple universities, we create a roadmap of scaffolded OER incentive programs relevant to the whole of the OER community.
By examining the existing landscape of these programs, including what types of activities they fund, how they prioritize adoption versus creation, how long they have been in place, and what metrics they report on, we will be able to identify trends and best practices that will inform an ideal OER faculty incentive program. One key element we will examine in each program is the extent to which the institution encourages collaboration among participants. Is there an opportunity to collaborate with other practitioners and support one another in the OER adoption and creation process, potentially beyond the duration of the grants?
Each OER initiative faces successes and challenges, but educators are more successful in OER practices when exposed to community groups and support from the OER community (Boyle, 2023). Having the opportunity to collaborate allows for human connection, fostering creativity and curiosity. Just as we can use the cost-saving nature of OER to open conversations around student engagement, agency, and voice in the classroom through open pedagogy, by funding faculty work around OER in an environment that fosters collaboration outside of traditional academic silos, we can spark new connections and ideas.
Speakers
avatar for Amy Hofer

Amy Hofer

Statewide Open Education Program Director, Open Oregon Educational Resources
Amy Hofer, Statewide Open Education Program Director, is the OER librarian for Oregon's colleges and universities; visit the Open Oregon Educational Resources website at openoregon.org to learn more.
avatar for Sabrina Davis

Sabrina Davis

Assistant Librarian, Texas Tech University
Sabrina Davis is the Access & User Services Librarian at Texas Tech University. As the Access & User Services Librarian, she oversees the Access Services Department and ensures patrons have safe, reliable access to library resources and spaces. The Online Learning and Open Educational... Read More →
avatar for Hans Aagard

Hans Aagard

Research and Innovation Consultant - OER Focus, eCampus Center, Boise State University
Hans Aagard, PhD, is an OER specialist for Boise State University, supporting online faculty in the eCampus Center as they find, remix, or create open educational materials. Before working on OER he did instructional design and multimedia development. He lives in Salt Lake City... Read More →
avatar for Emily Helton

Emily Helton

Affordable Learning Program Manager, Private Academic Library Network of Indiana (PALNI)
With a background in K-12 education and STEM professional development, Emily became interested in OER for the opportunities it affords to invite students into the knowledge creation process. After completing a PhD at West Virginia University examining how professional learning can... Read More →
Friday October 9, 2026 1:40pm - 2:10pm EDT
4 Room T MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

1:40pm EDT

Decolonizing the Open Curriculum: Reclaiming Indigenous and Local Knowledge Through ODL in Higher Education in Cameroon
Friday October 9, 2026 1:40pm - 2:10pm EDT
ID: 34756

The potential of Open and Distance Learning (ODL) is often hailed as a democratizing tool or a digital link developed to break down barriers related to geography, socio-economic status, and institutional privilege (Bates, 2015; UNESCO, 2019). However, beneath this narrative of universal accessibility and inclusivity lie empirical concerns that the “open” curriculum often perpetuates the same Eurocentric knowledge systems that have historically dominated higher education (Mignolo, 2011; Santos, 2014). Open education must transcend mere content delivery and engage in the critical task of decolonizing the curriculum if it must genuinely achieve its transformative goals. This could be considered a symbolic gesture of inclusivity, as well as a significant act of epistemic justice aimed at dismantling entrenched knowledge hierarchies that continue to marginalize Indigenous and local perspectives (Smith, 2012). For decades, the flows of educational content, textbooks, online courses, open resources, and digital platforms have carried embedded assumptions about what counts as legitimate knowledge, who is authorized to teach, and which voices deserve to be heard (Foucault, 1980). These assumptions reflect historical power relations that have normalized Western epistemologies as universal while relegating Indigenous and local knowledges to the margins, often dismissed as anecdotal or erased altogether (Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, 1986; Said, 1978). In a field committed to widening access, this contradiction is glaring, especially when technologies that could multiply diverse forms of knowledge too often replicate the very hierarchies they claim to dismantle (Commonwealth of Learning, 2020).When ODL platforms prioritize Western scientific frameworks, textual literacy, and linear teaching models, they implicitly undervalue Indigenous knowledge systems such as oral traditions, land-based learning, and relational ways of understanding (Cajete, 2000). This exclusion amounts to epistemic violence, erasing intellectual traditions and relegating them to the periphery as folklore rather than acknowledging them as rigorous systems of thought (Spivak, 1988). In doing so, ODL institutions risk reinforcing colonial power structures, suggesting to learners that their cultural heritage and local contexts are secondary to a globalized Western standard.Using a sequential explanatory mixed-method approach (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2018), the study therefore sets out to examine existing ODL practices within the Distance Education programs of the Universities of Buea and Bamenda, in order to co-develop alternative curriculum design principles with Indigenous and local knowledge holders. Specifically, the study seeks to Find out the extent to which current ODL curricula replicate colonial epistemologies and exclude Indigenous knowledge.Determine principles and governance models effectively ensure reciprocal inclusion of Indigenous and local knowledge in ODL in higher education curricularFind out how participatory co-creation can be scaled in ODL to deliver culturally grounded, pedagogically sound resourcesDetermine the measurable impacts that decolonized ODL modules have on learner engagement. By employing postcolonial theories and critical pedagogy, this study contends that the reclamation of Indigenous and local knowledge through ODL is essential for promoting intellectual sovereignty and resilience (Freire, 1970; Santos, 2014).
Speakers
avatar for Loveline Yaro

Loveline Yaro

Professor, University of Buea
I am female Cameroonian born on the 22.10.1974 in Mankon Bamenda the Northwest Region OF Cameroon. A single mother of three children. Professor of Curriculum and Instruction. My main specialties are; Curriculum Development, Instructional Design, Teacher Education, Pedagogy, Curriculum... Read More →
Friday October 9, 2026 1:40pm - 2:10pm EDT
7 DR5 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

1:40pm EDT

Hacking Distance: Real-World Open Praxis and Postdigital Literacies for the Online Student
Friday October 9, 2026 1:40pm - 2:10pm EDT
ID: 33730

This presentation examines the practical implementation of a theoretical model initially proposed in response to the 2024 MIT Open Learning call (Bucio, 2025). Building upon that piece, this study evaluates the first implementation of this initiative designed to utilize artificial intelligence to accelerate inclusive open education and bridge systemic opportunity gaps. Specifically, the project tackles the linguistic barrier that Spanish-speaking students in Mexico's public distance education system (SUAyED) face when accessing English-dominant academic research. To translate the original concept into a viable educational intervention, it was embedded within the university's formal administrative structures as an official 480-hour "social service" program, a mandatory graduation requirement. The implementation engaged a diverse cohort of 20 online students. While achieving international reach with one participant joining from Spain, the majority were distributed throughout Mexico (spanning Ciudad de México, Estado de México, Guadalajara, Hidalgo, Morelos, Querétaro, Veracruz, and Zacatecas). This geographical distribution underscores the program's success in uniting distance-education students across physical barriers, bringing them together in a shared postdigital environment where they can collaboratively build and disseminate open knowledge.Throughout the program, students engage in a structured workflow designed to democratize access to specialized knowledge. The process begins with community building, mastering the core pillars of Wikipedia participation, and curating academic sources through critical evaluation. To assist in the deep reading and comprehension of complex texts, students leverage generative AI, though they are strictly prohibited from using it to generate the actual article text.The core activity centers on open-platform editing. Students write, manage, and publish content on Wikipedia, strictly adhering to community standards for verifiability, neutrality, and accurate citation. By identifying and expanding upon missing or incomplete topics, students actively reduce information gaps in the digital ecosystem. Throughout the process, they engage in collaborative work and peer review, exchanging constructive feedback to ensure the quality and accuracy of their final published contributions.Alongside their editing tasks, participants engage in guided readings and asynchronous discussions of academic literature. By reading and commenting on articles that explore the project's foundational theories, students critically reflect on their transition from passive learners to active knowledge contributors, contextualizing their practical work within broader academic and social dialogues. The project is grounded in theoretical concepts such as epistemic agency (Nieminen et al., 2025), epistemic placemaking (Carvalho et al., 2025), postdigital assemblages and affordances (Döğer, 2026), Wikipedia for educational innovation (Evenstein Sigalov & Cohen, 2025).Drawing from editing dashboard data and in-depth interviews from the first cohort, this presentation will highlight students' reflections on their developing postdigital literacies, their transformed relationships with knowledge, and the broader impact of democratizing specialized academic content for the global public.
Speakers
avatar for Jackeline Bucio-Garcia

Jackeline Bucio-Garcia

Associate Professor, National Autonomous University of Mexico
Jackie Bucio holds a PhD in Linguistics from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), a Master's degree in Asian and African Studies from El Colegio de México, and a Bachelor's degree in Hispanic Language and Literatures from UNAM. Currently, she is a full-time Associate... Read More →
Friday October 9, 2026 1:40pm - 2:10pm EDT
5 DR3 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

1:40pm EDT

Innovating Beyond Textbooks: Democratizing Knowledge Through Library-Led Support for Open Homework Systems
Friday October 9, 2026 1:40pm - 2:10pm EDT
ID: 33194

Commercial publishers’ increasing tendency to bundle access to textbooks with proprietary homework systems and expensive access code content has further hindered widespread faculty buy-in for open educational resources (OER). However, the increasing availability of open homework systems that can be paired with OER textbooks provides an alternate path for faculty to prioritize concerns like affordability for students, instructor control of course content, and data privacy. From 2023-2025, three institutions from the Big Ten Academic Alliance conducted a grant-funded project to investigate the feasibility of library support for open homework systems as component of OER initiatives, culminating in a pilot of five open homework systems in courses conducted at Penn State University, the University of Minnesota, and Northwestern University during the 2024-2025 academic year. This study aimed to determine whether open homework systems could meet the needs of faculty and students comparably to commercial alternatives and to better understand the challenges associated with providing access to and support for those systems.  This presentation will explore the outcomes of this open homework systems pilot, including results from an environmental scan of commercial homework system usage by faculty at the three pilot institutions, feedback gathered from pilot participants via faculty interviews and student surveys, lessons learned by the project team, and recommendations for establishing library-led support for open homework systems at other academic institutions and consortia. This cross-institutional collaboration offers unique perspective and insight into these topics from public and private institutions of different organizational structures, processes, and cultures. This presentation will provide attendees with practical guidance on how to begin supporting open homework systems as accompaniments to OER. Any attendees who support OER discovery or creation at their institutions, or who are interested in issues of course affordability will benefit from this session. This research addresses a significant gap in the open education field, as few studies have focused on open homework systems, particularly multi-institutional usage of them. While many academic libraries have begun to offer support for OER discovery and publishing, far fewer have focused their efforts on providing the infrastructure, training, maintenance, and support that are required of open homework systems. The results of this research suggest a path forward for libraries to work together across institutions to support open alternatives to commercial homework systems as a way of enhancing existing OER offerings, expanding OER adoption and use, protecting student and faculty data, and ensuring students have access to equitable and inclusive learning environments.  
Speakers
avatar for Bryan McGeary

Bryan McGeary

Sally W. Kalin Librarian for Learning Innovations & Learning Design and Open Education Engagement Librarian, The Pennsylvania State University
Dr. Bryan McGeary is the Learning Design and Open Education Engagement Librarian at Penn State University, where he advances the University’s initiatives that support open teaching practices and course content. He was also the principal investigator for an IMLS-funded project that... Read More →
Friday October 9, 2026 1:40pm - 2:10pm EDT
2 Room M MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

1:40pm EDT

Teacher Co-Creation of OER Through Design Thinking: A Transferable Pedagogical Model from Latin America
Friday October 9, 2026 1:40pm - 2:10pm EDT
ID: 33867

The teacher co-creation of Open Educational Resources (OER) constitutes a strategic opportunity to democratise the production and circulation of pedagogical knowledge in Latin America, particularly in contexts marked by inequalities in access, participation, and representation. However, advancing toward sustainable open educational practices requires methodologies that support teachers throughout complete design cycles and integrate, from the earliest pedagogical decisions, criteria such as territorial relevance, social significance, accessibility, inclusion, and an intersectional gender perspective. Within this framework, this paper systematises a methodology for the teacher co-creation of contextualised, accessible, and socially relevant OER through design thinking, developed within the Creatón STEM+ initiative.The proposal has been implemented through intensive teacher co-creation workshops in Chile, Colombia, and Uruguay, involving 104 participants, including both in-service and pre-service teachers. Its structure is organised through a set of worksheets that operationalise the different phases of design thinking and support, document, and guide the creation process. These worksheets function as pedagogical mediation tools, making the design process visible, promoting informed decision-making, and supporting time management in intensive collaborative settings.The methodology brings together three main contributions. First, it structures the entire design process pedagogically, beginning with an understanding of the territory, user characterisation, and the definition of the pedagogical challenge, before moving into phases of ideation, prototyping, testing, and documentation. Second, it incorporates quality criteria aimed at strengthening students’ full participation from the design stage onwards, promoting the diversification of resources, forms of access, and modes of expression, alongside the transversal integration of an intersectional gender perspective. These criteria are operationalised through review tools for continuous improvement, enabling the identification of participation barriers, representational biases, and opportunities for adjustment throughout the process. Third, it conceptualises OER not merely as final products, but as open pedagogical artefacts that expand possibilities for contextual adaptation, reuse, and the circulation of knowledge across diverse educational communities.Evidence from the three implementations suggests that the use of worksheets as a pedagogical operationalisation of design thinking enhances process clarity, strengthens teacher collaboration, and creates conditions for testing the developed resources. In this sense, the methodology provides a foundation for its formalisation as a transferable teacher education model oriented toward open educational practices, with potential for scalability across diverse contexts. Overall, the experience contributes to ongoing discussions on strengthening teacher co-creation of open knowledge in Latin America, integrating the STEM+ educational approach with inclusion, accessibility, and intersectionality.
Speakers
avatar for Jennifer Venegas Espinoza

Jennifer Venegas Espinoza

Researcher & Teacher, CIDSTEM Institute at Pontifícia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso
Biology and Natural Sciences teacher trained at the Pontifícia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso (PUCV). Holds a Master’s degree in Sociology from Alberto Hurtado University and a diploma in Gender Studies from the University of Chile. PhD candidate in the Interuniversity Program... Read More →
avatar for Lorena Santos

Lorena Santos

Researcher & Teacher, CIDSTEM Institute at Pontifícia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso
Special Education teacher trained at the Pontifícia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso (PUCV). Holds a Master’s degree in Education with a specialization in Higher Education Pedagogy. Her professional experience focuses on educational support aimed at fostering inclusive conditions... Read More →
Friday October 9, 2026 1:40pm - 2:10pm EDT
6 DR4 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

2:15pm EDT

French Ministerial Strategy for OER and Open Education in Higher Education: National Recommendations and Actions Plan
Friday October 9, 2026 2:15pm - 2:45pm EDT
ID: 33871

The French ministerial roadmap 2023-2027 for digital technology in higher education sets out 26 measures aimed at strengthening five principles:  sovereignty, security, digital responsibility, open data, and the use of cloud computing. Among these, measures 9 and 10 focus on promoting open educational resources (OER) and developing a national strategy for open education. These actions are coordinated within the framework of the Digital Committee for Student Success and Institutional Agility (COREALE), whose role is to steer digital transformation and promote student success. This presentation addresses the foundations, operating methods, stakeholders, recommendations and actions plan from measures 9 and 10, which build a national framework for French universities and higher schools from public sector. Those two measures aim to achieve the following two objectives: “Improving the visibility and interoperability of educational resources by promoting open educational resources” (measure 9) and “Developing a national strategy for Open Education” (measure 10). As with the ministerial digital strategy’s other measures, the approach is bottom-up in order to define deliverables based on a broad consensus, designed and validated in collaboration with stakeholders and experts in the field of documentation and of pedagogical and digital engineering. The first national deliverable of measure 9 (Massou & Boulet, 2025) proposes 12 recommendations based on training needs for academic staffs and students, considering pedagogical collaborations and technical environments to cover the complete life cycle of OER (5R). It clarifies which open licenses, metadata and permanent identifiers are relevant for OER to improve their openness, interoperability and visibility in other resources’ catalogs. It insists also on accessibility and multilingual issues. This deliverable was expanded to include an action plan in 2026 with two methodological guides (on legal and documentation matters) and a digital platform to facilitate indexing of OER (using standards of metadata). The second national deliverable of measure 10 will consist on recommendations to build a national strategy on open education in higher education, similar to the national plans for open science launched by our ministry in 2018 and 2021. The following topics will be addressed in a broader and ecosystem-based approach of open education: Awareness-raising, communication, and promotion; Regulation, funding, and business models; National and international partnerships; Professional development for teachers and support staff; Accreditation and recognition of open learning; Research and evaluation; Governance and management support. The action plan that will follow this deliverable will involve the practical implementation of this national strategy starting in 2027 across the entire French higher education system.
Speakers
avatar for Luc Massou

Luc Massou

Scientific advisor, Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Space (France)
Luc Massou is full professor of Information and Communication Sciences at University of Lorraine (France) and serves as a scientific advisor to the General Direction for Higher Education and Professional Integration (DGESIP) at the Ministry of Higher Education, Research, and Space... Read More →
CJ

Céline Joiron

Vice-President, University of Picardie Jules Verne (France)
Céline is Vice-President of the Association of Digital Vice-Presidents for Higher Education and Research (VP-Num) in France and she is also the Executive Vice-President for Digital Strategy and Artificial Intelligence at University of Picardie Jules Verne. She is an associate professor... Read More →
Friday October 9, 2026 2:15pm - 2:45pm EDT
4 Room T MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

2:15pm EDT

Intentional Design for Open Authorship: Building Infrastructure, Community, and Time to Write
Friday October 9, 2026 2:15pm - 2:45pm EDT
ID: 33833

In this session, we invite Open Education program managers to rethink how to support OER creation and authors to re-envision their creation process. Open educational practices (OEP) are more than “putting an OER online” or putting an open license on your original in-copyright work. Ideally, OEP should permeate an entire project through thoughtful design of methods for selecting, supporting, and empowering learners — including authors. To ease the authorship process and center these OEP, VIVA developed the VIVA Rapid Publishing Program. This program identifies a gap in available OER in an area of high need for Virginia higher education, then assembles a team of subject-matter experts from around the state, provides infrastructure and synchronous in-person and online support for writing, and oversees the peer-review and publishing processes. The program includes preparatory meetings which precede a week-long in-person writing sprint, followed by peer review and iterative meetings to discuss potential revisions.In this presentation, we showcase open practices used in the program, such as intentional inclusive selection of project participants, support for authors-as-learners, and consensus-building on what to create and how. Our work addresses issues common to collaborative authoring of an open textbook in an attempt to reduce the sense of “overwhelm” when writing a lengthy work. Authors are guided along a highly structured yet responsive development process. This support streamlines processes of building an author team and scheduling time with your team; identifying and writing to your audience; setting tone, style, and tense; and deciding what content, pedagogical devices, and figures to include. The writing process is also collaborative–asking authors to create together and review each other’s work, rather than working in silos. By providing this time, space, and structure, we hope to provide an environment in which authors 1) form connections with other authors whom they previously may not have known, 2) can focus solely on writing–a rare occurrence in today’s busy society, 3) and experience freedoms and feedback needed to unlock both creativity, critical thinking, and productivity. In realizing these three goals, the program catalyzes what we believe are necessary conditions for the development of an OER with broad applicability and impact. This presentation provides an overview of the program, including the motivations behind the development and how we developed the structure. It will then showcase the inaugural cycle of the program, in which a team of ten developed a Leadership Studies textbook during 2025 and 2026.  Members of the team will share their experiences and how this process benefited (or didn’t) their writing process. While we focus on our experience, we hope to provide a framework for anyone interested in running their own writing sprint, and we will share a toolkit for those wishing to replicate the program in their own contexts.
Speakers
avatar for Anita Walz

Anita Walz

Associate Professor, Assistant Director of Open Education and Scholarly Communication Librarian, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Anita Walz is Associate Professor, Assistant Director of Open Education, and Scholarly Communication Librarian in the University Libraries at Virginia Tech. She received her MS in library and information science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and has worked in... Read More →
avatar for Jessica Kirschner

Jessica Kirschner

Digital Publishing Coordinator, VIVA (Virginia’s Academic Library Consortium)
Jessica Kirschner is the Digital Publishing Coordinator at VIVA, Virginia’s academic library consortium. In this role, supports the publication efforts of VIVA's Open and Affordable Course Content program. Jessica began her career working in the acquisitions department at SUNY Press... Read More →
avatar for Joshua Marsh

Joshua Marsh

Research and Instructional Librarian, Liberty University
Dr. Joshua Marsh is currently an Associate Professor at Liberty University, where he also serves as an Applied Research Chair in the School of Education. Dr. Marsh holds a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership from the University of Kentucky, a Master’s Degree in Education from Western... Read More →
Friday October 9, 2026 2:15pm - 2:45pm EDT
2 Room M MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

2:15pm EDT

Open for All: Implementing UNESCO’s Capacity Building Practices to Support a Thriving, Resilient OER Community
Friday October 9, 2026 2:15pm - 2:45pm EDT
ID: 34009

We support open education as a public good for all stakeholders within our postsecondary institutions. In this session, faculty and staff from the Alamo Colleges District in San Antonio, Texas, will describe how five independently accredited, minority-serving community colleges have collaborated to implement UNESCO’s (2022) key action item on OER capacity building to support open education for all!This session will present collaboratively developed open educational resources from five colleges, aimed at supporting educators new to or uncertain about using OER. The presenters will showcase the steps they have taken to develop faculty resilience and encourage curiosity in OER projects by overcoming barriers, such as limited time and working within silos (Luo, et al., 2019). The session will explore recommendations to assist faculty with selecting appropriate materials to support course outcomes, understanding license complexities, and exploring time-saving options for remixing. Attendees will learn about the Alamo Colleges OER Badge Course, developed at San Antonio College, which supports students, faculty, and staff in exploring the best practices in open licensing and OER. The presenters will describe how the badge course promotes community building by inviting Alamo Colleges stakeholders to develop foundational skills in OER while encouraging learners to consider the contributions they can make to the OER movement. Attendees will learn how to plan, develop, and implement an OER badge course. The session will also explore Palo Alto College’s Career and Experiential Learning Center OER Project. The presenters will describe how the project has invited students to become active contributors in the development of an open textbook through student-created examples, practice questions, study guides, and multimedia that reflect authentic student voices and perspectives. Attendees will learn how to create student-generated OER projects, supporting research that has found enhanced motivation, deepened learning, and development of transferable skills when students are positioned as creators contributing to the public good (Fatayer & Tualaulelei, 2023; Trust, Maloy, & Edwards, 2022). Attendees will learn how to develop their own student-informed processes to improve the quality and accessibility of OER while also giving students valuable experience in instructional design, peer review, and reflective learning.  The presenters will share how these three projects have been guided by UNESCO’s six recommendations focused on capacity building:Building awareness among relevant stakeholder communities;Providing systematic and continuous capacity building (in-service and pre-service) on how to create, access, make available, re-use, adapt, and redistribute OER; Raising awareness of exceptions and limitations for the use of copyrighted works for educational and research purposes; Leveraging open licensed tools, platforms with interoperation of metadata, and standards to ensure OER can be found;Making available easily accessible resources that provide information and assistance to all OER stakeholders on OER-related topics, andPromoting digital literacy skills to encourage the development and use of OER (UNESCO, 2022, p. 11). Attendees will explore how they can take the lessons and recommendations gained through these three projects back to their institutions to build opportunities for their communities to explore OER for all!
Speakers
avatar for Suzel Molina

Suzel Molina

Professor, Palo Alto College
Professor Suzel Molina has taught Education, Kinesiology, Student Development, and Psychology courses at Palo Alto College for over 37 years. Recipient of the 2020 Canvas Educator of the Year, Professor Molina endeavors to inspire students to trust themselves while giving them the... Read More →
avatar for Beatrice Canales

Beatrice Canales

Academic Unit Assistant/Grant Open Licensing Expert, San Antonio College
Ms. Beatrice Canales currently serves as the Open Licensing Expert and former grant project director of the Alamo Colleges OER Consortium Project, funded by a $1.96 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Open Textbook Pilot Program. She has served as an academic staff... Read More →
avatar for Anne Best

Anne Best

English Instructor, St. Philip’s College
Anne Best is an English instructor of 20 years at St. Philip’s College in San Antonio, Texas, with a commitment to multicultural and global perspectives in education. She holds a master’s degree in English from Texas A&M University, San Antonio. Best advocates for open educational... Read More →
avatar for Rosalie Wallace

Rosalie Wallace

Academic Program Coordinator/Adjunct Faculty Member, St. Philip’s College
Rosalie Wallace has taught General Biology courses and Environmental Biology courses for St. Philip’s College for six years. She has a Bachelor’s in Science from the University of the Incarnate Word and a Master of Arts from the University of Texas at San Antonio. In her roles... Read More →
Friday October 9, 2026 2:15pm - 2:45pm EDT
6 DR4 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

2:15pm EDT

Sidebars as Seedbeds: How a Modular Design Can Help with Updating, Customizing, and Localizing OER Content
Friday October 9, 2026 2:15pm - 2:45pm EDT
ID: 33948

A long time ago, in a sociocultural context far, far away, we decided to write a research methods textbook. Our team was fed up with the exorbitant cost of textbooks. We taught sociology courses at Virginia Commonwealth University, a highly diverse urban public university, and we were constantly supplementing commercial textbooks with our bespoke instructional material anyways. We decided we might as well write our own book, one that students could easily afford, and that wouldn’t easily put them to sleep. From the outset, we wanted to write a textbook that would be relatively painless to revise. The fundamentals of research methods—what good research is, how best to think about and approach it—have not changed so much. However, the examples that textbooks use to illustrate sound research design or point out pitfalls do change across time, location, and populations. They changed in the years following the publication of the OER sources we drew upon for some of our textbook’s content. They changed even across the many years we spent writing The Craft of Sociological Research: Principles and Methods of Collecting, Analyzing, and Presenting Social Science Data (2024). Anticipating this, we sought to make our textbook modular, incorporating numerous sidebars that were meant to be revised or swapped out, with the core text remaining more stable. Besides allowing us to readily replace many of our research examples with timelier ones, these modular sidebars would also aid other authors and instructors who wanted to localize the textbook—say, by introducing research examples and discussions of local issues that might be more suited to their student populations.This presentation discusses how a modular design can help with updating, customizing, and localizing OER content. As a case study, we examine the development of our sociological research methods textbook, The Craft of Sociological Research (https://viva.pressbooks.pub/sociology-research-methods), which uses modular sidebars that describe notable examples of research, present interviews with prominent researchers, discuss local issues that past research has illuminated, and cover advanced methodological topics. The placement of these modular sidebars throughout the textbook makes it simple and straightforward to update its illustrative examples and customize a significant portion of its material for specific communities of readers, in line with the model of formal localization, whereby OER content is deliberately adjusted to align with local contexts and cultural nuances (Bradshaw et al., 2024). It allows instructors to customize the course to match the skill level and interests of their students. And it presents an opportunity for open pedagogy, providing opportunities for students to write short-form content for an OER’s sidebars. In a sense, the sidebars serve as well-organized seedbeds set aside within a garden, giving authors space to replant the text with a smattering of their own seasonal and native varietals while keeping its overall structure intact. Student surveys conducted after the textbook’s implementation show not only strong support for OER as a replacement for commercial textbooks, but also general satisfaction with the research examples and localized content that the textbook’s modular sidebars featured.
Speakers
avatar for Jessica Kirschner

Jessica Kirschner

Digital Publishing Coordinator, VIVA (Virginia’s Academic Library Consortium)
Jessica Kirschner is the Digital Publishing Coordinator at VIVA, Virginia’s academic library consortium. In this role, supports the publication efforts of VIVA's Open and Affordable Course Content program. Jessica began her career working in the acquisitions department at SUNY Press... Read More →
avatar for Victor Tan Chen

Victor Tan Chen

Associate Professor of Sociology, Virginia Commonwealth University
Victor Tan Chen is an associate professor of sociology at Virginia Commonwealth University who studies economic inequality, labor markets, social policy, and alternative organizational forms. He has published five books: The Missing Class: Portraits of the Near Poor in America (with... Read More →
avatar for Gabriela León-Pérez

Gabriela León-Pérez

Associate Professor of Sociology, Virginia Commonwealth University
Gabriela León-Pérez is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). Her scholarly interests lie at the intersection of the sociology of migration, Latino sociology, and medical sociology. Specifically, Gabriela’s research explores the determinants... Read More →
Friday October 9, 2026 2:15pm - 2:45pm EDT
5 DR3 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

3:00pm EDT

Beyond the Textbook: Innovating Open ASL Curriculum for Equitable Access
Friday October 9, 2026 3:00pm - 3:30pm EDT
ID: 34011

As open education movements continue to expand globally, the need to actively protect and promote knowledge as a public good has become increasingly urgent. Within American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter education, access to high-quality, culturally responsive materials is often limited by cost and availability, creating barriers for many students. Open educational practices offer a critical pathway toward equity by reducing financial burdens while expanding access to meaningful, inclusive learning experiences. This presentation explores the development and implementation of digital Open Educational Resources (OER) within Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) ASL courses, positioning open access as both a pedagogical strategy and a form of advocacy.Aligned with the conference track "Innovating Open Content to Democratize Knowledge", this session highlights the development of a digital curriculum, including the LibreTexts ADAPT platform for homework, designed to remove cost barriers while supporting flexible, student-centered learning. Participants will examine how open content can be intentionally designed to reflect the linguistic, cultural, and lived experiences of Deaf communities, while remaining adaptable across diverse educational contexts, including community colleges, universities, and online and hybrid learning environments.This project reimagines ASL curriculum development as a collaborative, iterative process that brings together educators, interpreters, students, and community stakeholders. Through this process, the curriculum integrates multimedia resources, interactive modules, and culturally grounded pedagogy to move beyond static textbooks and toward dynamic, living knowledge systems. These materials are designed not only to support language acquisition, but also to foster cultural competence and deeper engagement with Deaf community perspectives.A key component of this work is the ongoing integration of real-time feedback from ASL educators using the curriculum across institutions. Through regular collaboration, surveys, and informal feedback loops, instructors share insights about student engagement, accessibility, and content effectiveness. This feedback is used to make continuous updates each semester, allowing the curriculum to remain responsive, current, and aligned with both pedagogical best practices and community needs. This continuous improvement model reflects the core values of open education by emphasizing adaptability, shared ownership, and collective knowledge-building.Preliminary outcomes from pilot implementations suggest that students engaging with ZTC OER demonstrate increased persistence, stronger engagement, and improved connections to course content. Instructors also report greater flexibility in adapting materials to meet diverse student needs. More importantly, this work illustrates how open education can function as a collective effort to safeguard and share knowledge, particularly for historically underrepresented language communities.By framing OER development as both innovation and responsibility, this session invites participants to consider how they might contribute to a more equitable and sustainable global knowledge ecosystem. Attendees will leave with practical strategies for creating, adapting, and sharing open content that supports student success while advancing the shared mission of democratizing education for the public good.
Speakers
avatar for Melanie Nakaji

Melanie Nakaji

ASL Professor & ZTC Coordinator, San Diego City College
My name is Melanie Nakaji. I have a Ph.D from the University of Northern Colorado in Rehabilitation Counseling.  I’m the lead American Sign Language (ASL) professor and strive to modify my pedological strategies to meet students’ learning needs. Most recently, I received a large... Read More →
Friday October 9, 2026 3:00pm - 3:30pm EDT
2 Room M MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

3:00pm EDT

Breaking the Golden Handcuffs: Harnessing ADAPT’s Public Question Bank for Open, Flexible Assessment
Friday October 9, 2026 3:00pm - 3:30pm EDT
ID: 34032

ADAPT is an open-source, LMS-integrated homework and assessment platform within the LibreTexts suite of open courseware (LibreVerse) that is designed to address one of the most pressing challenges in higher education: the restrictive, proprietary ecosystems created by commercial publishers, often referred to as the “golden handcuffs.” These systems limit faculty autonomy, increase costs for students, and inhibit the broader dissemination and adaptation of high-quality educational resources. LibreTexts, as a not-for-profit organization, and specifically ADAPT directly confronts these constraints by providing a fully open, centralized platform for assessments that is tightly integrated with LibreTexts OER textbooks and modern learning management systems (LMSs).The presentation will explore the development, design, and comprehensive capabilities of ADAPT, highlighting its role as a robust, open-source, LMS-integrated homework and assessment platform. Beyond its technical features, the talk will examine the widespread adoption of ADAPT across the State of California, with particular emphasis on the California Community College system, which serves over 2.2 million students who now have unrestricted access to the platform. Attendees will gain insight into how ADAPT is being leveraged at scale to support diverse instructional contexts and improve access to high-quality, openly licensed assessment materials.To illustrate its versatility and impact, the presentation will feature multiple case studies demonstrating the use of ADAPT across a variety of disciplines, including STEM courses, language instruction, and composition courses. These examples will highlight not only the platform’s flexibility in accommodating different subject areas but also its effectiveness in enhancing student engagement, supporting equitable assessment practices, and enabling faculty to adapt, remix, and share exercises. The discussion will also touch on strategies for integrating ADAPT into both traditional and online learning environments, providing practical guidance for instructors and institutions seeking to implement open, scalable assessment solutions.At the heart of ADAPT is its public OER question bank for instructors that currently containing over 300,000 openly licensed exercises spanning a wide range of disciplines and course levels. This repository enables instructors to freely access, adapt, and deploy high-quality questions across courses, institutions, and platforms. Questions can be directly embedded in LibreTexts textbooks, delivered through LMSs, used as standalone web applications, or even integrated into classroom clicker and active learning systems. By decoupling assessments from proprietary systems, ADAPT provides educators with unprecedented flexibility to tailor exercises to the specific needs of their courses and students, supporting a more student-centered and inclusive learning experience.ADAPT’s open question bank also fosters collaboration and pedagogical innovation. Faculty can remix and modify exercises, contribute new questions to the shared repository, and benefit from the collective expertise of educators worldwide. This model not only enhances instructional quality but also encourages the development of equitable assessment practices, as instructors have the freedom to select or create questions that reflect diverse perspectives and learning styles.Ultimately, the presentation will offer a comprehensive view of ADAPT as a tool that not only facilitates high-quality instruction but also exemplifies how open educational technologies can expand access, promote collaboration among educators, and support student-centered learning at scale.
Speakers
avatar for Delmar Larsen

Delmar Larsen

Professor and CEO, University of California, Davis and LibreTexts
Delmar Larsen is a Professor of Chemistry at the University of California, Davis, and a leading advocate for open education. He is the founder and CEO of the LibreTexts project, one of the world’s largest open educational resource (OER) platforms, providing freely accessible, customizable... Read More →
avatar for Michelle Pilati

Michelle Pilati

Professor and Open Education Resource Initiative Director, Rio Hondo College
Michelle Pilati is a Professor of Psychology at Rio Hondo College and a recognized leader in open education and online learning within the California Community Colleges system. She has served as faculty at Rio Hondo since 1999 and has extensive experience teaching in online and hybrid... Read More →
avatar for Cristina Moon

Cristina Moon

Professor, Chabot College
Cristina Moon, Ph.D. is a Professor of Spanish at Chabot College, where she has been a full-time faculty member since 2006. She earned her B.A. in Spanish Literature from University of California, Berkeley and her M.A. and Ph.D. in Hispanic Languages and Literatures from University... Read More →
Friday October 9, 2026 3:00pm - 3:30pm EDT
6 DR4 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

3:00pm EDT

Open Isn’t Enough: Why OER Needs Care Pedagogies to Move from Information to Action
Friday October 9, 2026 3:00pm - 3:30pm EDT
ID: 34016

Democratizing knowledge through OER is a vital first step toward equity, yet access to information does not inherently empower students to wield it effectively. As social and behavioral scientists, we have found a significant gap between analyzing a situation through open content and having the pedagogical support to actualize change within one’s own life. Therefore we propose that structuring the use of OER through feminist pedagogy allows instructors to move beyond “open access” to “open learning.”  In this session, we argue that OER can be used to promote an ethic of care, as its inherent flexibility allows us to honor the lived experiences our students already possess and disrupt the traditional power dynamics that often sideline their expertise in the classroom.Integrating care ethics with the behavioral science of how people experience and excel in their learning, we ground our discussion and recommendations in feminist pedagogy and cognitive and motivation science. First, feminist pedagogy provides a lens through which to challenge and decentralize power structures in the classroom by validating students both as experts in their own lives, and as possessing valuable and essential knowledge through their lived experiences (hooks, 1994). This lens is supported by cognitive science, which has established that people learn best by anchoring new knowledge to what they already know and have experienced (Ambrose et al., 2010). Finally, we connect these ideas to Self-Determination Theory which asserts that deep learning occurs when the educational environment supports students in feeling autonomous, competent and related (Ryan & Deci, 2017). Putting this into practice, we present a framework for OER development that serves both students and educators. For learners, we discuss how OER can prioritize contextualized inquiry by including assignments and reflection questions that prompt students to bridge course concepts with their individual and community interests. For example, rather than utilizing generic vignettes, materials for a developmental psychology class can invite students to engage content that relates to developmental policy issues (like early childcare) to empower them to be informed voters on related policies (Artez-Vega et al., 2023).At the same time, we advocate for the inclusion of robust "pedagogical marginalia” for teachers. These teaching notes can explicitly highlight how core concepts can be applied across varied family, work, and community settings. For example, in a management class, using examples of school, work and family situations to engage students in lessons on conflict management.  Embedding multimedia links, and real-world narratives can further help the material "come alive" and maintain a focus on ensuring material holds practical and personal relevance for students.As caring educators, we recognize that our students arrive with divergent goals and values. Responsible pedagogy leverages this diversity as an asset rather than expecting or forcing students to learn the same way and for the same reasons (Rognile et al., 2025). By developing and intentionally using open materials that honors these lived realities, we do more than lower costs, we create a classroom space that enables learners to apply themselves and their knowledge toward a more just world.
Speakers
avatar for Kathryn Frazier

Kathryn Frazier

Associate Professor, Worcester State University
Kathryn E. Frazier, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the Psychology department at Worcester State University. She earned her Master’s in Psychology and Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Clark University. She publishes research on gender socialization and mental health, and... Read More →
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Elizabeth Siler

Professor, Worcester State University
Elizabeth Siler is a professor at Worcester State University in the Business Administration and Economics Department. She teaches management classes to undergraduate students and almost exclusively uses open education resources, and is an advisor for the Fiber Arts Circle student... Read More →
Friday October 9, 2026 3:00pm - 3:30pm EDT
4 Room T MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

3:00pm EDT

The Future of Openness Is Shared: Co-Creating Communication Strategies
Friday October 9, 2026 3:00pm - 3:30pm EDT
ID: 34026

This session explores an open education collaborative’s approach to developing a shared communication strategy for open education grounded in collective invention, practical tools, and adaptable frameworks. As open education initiatives expand across institutions and systems, the challenge is not only demonstrating impact, but communicating that impact in ways that resonate across diverse contexts, roles, and disciplines. This session positions communication as a core infrastructure for the future of openness that must be intentionally designed.This open education collaborative has engaged in an iterative process to co-create communication strategies that support open education advocacy, publishing, and program development. Rather than developing top-down messaging, participants have worked together to build communication practices. As a group they have tested language and built shared resources that can be contextualized for individual projects while also contributing to a broader, collective voice.This session highlights the process of inventing communication strategies together. Presenters will share how members of the collaborative identified common communication challenges such as translating open education work into disciplinary language, aligning with subject-matter conversations, and articulating impact beyond cost savings, and responded by co-developing practical tools. These include reusable templates for project workflows, social media campaigns, project descriptions, and stakeholder engagement, all designed to be adapted for each project. A central focus of the session is how these communication strategies function as living artifacts of collaborative practice. Presenters will demonstrate how quarterly communications, social media interactions and project templates were developed through cycles of contribution, feedback, and revision. Each communication strategy serves as an entry point for participation, creating space for new contributors to engage in open education communication work without starting from scratch. Examples will include communication plans with structured cadences, messaging frameworks aligned with student success language, and modular content that can be tailored to different audiences and platforms.Aligned with the conference theme, Catalyzing Human Connection, Creativity, and Curiosity to Thrive, this session emphasizes the future of openness as a participatory, co-constructed endeavor. It highlights how shared communication infrastructures built through open collaboration can support both consistency and flexibility, enabling open education work to be visible, credible, and connected across contexts.Attendees will leave with adaptable templates, strategies for collaborative message development, and a deeper understanding of how communication itself can be an open practice. The session will conclude with a facilitated discussion inviting participants to consider how they might engage in or initiate similar processes within their own networks, contributing to a more connected and communicative open education ecosystem.
Speakers
avatar for Kathy Essmiller

Kathy Essmiller

Coordinator, OpenOKState, Oklahoma State University
Kathy is an open education leader, librarian, and educator dedicated to advancing access to education and community through the adoption and creation of open educational resources (OER). As the Coordinator of OpenOKState at Oklahoma State University, Kathy collaborates with faculty... Read More →
avatar for Jojo Karlin

Jojo Karlin

Scholarly Communications Manager, CUNY Office of Library Services
Dr. Jojo Karlin is the Scholarly Communications Manager at the CUNY Central Office of Library Services. As the manager of CUNY Academic Works, the system’s open access institutional repository, Jojo facilitates the development and legacy of student, faculty, and staff research... Read More →
Friday October 9, 2026 3:00pm - 3:30pm EDT
5 DR3 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

3:35pm EDT

Beyond the Book: Hacking OER Infrastructures for Shared Maintenance and Governance
Friday October 9, 2026 3:35pm - 4:05pm EDT
ID: 33899

Open educational resources are typically imagined as books: finite objects authored at a moment in time, released, and then adopted by others. This framing has shaped nearly every layer of the OER ecosystem, from funding programs and hosting platforms to the expectations adopting instructors bring to the materials they use. It also quietly places the weight of keeping a resource current on the shoulders of individual authors, a burden that becomes untenable in fields where the subject matter shifts from semester to semester along with inevitable demands for maintenance (Jhangiani, 2019). Drawing on our recent article in the Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication (Daly, Ahmad, & Schneider, 2026), this presentation argues for a different starting point: OER as a dynamic digital commons, more akin to an open source software project than a printed textbook, requiring ongoing maintenance and shared governance.We ground this argument in an autoethnographic case study of an OER textbook on social media, a topic in which knowledge and topics ceaselessly evolve (Daly, 2023). The original author created and maintained four overlapping editions over several years, navigating cloned versions, manual re-checks of openly licensed media, accessibility re-layering, a legal threat from an image-rights service, and warnings from a promotion committee that the labor was endangering professional advancement. When an adopting instructor proposed moving the textbook toward collective stewardship, the team pursued funding, drafted preliminary by-laws, and invited adopters into co-authorship. However, other adopting instructors either did not respond or graciously declined, defaulting to the reader role that book conventions had trained them to expect. Funders would also not pay the original author to keep improving the work, and the hosting platform offered no up-stream contribution or version-control affordances. The book in question is now archived, despite maintaining high numbers of readers or adopters.We read these obstacles against lessons from open source communities, where forking is a last resort and upstream contribution, version control, codes of conduct, and templated governance documents are common practice (Schneider, 2021). From that comparison we offer three directions for hacking the open ecosystem toward the public good. First, organize economic flows that pay for maintenance and governance, not only initial creation and adoption. Second, advocate for upstream revision affordances inside OER platforms, including version control, contributor identification, and embedded decision-making tools. Third, coordinate the cultural work of shifting adopter expectations from passive consumption to commons participation, including governance documents inside OER themselves.Libraries have repeatedly reshaped social expectations around access to knowledge. We invite the OEGlobal community to take up a parallel shift around stewardship, so that the promise of OER as growing organisms is matched by infrastructures that can support their lifecycles.
Speakers
avatar for Nathan Schneider

Nathan Schneider

Associate Professor, Department of Media Studies, University of Colorado Boulder
Nathan Schneider is an associate professor of media studies at the University of Colorado Boulder, where he leads the Media Economies Design Lab and the MA program in Media and Public Engagement. He is the author of four books, most recently Governable Spaces: Democratic Design for... Read More →
avatar for Diana Daly

Diana Daly

Associate Professor and Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, College of Information Science, University of Arizona
Dr. Diana Daly has authored open educational resources including Humans R Social Media and Decoding Deception, and a scholar in information science focused on literacies in new media technologies including artificial intelligence, and on information trust, misinformation, and information... Read More →
Friday October 9, 2026 3:35pm - 4:05pm EDT
6 DR4 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

3:35pm EDT

Coding a Drawing Tool Together: Learning How to Contribute to Open Source Software
Friday October 9, 2026 3:35pm - 4:05pm EDT
ID: 33970

The Processing Foundation’s mission is to promote software learning within the arts, artistic learning within technology-related fields, and to celebrate the diverse communities that make these fields vibrant, liberatory, and innovative. We work toward our goals by developing and distributing open source software (OSS) projects, Processing (Java) and p5.js (JavaScript). OSS has become one of the major cultural and technical achievements of the past half-century. Unlike commercial software, this work is a shared commons, built through collective knowledge, community practice, and sustained human effort. Unfortunately, there is often a significant gap between learning about OSS and developing the confidence to meaningfully contribute to it. Within communities that support Processing and p5.js, this gap is increasingly visible as we confront what Cabunoc Mayes and others have described as the “graying of open source,” a trend in which long-standing contributors are not being replaced by a new, diverse generation of participants (2025). As we celebrate 25 years of Processing, this moment calls for new approaches to access, participation, and recruitment through education. We developed a curriculum called Art + Code, which pairs with a professional development (PD) learning experience for K-12 educators with little or no prior coding background. The goals are to democratize access to computer science education and to reframe OSS contribution as a creative and collaborative practice. Throughout the PD, educators learn pedagogical practices for teaching creative coding while engaging as learners of the Art + Code curriculum. They explore foundational programming concepts through visually driven projects in p5.js. The culminating experience shifts from individual creation to collective contributions in the final project: the drawing tool. Here, participants develop custom “brushes” for a shared drawing tool, contributing code to a communal software project. Using OpenProcessing’s Live Collaboration feature, participants work together in a shared coding environment. This experience mirrors authentic OSS workflows while making visible the social dimensions of software development like attribution, remixing, negotiation, and collective ownership. For many educators, this is their first experience contributing to a shared codebase, reframing their understanding of what it means to “belong” in technical spaces.This session will share findings from pilot implementations of Art + Code across diverse educator cohorts. We will present qualitative insights and classroom observations that highlight how learners engage with core coding concepts through creative expression, as well as how participation in collaborative coding environments shifts their confidence and identity as potential contributors to OSS. We will also share educator feedback, including evidence of increased willingness to experiment, debug, and build on others’ work.  This session is designed for educators, curriculum designers, and open education advocates by offering both a conceptual framework and practical strategies for bridging the gap between learning and contributing to OSS. Participants will leave with concrete approaches to integrating collaborative, open-source practices into their own teaching, as well as access to the freely available Art + Code curriculum. In an effort to invite a broader and more diverse community into open source, this project centers creativity, collaboration, and meaning-making. 
Speakers
avatar for Roxana Hadad

Roxana Hadad

Co-Executive Director, Processing Foundation
For the last 25 years, Roxana Hadad, PhD has led research and programming aimed at making STEM and computer science education experiences equitable and relevant to students from historically excluded communities. As a Co-Executive Director at Processing Foundation, she oversees initiatives... Read More →
avatar for Amy B. Woodman

Amy B. Woodman

Director, Fellowship Program, Processing Foundation
Amy B. Woodman is the Director of Fellowship Programs at Processing Foundation, where she supports artists and creative technologists developing open-source tools. She brings over a decade of experience designing programs across education, technology, and the arts, with a focus on... Read More →
Friday October 9, 2026 3:35pm - 4:05pm EDT
4 Room T MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

3:35pm EDT

Strategic Alignment: Leveraging OER to Foster Transformative Faculty Partnerships
Friday October 9, 2026 3:35pm - 4:05pm EDT
ID: 33984

ProblemFor academic libraries, building meaningful, sustained connections with teaching faculty is essential, yet this work is often constrained by transactional liaison engagement practices. To disrupt this pattern, Eastern Kentucky University librarians develop structured Library Program Plans that align information literacy instruction, collections, and outreach with student learning outcomes across program curricula.  Moving beyond ad hoc instruction requests or one-off interactions such as collection requests, Program Plans create a shared framework that encourages ongoing dialogue between librarians and teaching faculty. Further, when Open Educational Resources (OER) are woven into program plans, faculty can more clearly see how OER support their academic freedom, pedagogical growth, and course-level student learning goals. In this context, Open Educational Resources (OER) - often framed simply as cost-saving initiatives - invite creative, program-level collaboration and offer a clear framework in which to develop meaningful, sustained faculty engagement, grounded in mutual goals for student success.InterventionThis session explores the ways that Program Plans can be developed to intentionally include Open Educational Resources (OER) and affordable course material strategies as a core component of faculty engagement. By embedding OER considerations directly into curriculum mapping — such as identifying high-enrollment courses, gateway sequences, and points of high student cost burden — librarians can facilitate more meaningful, context-aware conversations with faculty. By identifying specific learning outcomes first, and offering faculty quality, open alternatives to their existing course materials, OER emerge as solutions to instructional design challenges, positioning faculty as active instructional architects rather than consumers of static commercial content.ExamplesDrawing on practitioner experience, the session will highlight examples of OER-integrated Program Plan templates that include fields for documenting course material types, cost considerations, and opportunities for OER adoption, adaptation, or creation. These tools make visible where alignment already exists and where new opportunities for collaboration can be developed. Attendees will see how structured, curriculum-aligned approaches can support faculty decision-making while maintaining respect for disciplinary context and instructional autonomy.OutcomesParticipants will leave with practical strategies for using curriculum alignment to build resilient, relationship-centered partnerships with teaching faculty; integrating OER into program-level planning tools; and framing conversations around student outcomes, access, and instructional goals. By situating OER within a broader ecosystem of connection, creativity, and shared inquiry, this approach offers a replicable model for fostering collective thriving through sustained, program-level engagement.SignificanceBy centering OER in program planning, librarians can move beyond a narrow affordability narrative toward one focused on quality, agency, and student success. This shift strengthens faculty partnerships by aligning with core motivations — supporting student learning, preserving academic autonomy, and enabling the adaptation of course materials to meet the needs of students.
Speakers
avatar for Kelly Smith

Kelly Smith

Director of Strategic Initiatives, Eastern Kentucky University
Kelly Smith is the Director of Strategic Initiatives at Eastern Kentucky University Libraries where she directs library assessment, reporting activities, and policy development, and co-leads the Libraries’ open education program with Bailey Lake. She is currently working on an EdD... Read More →
avatar for Bailey Lake

Bailey Lake

Open Strategies Librarian, Eastern Kentucky University
Bailey Lake is the Open Strategies Librarian at Eastern Kentucky University Libraries, where she advocates for open education and facilitates OER creation in partnership with university OER champions. Bailey is especially passionate about open pedagogy projects and the impact of renewable... Read More →
Friday October 9, 2026 3:35pm - 4:05pm EDT
2 Room M MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

3:35pm EDT

The Inclusion Algorithm: Using AI Gems to Audit Equity in Open Education
Friday October 9, 2026 3:35pm - 4:05pm EDT
ID: 34031

We all want our course materials to reflect our students. You might already have great OER. But it is hard to catch every bias on our own. Even as experts, we have blind spots. We need a second pair of eyes.This session is about creating that partner using AI. We will use Gemini Gems to run quick equity audits on your current materials. I will share the specific script I use as an IDI certified professor. This is not about letting AI write your content. It is about using a diagnostic tool to spot representation gaps.In this 30 minute lab, we will get straight to work. You will learn how to set "rule based instructions" so the AI stays focused. You will see how it identifies Western centric biases or missing perspectives. You will leave with a functional AI Gem. It is a simple tool you can share with your department to help make your courses more inclusive.
Speakers
avatar for Ahmad Kareh

Ahmad Kareh

Associate Professor, Salt Lake Community College
Ahmad Kareh is a tenured professor at Salt Lake Community College. He is an entrepreneur who believes in the power of human connection. Ahmad is an Open Education Fellow and a UNSDG Faculty Fellow. He has served as a member of the Open Education Advisory Committee since 2016. As a... Read More →
Friday October 9, 2026 3:35pm - 4:05pm EDT
5 DR3 MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA
 
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OEGlobal 2026
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