Open Education Talks 2025

Open Education Talks

The Open Education Talks (previously called the Open Pedagogy Talks) are a series of 15-minute lightning talks about facets of open education including open pedagogy and learning, utilizing open educational resources, and integrating open strategies and technologies in higher education. The purpose of these talks is to create an accessible, virtual space to engage in conversations about open education. We encourage talks that are student-led or otherwise showcase the important role of student-educator collaborations in open education, and welcome proposals from educators, students, administrators, librarians, instructional designers, and all other roles related to the design, delivery, and evaluation of open education in post-secondary institutions.

Format:

Lightning Talks: There will be five speakers per session, per day, for a total of 20 speakers for four lunchtime sessions every Wednesday in March 2025. Speakers will have a 15-minute session in which they can discuss their practice and take questions from participants. All talks will be hosted online via Zoom.

Poster Opportunities: New this year – posters! Are you doing cool work with OE and want to share in a visual format? Submit your infographic, poster, or other images of your OE work to the OE Talks Digital Poster Wall. Creators will receive more information, guidelines, and licensing information upon accepatance.

Call for 2025 Proposals

Register to attend the 2025 OE Talks

Coming soon!

Important Dates:

Proposal Deadline: December 15, 2024
Speakers Notified: January 10, 2025
Registration Open: February 3, 2025

Talks Schedule:

Every Wednesday in March 2025 at 12:00 PM MST to 1:30PM MST/ 11:00 AM PST to 12:30 PST.

Our Understanding of Open Education

For these talks, we share our understanding of open education, which is from the UNESCO Cape Town Declaration: “…open education is not limited to just open educational resources. It also draws upon open technologies that facilitate collaborative, flexible learning and the open sharing of teaching practices that empower educators to benefit from the best ideas of their colleagues” (UNESCO Cape Town Declaration, 2018).

Mobilizing Open Education

Some of the ways that you may be engaged in open education could include:

  • Intentionally designing programs and courses that are accessible
  • Working with students as partners to co-design digital learning materials and open educational resources and to consider Creative Commons licensing 
  • Sharing resources and materials with colleagues through teaching and learning networks
  • Selecting open course materials (OER) that could be utilized by students regardless of their location
  • Adopting, adapting, creating, and sharing new learning materials (OER) within and beyond institutions

These are just a few examples of facets of open education that are being mobilized at post-secondary institutions. We are excited to invite everyone to share their practices and experiences with Open Education in these talks.

Streams

There are four streams for the lightning talks. Speakers are invited to indicate which stream(s) their talk best aligns with on their proposal. Participants will be able to choose which talks and streams that they want to engage with upon registration.

  1. Building Blocks of OE: These talks focus on the basics of open education, what it is, and why it has been impactful in higher education, including examples. Some related topics. Some related topics include:
    • Getting started with open education in post-secondary education
    • Strategies for engaging faculty in OE initiatives
    • Overcoming common challenges in adopting OERs and OE
    • Best practices for adopting and utilizing OE practices in courses
  2. Artificial Intelligence, Technology, and OE: These talks focus on emerging and responsive connections between artificial intelligence, technology, and OE. Some related topics include:
    • How AI is transforming the landscape of open education
    • Ensuring equity and accessibility in technology-enhanced OEr
    • Building resilient and flexible open education ecosystems
    • Ethical implications of AI in educational content creation and distribution
  3. Student Leadership and Partnership in Open Education: These talks amplify student-led OE projects and initiatives. Some related topics include:
    • Student perspectives on the benefits and challenges of using OE
    • Student advocacy in OE conversations and decision-making
    • The role of student leadership in promoting open education initiatives
    • Models of successful student-faculty collaboration in OE initiatives
  4. Tensions and Possibilities for the Future of Open Education: These talks focus on how educators integrate open research into their courses and scholarship of teaching and learning practices. Some related topics include:
    • Strategies to maintain the integrity of OER amidst commercial interests
    • Best practices for protecting student privacy in AI-driven educational environments
    • Examining the trend of locking open resources behind subscription-based programs
    • Exploring sustainable models for funding and distributing OER without paywalls

Proposal Deadline:

Please submit proposals via online form. Proposal deadline is December 15, 2024.

Proposal Review and Scheduling

The steering committee will review proposals, and speakers will be notified by January 10, 2025. The steering committee will coordinate with speakers to determine their talks’ streams, dates and times.

Schedule

Coming soon!

Committee

This initiative has been developed in partnership with Mount Royal University, Thompson Rivers University, the University of Alberta, and the University of Calgary. The members of the organizing committee for the 2025 Open Education Talks are:

  • Sarah Adams, Open Education Librarian, University of Calgary
  • Michelle Brailey, Open Publishing and Open Education Librarian, University of Alberta
  • Brianna Calomino, Digital Projects Librarian, University of Calgary
  • Patrick H. Hanlon, Teaching and Learning Facilitator, Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary
  • Carolyn Ives, Coordinator, Learning and Faculty Development, Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching and Open Learning Faculty Member, Thompson Rivers University
  • Dr. Verena Roberts, Instructional Designer, Thompson Rivers University and Adjunct Assistant Professor, Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary 
  • Brenda Smith, Open Education Librarian, Thompson Rivers University
  • Dr. Alysia Wright, Assistant Professor, Mount Royal University 

Submit Your Media from Past Open Education Talks

If you would like to submit any files or media (recordings, files, slides, etc.) related to your presentation for Open Education Talks in 2023 or 2022, please let us know!

Submission Form

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Max. file size: 250 MB.

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