Call for Proposals 2026

Proposal Streams

Presenters are invited to indicate which of the four stream(s) their talk or poster best aligns with in their proposal submission.

  1. Building Blocks of Open Education: This stream focuses on the basics of open education, what it is, and why it has been impactful in higher education, including examples. Some related topics include:
    • Getting started with open education in post-secondary institutions
    • Strategies for engaging faculty in OE and OER initiatives
    • Overcoming common challenges in adopting or creating OERs
    • Best practices for adopting and utilizing OE practices in courses
  2. Emerging Technologies and Usability in Open Education: This stream focuses on emerging and responsive connections between innovation, technology access, and accessibility within OE. Some related topics include:
    • How AI is transforming the landscape of open education
    • Ensuring equity and accessibility in technology-enhanced OER
    • Differentiating access from accessibility
  3. Students as Partners and Leaders in Open Education: This stream amplifies student-led OE projects and initiatives. Some related topics include:
    • Student perspectives on the benefits and challenges of OE, including OER
    • 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: This stream focuses on how the OE community has adapted or evolved their practices when facing tensions, challenges, or new opportunities. Some related topics include:
    • How is open learning reimagined across learning ecosystems
    • Investigating sustainable models for funding and distributing OER without paywalls
    • Exploring the role of OE and OER within open science/open scholarship initiatives
    • Ethical and privacy tensions of AI in educational content creation and distribution

Proposal Deadline

Proposals are no longer being accepted for 2026.

Proposal Review Criteria

The Steering Committee will review proposals and notify speakers by January 16, 2026. For accepted proposals, the Steering Committee will coordinate next steps for lightning talks and poster presenters.

Important Dates:

  • Proposals Open: November 3, 2025
  • Proposal Deadline: December 14, 2025 Extended to January 9, 2026
  • Speakers Notified: January 16, 2026
  • Registration Open: January 19, 2026
  • Event Starts: March 4, 2026