Open Ed Week 2019 Round-up

Open Ed Week 2019 Roundup

In Ontario, 2019’s Open Education Week was full of learning, engagement and discussion among open education enthusiasts at public post-secondary institutions across the region.

Almost 60 events were listed on the Open Education Week Ontario calendar, hosted in municipalities throughout the province. The creativity and collaboration behind these events reflected not only the enthusiasm for but also the growing commitment to open education within Ontario.

Here are some highlights:

eCampusOntario webinars

eCampusOntario hosted 7 webinars for over 300 registrants throughout the week. Areas of focus included a tour of the upgraded open library, student, faculty and leadership insights about OER, a Francophone office hour and more. Folks who took part in the eCampusOntario webinars indicated they gained new perspectives on OER and are eager to see more interactive content involving practical or application-based examples of how open can be implemented.

Open Education week planning kits

This year, eCampusOntario received a record number of institutional applications to support local activities to promote open education and OER: 12 universities and 7 colleges in total. Each qualified applicant received a planning kit from eCampusOntario to help support their own institutional activities for the week.

Events held on campuses included panels, lunch-and learns, and hands-on workshops—like the design-thinking workshop held at Guelph University—which gave participants who were new to open a deeper understanding of the flexibility and power of open educational strategies, tools and resources.

There were also some fun events for building greater familiarity and expertise with open. They included a “textbooks or food” OER exhibit, a scavenger hunt, a trivia night, and a film screening and follow-up discussion (held at the Sudbury Indie Cinema).

The wide reach and high levels of engagement throughout the week on both Twitter and Facebook reinforced the groundswell of interest in open education. Many who posted exchanged their views on open education providing a needed shift in teaching and learning within Ontario public higher education.

Event participants are encouraged to keep the lively discussion going by using the hashtag #OEweek on social media.