eCampusOntario co-hosts Open Education Global Conference 2020

By Lillian Hogendoorn
Acting Manager, Digital Access and OER

Ontario has a thriving community of open educators writing openly-licensed textbooks, experimenting with open pedagogy, and supporting their colleagues in their pursuit of more flexible and adaptable learning. This month, many of Ontario’s open educators will be featured on a global stage at the Open Education Global Conference 2020, running from November 16-20.

The 2020 global conversation
The province’s impact on open education can be seen at an international scale, from the widespread adoption of Ontario-created open textbooks to the global community of educators taking part in programs like Ontario Extend. At the conference, eCampusOntario will help drive the global conversation about open education by serving as one of the co-hosts of the virtual event, leading the conversation in the Eastern time zone.

This year’s conference theme is “Connecting the Global Open Education Community,” a theme that addresses the recently adopted UNESCO Recommendation on OER and the global shift to remote teaching and learning. Each conference presentation is aligned to an area of focus from the UNESCO recommendation. This year’s fully remote event is an excellent opportunity to connect with educators across the globe and engage deeply with practitioners outside your local professional network.

Featured Ontario presentations 
Ontario will be featured across two keynote panel sessions. eCampusOntario’s Lena Patterson will speak alongside industry colleagues from Creative Commons, the Open Education Network, SPARC, UNESCO, and Pierce College in the panel “Transformation and Empowerment: Open Education Professional Development.”  Ontario students from Laurentian University, University of Toronto, and Centennial College will also provide a critical learner perspective in the keynote panel, “Student Empowered Design for Open Pedagogy and Education: An eCampusOntario Student Experience Design (SXD) Lab Journey.”

Local researchers and educators will also lead presentations and workshops on their current projects. A team from Ryerson University, Centennial College, and George Brown College will deliver an interactive presentation on their Participatory Action Research on Open Nursing Education. Jenni Hayman of Cambrian College will lead a workshop on Designing Learner Assessments using the United Nations Sustainability Goals, while James Skidmore will present his case for Non-Derivative OER. 

Ontario educators are a collaborative bunch, and will also present in some international teams. Helen DeWaard of Lakehead University will co-present with colleagues from SNDT Women’s University (India) and Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University (India) on the UNESCO-funded Open Education For a Better World Project.

If you’re attending the event and are curious about eCampusOntario’s ongoing open education work, you can attend Lindsay Woodside and Lena Patterson’s presentation on the Ontario Extend Program, or learn more about the Open Library’s work to facilitate sustained OER Collection development through policy and metadata from OER Collections interns Vanja Stojanovic and Samantha Daniels.

These local educators and students are not just leaders in their own institutions, but important contributors to the international conversation about creating equitable access to quality, affordable, and flexible education. As the sector continues to navigate a rapidly shifting educational space created by the pivot to online learning, the community is privileged to be part of shaping this conversation and to learn from practitioners and researchers across the globe.

Staying connected
If you won’t be attending this year’s virtual conference, you can follow the conference using the hashtag #OEGLOBAL20 or visit https://conference.oeglobal.org for more information about the event.