Making the Case

Attending the Open Education Conference is more than professional development—it’s an investment in your students, colleagues, and institution. By joining, you’ll gain practical strategies to enhance your open education work while connecting with an international community of practitioners. Use these resources to help make the case for your participation and demonstrate the value you’ll bring back to your campus.

Talking Points

Clarify Your Learning Goals

  • Clearly articulate what you intend to learn at the conference—specific topics, sessions, or practices—and how that knowledge will directly benefit your students, colleagues, and institution.

  • Emphasize how participation will help you address current challenges specific to your campus (e.g., affordability, equity, student engagement, instructional innovation).

Articulate the Broader Benefits of Attending

  • Network with peers: Connect with education professionals worldwide who are tackling similar challenges and share proven strategies.

  • Learn from experts: Gain access to the latest research, best practices, and innovations in open education from global leaders in the field.

  • Personalized learning opportunities: Participate in small-group discussions and one-on-one exchanges, even within the context of a large international event.

  • Build critical skills: Strengthen your expertise in areas such as copyright and licensing, open publishing, and advocacy to better support faculty, students, and institutional initiatives.

  • Drive institutional change: Bring back actionable insights and tools that can advance your institution’s goals around student success, equity, and affordability.

  • Reignite passion for teaching and learning: Experience interactive and dynamic sessions designed to refresh and inspire educators at all levels.

Demonstrate How You Will Share What You Learned

  • Distribute session presentations, handouts, and curated resources.

  • Write summaries, reflections, or analyses of key sessions for your department or campus.

  • Develop a slide deck or short video presentation for faculty meetings or workshops.

  • Incorporate new technology tools or platforms discovered at the conference.

  • Model innovative teaching and learning strategies in your own practice.

  • Volunteer to host mini-workshops or professional learning sessions for colleagues.

  • Organize cross-departmental or cross-campus sharing opportunities to extend the reach of conference insights.