oUR Strategic Vision
This document was developed through a public consultation process and serves as the foundational document to guide conference leadership into the future. It was adopted in 2021 and is reviewed by the Board of Directors annually.
Strategic Vision for the Open Education Conference
I. Vision
Open education can be a catalyst for educational equity, change, and transformation. Our vision is a sustainable, innovative, and empowered Open Education Conference community.
II. Mission
Our mission is to provide a welcoming space for members of the wider open education community to convene at an annual conference that strives to build trust, foster relationships, strengthen skills, cultivate open and inclusive practices, as well as support others in championing open education.
III. values
The conference is guided by a set of shared values.
Transparency and accountability in processes and decisions.
Distribution of leadership and the continuous support of new leaders.
Equitable opportunities for all members of the Open Education Conference community to take part in both conference activities and leadership.
A belief that education should be barrier-free and accessible to all.
The encouragement of equity-focused collaboration through care, listening and respect.
A culture of vulnerability and humility in both leadership and participation.
IV. How We Do the Work
To fulfill the mission, the conference works diligently to:
encourage the development and effective use of free and openly licensed educational materials and the pedagogical practices that best support these materials’ use.
lead the conference in a fiscally sustainable way that intentionally includes the Open Education Conference community in decision-making and governance.
support an inclusive and diverse community founded on trust, respect, and mutual goals.
uplift and support student voices and focus our practices on their success.
welcome and include those who are new to open education to the Open Education Conference community.
foster collaborative opportunities for effective partnership building, pedagogical innovation, leadership development, and advocacy.
enable Open Education Conference community members to share their experiences, knowledge, research and skills with the wider community for the benefit of all.
create opportunities for open communication between the Open Education Conference community and conference leaders to maintain a culture of transparency.
advocate for increased institutional recognition of open education-related work as a means for both sustained growth of the open education field and the careers of those who work within it.
CONSULTATION Process
The Strategic Vision was developed in partnership with the broader Open Education Conference Community through an interactive consultation process that gathered input through a variety of channels in August and September 2021. Comments on the draft version were reviewed over a series of working meetings by the Strategic Planning Committee charged with developing this document, and a final version was published on October 18, 2021.
The Strategic Vision is intended to grow and change as the conference does, and it may be reviewed on a regular basis by future conference leadership. For transparency, a public, annotated version that outlines the various changes made to the original draft based on community feedback remains available. Future changes to the Strategic Vision will be noted on this website.