2024 Attendee Guide
The 2024 Open Education Conference is almost here! Here is a guide with everything attendees need to know to access the conference and maximize your experience. Watch your registered email address for more updates, and you can always reach us at contact@openeducationconference.org!
ABOUT THE CONFERENCE
The Open Education Conference is an annual convening for sharing and learning about open educational resources, open pedagogy, and open education initiatives. As the 21st annual gathering of the conference community, and the first ever hybrid convening, this year demonstrates it’s about time to challenge conventional boundaries and explore new horizons to build a future where education is truly open, inclusive, and transformative for all. This year’s program is organized around the theme It’s About Time, offering a wide range of sessions that relate to innovation and catalytic action.
📅 Date: October 8-10, 2024
📍 Location: Providence, RI, USA & Online
🌐 Format: Hybrid
⏰ Theme: It’s About Time
Schedule at a Glance (Eastern DAylight Time)
Tuesday, October 8th
9:00 AM - 10:30 AM EDT: Kick off your conference experience by joining our conference welcome and overview presentation followed by our morning plenary featuring a keynote by James Glapa-Grossklag and Joy Shoemate, titled “Beyond Cost Savings: Open Education as Resistance”.
11:00 AM - 12:30 PM EDT: Head straight into concurrent sessions before lunch. This will include four hybrid sessions, two in person, and two virtual sessions happening simultaneously—so choose wisely!
12:30 PM - 1:30 PM EDT: This hour long break offers time for virtual attendees to relax and for in-person attendees to grab lunch served in Narragansett Ballroom.
1:30 PM - 5:00 PM EDT: The afternoon will include another round of sessions. This includes two blocks of concurrent sessions with a breakout session in between.
5:30 PM EDT: Close out the first day by attending the reception and poster session. Virtual attendees will be able to join a virtual reception with in-person guests.
Wednesday, October 9th
9:00 AM - 12:30 PM EDT: Jump right back into the program with two blocks of concurrent sessions, with a 30-minute mid-morning break.
12:30 PM - 2:15 PM EDT: There is a 45 minute lunch break, followed at 1:15 PM EDT by the keynote address by Dr. Richard Baraniuk, Professor of electrical and computer engineering at Rice University and Founder and Director of OpenStax.
2:30 PM - 5:00PM EDT: After the keynote and a short break, head straight into concurrent sessions. The last 45 minutes of the day will be a breakout session by region.
5:30 PM - 6:30 PM EDT: The day offers one final hour of virtual concurrent sessions, which can be joined by everyone from the comfort of their home, office, or hotel room.
8:00 PM: In-person attendees won’t want to miss a social gathering on Wednesday evening at Dave & Busters, a short walk from the Omni Providence in the Providence Place Mall.
Thursday, October 10th
9:00 AM - 12:30 PM EDT: A lighter day, all of Thursday’s concurrent session blocks are in the morning. Don’t forget to look back at recordings from earlier days you missed, and make time for pre-recorded sessions.
12:30 PM - 2:45 PM EDT: There is a 45 minute lunch break, followed at 1:15 PM EDT by a closing keynote panel featuring students from the New England area. After that, the conference will formally close with an announcement of next year’s format and location.
3:00 PM - 3:45 PM EDT: For those not heading straight to the airport, there will be a final breakout session to debrief the conference. Sit with a group of fellow attendees—at a round table or virtual breakout room—to reflect and set your intentions for what comes next.
Logging Into sChed
Whether you are attending in person or online, you’ll need access to this year’s conference platform Sched. Sched makes it easy to build a schedule, access sessions, and interact with other attendees.
Activating Your Account
Your Sched account is linked with your registered email address. There are two ways to access Sched:
Search your email history for a message from notifications@sched.com with the subject "You’re Invited To 2024 Open Education Conference." Click the link in that email to log in and create a password.
If you already have a Sched account under your registered email, you can simply log in with your existing password.
If neither of these options worked, try re-setting your password. If your email is in the system, this will work even if you have never logged in before.
If none of these methods work, double check the email address you are using. For in-person attendees, the issue may be that your registration is incomplete. Email us to confirm.
Accessing the Program
As soon as you log in, you will be directed to the OpenEd24 program. Scroll down to set your view the program. Use the filters on the right side of the screen to set your time zone and select your profile icon in the top right of the screen to add your details and adjust your profile settings. See our Privacy Blog for important information BEFORE proceeding if you would like to limit how other attendees can see or message you.
Setting Your Time Zone
Sched automatically displays times in the time zone of Providence, RI, but you can change that with one click. Scroll to the bottom of the filters on the right side of the screen. There is a dropdown menu you can use to select your location and convert times to your time Zones.
Building a Schedule
Sched makes it easy to assemble a personal schedule. Once you are in the program, there are multiple ways to view and discover sessions. You can “bookmark” sessions you want to attend, and you use the “Attendance Type” filter to show sessions available to join in person, virtually, or to view anytime.
Joining Sessions
The program has more than 200 sessions, with at least 150 sessions available to each attendance type, so there is A LOT to choose from! OpenEd was not designed with the expectation that everyone will attend everything: we recommend prioritizing the sessions you find most exciting to attend live, and schedule time to watch pre-recorded sessions when it’s convenient for you.
Join In Person: Those registered to attend in-person in Providence, RI can join hybrid and in person sessions from the Omni Providence. A map and room schedule will be provided at check-in.
Join Virtually: Hybrid and virtual sessions can be joined online via Zoom. Session login information can be accessed in Sched 5-10 minutes before the start of the session. Just make sure you’re logged into Sched and bookmark the session page!
View Anytime: Lightning Talks and a handful of presentations are pre-recorded and will be embedded in Sched for attendees to watch anytime. Also, the recordings of hybrid and virtual sessions are typically posted by the next morning.
Session Types
Plenary Sessions: Each day has a plenary session with featured programming on this year’s theme, It’s About Time. These sessions will be held live in Providence, RI and livestreamed over Zoom for virtual attendees. These sessions are also recorded.
Concurrent Sessions: Most of the scheduled program is filled with concurrent sessions, which relate to one of our program topics.
Hybrid: Most concurrent sessions are hybrid sessions, meaning that they can be joined by in-person and virtual attendees and speakers. Virtual attendees will join hybrid sessions on Zoom and be able to view the session through a webcam and participate in the chat. Hybrid sessions are generally recorded.
In Person: In person concurrent sessions are held in Providence, RI and only available to in person attendees. These sessions are not recorded, but presenters will post their slides and other materials in Sched.
Virtual: Virtual concurrent sessions will work the same way that the last four years of the conference have worked, where speakers and attendees join the session on Zoom. Virtual sessions are recorded and posted by the next day.
Lightning Talks: The program includes more than 40 pre-recorded lightning talk videos packed with interesting updates, hot takes, and information. These will be released before the conference and can be watched anytime.
Posters: The program also features 10 posters, which are available to browse anytime in Sched and also view live at the in-person poster session on October 8th.
Breakout Sessions: Each day has a 45-minute block where attendees can break out for informal discussion with other attendees. Tuesday will break out by topic, Wednesday by region, and Thursday will be an optional debrief after the conference closes.
Social Sessions: The conference offers a variety of social sessions that are available for networking and connecting.
SOCIAL SPACES
Sched: This year’s conference platform includes an embedded chat feature, which you can use to send messages to the whole conference and individual attendees. Note that this feature requires making your profile public, which is optional. Check out our Privacy Guide for more information.
Discord: In addition to the embedded chat, the conference has once again set up a Discord server for attendees. If you’re familiar with Slack, Discord is a similar concept. To join our Discord server, look for a link in attendee emails sent the week of the conference.
Social Media: The official conference hashtag is #OpenEd24 and you can find us on most platforms at @HeyOpenEd or @HeyOpenEd@mastodon.social. We will be most active on Twitter (X) throughout the conference, and we invite you to join us there or wherever you post.
Code of Conduct
The Open Education Conference is committed to being a safe, accessible, equitable, and inclusive environment for all. Our code of conduct is important to facilitate those values and is essential to supporting environments centered on our principles in all conference spaces. The code of conduct applies to speakers, attendees, sponsors, and organizers alike, and it covers all aspects of the conference, including sessions, chats, and online spaces. Participation is conditional on reading and accepting the code of conduct, and unacceptable behavior is subject to sanctions. Please take a moment to review the code of conduct now.
Can’t Wait?
Neither can we! Building on the conference’s previous five virtual years, this year’s event aims to be a refreshing and engaging hybrid experience that is driven by the community. As the conference moves forward into the next phase of its history, we’re going to need everyone’s help to make this year’s event a success and improve it for the future.
Got questions? Contact us at contact@openeducationconference.org.
