2025 Attendee Guide
The 2025 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 22nd annual gathering of the conference community, this year’s theme embodies a forward-looking perspective where resilience, innovation, and determination navigate the current turbulent times and chart the future for education worldwide. “Eyes on the Horizon” prompts participants to focus on open education’s long-term impact and work toward a more inclusive, responsive, and sustainable education system for everyone.
📅 Date: October 28-30, 2025
📍 Location: Denver, CO, USA & Online
🌐 Format: Hybrid
⏰ Theme: Eyes on the Horizon
Schedule at a Glance (Mountain DAylight Time)
Below is the tentative timetable of the conference. All times are Mountain Daylight Time (Denver, GMT -6:00) and subject to change.
Tuesday, October 28, 2025
9:30am Pre-Conference Workshops
11:30am Break (lunch on your own)
1:00pm Opening and Keynote
2:00pm Break
2:30pm Concurrent Sessions (panels)
3:25pm Break
3:40pm Concurrent Sessions (presentations)
5:00pm Break
5:20 pm Reception & Poster Session (catered)
Wednesday, October 29, 2025
7:30am Virtual Sessions (breakfast on your own)
9:00am Regional Roundtables (optional)
9:30am Keynote: adrienne maree brown (virtual, livestreamed in person)
10:30am Break
11:00am Concurrent Sessions (presentations)
12:30pm Lunch (catered)
1:15pm Keynote: Dr. Kim Hunter Reed (in-person, livestreamed virtually)
2:00pm Break
2:30pm Concurrent Sessions (panels)
3:25pm Break
3:40pm Concurrent Sessions (presentations)
5:00pm Break / Virtual Only Sessions
6:00pm Social Event at Denver Milk Market
Thursday, October 30, 2025
7:30am Virtual Sessions (breakfast on your own)
9:10 am Concurrent Sessions (presentations)
11:30am Break
12:00pm Keynote and Closing
1:00pm Break (lunch on your own)
2:00pm Post-Conference Workshops
4:00pm Adjourn
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 2025 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 OpenEd25 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 Denver, CO, 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 Denver, CO can join hybrid and in person sessions from the Hilton Denver City Center. 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, Eyes on the Horizon. These sessions will be held live in Denver, CO 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 Denver, CO and only available to in person attendees. Some of these sessions may be recorded, and presenters will post their slides and other materials in Sched.
Virtual: Virtual concurrent sessions will have 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 posters, which are available to browse anytime in Sched and also view live at the in-person poster session on October 28th.
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 #OpenEd25 and you can find us on LinkedIn, BlueSky, and Mastodon platforms at @HeyOpenEd or @HeyOpenEd@mastodon.social.
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! While we face challenges on the ground, keeping our eyes on the horizon enables a sense of purpose and possibility. We are excited to continue building our shared vision of achieving an educational future that is truly open.
Got questions? Contact us at contact@openeducationconference.org.
