Making the Case for attending the open education Conference
Written by Rachel Becker, a member of the #OpenEd21 Communications Committee
Why should you be excited to attend the Open Education Conference? To start, it will be entirely virtual, making attending easier than ever. The lower registration fee and online format means OpenEd has the power to reach a broader audience than ever before. The extensive range of voices and perspectives are further reflected in the wide variety of conference sessions formats, and the scholarship process opens up the conference even more. Participants will include students, early career professionals, international libraries, and institutions of varying size. OpenEd strives to be a reimagining of what the traditional conference experience can be.
Here are some ways to make the case for the time and funding to attend the Open Education Conference:
Connect and Network: As a community-driven conference, you will have ample opportunities to connect with open education practitioners, researchers, and advocates from across North America and around the world. From students, faculty and librarians, to administrators and other open education leaders, you will have the opportunity to interact and learn from each other.
Extensive Programming: The conference program has something for everyone, whether you are just getting started with open education, looking to deepen your research and expertise, or seeking to examine the intersections of open education with social justice.
Discover Open Resources: The great thing about open education is that it’s open! The resources and tools discussed at the conference will be available online and can be freely shared with your colleagues, supervisors, and students. The open resources you will learn about can be modified and reused to best fit your institution and/or local context.
Address Current Challenges in Education: This year has been monumental in how we approach learning, equitable access, and student success in response to new and longstanding challenges. #OpenEd21’s plenary sessions and program topics are meant to bring about thoughtful discussions about how open education can be leveraged to address the challenges our society is currently facing.
Become a Better Advocate: Attending the conference will equip you to be a more effective advocate for open education at your own institution by gaining ideas and learning strategies from others about how they have implemented and grown their own programs. Become an influencer at your own institution and advocate for student access and success. Whether you are an administrator, faculty member, librarian, or student, you will learn about initiatives–large and small–from schools and institutions of all types.
Get inspired: Inject some new ideas and perspectives into your work by learning innovative applications of open education, unique and emerging trends, best practices, and strategic moves you could make at your own institution. Bring this back to your own context, build on the concepts, and inspire others.