2026 Open Education Conference

As education shifts toward skills-based learning and credentials, a critical question emerges: what lies in the space between open education and workforce-aligned recognition? This panel explores that space where values of openness intersect with the growing demand for verifiable, skills-based credentials. Panelists from community colleges, universities, and international open education leadership will share perspectives on how open practices can support more transparent, equitable pathways to employment.

Through a high-level demonstration of a microcredential authoring platform and a real-world use case, the Open Financial Services Essentials project, attendees will see how open, skills-based content can be designed, validated, and recognized. Grounded in practice and policy, this session invites participants to consider how we can bridge the gaps between learning and work, and reimagine what is possible when openness meets skills.

Attendees of this session will be able to:

• Articulate the relationship between open education and skills-based credentials within evolving workforce ecosystems.
• Describe how open practices can support more equitable and transparent pathways from learning to employment.
• Connect policy, practice, and technology to advance open, skills-based credentialing initiatives.

Open Education often assumes people already know where to begin, have time to spare, and are not doing the work alone. In practice, those “in-between” moments decide whether participation becomes possible or quietly stalls.

In this session, I share a set of mini structures that make Open Education enterable without lowering rigor: bounded, human-sized supports that reduce ambiguity and isolation right when they show up. Drawing from two semesters of program design at a Hispanic-Serving Institution, I will introduce four reusable “hinge details” (time containers, “what counts” guidance, risk reduction, and documentation-as-scaffolding) and show concrete artifacts that bring them to life (mini-lessons, trackers, evaluation lenses, and landscape briefs).

Participants will complete a quick “hinge audit” of one real initiative (onboarding, workshops, mini-grants, badges, faculty support, or student engagement) and leave with 2–3 small changes they can implement in the next 30 days.

Attendees of this session will be able to:

• Identify the “threshold moment” where participation stalls in an Open Education initiative (not knowing where to start, starting alone, or both).
• Apply four mini-structure design patterns (bounded time containers, “what counts” guidance, risk reduction, and documentation-as-scaffolding) to reduce ambiguity and isolation without lowering rigor.
• Draft 2–3 mini structures (for example: a mini-lesson, starter tracker, evaluation lens, template, or office hour) that make entry into their initiative more doable.
• Build a simple support loop for their context (Learn → Try → Document → Reflect → Get support) that replaces private heroics with visible, reusable infrastructure.
• Name one concrete change they can implement in the next 30 days to make Open Education more enterable in their program or department.

How much does developing a “z-degree” really cost? This session, led by a state OER grant program manager, will explore the average costs, timelines, and return on investment from zero textbook cost degree development projects across multiple institutions and disciplines. Half of Colorado public institutions of higher education are in progress on zero textbook cost degrees. The presentation will examine associate and bachelor’s degrees converted to zero textbook cost through state funding. Attendees will gain knowledge about and confidence in estimating development costs for their own z-degrees. Since it is unlikely to receive a blank check for funding, it is the hope that many attendees will use what they learn from the session to successfully advocate for accurate, reasonable funding to efficiently create z-degrees at their institution.

Attendees of this session will be able to:

• Attendees will gain understanding in average costs of developing zero textbook cost degrees.
• Attendees will gain confidence in estimating costs for a new zero textbook cost degree and advocating for that funding.

Before an institution can act on textbook affordability, it needs local evidence that names the problem in its own students' voices. This session shares the design and early findings of a sequential explanatory mixed-methods landscape study that quantifies how course material costs shape the academic decisions of first-generation, Pell-eligible, and racially minoritized undergraduates at a regional public university. Phase 1 adapts a validated campus-wide survey instrument to measure cost-avoidance behaviors, financial stress, and impacts on course registration, persistence, and grades. Phase 2 uses focus groups to surface the lived experience behind the numbers. Attendees will leave with a replicable study blueprint, a vetted survey instrument, and concrete strategies for translating local data into institutional momentum for OER adoption and equity-focused open education policy.

Attendees of this session will be able to:

• Articulate why localized, disaggregated data on textbook affordability are essential for advancing institutional OER and open education initiatives.
• Describe a replicable sequential explanatory mixed-methods design for studying course material costs at their own institution.
• Identify key survey constructs — cost-avoidance behaviors, financial stress, and impacts on academic progression — and locate a validated instrument they can adapt.
• Apply strategies for recruiting and centering first-generation and low-income student voices in qualitative follow-up research.
• Translate institutional landscape findings into actionable recommendations for faculty, administrators, and policy advocates.