2026 Open Education Conference

This session will describe the development of an OER by collaborators in India and Canada. The original idea for this project arose out of a thought that, like common journalists, teachers and students are not capable of reporting, writing and analyzing the news information they want to share with the academic community.

The team engaged in a joint collaboration on an Open Education for a Better World (OE4BW) project in 2021-22. The OE4BW project involved the creation and delivery of a MOOC in Educational Journalism. This then led to a collaboration by the three participants in the development of an open resource through the Pressbooks platform.

One of the goals of the project was to create a more accessible and interactive resource for educationists/academicians in educational journalism.

An additional goal of this presentation is to describe the best practices for selection of cross-cultural teams, digital tools, interactive multimedia and strategies for maintaining openness.

Attendees of this session will be able to:

• Describe the challenges involved in cross-cultural open education collaborations.
• Identify strategies for addressing challenges to maintaining downstream openness.
• Explore processes for identifying appropriate digital tools for open content development.
• Identify the skills needed to pursue cross-cultural open content creation projects.
• Gain insights into how to create effective cross-cultural teams for open educational projects.

Since 2013, the Global Open Graduate Network (GO-GN) has supported doctoral and postdoctoral research in open education and practices worldwide. In 2023, we conducted a 10 year anniversary strategic review (Farrow et al., 2024) with our membership and the wider GO-GN and open education communities. This review captured the network’s achievements to date and future aspirations, including exploration of a more federated approach for the network.

This presentation reports on the outcome of this work, which focused on a pilot programme to establish and evaluate four regional hubs (Asia-Pacific, Canada, Ibero-America and Kenya). We will report on the development of these regional hubs across six continents, relating insights from the evaluation and reflecting on how other open education networks might approach questions of scale, diversity and sustainability.

Attendees of this session will be able to:

• Critically evaluate the design and implementation of a federated network model (as exemplified by GO-GN pilot regional hubs) in relation to challenges of scale, diversity, and sustainability in open education.
• Analyse the role of regionalisation and distributed leadership in building research capacity, particularly in relation to equity, autonomy, and responsiveness to Global South contexts.
• Apply insights from the GO-GN hub pilots and evaluation to inform the development or adaptation of networked initiatives in open education or related fields.

Have you ever wondered what happens to your paper after you submit it to a journal? This session demystifies the editorial process at the Journal of Open Educational Resources in Higher Education (JOERHE) by tracing the journey from submission to publication. Grounded in our mission to expand OER research and grow scholarship through open access and transparent research practices, we walk attendees through each stage of our editorial workflow. Participants will explore our multilayered review process (desk, editorial, and open peer review) followed by the revision process and final production stages (layout and galley approval). The journal's commitment to open research principles and expanding research on OER shapes every stage of this process, ensuring scholarship remains accessible, reproducible, and community-driven. Whether you are a first-time submitter or a seasoned researcher, this session offers valuable insight into the path your manuscript travels on its way to publication.

Attendees of this session will be able to:

• Describe the step-by-step editorial process used by the Journal of Open Educational Resources in Higher Education, from initial submission through final publication.
• Explain how the journal's review and publication process aligns with its mission to expand research and grow scholarship in the field of open educational resources.
• Identify key milestones or decision points in the manuscript journey that authors should understand when submitting to OER-focused academic journals.
• Understand how to prepare a manuscript for submission to the JOERHE.

Open education asks a lot of its people – to advocate, build, facilitate, and sustain – often without recognition, compensation, or a space to ask how they are actually doing. The result for many of these leaders is quiet exhaustion and a growing sense that they are carrying this work alone.

The Rebus Luminary Fellowship for Education Leaders brought together fifteen postsecondary leaders across Canada and the United States for a three-month program designed around one core belief: that the people doing this work deserve to be taken care of, too. In this panel, Luminary Fellows speak honestly about what it means to lead in these times – the burnout, the isolation, the moments of doubt – and what has helped them keep going.

This session offers both solidarity and strategy. Attendees will leave with concrete practices for sustaining themselves and their communities, as well as the reassurance that they are not alone in this work.

Attendees of this session will be able to:

• Identify shared experiences of burnout, isolation, and doubt that open education leaders commonly face.
• Describe concrete strategies for sustaining themselves and their communities in times of uncertainty and change.
• Reflect on their own leadership practice in light of insights shared by Luminary Fellows.
• Apply at least one strategy or insight from Luminary Fellows to their own professional context.

In the fall of 2025, Rebus and the Driving OER Sustainability for Student Success (DOERS) collaborative united to turn a shared conviction into action: open educational resources (OER) have the power to fundamentally transform workforce preparation. This session introduces the Workforce OER Playbook—a practical guide born from cross-sector dialogue. We’ll unpack the collaborative process behind its creation, highlighting both successes and challenges. Attendees will learn concrete examples of how the playbook supports educators and industry partners in building mutually beneficial partnerships. Learn how to map shared goals, co-create relevant OER, and sustain collaborations beyond short-term grant cycles. Whether you’re new to OER or leading workforce initiatives, this session offers actionable strategies to bridge classroom learning and labor market needs.

Attendees of this session will be able to:

• Describe key workforce skills gaps, including soft skills, digital literacy, and AI literacy, drawn from focus groups with educators and industry leaders.
• Apply strategies from the Workforce OER Playbook to build cross-sector partnerships between higher education and industry.
• Use open licensing and open pedagogy to develop sustainable, accessible curriculum that stays relevant beyond the classroom.
• Leverage industry advisory boards, micro-credentials, and service learning to align academic programs with workforce needs.

Students today engage with learning in spaces like short-form video, podcasts, interactive apps, and social media, yet many open educational resources still rely on traditional formats like textbooks and PDFs. This workshop challenges that assumption by exploring how OER can be reimagined in formats students already use and enjoy.

Participants will explore strategies for creating non-traditional OER, including social-media-style content, audio, interactive media, comics, and microlearning modules, while emphasizing practical ways to maintain openness, accessibility, and impact.

A hands-on activity invites participants to take a concept and reimagine it as a short video, microlearning chunk, podcast segment, or visual/comic resource, collaborate to share ideas, and reflect on engagement and accessibility. Designed for instructors, designers, librarians, and open education advocates, this session provides actionable ideas to create resources that truly meet learners where they are.

Attendees of this session will be able to:

• Identify non-traditional OER formats, such as social-media-style content, audio resources, interactive media, comics, and microlearning modules, and explain how these formats can increase learner engagement and accessibility.
• Take a concept or learning objective and reimagine it in a format that aligns with learners’ habits and preferred platforms.
• Evaluate how different formats support diverse learners, promote accessibility, and enhance meaningful engagement with content.
• Outline practical steps for adapting or creating OER in non-traditional formats, including starting small, layering formats, and co-creating with learners.