Online Conference – 21-22 April 2021 #OERxDomains #OER21
Organised by the Association for Learning Technology and in partnership with Reclaim Hosting’s Domains Conference, this special edition of the much loved event is the 12th annual conference for Open Education research, practice and policy.
The Call for Proposals is now open https://oer21.oerconf.org/call-for-proposals/
For those who don't really understand what this is all about.
Forty years ago I left a school which gave me a good but narrow education - but one of the best around at the time. I've not stopped learning. I've been a school teacher , a hack , a community education tutor and College lecturer and held my share of senior posts. I am still a Glaswegian with an incurable social justice complex. I do believe that education can make the world a better place. Too often in my teaching career, the book I chose for the class or the resources available for learning were determined by the finances that the institution had. The learners got great learning - but through the narrow letter box view of the resources that we had available for them.
I don't get get that Scotland has not understood yet what open education practice and policies could do for learners and teachers.
We are currently in the midst of this terrible pandemic and we still haven't figured out that we don't compete on how well we re-package knowledge. Education staff around the world are tying themselves in knots trying to improve their notes , power points , instructional videos, that is not a bad thing. But it would be much more effective for learners and learning if that was a much more collaborative activity. It is more than having a set of course materials that are shared around and within your subject team. (though I do know that in many institutions that remains a triumph in itself). While putting a set of learning materials on to your institutional virtual learning environment may be your act of sharing ,you could be a bit more ambitious for learners everywhere. I don't believe learning materials replace a good teacher - but sharing helps teachers and learners.
It is not a dark secret the answer is making and sharing your learning materials with an appropriate open educational licence. If you , your institutional leadership team , local authority education team , national education policy makers haven't spotted that this is actually practice encouraged globally by UNESCO , mandated for public education I am not sure where you have been since 2012.
In Scotland a good place to start might be considering The Open Scotland Declaration. and why not come along and meet a well informed set of international set of speakers.
Sign up and come along to the Online Conference – 21-22 April 2021 #OERxDomains #OER21
Full disclosure I am co-chair of the ALT Scottish Sig and a Co-Chair of this conference - but none of this is fake news ;-)
Full disclosure I am co-chair of the ALT Scottish Sig and a Co-Chair of this conference - but none of this is fake news ;-)
