Tag Archives: oer25

OER25, our silence will not save us⤴

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I’m home after quite a hectic work week in London now have a bit of time to share some reflections on the OER25 conference which I had the pleasure of co-chairing with Louise Drumm.

Over 100 people from all over the world joined us in London for the 2 days of the conference to address the conference theme of speaking truth to power: open education and AI in an age of populism. I wasn’t able to make it to the event until almost the end of day 1 (in perfect time for the drinks reception!), but when I did get there, there was a palpable sense that something special had happened during the day.

It was so lovely to catch up with old friends and colleague and of course to make new connections. One of the strengths of the OER conferences is their size. Not to big, not too small, but in that sweet spot of having enough people to create the perennial conference challenge of deciding what presentation you need to go to in each session as you want to go to them all.

It’s also the right size that it is easy to get to speak to people after sessions, after keynotes and so be a bit more inclusive that some other larger conferences. The amount of engaged conversations at the end of day one, once again showed that the OER magic was still very much in place. Louise and I were so touched when at the end of the conference 2 “first timers” gave us a thank you card. To me that just summed up the positivity that the conference fostered.

photo of a card with the words thank you in gold on a background of flowers

I was sad to miss Helen Beetham’s keynote, but once again could tell that she had set just the right tone ( I know Helen will be sharing slides over on her substack site soon) around approaches to resisting and rewilding in the age of AI. Joe Wilson got day 2 off to a cracking start with his call to arms around challenging, using and subverting technologies, and freeing our inner punk spirit.

I wouldn’t call the OER delegates a bunch of renegades (well, maybe I would in a positive way in the pub!) but there were so many stories around going rogue across the 2 days. This both heartened and saddened me. I took a lot of positives from the conversations I had and the presentations I saw. The work that delegates shared once again showed the power and the need for care, compassion and open sharing in education (and in turn across society). There was also as sense of relief across the room, that people had (re)connected with “their people”, and were taking and creating hope, ideas and energy in a safe and open place. However, many of the conversations also saddened me and reminded me of just how uncertain and f***ed up our world is right now.

I’m not sure how far we were speaking truth to power, given the size of the conference, and the lack of interest in open education across places of power. However, I do think that the the conference did give a well needed and deserved shot of energy to delegates who are trying to ensure we are providing equitable, accessible, critically informed learning experiences for learners wherever we are working in the world. As we know from history, our collective actions can and do make a difference.

I know that I have always been energised by OER conferences, and they have always given me so much to reflect on and share in my work and here in this blog. I’m also aware that over the past year (probably more) I have found writing/saying anything very difficult. Mostly it’s because I quite frankly don’t know what to say most of the time. But the shifts in ownership, use and abuse in and across social media have also brought an almost self imposed silence. On my way to the conference I was reading Art on my mind by bell hooks. In the introduction she writes,

“we risk having our ideas appropriated or go unacknowledged by those who enjoy more power, greater authority of voice, within the existing structure. This can lead us to choose silence. Audre Lorde spent a lifetime warning us of the danger in such a choice, reminding us that our silence will not save us”

Oh, how that struck me. “our silence will not save us“. As with all great writing, it seems to resonate even more now than when originally written. It seems so applicable to the context of not just discussions around open education but across all of education and society. We need to make sure we find (open) ways to ensure we are not silenced by over riding narratives around the transformational power of AI in education we need to keep sharing our research, our critically informed perspectives and most of all we need to keep finding ways to stay connected, and not be silenced. Our voices, our truth can save us.

OER25 – Stepping back and speaking truth to power⤴

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The 16th annual Open Education Conference (OER25) is taking place in London next week and the theme “Speaking truth to power: open education and AI in the age of populism” could be more urgent or important.  Chaired by Sheila MacNeil and Dr Louise Drumm, both of whom have a long standing commitment to critical engagement with ed tech, the conference features keynotes by Helen Beetham and Joe Wilson. 

Helen’s keynote, “When speaking truth is not enough: repurpose, rebuild, refuse”, will explore the links between the AI industry and the politics of populism. Helen’s thoughtful, contextual approach to education technology and AI in particular has already made me step back and question the  foundational concepts of artificial intelligence.  I’m still thinking about her keynote at the 2023 ALT Winter Conference “Whose Ethics? Whose AI? A relational approach to the challenge of ethical AI.”

Joe Wilson has been my Open Scotland partner in crime for over a decade now and I’m continually inspired by his optimism and his commitment to openness.  Joe’s keynote, “Shaping Open Education ” will focus on the challenges of closing the attainment gap, promoting social mobility, ethical use of AI and keeping open education at the heart of change.

I’m also really pleased to see that Natalie Lafferty and Sharon Flynn will be leading a workshop on reviewing ALT’s Framework for Ethical Learning Technology, which is more critically important now than ever.  The workshop will inform an updated version of the framework, which is due to be launched at the end of the year. 

I’ve been hugely privileged to attend all fifteen OER Conferences, going right back to OER10 in Cambridge, but unfortunately I won’t be able to go to London this year.  I’ve had to step back from all work commitments as I was diagnosed with stage two throat cancer earlier in the year. I’ve already completed six weeks of radiotherapy treatment and am now (hopefully!) on the slow and convoluted road to recovery. (The jury is still out as to whether and how this relates to the autoimmune disease I was diagnosed with last year.  That remains to be seen.) Over the last six months I’ve been deeply moved by how immensely kind people have been, I really can’t express my gratitude enough.  

I haven’t had much energy to focus on anything other than recovery for the last six months, but during occasional bright spots I’ve found myself turning more and more to independent writing and journalism in an attempt to find some respite from endless doomscrolling. Shout out to Audrey Watter’s Second Breakfast, Rebecca Solnit’s Meditations in an Emergency, Carole Cadwalladr’s How to survive the Broligarchy, and Helen Beetham’s imperfect offerings for keeping me sane, more or less. All inspiring women with fearless voices speaking truth to power.

I’ve also been enthralled by the Manchester Mill’s tenacious investigative journalism that led to the suspension of two member’s of the University of Greater Manchester’s senior leadership team, including the vice chancellor, and the subsequent police enquiry into “allegations of financial irregularity“. As a former (brief) employee of the University of Greater Manchester, when it was better known as the University of Bolton, I’ll be watching with interest to see how this investigation develops.  

I’ve been making a rather half-hearted attempt at following the progress of the government’s questionable Data (Use and Access) Bill, particularly as it relates to AI and copyright, but I haven’t got the brain or will power to write about that right now.

In the meantime, I’ll hopefully be able to follow some of the OER25 Conference online and I’ll be with everyone in spirit, if not in person, this year.