Librarians, learning designers and faculty have long been practitioners
and advocates of openness of knowledge and resources, but this year, the
OpenEducation Global* (OEG) Conference calls for recognition of the much wider
impact that openness has and can have. From the whole of the educational and
GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums) sectors, to policy makers,
citizen science groups and beyond: Open is everyone’s business and
“all have a role in creating a society where free and open access to knowledge is practised, normalised and valued”.
2024 marks the first time the OEG conference has come to Australia in its near twenty-year history, with record numbers of Australian
attendees as well as participants and presenters from all over the world
meeting in a rather thunderous Brisbane for three action-packed days of
keynotes, reflections, discussions, workshops and presentations. A diverse array of
issues, perspectives, pedagogies and approaches were addressed, from the nitty
gritty of institutional projects to promote OE pedagogies and practices, to
social justice and equity concerns and to considerations for policy creation
and application at various levels of government.
The three keynote speakers reflected the diverse reach of
the conference program. Robert dhurwain McLellan, Industry Fellow at UQ and
Program Manager for the Language Data Commons of Australia, spoke to concerns
surrounding Indigenous self-determination in digital research infrastructure in
Australia. Siobhan Leachman is a GLAM,
digital humanities and citizen science volunteer as well as a passionate
advocate for open access and Creative Commons, her keynote reflected on her
personal “openness” journey from passive absorption to empowered co-creation. Finally, Penny Jane Burke, the director of
the Centre of Excellence for Equity in High Education at the University of
Newcastle, explored socio-personal histories of open higher education as a
means of facilitating social justice transformation. You can watch recordings of the 2024 keynotes through the OEGlobal 2024 playlist on their YouTube channel .
Closer to home, JCU Library’s very own
Claire Ovaska,
Claire Swift and
Alice Leutchford were invited to present at the conference. Claire
Ovaska and Claire Swift co-presented a comprehensive overview of the implementation
of the current
Textbook Affordability Project at JCU, demonstrating the successful
roll out of a whole-of-library equity initiative in an Australian regional
university context, and mapping the road ahead towards improved outcomes for
student enrolment, retention, and completion. Alice Leutchford delivered a lightning
talk with Angie Williamson (Deakin University), Ash Barber (University of South
Australia) and Jennifer Hurley (RMIT) outlining the development of the
ASCILITE Australasian Open Education Practice Special Interest Group and charting its evolution
into a community hub for open practitioners in the region. She also helped to facilitate
an insightful workshop launching the new open pedagogy resource,
Open Education Down UndOER: Australasian Case Studies, a compendium of succinct and practical
case studies intended to inspire and guide both individuals and institutions in embracing open practices. Congratulations to Claire Ovaska, Claire Swift and
Alice Leutchford on their excellent representation of JCU on this global stage
and for furthering the conversation and collaboration around open practice.
*Open
Education Global (OEG) promotes the development and adoption of open education
worldwide as a non-profit, member-based organisation. Their vision is “a worldwhere everyone, everywhere has access to the high-quality education and trainingthey desire; where education is seen as an essential, shared and collaborativesocial good”
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