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Previous Event: Open Space for Open Education

This event took place on May 6th, 2021


On May 6, 2021, the Open Education Steering Committee hosted an Open Space for Open Education event over Zoom. The event had two parts:

  1. Learning from leaders in Open Education (1:00 pm - 1:30 pm)
    • Five 5-minute presentations from YorkU instructors and students about their cutting-edge work, including projects funded by the Academic Innovation Fund (AIF) and eCampusOntario funds.
      • Sophie Bury, Director, Learning Commons and Reference Services;
      • Iris Epstein, Assistant Professor, School of Nursing, Faculty of Health;
      • David Gelb, Chair and Associate Professor, Department of Design, School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design;
      • Paul Maharg, Distinguished Professor of Practice, Faculty, Osgoode Hall Law School;
      • Students of Dominique Scheffel-Dunand, Dept of French Studies, Faculty of LA&PS
  2. Open Space: Discussion Forum (1:30 pm - 4:00 pm)
    • A forum for discussion on open education topics, such as advances in pedagogy and the development of open educational resources. The gathered participants co-created the agenda (with the help of a facilitator) and used Zoom breakout rooms to have rich discussion.

The Event's Goals and Outcomes
Open Space for Open Education aimed to:

  1. Discover what is already happening on campus,
  2. Foster a space for those new to this area to learn and explore Open Education, and
  3. To identify initiatives that could be explored further in working groups or other offerings (professional learning tutorials, webinars, design sprints, etc).

More about Open Space Technology
This kind of meeting is designed to have the energy of a coffee break. Participants were able to move around and select which discussion they wanted to be part of in real time. The agenda was created by the participants at the event. This helped to foster cross-pollination of ideas. A similar kind of event is called an Unconference.

Event Recording, Slide Deck & Final Report