Refreshments will be available for watch parties and in-person sessions
Day 1: Open Education Bootcamp 2025
Keynote
Tuesday, May 13
Time: 11:00 a.m. (Sask/CST)
KEYNOTE: Open and the Oligarchs: Planting Seeds in a World on Fire
Speaker: Dr. Robin DeRosa
Register to attend online or for the in-person watch party!
Abstract: Dr. Robin DeRosa has been working on open initiatives, including projects around OER, open pedagogy, and open access to research, for more than a decade. She has been interested not only in the practices that animate open, but also in the values that power an open vision for the future of education and knowledge-sharing. But recently, Robin has come to question the efficacy of the work in which she has been engaged. How can such well-conceived, thoughtful praxis around “open” be gathering steam at the same time as our public educational institutions, our libraries, and our publishing models creep closer toward privatization or economic ruin? How can our community’s investments in equity and access be thriving even as global political contexts bend toward neoliberalism, plutocracy, and fascism? This presentation will reimagine the “tragedy of the commons,” not as Garrett Hardin (mis)understood it in his seminal 1968 essay of that name, but in its current state. As LA burns and Trump ascends, we will pause and ask tough questions about where open education has gotten us.
Speaker Bio: Dr. Robin DeRosa is the Director of Learning & Libraries at Plymouth State University in New Hampshire (USA). She has previously been an English professor, the chair of a customized major program for undergraduates, and the director of a faculty development center. Robin is an advocate for public higher education, and has been working on OER and open pedagogy initiatives at institutions around the world for more than a decade. You can read more about Robin at her website, robinderosa.net
Tuesday, May 13
Time: 1:00 p.m. (Sask/CST)
Presentation: Exploring Open Education: OER Basics
Presenter: Shuana Niessen
In-person
Abstract: Participants will gain a better understanding of
- What OER are,
- How to find and evaluate OER,
- Explain the differences between the six currently available Creative Commons licenses and the difference between Open Access and Open Educational Resources,
- How to identify repositories and other resources for finding relevant OER,
- How to use tools and criteria to evaluate OER, and
- Why OER matter.
Presenter bio: Shuana Niessen is the Open Education and Publishing Program Manager with the Centre for Teaching and Learning. She holds an M.Ed from the University of Regina and is the author of the openly licensed book, Shattering the Silence: The Hidden History of Indian Residential Schools in Saskatchewan
If you are a member of the University of Regina or its Federated Colleges and can’t attend in-person but would like to join through Zoom please email open.textbooks@uregina.ca
Tuesday, May 13
Time: 1:45 p.m. (Sask/CST)
Presentation: Making a Case for Adopting OER
Presenter: Dr. Alec Couros
In-person
Register
Abstract: TBD
Presenter bio: Dr. Alec Couros is the Director of the Centre for Teaching and Learning at the University of Regina.
Dr. Couros is an internationally recognized leader, innovator, and speaker who has given hundreds of keynotes and workshops around the globe on diverse topics such as open education, networked learning, digital citizenship, and critical media literacy. He is also a passionate advocate of openness in education and demonstrates this commitment through his open access publications, considerable digital presence and contributions, and highly successful MOOCs and open boundary courses.
If you are a member of the University of Regina or its Federated Colleges and can’t attend in-person but would like to join through Zoom please email open.textbooks@uregina.ca
Tuesday, May 13
Time: 3:00 p.m. (Sask/CST)
Presentation: Increasing Interactivity and Engagement Using H5P
Presenter: Rhett Danyluk
In-person
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Abstract:
A challenge most educators are faced with is increasing student engagement. This challenge seems to be magnified recently as students engage with short form content on social media. This presentation introduces a tool called H5P which is designed to increase engagement and retention of material through interactive content. H5P has a wide variety of tools that can be implemented, meeting various educational needs.
In this presentation we will explore what H5P is, how and when to use it. We will also discuss the impact H5P has on student engagement and learning outcomes. Through demonstrations and examples, participants will see how H5P can transform passive content into interactive activities. Additionally, we will explore resources that will help get you started when designing your own H5P content.
By the end of this session, participants will have the knowledge to select the right H5P content types that fit their learners needs and begin creating their own engaging interactive learning experiences.
Presenter bio: Rhett Danyluk is an instructional designer with the Center for Continuing Education Flexible Learning Division at the University of Regina. Here he specializes in the design and delivery of asynchronous online and blended courses. In collaboration with subject matter experts, Rhett has developed online and blended courses that prioritize engagement, accessibility, and learner success. In this work, he incorporates interactive learning experiences through the use of H5P. Passionate about leveraging technology to enhance education, Rhett brings practical insights into the use of H5P to create engaging content.
If you are a member of the University of Regina or its Federated Colleges and can’t attend in-person but would like to join through Zoom please email open.textbooks@uregina.ca
Day 2: Open Education Bootcamp 2025
Keynote
Wednesday, May 14 (Dr. John Archer Library Day)
Time: 11:00 a.m. (Sask/CST)
KEYNOTE: Racing Towards a Wasted Future: Generative AI and the Resurgence of Nuclear Energy
Speaker: Dr. Marco Seiferle-Valencia
Register to attend online or for the in-person watch party:
Abstract: As the potentials and promises of generative AI sweep into the field of Open Education, educators and advocates have a holistic responsibility to think deeply and expansively about the known and still emerging environmental impacts of these technologies. Demand for energy by the hungry server farms that create so-called artificial intelligence is bringing damaging and dangerous energy practices back from the grave, including the resurrection of previously shuttered coal and nuclear power plants.
How can we as Open practitioners reconcile the long standing historical and contemporary violence of coal and nuclear power production with the desire to widely embrace and experiment with generative AI? This talk will review the most recent research on AI energy demands and the environmental impacts, as well as provide a brief history and contextualization of the current issues with nuclear waste, pollution, and accidents in North America, primarily in the United States and Canada. Attendees will be invited to reflect deeply on what we stand to lose and gain with the widespread adoption of generative AI in society, and hopefully leave inspired to mindfully use generative AI, with its current promise and future perils in mind.
Speaker Bio: Dr. Marco Seiferle-Valencia serves as Associate Professor and Open Education Librarian at the University of Idaho. His research interests span a wide range of topics, notably community archives, the history and current practices of BIPOC feminisms especially in libraries and information environments, and environmental justice. Marco is also a co-creator of the Chicana por mi Raza Digital Memory Collective, which collects imperiled histories of Chicana civil rights activism.
Wednesday, May 14
Time: 1:00 p.m. (Sask/CST)
Presentation: Provincial Course Affordability Programs and Strategies: Growth potential for OERs?
Presenters: Ann Ludbrook (Toronto Metropolitan University), Catherine Lachaîne (University of Ottawa), and Erin Fields (University of British Columbia)
Wednesday, May 14
Time: 3:00 p.m. (Sask/CST)
Presentation: Pressbooks Sandbox (Bring Your Own Laptop)
In-Person
Presenters: Shuana Niessen & Arlysse Quiring
Register
Abstract: Each registered participant will be invited as an editor in the Pressbooks Sandbox book and will create their own chapter and play with the Pressbooks tools. The participants will also learn how to clone and create a book in Pressbooks, and function in the Pressbooks platform.
Presenter bios:
Shuana Niessen is the Open Education and Publishing Program Manager with the Centre for Teaching and Learning. She holds an M.Ed from the University of Regina and is the author of the openly licensed book, Shattering the Silence: The Hidden History of Indian Residential Schools in Saskatchewan
Arlysse Quiring works in the Dr. John Archer Library in reference and library instruction, with specialties including French language services, the Archer Book Club, and Fake News presentations. Her work in Pressbooks and the OER community includes network administration for book building and troubleshooting, interim boot camp coordination and presentations, book building and library resources instruction sessions and recordings, newsletter reference articles, the co-creation of the University of Regina OER by Subject Directory pressbook, and the oURspace cataloging of UofR pressbooks publications. She is currently an Interdisciplinary Studies student in the Master of Fine Arts Program at the UofR.
If you are a member of the University of Regina or its Federated Colleges and can’t attend in-person but would like to join through Zoom please email open.textbooks@uregina.ca
Day 3: Open Education Bootcamp 2025
Keynote
Thursday, May 15
Time: 11:00 a.m. (Sask/CST)
KEYNOTE: Then. Now. The Future: Directions for Open Education in the Changing World of Higher Education
Speaker: Dr. Glenda Cox
Register to attend Online or for the in-person watch party
Abstract: In this presentation, Dr. Glenda Cox will be looking back at the Cape Town open education declaration (2007) and the 10 directions suggested at the 10 year anniversary in 2017. Dr. Cox will include discussions of student protests calling for the decolonisation of the curriculum, first held in 2015 and now 10 years later where are we in higher education (HE) in South Africa.
2027 will be another 10 years will be a 20 year anniversary – what have we achieved and what needs to be added? What will HE look like to 2035? Many of us will be happily retired but the students in the room will the academics of the future. How do we take steps towards the transformation of our current neoliberal, competitive HE? What steps do we take to include students in decolonising our curricula and where does Open fit in?
Speaker bio: Associate Professor Glenda Cox works in the Centre for Innovation in Learning and Teaching (CILT: http://www.cilt.uct.ac.za/) at the University of Cape Town. She holds the UNESCO chair in Open Education and Social Justice and is a member of the UNITWIN network on Open Education. She is a Board member of the Open Education Global organization. She is on the editorial board of the International Journal of Students as Partners and she currently leads the Digital Open Textbooks for Development (DOT4D) initiative.
Thursday, May 15
Time: 1:30 – 2:00 p.m. (Sask/CST)
Presentation: From Open Access Publication to Audiobook—Lessons Learned
Presenter: Dr. Barbara Reul
Online/Watch Party
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Abstract: On 14 February 2025 Dr. Reul released the audiobook version of a highly personal illness narrative, Perfect Timing, which she had published as an open educational resource in December 2021. It was aimed, in part, at students enrolled in an English 110 class on Medicine and Mortality taught at my institution, Luther College, University of Regina.
Keen to remove another access barrier to sharing her lived experience with a global audience, Dr. Reul began to explore the possibility of creating an audiobook version of Perfect Timing in May 2024.
Today’s talk provides a snapshot of the unexpectedly complex decisions she faced over the course of the nine months it took to turn her dream into reality. For example, should she do everything herself or outsource parts (if not all) of it? What would either scenario involve – and how much would it cost?
Looking back, Dr. Reul is happy with the “narrated by the author” option she ended up choosing. It taught her valuable lessons which will inform her next audiobook project, that is, the open access sequel to Perfect Timing from December 2023, Right on Time.
Presenter bio: Dr. Barbara Reul is a full professor of musicology at Luther College, University of Regina, Canada. As a music historian passionate about the distant past, she never thought she would be brave enough to author two insightful, yet entertaining memoirs, and record one of them, over the course of four short years (2021–2025).
Thursday, May 15
Time: 3:00 p.m. (Sask/CST)
Presentation: Open Educational Resources and Their Role in Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in Academia
Presenter: Dr. Arzu Sardarli
Online/Watch Party
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Abstract:
The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide a global framework for addressing pressing economic, social, and environmental challenges by 2030. Among these, SDGs 4 (Quality Education), 10 (Reduced Inequalities) and 17 (Partnerships for the Goals) emphasize inclusive and equitable learning opportunities for our students having different social, cultural and academic background. Open Educational Resources (OER)—freely accessible, openly licensed teaching and learning materials—have emerged as a powerful tool to support these goals by reducing barriers to education, enhancing accessibility, and promoting lifelong learning.
This presentation explores the intersection between OER and the SDGs, highlighting how open education initiatives contribute to sustainability efforts. Using examples of OERs that he & colleagues have collaborated on, Dr. Sardarli will explain how we try to achieve the SDGs 4, 10 and 17. In particular, he will talk about the resources Cree Dictionary of Mathematical Terms with Sound and Introductory Statistics with Indigenous Elements, supported by the University of Regina within the Open Educational Resources Program.
Presenter bio: Dr. Arzu Sardarli worked in leading research institutions and universities in Azerbaijan, Ukraine and Canada. He joined the First Nations University of Canada in 2007. Dr. Sardarli led a number of community-based research and educational projects conducted in First Nations communities. He uses Indigenous elements in his teaching. Dr. Sardarli advocates for holistic methods of teaching and open educational resources. He co-authored the first Cree Dictionary of Mathematical with elements of Indigenous Art. The online version of the Dictionary has been developed within the Open Education Resources program of the University of Regina and published on Pressbook portal and MERLOT.
Dr. Sardarli led a pioneer research project on mathematical modelling of water quality using Indigenous knowledge. He coordinates a nationwide annual Wiseman Mathematics Contest, initiated in 2008. Dr. Sardarli’s projects have been supported by agencies such as NSERC, SSHRC, Health Canada, and Canadian Heritage. He received The Recognition Event Awards of The Regional Centre of Expertise (Saskatchewan) for his innovative Indigenous community-based projects.
Day 4: Open Education Bootcamp 2025
Keynote
Friday, May 16, 2024
Time: 11:00 a.m. (Sask/CST)
KEYNOTE: Designing for Justice with Open Educational Practices
Speaker: Dr. Rajiv Jhangiani
Register to attend Online or for the in-person watch party:
Abstract: Whereas the adoption of open educational resources can widen equitable access by helping alleviate the financial burden experienced by students, the embrace of broader open educational practices carries the potential to advance additional dimensions of social and epistemic justice. This presentation will focus on practical ways in which educators may approach learning resources, activities, assessments, and policies in service of more inclusive, supportive, and just learning environments.
Speaker bio: Dr. Rajiv Jhangiani is the Vice Provost, Teaching and Learning at Brock University, where he holds faculty appointments in the Departments of Educational Studies and Psychology, directs the Inclusive Education Research Lab, and is affiliated with the Social Justice Research Institute. The architect of Canada’s first zero textbook cost degree programs and a global leader in open education, his scholarship is supported by the Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council of Canada and focuses on open educational practices, student-centered pedagogies, and ethical approaches to educational technology.
Friday, May 16
Time: 1:30 p.m. (Sask/CST)
Panel Presentation: Pros, Cons and Challenges of Open Licensing
Presenters: Christina Winter (Moderator), Dr. Amber Fletcher, J. Normand, and Dr. Joyce McBeth
In-Person
Register
Abstract: Panelists will describe their projects and share from their experiences with OER creation the pros, cons and challenges of open licensing.
Panelists bios:
Christina Winter is the Copyright and Scholarly Communications Librarian at the Dr. John Archer Library, University of Regina. She holds a Master of Library and Information Sciencedegree from the University of Western Ontario.
Dr. Amber Fletcher is Associate Professor, Department of Sociology and Social Studies and the Academic Director of the Community Engagement and Research Centre, University of Regina.
J. Normand is a Lab Instructor with the Faculty of Science, University of Regina.
Dr. Joyce McBeth is an Assistant Professor with the Faculty of Science at the University of Regina.
If you are a member of the University of Regina or its Federated Colleges and can’t attend in-person but would like to join through Zoom please email open.textbooks@uregina.ca
Friday, May 16
Time: 2:30 p.m. (Sask/CST)
Presentation: Adapting an Open Textbook: Lessons Learned
In-Person
Presenters: Dr. Bettina Schneider and Dr. Joyce McBeth
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Abstract: The presenters will discuss their experiences with adapting an open textbook and offer the lessons they learned along the way, and any tips and tricks they can offer as guidance for participants.
Presenter bios:
Dr. Bettina Schneider is an Associate Professor in Indigenous Business & Public Administration at the First Nations University of Canada. She is the author of Financial Empowerment: Personal Finance for Indigenous and Non-Indigenous People (2nd Ed.) an adaptation of the openly licensed textbook Personal Finance, v. 1.0 which was adapted by Saylor Academy (2012)
Dr. Joyce McBeth is an Assistant Professor with the Faculty of Science at the University of Regina. She is a co-author of Introductory Physical Geology Laboratory Manual, First Canadian Edition; Adapted from Deline, Harris, and Tefend (2015) Laboratory Manual For Introductory Geology, First Edition.
If you are a member of the University of Regina or its Federated Colleges and can’t attend in-person but would like to join through Zoom please email open.textbooks@uregina.ca
Friday, May 16
Time: 3:00 p.m. (Sask/CST)
Presentation: Knowing Within and Between our Cultures: Some Concepts and Lessons for an Open Education
Presenter: Dr. Jérôme Melançon
In-Person
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Abstract: Open Education must be understood as a reaction against closed forms of education in which scholarly, cultural, and economic capital have been closely guarded. These closed systems of knowledge, such as the University, seek to extract as much as possible from those with little access to control over the institutions of formal education while excluding them from these institution, and to impose knowledge and ways of thinking upon them. Against this exploitation and this oppression, to open education would then mean to examine ways of sharing knowledge and acknowledging expertise according to different epistemologies and cultures, so that we may create places to gather and create knowledge together. Open Educational Resources can offer opportunities to come to know, each within our own cultures and associated epistemologies (interculturally), and together as we explore the differences in our perspectives and experiences on our shared realities (transculturally).
Presenter bio: Dr. Jérôme Melançon is a Professor and Head of the Philosophy and Classics department. His research currently focuses on settler colonialism in Canada, and specifically on research methods around the Indian Residential School system, including questions related to translation and cultural transfers. He continues to lead research in phenomenology and political philosophy, and is the author of La politique dans l’adversité. Merleau-Ponty aux marges de la philosophie (Geneva, Metispresses: 2018), as well as the editor of four books or journal issues around Merleau-Ponty’s political philosophy, and of several articles on the Vietnamese philosopher Tran Duc Thao. He has co-edited two Electronic Resources, Being Together. A Living Land Acknowledgement for oskana kâ-asastêki / Regina and Canadian Settler Colonialism: Relating the Past, Opening New Paths, and supervised two more Openly licensed books through the University of Regina Pressbooks.
If you are a member of the University of Regina or its Federated Colleges and can’t attend in-person but would like to join through Zoom please email open.textbooks@uregina.ca