OpenCon Ohio 2025

Our 8th Annual OpenCon Ohio 2025 Conference is slated for May 19-22, 2025

The theme of our event this year is Empowerment, Care, and Community. See below for registration information.

During the week, asynchronous conversations will be held online in Discord to discuss prerecorded lightning talks. On Thursday, May 22, 2025 we will have virtual presentations, interactive conversations, and a keynote presentation delivered by Apurva Ashok, the Rebus Foundation’s Executive Director!

Registration is Open!

If you are interested in attending an open education conference that:

Offers maximal flexibility for attendees to view content when it is convenient
Has an amazing keynote speaker
Prioritizes community building, both synchronous and asynchronous
Is in its 8th year
Is completely free and online ...

... then we hope you will join us for OpenCon Ohio 2025!

Register for OpenCon Ohio 2025 at https://forms.gle/s1vAkEdSbqccEPFM8 through May 15, 2025.

Keynote Speaker Thursday, May 22 via Zoom

Apurva Ashok, Executive Director, The Rebus Foundation

Apurva Asho is the Executive Director for The Rebus Foundation, a global non-profit and Canadian registered charity that envisions a liberatory future where lifelong learning is valued as a public good and communities leverage education as a catalyst for positive change. Apurva has been working in the Open Education field for nearly 9 years and brings a determination for systemic change. She brings her wide-ranging experience across publishing, program development, community building, impact-driven strategic planning, and media to help educational institutions build more equitable and responsive teaching & learning spaces. Apurva has created several professional development offerings for educators, published OER guides including the OER Starter Kit for Program Managers, and supported the creation and adaptation of over 80 OER. Apurva is the recipient of an Open Education Award for Excellence from Open Education Global in recognition of her contributions to the field. At the core, Apurva champions collaboration, human-centric approaches, and open practices in service of better futures for us all.

More about the Conference

OpenCon Ohio is an annual event that celebrates the benefits of open education to student learning. Faculty, students, librarians, instructional designers, administrators, and others are all welcome to attend our virtual conference. This event is FREE. The OpenCon committee has prepared a conference that provides flexibility and engagement opportunities!

Here’s what you can look forward to this year:

The theme of our event this year is Empowerment, Care, and Community in Open Education.
The event begins on Monday, May 19th when attendees can view lightning talks at their leisure via Discord. Conference attendees are also encouraged to participate in asynchronous discussions via Discord.
On Thursday, May 22nd the conference will shift to synchronous discussion in our live presentations. Our keynote presentation will be given by Apurva Ashok, Executive Director of the Rebus Foundation. There will be other engaging synchronous sessions throughout the day. Presentations will be held via Zoom and participants can ask questions of the speakers.

We hope you can join us!

Session Proposals

Thanks to anyone who submitted a session proposal for the OpenCon Ohio 2025. Decisions about accepted submissions will be communicated by March 31, 2025, if not earlier. Proposals are being evaluated according to the proposal rubric. If accepted, lightning talks will be prerecorded and submitted for viewing by conference participants May 19th - May 22nd. Presenters of lightning talks will engage with participants asynchronously on the conference web platform.

Accepted lightning talks should be recorded and submitted to the conference planning team by May 12th, 2025. Additional information about structure and format will be provided to lightning talk speakers.

Please feel free to direct any questions to OpenCon Ohio Planning Committee Co-Chairs, Mandi Goodsett at Mandi Goodsett and/or Heather Caprette at Heather Caprette.