#OER22 and GO-GN Workshop – Post Conference Reflection – My first conference since the pandemic

This blog post was written by Olawale Iyinolakan (University of Ibadan, Nigeria)

Having been locked down for more than two years, I was excited and jumped on the opportunity to attend the OER22 and GO-GN workshop which was sponsored by the GO-GN team – many thanks for all the supports.

The face-to-face conference workshop provided me with the great opportunity to re-connect with colleagues and friends, old and new in the field of open education.

More importantly, the GO-GN workshop gave me the chance to present my PhD research, (Technological Self-Efficacy, Use and Perception of OER and its impact on students academic performance among Library and Information Science undergraduates in selected federal universities in Nigeria)  received invaluable feedbacks and insightful comments from experts and colleagues in the field of Open Education.

Attending workshop and conference sessions

A major highlight of the workshop was listening to other GO-GN members from different parts of the world and learning about their PhD research and dissertations.

I also attended some face-to-face and virtual sessions related to my research topic. Attending some of these sessions allowed me to reconnect with people I have met in the past, sparked new ideas for research, and helped me identify gaps in my research topic and other areas of open education.

Presenting work

Aside from presenting my PhD research and listening to other GO-GN members present their work, I also had the privilege of presenting a research I have been working on for a while  – Review of theoretical frameworks: Doctoral Open Research perspectives. I had seven minutes to talk about my research which turns out, is not lot of minutes. In any case, I was able to maximize my time.  This work reviewed the theoretical and conceptual framework used in doctoral open research from 2011-2021 and discussed the most conventional models and theories used in open doctoral research. Out of forty-five studies that met the eligibility criteria for the review,  the review found that Diffusion of innovation (DOI), Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), Cost, Outcomes, Usage, Perceptions (COUP), and Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) are some of  the most widely used theories and model for supporting open doctoral research.

Next steps

I am considering what I have learned from this workshop and conference and how I can apply it to my own work and research.

Thank you GO-GN team for the scholarship and for all the supports and I am already looking forward to OER23 and other face-to-face open conferences.

Photo credits: Olawale Iyinolakan (GO-GN workshop) by GO-GN is licensed CC BY-4.0

This post was updated with Olawale’s video on 18 July 2022.