Summer 2020 Roundup

When 2020 started (and it seems like a long time ago now) who could have predicted what it would bring?

One of the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic for GO-GN is that our normal business model (based around the annual workshop at Open Education Global) is upended. We had in fact been planning to extend our face-to-face activity this year with a seminar in London ahead of OER 20, but this wasn’t possible either. Our ‘online pivot’ has involved taking more activity online and rethinking the ways we interact with members a little. This has seen more webinars, more online hangouts and plans for a three day web conference in the Autumn.

It’s a shame not to be able to meet in London or Taiwan this year, but sometimes it’s good to explore other possibilities. Everyone will surely appreciate the next time there’s a physical meeting.

In the meantime, there’s a bunch of other stuff going on and a few of our own network outputs on the way…

• Look out for the Research Methods Handbook in the next couple of weeks! This guide to research methods draws on the experiences of network members who have shared their insights into the use of different methodologies in an open education context. We’re just putting the final touches to the artwork and layout.

• The first set of reviews for our Summer 2020 Research Review have been commissioned; around the end of July we will publish our first collection of reviews looking at interesting and recent research papers.
• One consequence of not doing face-to-face this year is that the financial support we offer can work in a different way. GO-GN will pay the registration fees for any member who wants to attend the ALT Summer Summit or the (now online) Open Eduction Global 2020.
• Don’t forget that the deadline for submissions to Open Education Global (presentations and awards) is June 30th 2020
• UNESCO published the recording of a webinar on the Implications of Covid-19 for the Global Higher Education Campus
• Consider contributing to the ICDE OER Advocacy Committee Survey

Recent work by network members that is likely to be of interest includes:

• The JIME special collection on open education and social justice edited by Sarah Lambert and Laura Czerniewicz;
• A global review of the impact of Covid-19 on education by Aras Bozkurt and friends;
• Maha Bali’s keynote for the OLC Innovate 2020 Virtual Conference entitled Centering Critical Care During Crises;
• A special issue of Distance Education on Open Educational Practices edited by Suzan Koseoglu, Aras Bozkurt & Leo Havemann; you can see the launch webinar at https://youtu.be/32O9eTRfRW4
• Johanna Funk’s PhD thesis, now published online! Open for whom? Open educational practice with Indigenous workforce development and learners

Be sure to check them out!

Finally, let us know if you have activities that you would like to be given a boost through the network going forward… We also have some other ideas for new things we can do with network members, but they are still ‘top secret’…

PS. If you’re still waiting for a GO-GN luxury penguin get in touch as we can now arrange access to the campus at The Open University where we have the stash…