Open Education Week

From Bold Idea to Global Legacy: 25 Years of MIT OpenCourseWare
2026-04-08 10:00 - 16:30 (America/New_York) | Cambridge, United States, Cambridge, MA, United States
Celebrate 25 years of MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW)—a bold experiment that became a global movement. This symposium brings together learners, educators, supporters, open knowledge leaders, and the MIT community to honor OCW’s extraordinary impact and to chart the future of open education.
Since its launch in 2001, OCW has empowered millions worldwide with free access to MIT course materials. This anniversary offers a moment to recognize the vibrant ecosystem that sustains open knowledge as a public good—and to reaffirm MIT’s mission-driven leadership in ensuring that high-quality learning remains accessible to all.
Join us for an engaging, dynamic, and celebratory program featuring MIT leadership, pioneering faculty, global learners, open education innovators, and philanthropic partners. Together, we will explore OCW’s legacy, its role in the evolving open ecosystem, and the opportunities and challenges ahead.

Universal Design for Learning and Open Education: Integrating Accessibility and Inclusion
2026-04-15 11:00 - 12:00 (America/Regina) | Regina, Canada, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
Join the University of Regina, Centre for Teaching and Learning for our final 2025/2026 Open Education Speaker Series presentation “Universal Design for Learning and Open Education: Integrating Accessibility and Inclusion” with Dr. Ann Gagné and Kosar Dakhilalian (Brock University)
📅Date: Wednesday, April 15, 2026
🕰️Time: 11:00am – 12:00pm
🗺️Time Zone: CST/Saskatchewan Time
📌Register at https://uregina.libcal.com/event/4004017 (This link will open in a new tab).
Abstract: This session will explore the three main principles of the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) guidelines, to provide examples of how open education can foster engagement, give options for representation, and demonstrate learning. The speakers will provide examples of resources, tools, and assessments from their co-created OER on Accessible Adoption, to allow participants to reflect on how UDL can be an attainable and sustainable way to approach accessibility and inclusion in Open in their specific disciplinary contexts.
Dr. Ann Gagné (she/her) is Senior Educational Developer, Accessibility & Inclusion at Brock University. She has worked in higher education for over 22 years. Her work focuses on the need for accessible pedagogies through awareness of disabled lived experiences. She regularly facilitates workshops on accessible and inclusive pedagogy and trauma-informed UDL.
Kosar Dakhilalian is an Educational Developer, Open Educational Resources at Brock University since 2023. She facilitates workshops to respond to the OER needs of the instructors, offers consultations, and helps with design and creation of OER and interactive elements.

How Do Course Materials Impact Student Belonging? Insights from User Experience Research (CCCOER Webinar)
2026-04-15 12:00 - 13:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Concord, United States, Concord, MA, United States
Explore how course materials – especially OER – shape students’ sense of belonging through insights from a user-experience-informed research study with undergraduate learners. This CCCOER webinar highlights key questions faculty authors should ask themselves about course reading language, organization, and purpose, in order to further student belonging.
Attendees will take away practical strategies for editing OER with student needs in mind, along with research approaches that can be adapted across higher education settings, including community colleges. This session offers a concrete example of how thoughtful inquiry can guide the creation of more inclusive, engaging, and student-centered course materials.
Presenters:

Sarah Hare, MLIS, Open Educational Resources Librarian, University of California, Santa Cruz
Alexandra Marcaccio, MA, MLIS, Atlantic OERLead, The Council of Atlantic Academic Libraries/Conseil des bibliothèques postsecondaires de l’Atlantique (CAAL-CBPA)

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information on how to join us on April 15. This meeting will be recorded and the recording will be sent out to all registrants as well as posted on the event web site..
This webinar is produced in collaboration with CCCOER’s Research and Impact Committee.

ISKME OER Summit
2026-04-29 10:00 - 13:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Half Moon Bay, United States, Half Moon Bay, CA, United States
This free event will be hosted virtually on April 29 from 10:00 am – 1:00 pm Pacific Time. Taking inspiration from resilient redwood forests, ISKME’s OER Summit will focus on how being deeply rooted and connected in our communities helps us to rise and thrive together. Stay up to date about this event on the OER Commons 2026 OER Summit Hub.
We’ll seek to develop connections, showcase best practices, and provide opportunities for OER leaders to learn from each other to advance their OER work. We’ll highlight our partners’ inspiring and impactful OER initiatives from around the world during the Summit’s Opening Session with National Geographic Society, and the OER Showcase Sessions featuring presentations from Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, US Virgin Islands, and more.
This event is free for everyone, with a suggested donation of $25 to support ISKME’s continued work in developing OER communities, the OER Commons digital library, and free access to knowledge globally.
