Open Education Week

Shifting Power: University Openness and Collaboration
2026-02-18 15:30 - 16:30 (America/Regina) | Regina, Canada, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
Please join the University of Regina for an Open Education Speaker Series online presentation with Dr. George Siemens, University of South Australia/ University of Texas (Arlington)
Session Description: Universities have become end-consumers of AI. Unlike previous technology innovations, where higher education played an active role in technology developments and adoption, learner and institutional use of AI has advanced with only minimal voice from the university system itself. While frontier labs, such as Anthropic and OpenAI, have focused on offering services for learners, they’ve largely sidestepped the system, leaving universities as spectators. This talk will highlight the urgent need for universities to collaborate around shared data, technology, and services to ensure that the mission of serving learners remains central in the adoption of AI in courses and classrooms. When universities collaborate and pursue open standards, they have a sufficiently powerful voice to shape the products and services offered by big tech companies, shifting power from closed systems to the network of education institutions.

Presenter bio: George Siemens researches how human and artificial cognition intersect in knowledge processes. He co-founded Matter and Space – a human development platform that responds to the systemic impact of AI on learning, human development, and wellness. He now serves as Chief AI Officer at SNHU. He is the founding Director and Professor of the Center for Change and Complexity in Learning (C3L) at University of South Australia and developed the Masters of Science in Learning Analytics at University of Texas at Arlington. He has delivered keynote addresses in more than 40 countries on the influence of technology and media on education, organizations, and society. His work has been profiled in provincial, national, and international newspapers (including NY Times), radio, and television. He has served as PI or Co-PI on grants funded by NSF, SSHRC (Canada), OLT (Australia), Intel, Boeing, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Soros Foundation. He has received numerous awards, including honorary doctorates from Universidad de San Martín de Porres and Fraser Valley University for his pioneering work in learning, technology, and networks. He holds an honorary professorship with University of Edinburgh. Dr. Siemens is a founding President of the Society for Learning Analytics Research (http://www.solaresearch.org/). In 2008, he pioneered massive open online courses (sometimes referred to as MOOCs). George is President of the Global Research Alliance for AI in Learning and Education (GRAILE – www.graile.ai).
