Open Education Week

From Open Content to Personalized Pathways: OER and AI for Lifelong Learning
2026-03-04 21:00 - 22:00 (Asia/Riyadh) | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
The webinar from the National eLearning Center aims to explore how open education and OER, enhanced by AI and digital learning ecosystems, can move beyond static content access toward scalable, personalized, and responsible lifelong learning—while ensuring quality, trust, transparency, and openness in an AI-driven era. To achieve this aim, the session will focus on the following objectives:

Explain the role of open education and OER in expanding access, equity, and lifelong learning.
Differentiate between open access to content and AI-enabled personalized learning pathways.
Understand how to preserve openness in an AI-enhanced environment, ensuring resources remain shareable, adaptable, and reusable.

Speakers:

Prof. Ahmad Alkateeb, Professor of Language Learning with Emerging Technologies at King Faisal University
Prof. Martin Ebner, Head of Educational Technology at TU Graz
Dr. Giovanni Zimotti, Associate Professor of Instruction and Director of Spanish Language Instruction at the University of Iowa

OER Inshallah... From Local Success to National Impact
2026-03-05 14:00 - 15:30 (Europe/Paris) | Rome, Italy, Rome, Italy
Celebrate Open Education Week 2026 by joining a high-level dialogue on transforming OER from isolated campus initiatives into a resilient national infrastructure across the Arabic-speaking world.
This webinar moves beyond “pilot projects” to tackle the strategic shift toward system-level adoption, exploring how open resources serve as a vital lifeline for learning continuity during times of crisis and prolonged instability. We invite higher education leaders, vocational trainers, and educators to engage with our expert panelists in a bilingual (English/Arabic) debate designed to bridge the gap between local success and nationwide impact. Whether you are sharing a frontline experience or seeking a roadmap for institutional change, join us to help shape a future where open, accessible education is the standard, not the exception, for every learner in the MENA region.
The discussion will be initiated by invited panelists, and contributions from participants who wish to share experiences or reflections are warmly welcomed.
Panelists:

Saida Affouneh, An-Najah National University, Palestine – OE Individual Award Winner 2025
Fawzi Baroud, Notre Dame University – Louaize, Lebanon – UNESCO Chair in OER for Access and Success
Khalid Berrada, Director of Higher Education at the Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research, and Innovation, Morocco – ICESCO Chair on Open Education
Lilia Cheniti, Sousse University, Tunisia, UNESCO Chair Open Education: Intelligent, Innovative and Inclusive
Omar Jomah, Director of the E-learning center, The Libyan Academy for Postgraduate Studies, Libya
Gihan Osman, Instructional Design & Online Technology, Egypt
Wissam Tawileh, Head of Online Education Research and Development, Qatar University

Facilitators:

Fabio Nascimbeni, ETF – European Training Foundation
Cristina Stefanelli, UNIMED – Mediterranean Universities Union

Who should attend: Higher Education managers, educators and practitioners, VET trainers, OER enthusiasts of any nationality with an interest in Arabic OER in the MENA region.
Language(s): English and Arabic. Machine translation captions will be available.
من النجاح المحلي إلى التأثير الوطني! (Arabic)
OER Inshallah flyer (English)
