Registration Now Open for Open Education Southern Symposium

Design by Ariel Romero

Registration for the Open Education Southern Symposium is now available online. The symposium, set for Oct. 1-2, will connect supporters of open education for presentations, lightning talks and panel discussions. Registration is limited to 100 participants. 

According to the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, open education "is the simple and powerful idea that the world's knowledge is a public good and that technology in general and the Web in particular provide an extraordinary opportunity for everyone to share, use, and reuse knowledge." By incorporating open educational resources into their coursework, faculty can reduce the cost of a college education, making it accessible for more students. The process of incorporating these resources also affords the opportunity to make courses more inclusive and engaging for both teachers and students.

 "The Open Education Southern Symposium is a chance for not only our own faculty, staff and administrators, but also others in the region and state to learn about what open education is and all that is encompassed by it," said Stephanie Pierce, head of the Physics Library and chair of the symposium planning committee. "Open education can have an immediate impact on student success because it allows students to immediately obtain required course materials without worry to cost. Faculty around the country, and on our campus, aren't just stopping by adopting open educational resources. They are creating them as well, some even with the help of their own students to make materials more inclusive in nature!"

The standard registration fee is $99 and includes full participation in both days of the symposium, a shuttle service between the Chancellor Hotel and the symposium venue, lunch on the first day, snacks and event goodies. The deadline for standard registration is Sept. 7.

Thirty seats have been reserved for University of Arkansas faculty and staff, free of charge. This rate was made possible through the assistance of the Global Campus and is only available to faculty and staff who work at the flagship institution in Fayetteville. The deadline to register for one of the 30 allotted seats is July 27.

All registrations are non-refundable. However, those unable to attend for any reason may transfer their registration to another person at no charge. 

Please contact the Planning Committee at openedsouthsymposium@gmail.com for more information or with questions regarding registration. 

As a reminder, the call for proposals will remain open through May 31. 

To learn more about open educational resources and our own OER Awards program, please visit the University Libraries' OER website.