OER24 Guest Post: How to Experience Cork Through the OER24 Themes
By Leigh Graves Wolf
As OER24 is now on the very near horizon, I thought I would take a go at connecting the conference themes to some unique experiences around Cork City. The goal of in-person conferences is not only to have the opportunity for us all to interact during sessions, but also to explore and take advantage of our surroundings and beautiful host city. So with that in mind, here are a few suggestions for venturing out into Cork City to have an ‘embodied experience’ with the OER24 themes.
Theme 1 – Open Education Landscape and Transformation
This theme explores Open Education and its transformative potential, with a particular emphasis on key initiatives and developments in the Irish education and training context.
What to experience:
What better way to experience the open Irish landscape than by visiting a library! Cork City Libraries are amazing (open!) spaces spread across the city with a variety of exhibitions, resources and maker spaces to delight OER24 visitors. This map outlines all locations across the city, each with unique character and resources.
Theme 2 – Equity and Inclusion in OER
This theme delves into the role of Open Educational Resources (OER) in serving marginalised groups and in promoting inclusivity, diversity and equity in open education.
What to experience:
Cork has an incredible culinary scene which celebrates and represents a diverse range of cuisines. Your stomach can travel the globe by visiting:
As you’re on your culinary journey, keep a look out for electrical/utility boxes painted with themes from around the world. You can find a crowdsourced directory of the global street art here – there are many more scattered about not pictured!
Theme 3 – Open Source and Scholarly Engagement
This theme focuses on the connection between Open Education, Open Data, the Open-Source movement, and digital scholarship/librarianship, showcasing the collaboration of researchers across these areas.
What to experience:
When I think about open and collaborative research – museums are some of the first spaces that come to mind!
The Cork Public Museum is a beautiful space which works in collaboration with several cultural partners around the city which are equally worth visiting. If you venture down this path, you may even find yourself in the Butter Museum!
Theme 4 – Ethical Dimensions of Generative AI and OER Creation
This theme highlights the ethical considerations surrounding the use of generative AI for content creation and its potential in making educational content more accessible.
What to experience:
While not directly connected to AI, the A Matter of Time exhibit at Crawford Art Gallery is well worth a visit and will provoke visitors to think about the human experience as a whole – allowing the imagination to delve deeper into ethical and moral implications of our existence.
Theme 5 – Innovative Pedagogies and Creative Education
This theme explores the intersection of Open Education with instructional design and learning design, examining creative practices and innovative pedagogies that enhance the learning experience.
What to experience:
It’s more like what NOT to experience and learn! Cork City is brimming with creativity and innovation. You may want to take a wander along the new Island City Urban Sculpture trail. Or, take a multimodal walk to experience the murals in the Ardú Street Art project. Stop in to Sin é for a trad session. Spend some time on the Pure Cork site to find an experience that resonates with you, but don’t be afraid to wander – Bíonn siúlach scéalach!
These are just starting points – comments are open! Please chime in with more ideas and insights and I look forward to our time together in Cork!
About the Author
Leigh Graves Wolf is teacher-scholar and an Assistant Professor in Educational Development with the Centre for Teaching and Learning at UCD. Her work focuses on online education, critical digital pedagogy, educator professional development and relationships mediated by and with technology. She has worked across the educational spectrum from primary to higher to further and lifelong. She believes passionately in collaboration and community.
Registration is still open for the 15th annual conference for Open Education research, practice and policy will be organised by ALT, in partnership with Munster Technological University (MTU).
2 Comments
And who knows what the weather will be doing, but should the sun shine there are lovely walks around. Follow the north bank river down to Fitzgerald’s Park, maybe even going on as far as the Kingsley for an al fresco drink by the river. Visit the swans and geese at the Lough or else, from the city, follow the south bank of the river down to the Marina, Blackrock castle. For those who would really like to stretch their legs, there’s a walkway all the way out to Monkstown (14 km, I guess) Another lovely thing to do, is to take the train to FOTA for a mosey around the arboretum
Great suggestions!!