Our post-conference activities on 3 and 5 May 2022 are open to all. Here is what is in store:
3 May – 16:00 BST – Post-conference workshop: Experimenting with Web3 in Open Education for Sustainable Development, Creativity and Innovation
Lead: Erica Hargreave
Conversations around Web3 are increasingly on the rise as artists, technologists, entrepreneurs, researchers, and educators begin to experiment with Web3 technologies and ecosystems to see what’s possible.
What is Web3? The evolving concept for a new iteration of the World Wide Web based on blockchain technology which incorporates concepts of decentralization and token-based economics. Inclusive within Web3 are both the Web Monetization Standard and NFTs (non-fungible tokens), leading to conversations around changing economic systems and an attempt to build a more equitable system. In reality however, we are presently seeing a wild west of those attempting to build a healthier, more equitable internet and economic systems, and on the flip side a great deal of greed.
So what does this all mean for open education and the sustainable development of open educational resources? That is what we have begun to explore through research, experimentation, and application.
With this we’ve been building a Web Monetization Resource Library (https://storytogo.ca/web-monetization-standard/) and Open Educational Course (https://storytogo.ca/classroom/course/web-monetization-course/), and are helping the Interledger Foundation to launch a Peer-to-Peer Monetization Experiment for approximately 10,000 attendees at MozFest 2022. With the Peer-to-Peer Monetization Experiment at MozFest, we will both be helping to educate the festival about the Web Monetization Standard and spark conversations around the challenges of Web Monetization and future solutions for it. In terms of Open Education, Web Monetization and Sustainability, Web Monetization now provides sustainable maintenance on our own StoryToGo Digital Magazine and Classroom Site, but not yet on the development of new OERs.
With the growing hype, success and Cinderella stories around NFTs for creatives in 2021, it begs the question could NFTs poise a potential sustainable funding solution for the development of open education and open culture? Could NFTs drive new creativity and innovation among educators and students? These are some of the questions that we are currently exploring, inspired by early research into NFTs as a solution for open education and open culture (https://storytogo.ca/2021/10/nft-non-fungible-tokens-a-sustainable-funding-solution-for-open-education-and-open-culture/), as well as on-going experiments with NFTs around some educational storytelling projects intended to raise funds, and build greater levels of engagement and community collaboration around these educational storytelling projects (https://storytogo.ca/2021/11/funding-documentary-storytelling-open-educational-resources-through-nft-collectibles-an-experiment/).
It is the questions above that we wish to explore and discuss in this session as an open educational community, along with helping others to begin to build their own Web3 open education experiments, and looking at ways that we can support one another in that process.
5 May – 12:30 BST – Open Education SIG – OER22 Community Highlights
Lead: Teresa MacKinnon
Join ALT’s Open Education Special Interest Group to look back on OER22 and all the highlights from the past week. The Open Education SIG (OESIG) was established in March 2012. Education has the power to transform lives but too often access is restricted. Among those excluded are those who lack the right qualifications, who cannot pay the fees or who are unable to accommodate a fixed schedule. The Open Education movement seeks to remove barriers to education by freely sharing educational resources and adopting open educational practices. The remit of this SIG is to support, develop, sustain and influence policy in open education.