Listed here are influential organizations and conferences that I follow. I have held leadership positions in some.
Provincial
BCcampus – an organization focused on enriching post-secondary education in British Columbia by sharing innovative teaching and learning approaches and providing opportunities for collaboration, openness and transparency across the sector.
BCcampus is a provincial leader, funding curriculum projects including TRU’s own zero textbook Associate of Science initiative, as well as many open textbooks.
B.C. Open Collection by BCcampus – is a repository of course materials for educators. This is a critical resource for me as an instructional designer and I often search for OER to use in my course development projects. I have also contributed OER to the repository, including the open text Histories of Indigenous Peoples and Canada which resulted from one of my course development projects.
ETUG – Educational Technology Users Group, a community of practice within BCcampus focused on the use of educational technologies within post-secondary education in British Columbia.
I served on the Steering Committee for ETUG for several years, and contributed to conference organization. Its workshops are a valued source of community and practice innovation for me.
National
CNIE – Canadian Network for Innovation in Education – committed to excellence in educational innovation within Canada; encompasses K-12, post-secondary, private training and professional development and industry.
I chaired a successful CNIE conference in 2014: Confluences: Spaces, Places and Culture for Learning, after which I was invited to serve as a member-at-large on the board. This was followed by a year as Vice-President and another as President.
OTESSA – Open/Technology in Education, Society and Scholarship Association is a non-profit association founded in June 2019 to promote innovation, research and practice in areas related to technology or openness and education or research.
I am a member but have not yet had the opportunity to attend an in-person conference. I was to give a virtual presentation with Dr. Michelle Harrison on our Learning Design Framework in 2023 but technology glitches prevailed. This organization also has a journal that is of interest.
CAID – Canadian Association of Instructional Designers, a national organization for instructional designers, admission is by portfolio application. They provide professional development events throughout the year and continued membership is contingent on some form of professional development activity.
Open and Distance Education
Open Education – a long-standing conference aimed at sharing and learning about open educational resources, open pedagogy and open initiatives.
OE Global – Open Education Global, supports development and use of open education globally. I was able to attend their conference in October, 2023 in Edmonton, AB and appreciated the opportunity to hear perspectives from around the world.
OER Conference – a conference for open education research, practice and policy, associated with the Association for Learning Technology. I was fortunate to attend and present virtually at this conference during the pandemic. I have colleagues who have attended in person and found it to be a worthwhile event so perhaps I will one day make it there.
MYFest – Equity Unbound’s Mid-Year Festival, a global open education festival held virtually throughout June, July and August.
Contact North – focuses on increases the number of underserved Ontario residents taking online programs and courses. They also provide professional development opportunities and have created their own AI Tutor Pro, a free AI app for supporting student learning.
EDEN Digital Learning Europe – promotes the exchange of knowledge and increased understanding among those in distance and e-learning. I was fortunate to attend the 2013 EDEN conference in Oslo, Norway and present Michelle Harrison and my research on student perceptions of learning activities. We were honoured to be nominated for the Best Research Paper Award that year.
ICDE – International Council for Open and Distance Education, an organization that works to bring quality education to all.