openTEL Seminar: Martin Glynn
2021-02-24 14:30 - 15:30 (Europe/London)
Wednesday 24th February 2021 (14:30 – 15:30)
ONLINE: MS Teams (please email openTEL to be sent an invitation)
Please note this session will be recorded. To find out more about this event or to be added to the openTEL mailing list please email openTEL@open.ac.uk

FLAN: FutureLearn Academic Network Meeting
2021-03-17 14:00 - 17:00 UTC
FLAN Meeting
Wednesday 17th March 2021
14:00 – 17:00
ONLINE
The next meeting of the network will be hosted by The Open University in conjunction with OpenTEL.
We invite researchers, PhD students, course developers, educators and practitioners to attend a series of fantastic presentations on the following themes:

Supporting people who are learning at scale
Training and supporting educators working at scale
Assuring the quality of MOOCs and microcredentials

Here’s the event agenda:

Please contact openTEL for joining instructions or for more information about this event. openTEL@open.ac.uk

Open & Inclusive SIG (10:00 - 12:00)
2021-03-24 10:00 - 12:00 UTC
Open & Inclusive Special Interest Group
Wednesday 24th March 2021
10:00 – 12:00
ONLINE: MS Teams
Join us online for the next Open and Inclusive Special Interest Group, with presentations from Sumeya Loonat and Dan Holloway.
Open & Inclusive SIG: 24th March

Show & TEL
2021-05-04 09:00 - 13:00 (Europe/London)
Agenda

openTEL/IET Bidding Workshop
2021-05-04 13:30 - 16:00 UTC
openTEL/IET Bidding Workshop
Tuesday 4th May 13:30 – 16:00
Agenda

13:30: Welcome: Eileen Scanlon
13:35 – 14:05: Open calls: Helen Elves, EU Research Development Manager
14:05 – 14:15: Q & A
14:15 – 14:30: Break
14:30 – 15:45: Break out rooms (themed)
15:45 – 16:00: Round-table discussion and close
Please contact openTEL for an invitation.

openAIED Special Interest Group
2021-05-12 14:00 - 15:00 UTC
openAIED SIG: 12th May

Learning @ Scale (L@S) SIG
2021-05-26 15:30 - 17:00 (Europe/London)
Programme (26 May 2021)
15.30 Introduction
15.40 Dr Anna Comas-Quinn presents Learning beyond the classroom: online volunteer translation (see info below)
16.30 Roundtable: What do we want for our SIG
17.00 End
New Special Interest Group: Learning At Scale

CALRG 2021 Online Conference
2021-06-15 08:00 - 17:00, 2021-06-16 08:00 - 17:00 UTC
15th-16th June 2021
We are pleased to invite you to attend CARLG’s annual conference. The online conference will consist of two days of presentations and interactive sessions across a broad range of topics relevant to educational technology in 7-panel sessions and 2 keynotes.
The conference is free to attend. If you have not yet had the MS Teams meeting link, please register here.
For any query regarding conference presentation and attendance, please email calrg@open.ac.uk.

openAIED SIG: Uncovering social biases in online learning: insights from bias-detection approaches applied to the OU
2021-07-07 08:00 - 17:00 (Europe/London)
Uncovering social biases in online learning: insights from bias-detection approaches applied to the OU
Josmario Albuquerque

Abstract
Online educational technologies have transformed learning and teaching processes. For instance, researchers have proposed mechanisms to improve both students’ and teachers’ experience, e.g., tools to enhance collaboration, improve student engagement, and help teachers in designing and delivering new learning resources. However, despite the benefits of such technologies, recent findings have showed that issues related to social justice like human biases and stereotypes are still present in educational settings. Researchers have also shown that such issues can diminish several aspects of learning, e.g., academic performance, students’ confidence, and reduce engagement. In this presentation, I aim to highlight what is being used to uncover group biases in learning settings and share preliminary findings of exiting computational approaches applied to the OU VLE. A sample of 2024 sentences sampled from 91 OU modules across several disciplines was extracted and used as the input for two bias-detection algorithms. While potential biases were suggested by those approaches within the modules analysed, the extent to which those biases are relevant for an educational setting is questionable. Those results and the limitations of those mechanisms will be discussed, as well as implications and directions for future research in Artificial Intelligence in Education.
Bio
Josmario Albuquerque is currently a second-year research student at the Institute of Educational Technology, Open University. His current research focuses on group bias in online learning settings, where he expects to provide a mechanism to help the identification of racial biases in learning materials. Previously, he has investigated gender stereotypes in educational technologies while completing his master’s degree at the Federal University of Alagoas, Brazil. With a background in Computer Science, he has taken part in a few IT projects that include: developing an authoring tool to help tutors create customised Intelligent Tutoring Systems and improve students’ performance; and designing a video-monitoring learning analytics platform to inform tutors and school managers about the learning processes of bilingual students in a language school. Josmario’s interests include Artificial Intelligence in Education, Learning Analytics, and the general use of Computer Science to address social issues.

openTEL Completed Projects Seminar
2021-07-21 11:00 - 12:30 (Europe/London)
ADMINS: Designing and evaluating a virtual assistant for disability disclosure and study support conversations
Dr Tim Coughlan

break
2021-08-01 08:00 - 2021-08-31 17:00 UTC
No events during Summer break.

Artificial Intelligence in Education: openAIED SIG
2021-09-09 11:00 - 11:30 (Europe/London)
Please join us for this mini openAIED Special Interest Group meeting. There are no presenters for this session, instead we will use the time to find out what people are up to and discuss what’s next for the openAIED SIG. Duygu Bektik and Francisco Iniesto will be leading the meeting, so do come along to listen in or contribute if you can. All are welcome!
Please contact openTEL for an invite.

Accessibility in the BBC: open & Inclusive SIG
2021-09-15 10:00 - 12:00 (Europe/London)
External speakers from the BBC discuss accessibility as part of the open & Inclusive Special Interest Group. All are welcome. Please email openTEL for an invite.
Accessibility in the BBC

Assessment & Feedback SIG
2021-10-06 14:00 - 15:30 (Europe/London)
Abstract and Bio: https://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/opentel/jose-luis-aznarte-presents-at-the-next-assessment-feedback-sig/

Learning at Scale: L@S SIG
2021-10-12 11:00 - 12:30 (Europe/London)
Join us for the Learning at Scale Special Interest Group. More information here: https://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/opentel/learning-scale-sig-12th-october-2021/

Show & TEL: Day 1
2021-11-02 09:30 - 12:30 (Europe/London)
Agenda and Abstracts

Show & TEL: Day 2
2021-11-03 10:00 - 12:30 (Europe/London)

Assessment & Feedback Special Interest Group
2021-11-24 14:00 - 15:30 (Europe/London)
Join us online for the Assessment & Feedback SIG which will include speakers from Michigan University.
For an invite please contact openTEL.
All are welcome!
More info: https://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/opentel/presentations-from-michigan-university-24-11-21/

open & Inclusive Special Interest Group
2021-12-01 14:00 - 16:00 (Europe/London)
Join us online for the open & Inclusive SIG for talks from two external speakers on assistive technologies.
open & Inclusive SIG: Presentations on Assistive Technology & UX Accessibility

Learning at Scale Special Interest Group
2021-12-14 10:00 - 12:00 (Europe/London)
Please join us for the next Learning at Scale Special Interest Group:

Digital badging as a way of accrediting learning at scale

Title: Digital Badges in Context: Looking behind and beyond the digital badge
Speaker: Dr Simon Cross, Senior Lecturer and Associate Director at the Institute of Educational Technology (IET), The Open University
Abstract:
Digital badges possess affordances that position them well as an option for reward and recognition in digital learning and teaching at scale. However, the processes and structures required to issue and value badges may not be as compatible with such scaling. What are the factors that limit and enable their use at scale? How can we better understand the application of digital badges in the digital and actual contexts in which they are employed? How can we strategically and practically exploit the constructive disruption that digital badges can cause to create a productive dissonance? In this presentation I will draw on emerging research from work undertaken with colleagues Freda Wolfenden and Lina Adinolfi and in collaboration with TISS, India. This work has focused on online Teacher Professional Development (TPD) including, most recently, a multi-badge trial with teachers from over 200 schools in Assam, India. Our mixed methods approach has been designed to help answer a range of research questions: from factor analysis of survey data to look beyond the intrinsic-extrinsic motivation dichotomy to in-depth interviews conducted by local language speakers to understand how badges may be valued and shared. As an outcome of this research and engagement with state and national stakeholders, teachers and teacher educations, I will share our conceptualisation – still work-in-progress- for how the use of digital badges could be used in TPD in general and in TPD at scale in particular.

Show & TEL Seminar
2022-02-22 13:40 - 16:00 UTC
Tuesday 22nd February (13:40-16:00)
CLICK HERE FOR AGENDA
CLICK HERE FOR ABSTRACTS & BIOS
Join us online for the next openTEL Show & TEL event with presentations from Gerald Evans, Koula Charitonos, Rachel Mcmullan, Saraswati Dawadi, Maria Aristeidou and Felipe Tessarolo.
All are welcome! Please contact openTEL for an invite.

open & Inclusive SIG
2022-02-28 13:00 - 15:00 UTC
Join us for presentations from Jessica Carr, Ian Kenny and Christothea Herodotou.
open & Inclusive SIG

Connected Higher Education in crisis contexts monthly webinar, 9th March, 2-3pm GMT
2022-03-09 14:00 - 15:00 UTC
Connected Higher Education in crisis contexts monthly webinar (09.03.22) @ 2pm
Presentations by UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL), Jian Xi Teng and Marie Macauley. Join us for the launch of this new webinar series in collaboration with the Connected Learning in Crisis Consortium and UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency. Link to abstracts.

Presentations - openAIED SIG
2022-03-15 14:00 - 15:30 UTC
Carmel Kent hosts the first openAIED Special Interest Group of the year with presentations from external speaker, Ali Chaudhury, UCL, and Christothea Herodotou, The Open University. You can find the abstracts and bios on the openTEL blog here.

Webinar Series (April): Connected Higher Education in Crisis Contexts
2022-04-06 14:00 - 15:00 UTC
Webinar Series April: Connected Higher Education in Crisis contexts

Webinar Series: Connected Higher Education in Crisis contexts (May)
2022-05-04 14:00 - 15:00 (Europe/London)

openTEL Writing Retreat
2022-05-05 09:30 - 16:30 UTC
All day Writing Retreat for academics – contact openTEL for availability.

open & inclusive SIG
2022-05-17 14:00 - 15:00 (Europe/London)
Open & Inclusive SIG: Digital Inclusion

openAIED Special Interest Group
2022-05-25 13:30 - 15:00 UTC
openAIED SIG Meeting: 25th May
