OpenEd25 Panel: Navigating Open Education’s Path Forward

Members of the Open Education Association Steering Committee participated in a panel at the 2025 Open Education Conference (OpenEd25) titled Navigating Open Education’s Path Forward in the U.S. Political Landscape.

The session recognized that as U.S. higher education faces rapid changes, now is a critical time to reassert open education’s role in this evolving landscape. It started by acknowledging some of the major topics the field is confronting—from institutional funding cuts to the ever-growing focus on AI to automatic textbook billing programs that co-opt open education's strongest arguments. The session then engaged the audience in a strategic discussion via Padlet about the dynamics of the current environment and how open education can strategically respond—individually, in communities, and collectively through a national effort.

It is worth noting that the two-year process that culminated in the launch of the Open Education Association was sparked at a session about the future of open education advocacy at OpenEd23. We look forward to digging deeper into the wealth of feedback and ideas generated at this session to help guide the association’s inaugural year.

The session recording and Padlet are now available, and we welcome the community to keep contributing.