Now that we’re one month removed from the Open edX conference in Montreal, we look back fondly on that week. It was wonderful to get to know everyone that makes the Open edX community “go”. Most, if not all, of the presentations are now online and may be downloaded. All of the videos from conference sessions and keynotes are also available, although there is still work to be done editing the titles and some of the metadata.
Below are the highlights from the first day’s keynotes on Wednesday, May 30th.
Opening Keynote: Anant Agarwal
We kicked things off on Wednesday with a challenge from edX founder and CEO, Anant Agarwal: where do we want online learning to be in 5 years?
Invited Keynote: Fiona Hollands
Next, we heard a challenge from a different sort, as researcher Fiona Hollands of Columbia Teachers College went through some of the successes – and failures – of MOOCs over the last 5 years, and what we can do to improve online learning.
The State of Open edX
To close out the morning plenary session, we had the annual State of Open edX talk where the Open edX team demonstrated some of the highlights of the past year and what to look for in the future. This year marks 5 years of Open edX, and we were in a reflective mood, and we are also looking forward to the future.
Invited Keynote: Zvi Galil
Finally, we closed out the first day with a look at what it takes to launch an online master’s degree program from Zvi Galil, Dean of the Georgia Tech College of Computing. Spoiler alert: it’s a lot of work, but thanks to trailblazers like Dean Galil, we now have a handbook to follow.
Breakouts, Lightning Talks, and other cool stuff
We’re still editing and adding videos to the conference playlist on the Open edX YouTube Channel. Make sure to revisit the channel periodically to review recent changes.
Next up: we’ll look back the first ever Open edX Developer Summit.
