2025 Keynote Speakers

When speaking truth is not enough: repurpose, rebuild, refuse

Links between the AI industry and the politics of populism run deeper than the antics of its current CEOs.

Echoes of Futurist aesthetics in today’s synthetic images are more than just a vibe.

Tracing the political roots of the state-corporate enterprise that is AI today, Helen concludes we should stop looking for common ground between that project and the values of open, just and equitable education. Instead, we should start thinking of the AI industry as the opposite or sinister double of the open movement. That movement can and should organise in the shadow of AI, and Helen describes three possible responses as ‘repurpose, rebuild and refuse’. But she also thinks it it time the open education movement considered our own history, our own possible alternative futures, in the light of the vulnerabilities revealed by AI. We need to put our ‘open’ house in order to meet the present moment.

Shaping Open Education 

How do we navigate in the best interests of learners when tasked with crucial goals like closing the attainment gap, driving social mobility, and addressing skills shortages.

On a limited budget,  how do we harness the best systems ? , how can we use AI ethically to empower learners and teaching and support staff ? and where is open education in all of this? How do we overcome inertia in the system and create a more open, equitable, and future-ready educational system , driven by people.

Teaching staff  are essential agents of change  who require significant support, training, and time to implement open educational policies and leverage technology effectively. Their willingness and ability to adopt new practices, share resources openly, and become digitally capable practitioners are key to transforming education. 

Open practice is currently more threatened by institutional systems which favour closed rather than open . While in a competitive commercialised environment fears and concerns around sharing are amplified. The latest concern that AI could eat our content is simply the latest barrier to supporting open practice.

I'll reflect on being a hopeless but hard nosed optimist in a world of change in local, national and global education. I am a Glaswegian with an incurable social justice complex.

You'll hear about some frustrations and failures against the headwinds that are around. But mainly I'll present an optimistic vision for moving open education and open practice forward for the sake of learners and learning in ways that support co-creation, collaboration and sharing and making the most of AI for teaching and learning.