Artificial intelligence (AI) has recently been gaining ground, particularly since November 2022, with the introduction of generative tools based on natural language processing and neural network algorithms. These kinds of tools have great potential for creators and users of Open Educational Resources (OER) and the Open Movement itself but they also represent risks. The International Council for Open and Distance Education OER Advocacy Committee (OERAC) developed two workshops to present the role of AI in OER at two international conferences in the fall of 2023. The workshops presented the features, benefits, key challenges, and practical issues related to using AI technologies from professional, ethical, sustainable, and equitable perspectives, while also focusing on the five areas of the UNESCO OER Recommendation. Participants were dynamically engaged in discussions, and documented their ideas in formats that could be used as OER in themselves. The OERAC noted and categorized the results, and developed short summaries and drafts for further work. Finally, drawing on the findings from the workshops, we asked ChatPDF for a second opinion on further suggestions for AI in connection with OER, which in turn related to the five areas of the recommendation. We conclude that, while there is great potential for the use of AI in the context of the Open Movement, there is also a need for professional ethics, equity, and sustainable capacity building, access, inclusion, policy, models, and international collaboration.

During the past twenty years Open Educational Resources (OER) and Open Educational Practices (OEP) have increased educational access and affordability worldwide. The OER-OEP synergy reflects one of the most promising strategies for increasing access to education globally. Despite significant progress, emerging research suggests the need for a more concerted focus on moving from awareness raising to implementation. This article analyses the current status of OER and OEP in concert with the recent educational response to COVID-19 by educational providers with complimentary mini-case studies from Africa, Brazil, Canada, China, Sweden, and Turkey. The ICDE Ambassadors for the global advocacy of OER, and members of ICDE OER Advocacy Committee (authors) argue that in the six countries studied, there is a greater need and greater receptivity to expand access to education through OER and OEP. To better address the immediate needs of the COVID-19 educational crisis, and to make longer term educational improvements, countries should harness the policy supports and actionable steps offered by the UNESCO OER Recommendation. Currently, we see an opportunity to move OER-OEP to resilient sustainable education and the international policy framework to support such work. The article concludes with some general observations for the way forward.

Extension action promotes inclusive, equitable, and quality education, a goal of sustainable development that guides educational actions around the world. The development of digital skills is a differential, together with the encouragement of open educational practices. This chapter provides reflections, as well as lessons learned, through experience in a biomedical engineering course. Encouragement, through the development of actions that correlate important skills and abilities, is essential for professional development. The carrying out of teaching, research, and extension activities and actions contributed to promote the interdisciplinarity of the various fields of study, necessary for professional development in the digital age. Thus, the actions developed stimulated the investigation, improvement, and study of topics of interest related to education and health and technology areas related to the role of the biomedical engineer, the main protagonist of this project.

In this article, ambassadors of the International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE) Open Educational Resources (OER) Advocacy Committee (OERAC) provide a snapshot of regional and global Open Educational Resources (OER) initiatives. This committee has been active since 2017 with membership renewed biannually. The ambassadors work to further OER awareness and understanding, to increase global recognition of OER, and provide policy support for the acceptance and application of OER. This overview highlights national and regional initiatives associated with the UNESCO OER recommendation and the five action areas that include: building capacity and leveraging OER; developing supporting policies; ensuring equity and effectiveness; encouraging sustainable OER model development; and, promoting and facilitating international collaboration. In addition, monitoring and evaluation of the action areas are suggested to be prioritized. This overview is not exhaustive, and much work remains to implement the OER Recommendation at scale, maximize its implementation, connect these recommendations to the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), along with the futures of education with a new social contract for education, individuals, and the planet.