Conference Highlights
Featured Highlights for OEB24
Julie Dirksen
Learning Strategist, Usable Learning
Julie Dirksen is the author of the bestselling book Design For How People Learn, and the new book Talk to the Elephant: Design Learning for Behavior Change. She is a learning strategy consultant with experience creating learning experiences for clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to technology startups to grant-funded research initiatives. She loves brains, and games, and evidence-based practice. Her MS degree is in Instructional Systems Technology from Indiana University and she’s been an adjunct faculty member at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and a Learning Guild Guildmaster. She’s happiest whenever she gets to learn something new. You can find her at www.usablelearning.com.
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Presentation
Nurturing Wellbeing: Can Online Schools Address the Needs of Students?
Presentation
Date Wednesday, Nov 27 Time –
Nurturing Wellbeing: Can Online Schools Address the Needs of Students?
Drawing on comprehensive Cambridge research, this session will showcase the diverse strategies used by Cambridge's online schools to support student wellbeing, such as dedicated programs, specialist support and nurturing strong teacher-student relationships. Additionally, it will examine ongoing initiatives to further strengthen these efforts, underscoring the significance of holistic development in the online education landscape.
Louis Bone
Online Schools Development Manager, Cambridge University Press & Assessment
Louis Bone is an education professional with 14 years of experience. He has taught across various age ranges in the UK and internationally, managing teams focused on academic and pastoral progress. Louis also excelled in teaching online before transitioning to his current role as the Online School Development Manager at Cambridge. In this capacity, he oversees the approval process for UK schools and maintains strong relationships with them.
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Rasmus Benke-Aberg
Team Lead – Digital Education Hub Community, Stifterverband
Rasmus is Team Lead of the European Digital Education Hub (EDEH) for the German NGO Stifterverband. In this role he works together with the European Commission to implement EDEH and to build up a community of practitioners of digital education in Europe.
Rasmus has previously been the Director of the Erasmus Student Network (ESN), Secretary General of OBESSU and Vice-President of the Lifelong Learning Platform. He has a Master’s Degree in European and International Relations from Linköping University.
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Ellen Wagner
Managing Partner, North Coast EduVisory LLC
Ellen Wagner is an accomplished learning technology professional with career experiences in academic, commercial, and non-profit organizations. She has worked as a tenured professor and university administrator, was a founding ed tech entrepreneur, a senior executive of publicly traded software companies, a journal editor, and a board member of a number of start-up ed tech companies. Her areas of expertise include ed tech, emerging tech, change management, instructional systems design and learning engineering, and digital learning (online and eLearning).
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Board Room
Let’s play! - A Few Words on How to Promote Research and Teach History through Games Effectively
Board Room
Date Thursday, Nov 28 Time –
Let’s play! - A Few Words on How to Promote Research and Teach History through Games Effectively
Discover how an archaeologist and a game developer collaborated to create educational video games that have been played over 2 million times globally. How does an academic lecturer use video games to teach future history teachers, science communicators, and historical game designers? Learn from case studies on how academics are using video games to engage students and enhance learning across diverse fields.
Wacław Kulczykowski
Assistant Professor , University of Gdańsk
Dr. Wacław Kulczykowski is an archaeologist in the Department of Historical Education at the Institute of History of the University of Gdańsk (Poland). His research draws on modern forms and methods of popularizing historical knowledge. Educator, science promoter, member of the Council for the Promotion of Science of the Polish Academy of Sciences, co-creator of scientific computer games "Excavate!" and "Waterworks!" which are based on the results of his scientific research, and the originator and lecturer of the "History & Games" course for students of history. Coordinator of the newly created (2024) field of study: Historical game design.
Panel
New Models for Tertiary Education
Panel
Date Friday, Nov 29 Time –
New Models for Tertiary Education
What makes institutions like Minerva, ASU, Code University, or 42 successful, and how can their approaches be applied in your own context? Drawing on insights from the recent "New Forms of Tertiary Education" study by the Stifterverband - a German initiative focused on enhancing education, science, and innovation - this panel will explore the key challenges facing higher education today. The discussion will focus on how educational institutions can harness international best practices to address these challenges and realise their transformative potential.
Manuel Dolderer
Founder, CODE University Of Applied Sciences
Manuel is a serial founder, learning experience designer, international advisor and keynote speaker with a mission to provide students of all ages, nationalities, cultural and financial backgrounds with impactful learning experiences that empower them to develop a new mindset full of curiosity, self determination and entrepreneurial spirit.
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Stephanie Levy
CEO, 42 Wolfsburg and 42 Berlin Schools, Germany
Kyle Bowen
Deputy CIO, Arizona State University
Kyle Bowen is Enterprise Deputy CIO at Arizona State University where he is responsible for enabling how the ASU community experiences technology to learn, work and thrive. A self-described storyteller, Kyle is passionate about transforming education with a learner and student-centered approach. He was previously the director of innovation for teaching and learning with technology at Penn State University. By collaborating across the institution, he advanced faculty professional development, space design, learner creativity, and data science efforts. Kyle also formerly served as the director of learning informatics at Purdue University, a role that shaped the university’s strategy to improve student attainment through award winning emerging technologies. Kyle is an entrepreneur, teacher, and regular speaker on innovations in higher education. Co-author and editor of more than 20 books on design, development, and usability, his past work has appeared in the New York Times, USA Today, and the Chronicle of Higher Education.
Learning Café
Unlocking the Future: Integrating Generative AI in Higher Education
Learning Café
Date Friday, Nov 29 Time –
Unlocking the Future: Integrating Generative AI in Higher Education
The presentation addresses the pressing challenge of enhancing personalized learning experiences and improving educational outcomes in an era where traditional teaching methods often fall short of meeting diverse learner needs.
Gila Kurtz
Dean, Holon Institute of Technology (HIT), Israel
Gila Kurtz is the Dean of the Instructional Technologies Faculty at Holon Institute of Technology (HIT) in Israel. For serval years she was the Academic VP of a company that provided e-Learning solutions for the corporate industry. Gila has been a visiting scholar at the University of Maryland University College, University of California Berkeley, Syracuse University and University Roma, TRE.
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Presentation
Developing Learning Journeys through a Performance Model Approach: The Road from Learning Objectives to Business Outcomes in the Times of AI
Presentation
Date Wednesday, Nov 27 Time –
Developing Learning Journeys through a Performance Model Approach: The Road from Learning Objectives to Business Outcomes in the Times of AI
In this session, you will gain fundamental knowledge to the performance model approach in L&D to help you both define and achieve business outcomes through learning objectives while utilizing AI to improve your learning organization skills and productivity.
Alfonso Pacheco
Learning Journey Manager, E.ON Digital Technology
Alfonso Pacheco possesses over 15 years of professional experience across the globe supporting Learning and Development organizations by focusing on performance improvement in multinational corporate and start-up environments across the globe. Expertise in digitalizing, scaling, reshaping and disrupting traditional models through a data oriented approach in order to create measurable impactful learning solutions that address business needs.
Lori Niles-Hofmann
Senior Learning Strategist, NilesNolen
Lori Niles-Hofmann is a senior learning strategist with over 20 years of L&D experience across many industries, including international banking, management consulting, and marketing. Her specialization is large-scale digital learning transformations. She is passionate about helping companies navigate the ambiguity of change and acts as a trusted adviser to CLOs worldwide. After leading and completing numerous EdTech implementations, she has developed the data-based methodologies and frameworks that will empower your L&D teams to move from business support function to strategic business driver. She is the author of the LinkedIn Learning courses "Data-Driven Learning Design" and "Upskilling and Reskilling your Workforce" with over 100K participants. Lori is based in Canada, with one foot in Europe
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Learning Café
Challenges for Student Success in the Humanities and Engineering
Learning Café
Date Thursday, Nov 28 Time –
Challenges for Student Success in the Humanities and Engineering
Join this Learning Café to explore how student success strategies are evolving in response to diverse learning backgrounds and the integration of AI in coursework. Discover six key strategies for fostering student success and learn how to adapt them to contemporary challenges. Engage in discussions on how AI is reshaping education in both the humanities and engineering and compare outcomes across these fields to better understand the impact of these innovations.
Tamara Powell
English Professor, Kennesaw State University
Dr. Tamara Powell is a professor of English at Kennesaw State University (KSU) in the Atlanta metro area in Georgia in the US. Her research interests include African American literature and open educational resources. She co-authored Open Technical Communication (https://alg.manifoldapp.org/projects/open-technical-communication), and it won the 2022 OE Global Award for Excellence in the Open Reuse/Remix/Adaptation category (https://awards.oeglobal.org/awards/2022/open-reuse-remix-adaptation/ope…).
Tamara began teaching online in 2001 and has been hooked on this exciting and versatile medium ever since. Every semester, she tries new techniques to increase student engagement and successful completion of classes.
She has won several honors and awards, including Best Paper Award for “Student Success Innovations vs. Faculty Workload Concerns: How to Find a Balance for Success” at The Thirteenth International Conference on Mobile, Hybrid, and On-line Learning eLmL 2021 in Nice, France.
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Brayden Milam
Programme Manager , Kennesaw State University, United States of America
Lauren Snider
Physical Science Teacher, County School District
Kati Kasanen
Senior Lecturer, University of Eastern Finland
Kati’s responsibilities as a senior lecturer primarily revolve around teaching and guidance, with a particular focus on initial guidance and planning for university studies throughout the entire academic journey. Kati actively contributes to pedagogical development in her daily teaching practice and is a member of the UEF’s “Excellent Teaching Practitioner” network. Additionally, from 2021 to 2024, Kati dedicates 50% of her time to facilitating online pedagogy.
In terms of research, Kati’s interests intersect with the concept of ability. She specializes in evaluating educational practices and conducts socio-psychological and educational policy analyses related to abilities, including entrepreneurial abilities, within the context of education. Drawing from her prior work experience, Kati recognizes the importance of the ability concept, particularly in school and educational psychology. Recently, she has also explored multidisciplinary approaches in research and teaching across different faculties. Her facilitator role has sparked an interest in distance learning and related issues, such as exam practices and trust. Also, Kati and the facilitator team studies their own work and its impact. Let's meet and discuss these matters together!
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Learning Café
Transforming Online Education in Wartime: Empowering Ukrainian University Teachers through Project-based Learning
Learning Café
Date Thursday, Nov 28 Time –
Transforming Online Education in Wartime: Empowering Ukrainian University Teachers through Project-based Learning
This Learning Café will explore the challenges of delivering online education during wartime, focusing on empowering Ukrainian university teachers to design and deliver effective online courses. Emphasis will be placed on student well-being, engagement, resilience, and inclusivity amidst the disruptions of war.
Ihor Katernyak
Associate Professor, Ivan Franko National University of Lviv (Ukraine)
Ihor Katernyak is affiliated with Ivan Franko National University of Lviv in Ukraine. He holds a PhD in Physics and Mathematics and serves as an Associate Professor in the Electronics & Computer Technology Department. His research interests encompass e-learning, knowledge management, digital transformation in education, entrepreneurship, tech startups, technology transfer, and open innovation. He has been published in reputable journals such as Higher Education, Skills and Work-based Learning, Universal Journal of Education Research, and Interactive Technology and Smart Education, among others.
Furthermore, he initiated a series of events including the "Idea Marathon" (held annually from March to May), "Innovation Spring" as a brokerage event (held annually in April), and "Startup Jam" (held from November to December). These events are designed to inspire young researchers and students to explore their ideas in the contexts of value innovation and tech startups. In addition, he is an expert in Innovation policy and ICT4Dev.
Ihor Katernyak is also the founder and CEO of the Ukrainian Distance Learning (UDL) System NGO.
Gabriel Schaepman
Learning & Development Consultant, Swiss Re
Gabriel is a results-oriented learning and development consultant with more than 25 years' experience. He works full-time in a F-500 company in the financial services industry. Most recently, he designed outcome-based in-house MOOCs at Swiss Re, a leading provider of reinsurance and other insurance-based forms of risk transfer.
He published the award-winning iPad APP "Sales&More" and developed experiential learning simulations in the leadership area.
One of his favorite topics is measuring the value of L&D investments, determining the ROI of training.
Lifelong learning and meaningful employment are what Gabriel lives and breathes: over the years he has earned three Masters degrees, studying economics, corporate finance, Human Resources, change, agile and corporate learning.
Gabriel is married, lives in Switzerland and loves to ride his motorbike through the Alps.
Plenary
Join The Learning Battle, an Open Mic Arena!
Plenary
Date Wednesday, Nov 27 Time –
Join The Learning Battle, an Open Mic Arena!
This plenary is designed to challenge you on multiple levels. Are you ready to speak in front of a group? Will you listen attentively to different arguments? Can you critically analyze learning approaches for their strengths? Of course, you can! And with each contribution lasting just 3 minutes, it’s micro-learning at its finest.
Join the Learning Battle and share your recent projects with a community of passionate learning experts! Or, if you prefer, listen to what others have been working on, understand their methodologies, and ask meaningful questions to fully grasp their ideas. The Learning Battle ensures that everyone leaves with valuable insights. By listening to all the participants, you’ll get a sense of who they are, what’s happening in the learning world, and who you might want to connect with during the conference.
What’s the format? It’s simple and engaging, consisting of four steps:
Open Stage: There’s an open stage with a microphone, and Inge de Waard as the master of ceremony. Inge will invite people from the audience to take the stage (by a show of hands).
Three-Minute Pitches: Each person who takes the stage has 3 minutes to highlight their new learning or teaching idea.
Q&A: After each 3-minute pitch, the audience can ask a question to test the presenter in a friendly manner.
Audience Voting: After the pitch and Q&A, the audience votes by means of applause. The louder the applause, the higher the decibels (points) the presenter receives. The person with the highest applause at the end wins the Learning Battle Cup.
OEB is all about networking and sharing knowledge. To truly embrace this, you need to dare to speak up. This informal spotlight gives you the chance to do just that. From a brief 3-minute pitch, the audience can gauge who you are, what you’re working on, and whether they want to connect with you during the conference.
Participating in the Learning Battle gives you a sense of empowerment. You spoke up in front of an audience – you are the master of your professional life. You rule! This event is intended to playfully bring everyone up to speed with what’s happening and who is driving change in the learning field. And with Inge de Waard guiding the event, you’re in great hands.
The Learning Battle is a perfect warm-up to the OEB conference. So come alone, invite a friend, or bring a daring colleague and join this vibrant group of learning experts.
Inge de Waard
Learning Strategist and Connector, EIT InnoEnergy, Belgium
Inge de Waard is the learning strategist at EIT InnoEnergy, she is a longtime researcher, activist, award-winning learning innovator and (e)Learning coordinator. She developed multiple online & hybrid courses, co-designed AI tools, and embedded learning innovations. Inge coaches and co-creates international, blended curricula with engineers and teachers, and explores innovative learning formats. Her expertise is recognized by peers, resulting in additional co-authored papers, invited talks and keynotes in both academic and professional conferences, workshops and seminars. She recently founded the Power Elders initiative to spotlight role models who changed their lives at any age beyond 50. Most of all, she likes to connect with people and share stories.
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Donna Carroll
Senior Coordinator of Professional Development for Teaching & Learning, Maastricht University
Dr. Donna Carroll is the Senior Coordinator of Professional Development for Teaching & Learning at Maastricht University. She is responsible for overseeing and delivering a full programme of training activities for university teaching staff, ensuring they are equipped to foster an effective learning experience for their students. Her experience as a former Lecturer of Physics and Mathematics in the UK and the Netherlands, as well as her years as a Higher Education Assessment Expert, have also provided her with insights into the practical challenges educators face in creating meaningful assessment and adopting AI tools effectively for teaching and learning.
Board Room
Exams in the Era of ChatGPT: Combining the Didactical and Practical Perspective
Board Room
Date Friday, Nov 29 Time –
Exams in the Era of ChatGPT: Combining the Didactical and Practical Perspective
This session will explore various exam formats through both didactical and practical lenses, examining how AI can be integrated to enhance assessment practices. Participants will critically assess different approaches to evaluation, discussing potential benefits of AI in improving exam methods and outcomes.
Julia Jochim
Team Lead Digital Media, Euro-FH
Julia is the head of the digital media and e-learning team at Euro-FH, a German long-distance university. With a passion for innovative education, she is committed to creating diverse and engaging digital learning materials for students. Julia's current focus is on integrating artificial intelligence into higher education, aiming to revolutionize the learning experience for the AI era. Her main interests include enhancing teachers' AI teaching competencies, developing students’ AI skills, and devising new AI-integrative exam formats to better meet the evolving needs of students in the digital age.
Presentation
Imaginative Futures for Foreign Language Education
Presentation
Date Wednesday, Nov 27 Time –
Imaginative Futures for Foreign Language Education
Among all the different fields of education, foreign language education may be the most affected by GenAI because it impacts the core objective of foreign language education, which is to teach students how to communicate proficiently in a foreign language. As a result, it is important to reflect upon imaginative future scenarios for foreign language education as we will do in this presentation; these scenarios are an invitation for further reflection, discussion, and dialogue about foreign language learning in the AI era.
Katrien Dewaele
French Teacher and Researcher , UCLeuven-Limburg (UCLL, belgium)
Katrien Dewaele is a lecturer French at the Faculty of Teacher Education of UCLeuven-Limburg (UCLL, Belgium). She is also a researcher at the Centre of Expertise ‘Education & Development’ of UCLL. Her research focuses on how to facilitate learning processes in an evidence-informed way and enhanced by technology. In her teaching practice and research work, she bridges the gap between insights from educational research and classroom practice. Katrien is an expert within the field of foreign language didactics and has already shared this expertise in several publications, at (inter)national conferences, and in teacher training programs with Teacher Design Teams.