KEYNOTE AND PLENARY ADDRESSES

  1. Plenary: Abeywardena, I. S. (2020). Culture Change and OER Adoption. Proceedings of the Ontario Universities’ Council on eLearning (OUCeL), Toronto, Canada.
  2. Plenary co-presenter: Kanwar, A.S., & Abeywardena, I. S. (2018). Development, Use and Assessment of OER. Proceedings of the International Conference on Open and Innovative Education (ICOIE), Hong Kong SAR.
  3. Plenary co-presenter: Kanwar, A.S., Abeywardena, I. S., Mishra, S. (2018). Smart OER: Bridges for Sustainable Education. Proceedings of the Innovate Arabia 11 Annual Conference, Dubai.
  4. Keynote: Abeywardena, I. S. (2017). The Failure of Access: Rethinking the Successes Open Education in Higher Education. Proceedings of Open Education Week 2017: Rethinking Open Education. Organized by Simon Fraser University, University of British Columbia, BCcampus, British Columbia Research Libraries Group and the Public Knowledge Project, 28th March, Vancouver, Canada. Presentation slides.
  5. Plenary co-presenter: Kanwar, A.S., Abeywardena, I. S., & Mishra, S. (2017). Accessible OER: Where to Start?. Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on ICTs and Accessibility, 20th December, Muscat, The Sultanate of Oman. 
  6. Keynote co-presenter: Kanwar, A.S., Mishra, S., & Abeywardena, I. S. (2017). OER for Inclusive and Equitable Quality Education: From Commitment to Action. Proceedings of the Latin America and Caribbean Open Educational Resources Regional Consultation, 3rd-4th April, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
  7. Keynote co-presenter: Tham, C. Y., & Abeywardena, I. S. (2017). Open Education, Looking at the Bigger Picture. Organized by Human Capital & Education for Asian Development (HEAD) Foundation, 17th May, Singapore.  
  8. Keynote co-presenter: Kanwar, A.S., Mishra, S., & Abeywardena, I. S. (2016). OER for Inclusive and Equitable Quality Education: From Commitment to Action. Proceedings of the Asia Open Educational Resources Regional Consultation, 1st December, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
  9. Keynote: Abeywardena, I. S. (2015). Flexible Course Delivery and the Potential of Open and Distance Education. Proceedings of the Committee for Vice Chancellors and Directors (CVCD) Conference, 13th – 14th November, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
  10. Keynote: Abeywardena, I. S., & Dhanarajan, G. (2012). OER in Asia Pacific: Trends and Issues. Proceedings of the Policy Forum for Asia and the Pacific: Open Education Resources organized by UNESCO Bangkok and Commonwealth of Learning (COL), 23rd – 24th April, Thailand.
  11. Plenary: Abeywardena, I. S., & Dhanarajan, G. (2012). Open Educational Resources in Asia. Proceedings of the Symposium on E-learning and Open Educational Resources: Practices and new initiatives organized by the Open University of Hong Kong (OUHK), 18th April, Hong Kong. Presentation slides.  
  12. Keynote co-presenter: Dhanarajan, G., & Abeywardena, I.S. (2011). OER in Asia: The Gap Between Aspirations and Practice.  Proceedings of the 24th International Council for Distance Education World Conference, Indonesia.

INTERNATIONAL PANELS, FORUMS AND DISCUSSIONS

  1. OXREF: Open Extended Reality for Education Framework (October 2021), AR/VR Community of Practice, Organized by the University of Waterloo, Canada.
  2. Augmented and Virtual Reality for Next Generation eLearning (July 2020), Africa Virtual Learning Pedagogy Forum, Organized by the Coderina foundation, Nigeria. 
  3. OER Mainstreaming in an Academic Institution: The Horizontal Framework and Mainstreaming Checklist (June 2019), Seventh Smart Education Webinar, Organized by the International Community for Open Education, Smart Learning Institute, Beijing Normal University.
  4. Open Educational Resources Global Report 2017 (September 2017), 2nd World OER Congress, Organized by UNESCO and the Government of Slovenia, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
  5. Open Educational Resources in TVET (July 2017), Global Research Study, Organized by UNESCO-UNEVOC.
  6. OER Policies in the Commonwealth (June, 2017), Open Education Policy Webinar, Organized by Open Education Consortium, USA. 
  7. OER for Sustainable Development (April, 2017), Hewlett Annual OER Meeting 2017, Organized by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Toronto, Canada.
  8. Open Educational Resources in the Commonwealth (November, 2016), Organized by the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) at the 8th Pan-Commonwealth Forum (PCF8), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
  9. Examining Good Practices and Case Studies on OER-Based Learning (December, 2015), National Consultation on Open Educational Resources , Organized by the Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA), UNESCO and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, India.
  10. Can OERs really help developing countries? (December, 2013), UNESCO High Level Panel on OER organized by UNESCO at the 7th Pan-Commonwealth Forum (PCF7), Abuja, Nigeria.
  11. eLearning in Commonwealth Asia (December, 2013), organized by the Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA) at the 7th Pan-Commonwealth Forum (PCF7), Abuja, Nigeria.
  12. Current Directions of ODL Research and Emerging Priorities (December, 2013), Organized by the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) at the 7th Pan-Commonwealth Forum (PCF7), Abuja, Nigeria.
  13. Voice of policy makers – Policy issues and recommendations from governments (April, 2012). Policy Forum for Asia and the Pacific: Open Education Resources organized by UNESCO Bangkok and Commonwealth of Learning (COL), Thailand (Chair).
  14. Pearson eCollege Learning Outcome Manager application software (September, 2011), 25th Asian Association of Open Universities Annual Conference , Penang, Malaysia.
  15. Pre-Conference Panel Presentation and Discussion on Open Educational Resources (October, 2010), 24th Asian Association of Open Universities Annual Conference, Hanoi, Vietnam.
  16. Use of New Media in Education (October, 2010), 2nd Blogfest.Asia Conference, Penang, Malaysia.

INTERNATIONAL GUEST LECTURES AND TECH TALKS

  1. CEL Management Information Dashboard – Visualizing Data Through PowerBI (January 2021), PDAG IT Seminar, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada.
  2. Learning with Virtual Reality (August, 2018), PhD Scholar Orientation Workshop, Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU), Islamabad, Pakistan. 
  3. Transforming OER (May, 2018), PhD Scholar Orientation Workshop, Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU), Islamabad, Pakistan.
  4. OER and Future Research Questions (October, 2016), PhD Scholar Orientation Workshop, Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU), Islamabad, Pakistan.
  5. From OER to Open Culture (August, 2016), PhD Scholar Orientation Workshop, Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU), Islamabad, Pakistan.
  6. Current Trends in OER (October, 2015), PhD Scholar Orientation Workshop, Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU), Islamabad, Pakistan.
  7. Flipping the Classroom: A Practical Approach (September, 2015), The Informatics Institute of Technology (IIT), Colombo, Sri Lanka.
  8. Jumpstarting Mobile Learning through DIY Android Apps (September, 2015), The Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU).
  9. Open Educational Resources – A Quick Introduction (August, 2014), PhD Research Workshop in Education, Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU), Islamabad, Pakistan.
  10. OER Search – How to search and locate relevant resources (June, 2014), Pre-Symposium Workshop on OER Integration and Use in Course Development, 2nd Regional Symposium on Open Educational Resources, Penang, Malaysia.
  11. Metadata: how to remove the weakest link (February, 2014), OER in Asia: Key issues of sharing and searching, Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU).
  12. Taxonomy, Classification and Tagging of OER (August, 2013), The OER MOOC.
  13. OERScout Technology Framework: A Novel Approach to Open Educational Resources Search (July, 2013), Wawasan Open University, Penang, Malaysia.
  14. faboodle Technology Framework for Accessing Moodle through Facebook (June, 2013), Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University (STOU), Thailand.
  15. The Current OER Search Dilemma (June, 2013), Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University (STOU), Thailand.
  16. Crash Course on Open Educational Resources (June, 2013), Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University (STOU), Thailand.
  17. Investigating collaborations between networks for OER research (December, 2012), OER Asia and Open University of China, Guangzhou, China.
  18. E-Business: Taking Your Business Online in 9 Steps (November, 2012), Penang Skills Development Centre (PSDC), Penang, Malaysia.
  19. Investigating collaborations between networks for OER research (October, 2012), OER Asia, Kaken and GLOBE workshop, Chiba, Japan.
  20. ODL Course Development Tracking Using ICTs (June, 2012), Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University (STOU), Thailand.
  21. OERScout: AI Based Search Engine for Locating Desirable Open Educational Resources (May, 2012), Commonwealth of Learning (COL), Vancouver, Canada.
  22. Effective Searching and Location of Open Educational Resources (April, 2012), University of Malaya, Malaysia.
  23. Open Educational Resources in Malaysia (April, 2012), OERAsia Regional Workshop III – Workshop on the OER Landscape in the Asian Region , Hong Kong.
  24. Use of ICTs in Learner Support in an ODL Environment (July, 2011), Workshop on Learner Support in ODL organized by Wawasan Open University, Penang, Malaysia.
  25. Career Paths for Computer Engineers in the Current Market (March, 2011), Discovery Day at the Penang Skills Development Center (PSDC), Penang, Malaysia.
  26. E-Business: How to take your business online (January, 2011), organized by the Penang Chinese Chamber of Commerce (PCCC), Penang, Malaysia.
  27. Virtual Collaboration: Some HR Concerns (November, 2010), organized by Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF), Penang, Malaysia.
  28. What can I do with my IT qualification in the current market? (September, 2010), Public talk organized by Jobstreet.com in collaboration with Wawasan Open University , Penang, Malaysia.
  29. Virtual Collaborative Software Development Strategies and Practices (November, 2009), Penang Skills Development Center (PSDC), Penang, Malaysia.

WORKSHOP FACILITATIONS

  1. How to use OER like a pro (March 2019), hands-on workshop at the 2019 Educational Technology Week organized by the Centre for Teaching Excellence, University of Waterloo, Canada.
  2. Delivering Gender Mainstreaming through Mobile Learning (September 2018), Five day hands-on workshop organized by the Commonwealth of Learning and hosted by the Dhaka Ahsania Mission , Dhaka, Bangladesh.
  3. Upskilling Girls on ICT through Mobile Application Development (September 2018), Five day hands-on ToT workshop organized by the Commonwealth of Learning and hosted by the Center for Mass Education in Science, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
  4. Upskilling Girls on ICT through Mobile Application Development (August 2018), Five day hands-on ToT workshop organized by the Commonwealth of Learning and hosted by the Women’s Development Center, Kandy, Sri Lanka.
  5. Pacific Regional TVET OER Course Design Workshop (June 2017), Four day hands-on workshop organized by the Commonwealth of Learning and hosted by Pacific TAFE, University of South Pacific, Suva, Fiji.
  6. Strategic Implementation of OER in Tonga (June 2017), Five day hands-on workshop organized by the Commonwealth of Learning, Canada and the Ministry of Education, Tonga hosted by the Tonga institute of Education (TIOE) and Tonga Institute of Higher Education (TIHE), Nuku’alofa, Tonga.
  7. Latin America and Caribbean Regional Consultation on OER (April 2017), Two day high level workshop organized by the Commonwealth of Learning, Canada and UNESCO, Paris hosted by the University of Campinas, Sao Paulo, Brazil. 
  8. Introductory Workshop on Integrating OER into Non-Formal and Informal Learning viz. The Farming Community (March, 2017), Three day hands-on workshop organized by the Commonwealth of Learning, Canada and  the Lifelong Learning for Farmers (L3F) Community in Chennai hosted by the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, Chennai, India.   
  9. National Workshop on Provincial OER Policy Implementation (February, 2017), Three day hands-on workshop organized by the Commonwealth of Learning, Canada and hosted by The Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL) and the Ministry of Education, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
  10. Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Android App Development (November, 2016), Three day hands-on pre-conference workshop of the 8th Pan-Commonwealth Forum (PCF8) organized by the Commonwealth of Learning and  Open University of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  
  11. Workshop on Institutional OER Policy Development (May, 2016), Three day hands-on workshop organized by the Commonwealth of Learning, Canada and hosted by the Innovation in Vocational Education and Skills Training (INVEST), Nakuru, Kenya.
  12. Workshop on OER for Course Development (May, 2016), Three day hands-on workshop organized by the Commonwealth of Learning, Canada and hosted by the Yaba College of Technology, Lagos, Nigeria.
  13. Workshop on OER for Course Development (March, 2016), Three day hands-on workshop organized by the Commonwealth of Learning, Canada and hosted by the Ministry of Education, Saint Lucia.  
  14. Commonwealth Executive MBA (CeMBA/CeMPA) Capacity Building Workshop on Open Educational Resources (March, 2015) Five day hands-on workshop organized by the Commonwealth of Learning, Canada and Hosted by the Open University of Sri Lanka.
  15. Workshop on Educational App Development for Teachers and Students (March, 2015), Three day hands-on workshop organized by the Commonwealth Executive Media Center for Asia (CEMCA), Delhi, India.
  16. Android App Development for Non-programmers (January, 2015), Two day hands-on workshop organized by The Open University of Sri Lanka, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
  17. Android App Development Using Visual Programming (November, 2014), Two day hands-on workshop organized by The Open University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
  18. Android App Development Using Visual Programming (August, 2014), Two day hands-on workshop organized by Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University (STOU), Thailand.
  19. OER Curation and Search: The Issues at Hand (ICOFE 2014; January 2014), Conference workshop organized by the International Conference on Open and Flexible Education, Hong Kong SAR, China.
  20. Open Educational Resources and Asian Open Universities: Are we near a tipping point? (October, 2012), Pre-conference workshop on The impacts of Open Educational Resources (OER) in Lifelong Learning and Open Education, 26th Asian Association of Open Universities Annual Conference, Chiba, Japan.
  21. OER for Senior Management (October, 2011), Organized by the Commonwealth of Learning and Wawasan Open University, Penang, Malaysia.