Maren Deepwell

Category: Conferences

  • Getting ready for ALTC 2026

    Getting ready for ALTC 2026

    Croeso i Gaerdydd! Welcome to Cardiff!

    It’s not long before ALT’s Annual Conference 2026, and this year the event is coming to Cardiff – and I am very excited to be speaking at the conference for the first time since 2023 when I stepped down as CEO of ALT.

    I am looking forward to the opportunity to share my work and get feedback from peers, and the workshop I am leading is called “Leadership Capabilities for the Future of Education”.

    Below is a quick preview of what’s in store, and the session takes place on Wednesday, 21st October at 12:10. Looking forward to seeing you there 🙂

    Workshop Preview

    Inspired by the conference theme “Digital Ecosystems for Lifelong Learning”, this workshop offers a reflective and practical approach to developing digital leadership capabilities for managers and leaders.

    Digital capabilities are not only relevant for learning, teaching and research, but also for the way we work and lead more generally as in Higher Education and other sectors the way we work continues to become more flexible, blended and hybrid. 

    Leaders at all levels play a crucial role when it comes to translating the affordances of flexible, lifelong learning in organisations from strategic aim to lived reality. This workshop offers dedicated time to deepen your practice and pick up fresh inspiration for developing as a leader. 

    Workshop outcomes

    • Develop greater awareness of and reflective approaches to your leadership practice;
    • Learn about practical leadership approaches to digital wellbeing;
    • Explore resources for individuals and teams to reclaim the pace of digital productivity.

    Workshop agenda

    • Introduction and context (5 min): Quick introduction to help situate the workshop in the wider context of digital leadership and in relation to the conference theme. 
    • Part 1: Leading hybrid, remote and flexible teams (15 min): participants will be guided through a reflective exercise to gain insight into their current practice and its impacts. 
    • Part 2: Practical leadership approaches to digital wellbeing (15 min): anchored in digital capability frameworks, work together on translating digital wellbeing theory into practice and discuss how you could apply this in your own context to foster physical, mental and social wellbeing at work. 
    • Part 3: Reclaim the pace of digital productivity (15 min): explore practical approaches to managing digital noise and notifications, and to lessen digital overwhelm using best practice examples (and worst-case experiences, too). 
    • Closing reflections (10 min): participants will undertake a brief reflective exercise individually and share their closing thoughts in response to reflective prompts. 

    Free printed resources will be provided to use on the day and digital versions will be available to take away. This is an interactive session, so be ready to take part in group activities and discussions. All group activities can be undertaken in a solo capacity if preferred.

    Who should attend: This is a masterclass workshop designed for emerging and established leaders and anyone interested in developing their leadership capabilities. 

    References

    • Global Trends Towards Flexible, Hybrid Working and its Impact for Digital Leadership in Higher Education, A report by Maren Deepwell. Commissioned by the N-TUTORR National Digital Leadership Network, 2025; 
    • CIPD. (2023). Flexible and hybrid working practices in 2023. Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.
    • Digital Leadership Skills for the New Era in Education, Dr Lynne Taylerson, Digital Learning Institute, 16 April 2024;
    • Leading Virtual Teams – Field Notes from a CEO by Dr Maren Deepwell, was published in 2022 as an open access publication by the Association for Learning Technology, UK. 
    • Digital Learning in Higher Education – COVID-19 and beyond University of Wolverhampton, June 2022. 
    • UNESCO. (2024). What you need to know about UNESCO’s new AI competency frameworks for students and teachers. UNESCO.
  • The Radio (Summer Camp) Returns

    The Radio (Summer Camp) Returns

    It’s been an eventful summer already, and the next big event is just around the corner: on 18th August the DS106 Radio Summer Camp returns! YES!

    Regular readers will know that I am a huge fan of all things audio and especially radio. So for the past few years it’s been a real pleasure for me to be working with folks who share my enthusiasm and are game to have radio based events, too. Two years ago we ran our first full-radio online event which turned out to be a real success and ever since we have been experimenting with the format.

    This month we are running a 1 day event on the DS106 Radio airwaves, 12 hours of radio to listen to, join in with and blog along to. It’s online conferencing without a screen. All you need to do us tune in – and I very much hope you will as it’s promising to be a very fun day indeed.

    There’s a mix of music, chat and interviews with special guests, a game session and campfire socials, too (check out the schedule).

    One of the things I love about radio-based events like this is that it encourages different types of conversations, and allows for more informal, impromptu encounters and thinking out loud, that listening to someone go through a Powerpoint presentation just doesn’t.

    Another great benefit is that folk who are listening don’t have to be at their desk or stare at a screen to participate. Instead, you can listen in live (and we usually make recordings available afterwards so you can catch up with session you’ve missed).

    Having had the privilege of attending some conferences in person earlier in the summer, I feel this is the next best way to connect with colleagues at a distance, and because it’s free and on the radio, there’s no Zoom link to find or webinar software to make work.

    Come along and join in the DS106 Radio Summer Camp.

  • Helloooooo OER26

    Helloooooo OER26

    It’s that time once again: time to blog about this year’s OER Conference! This year I got started early, and submitted a guest post to the altc blog: Openness Reimagined… from How to Who.

    I missed last year’s event unfortunately, so I am doubly glad to be heading to Milton Keynes this year, and the programme looks amazing, kudos to the conference committee led by Dr. Robert Farrow and Dr Beck Pitt under the theme Openness Reimagined: Continuity, Change and Shared Vision and OER26 will also celebrate several anniversaries, including 20 years of OpenLearn and 30 years of the Journal of Interactive Media in Education.

    I volunteered as a member of the Conference Committee, taking part in the peer review process and planning sessions in the months running up to the event, which has only heightened my anticipation. And so, with a bag full of stickers I am heading to the Open University, proud to have two sessions in the programme.

    First up, I’m VERY excited to give a session about the case studies I have been working on with Reclaim Hosting. As I blogged on the Reclaim Blog:

    Reclaim has long been a supporter of this wonderful conference and in 2021 we even joined forces for OERxDomains21. We took part in 2023 in Scotland, and in 2024 in Ireland, and this year we are heading to the UK’s Open University for much open education goodness!

    Looking back at these conferences I have fond memories of my talk in 2024 together with Meredith Huffman, and all the fun we had hanging out with Alan Levine and Bryan Mathers, which led to the now legendary DS106 Radio Summer Camp. So what’s in store for this year, I hear you wonder:

    From Experiment to Enterprise: Open EdTech Case Studies

    Inspired by the conference theme “Open Practices and Pedagogical Innovation” our talk will showcase key points from several new Open EdTech case studies that show who and how institutions who are at the forefront of Open EdTech adoption develop, scale and deploy open source educational services.  As well as showcasing how open source technologies move from experiment to enterprise service, we will highlight just how important such work is for developing digital capabilities, for faculty and for students.

    I’m really proud of this piece of work and feeling privileged indeed that I’ll get to showcase this work which is very much a collaborative effort with Jim Groom, the whole Reclaim Team and of course the amazing educators and technologists that have kindly given their time and told their stories.

    At the recent ILTA Conference I talked about a different case study, and although it landed very well indeed and there was a lot of interest in how to build digital capabilities with Domain of One’s Own for example, I am looking forward to taking this project to a dedicated Open Education event, and take a deeper dive into the open aspects of the work.

    Session slides & resources

    Walking the walk…

    I also submitted an experimental session about the research for my second book, a session which is part podcast, part walk and a whole lot of storytelling. Although it’s a different part of my practice, it is conceptually aligned with the Reclaim case study, as it is also about open practice and how to use technology to navigate today’s uncertain and fast moving Higher Education landscape.

    If you’d like to take a closer look, check out the dedicated podcast episode below.

    OER26, I can’t wait!

  • My talk #EdTech26

    My talk #EdTech26

    Today was a fab first day of the #EdTech26 Conference, the Irish Learning Technology Association’s annual EdTech Conference, 3-4 June in Dublin, celebrating its 25th anniversary under the theme EdTech You: Digital Learning From How to Who – and what a wonderful day it was!

    I shall certainly have to blog more about the conference which I have long been a fan of and this year’s event has only strengthened my appreciation for such a wonderful community event.

    Explore my talk

    I was happy indeed to contribute a short talk to the conference, so here’s the link to explore the slides and resources. Many thanks to Kate Molloy for chairing it so kindly and for making us all feel so very welcome!

    Presentation title slide

    Thank you to everyone who came along, asked questions and the biggest thank you to the wonderful folk and my colleagues at Reclaim who made the featured case studies such a joy to work on and share with the ILTA audience today!

  • Openness Reimagined… from How to Who

    Openness Reimagined… from How to Who

    Originally published on the altc blog, 22 May 2026.

    In June this year two conferences take place that celebrate important milestones in Open Education and Learning Technology: the Irish Learning Technology Association’s annual EdTech Conference, 3-4 June in Dublin, celebrates its 25th anniversary under the theme EdTech You: Digital Learning From How to Who. Just a few weeks later the OER26 Conference convenes at the Open University in Milton Keynes, to focus on Openness Reimagined: Continuity, Change and Shared Vision and celebrate several anniversaries, including 20 years of OpenLearn and 30 years of the Journal of Interactive Media in Education. 

    As a big fan of both conferences and their communities, between which there’s plenty of crossover, I am fortunate to attend both this year and a deeper dive into the themes of both events prompted me to reflect on the crossover between the themes, and how each of these events may act as a catalyst for action and for hopeful change across sectors. 

    The ILTA Co-Chairs, Dr Rob Lowney and Kate Molloy, and the organising committee, pose the following questions: 

    • “We invite you to join us in a conversation that asks: 
    • Who was, is and should be the people of your/our Edtech community? 
    • Who was, is or was missing from conversations about digital pedagogies ? 
    • Who are we designing for (or against) in EdTech, and who is missing?”

    For me, these questions relate closely to the wider context and the challenges it poses which are at the heart of OER26 led by Dr. Robert Farrow and Dr Beck Pitt: 

    “Openness has expanded participation, reshaped practice, and challenged assumptions about who education is for and how it should be delivered. Yet openness is not static. It evolves alongside the social, political, and technological conditions in which it operates. The rapid development of AI systems, platform-based infrastructures, shifting policy environments, new economic pressures, and renewed global debates about equity and justice are reshaping the terrain of open education.” 

    In both themes I see a call to (collective) action, a sense of urgency that care and connection should help determine the shape of things to come, rather than allowing technological imperatives to set the agenda. In addition, the milestones being celebrated reflect decades of valuable expertise and experience, of knowledge about the “how” of innovation in both open education and learning technology, and the invaluable work of (often volunteer) reviewers, contributors and collaborators. 

    Times may feel more uncertain than ever, and this is precisely why events like this, organised by member organisations in partnership with universities and volunteers, are so important: they open up space for reflection and discussion, galvanise action and help build new alliances and collaborations. 

    So here’s to you, OER26 and EdTech 2026! Like hundreds of fellow participants, I very much look forward to celebrating the milestones, swap stories and share inspiration come conference week!

  • YES! That’s what I am looking forward to in 2026

    YES! That’s what I am looking forward to in 2026

    It’s been a while since I got a keynote invite that had me checking flight schedules. For many good reasons, nowadays I give most of my keynotes from my home office. So it was extra exciting to see the announcement for the 2026 Annual Conference organised by ASCILITE come out last week!

    Although I worked closely with colleagues in Australia and New Zealand during my time at ALT, this is one event I never made it to in person, and to be invited to keynote this year means a lot to me. The theme of the conference is “The Future is Connection: Collaboration, Creativity and Compassion in a Digital Society” and that’s right up my street.

    So all being well, at the end of this year I’ll be making my way to Brisbane for a week of conferencing with colleagues whom I have known and worked alongside with for over a decade, but many of whom I’ve never met in person.

    Registration and the Call for Proposals will come out soon, and sponsorship opportunities are already available, so reach out to the excellent organising committee if you’d like to get involved!

    Closer to home

    I’m also really looking forward to ILTA’s 25th Anniversary Conference which is taking place in early June in Dublin, and which looks very sharp indeed in terms of both the themes and the folk involved. If you haven’t yet seen Eamon Costello’s conference intro video, or connected with the fantastic duo of conference co-chairs, Rob Lowney and Kate Molloy, then you are missing out.

    The Call for Proposals is closing soon, 1 March, and I know I am working on my submission 🙂

    I’ve also volunteered to be a member of the OER26 Conference Committee, also scheduled to take place in June, and I am looking forward to being involved with this, my probably favourite open education event of the past decade.

    Global open (reclaimed)

    Much sooner on my calendar is Open Education Week 2026, which has been a firm fixture in my year for a long time, and which keeps getting better every year (in no small part thanks to the masterful efforts of Alan Levine and his OE Global colleagues who make putting together a week-long (or year-long!) global event across every timezone available EASY! Hats off, friends, for walking the walk and bringing us all together.

    Like in the past two years I’m excited to contribute to this event with colleagues at Reclaim, another team that makes open educational technology look easy, and who tirelessly produce and share useful open resources on one of my favourite blogs on the web (disclaimer: I get to contribute posts there, too, and will indeed shortly publish our plans for Open Education Week, so look out for that!).

    As I blogged earlier this year, I am making a concerted effort to find more ways to travel and connect with folk in person, and my trip to Scotland in January really inspired and energised me, giving me more motivation to make plans for the next six months.

    If you are heading to any of these events, get in touch and let’s get together for a catch up and a coffee.