Role of the openness in shaping of the post-pandemic education (Role of international associations)

We are facing the biggest disruption of education in history caused by the global health pandemic and it is more important than ever to ensure access to education. As schools closed, over a billion of students have been hampered from learning in the way they used to, and inequalities in access to education have become even more evident. If we take the position that education is common good and should be reachable and available to all, it is our obligation to join efforts and work in this direction. Open Educational Resources (OER) can help in achieving inclusive education aiming to ensure that learners with diverse needs and preferences (such as those with disabilities) have equal opportunities in accessing learning resources, services, and learning experience in general. The Open Education movement is evolving, and besides creating and publishing OERs, focus is shifting to Open Education Practices that can be implemented using OER. It is evident that the Covid-19 crisis has resulted in a paradigm shift in how learners of all ages, worldwide, can access learning. It is, therefore essential, more than ever that the global community come together now to foster universal access to information and knowledge through OER. In this session, we plan to discuss what actions and approaches could be taken by international associations and communities to contribute to this goal.