Minnesota State Open Education Conference

About the Conference

Join colleagues from across Minnesota State for this virtual conference focused on OER and innovative practices in open education within the system.

The 2026 conference was held March 25-26

Thank you to our presenters, room hosts, and attendees for making the inaugural Minnesota State Open Education Conference a success! Your energy and collaboration made it possible.

Session Title	Presenter(s)
Keynote: Helping as Hope	Dave Ernst
Crowd-Sourcing your OER: Collaboration and Partnerships	Mark Johnson and Katie Nelson
Using AI to Replace Publisher Activities with Open Interactive Practice	Andrew Aspaas
Learning as We Label: Navigating Course Markings Across Campus	Mary Muehlberg and Travis Dolence
Creating OER Virtual Field Trips with Free Tools	Mary Lebens
Teaching with Technology: Engaging Learners with Podcasting and Universal Design for learning	Stacey Van Gelderen and Alisa Stark
The Learning Circle Story	Karen Pikula
UDL, Open Pedagogy, OER & You​	Elizabeth Harsma
Accessible by Design: Using AI to Support Different Learning Styles in Open Courses	Dane Seelen
Knowledge, Needs, and Support Networks: Library Survey Results and Discussion	Kayla Olson
Course Markings Pilot Program at Minnesota State University, Mankato	Chris Corley, Heidi Southworth, Jackie Schickling, Peggy Borgmeier, and Emma Schmidtke
Q&A about OER	Heather McIntosh, Karen Pikula, and Emma Schmidtke
The Good Trouble of Open Education in Minnesota State	Kim Lynch
Let's Create (Or Edit) an Image With AI!	Kathleen Coate
Clearing Copyrights, Contracts, and Privacy Rights in Materials Used in OER	Gary Hunter
Image Generation Tools for Teaching and Communication	Nat Gustafson-Sundell and Evan Rusch
AI as an OER Partner: Scaling Z-Degrees with Copilot	Heather Biedermann
Building a Culture of Openness at Central Lakes College	Lori-Beth Larsen with Dave Bissonette, Andrea Carlson, David Gray, Mark Lindquist, and Karen Pikula
AI as an Ethical OER Assistant: Using Automation Without Replacing Human Authorship	Fran Ackerman (Kennedy)
Supporting OER Professional Development	Michelle Schoenecker and Randi Madisen
The Educator Toolkit: Incorporating Study Skills into Your Classes	Kathyrn Klopfleisch and Elizabeth Kellett
Educators Redesigning Courses Through Critical Open Practices	Lori-Beth Larsen
Designing Zero-Cost Courses for Student Engagement	Anitha Peddireddy
OER, H5P and AI, Oh My! Redesigning Medical Terminology for All	Paula Croonquist and Mary Lebens
Spin the Wheel of OERs: Learning Without Limits	Nancyruth Leibold and Laura M. Schwarz
Faculty Engagement in Business Z-TP System Initiative	Rebecca Evan
Not Content with “Content”?: Using D2L Announcements for Student-Friendly Communication	Diana Ostrander
Using Perusal in Humanities	Nick Timmerman
Writing an OER World History Text	Joel Juen
The Z-Degree Campus Experience - More Than Saving Students Money	Michael Olesen
Z‑Degrees in Practice: Lessons Learned from Minnesota State Librarians	Johnna Horton, Sara Carman, Randi Madisen, Mary Dennison, Mary Muehlberg, Travis Dolence, and Madeleine Schense
Closing Remarks from the Senior Vice Chancellor for ASA	Satasha Green-Stephen