As generative AI reshapes how we teach, create, and connect, the question of openness becomes newly urgent: What do we want to keep open, and for whom? In the face of increasingly algorithmic learning environments, educators are being asked to move quickly—but not always thoughtfully—toward AI adoption. This session challenges the instrumentalist framing of AI as merely a productivity or efficiency tool, and instead affirms the role of educators as designers, ethicists, and protectors of openness.
Drawing on findings from a global study on AI literacies commissioned by UNESCO IITE and recognized by MIT Open Learning and The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, this session centers three core cultural dimensions at stake in the age of AI: collaboration, creation, and connection.
Through storytelling and participatory reflection, the facilitators will guide attendees in exploring how each of these dimensions is being reshaped by AI—and how we can ensure they remain open, inclusive, and human-centered. Participants will consider how AI technologies enable or erode collaborative learning, what is gained and lost in AI-assisted creative practice, and how AI affects our emotional, pedagogical, and community ties.
The session will feature a shared reflection space to create a collective moment where participants can respond to provocations and read one another’s insights on the future of openness. We close by identifying individual and shared commitments to sustaining open pedagogy and resisting AI deployments that betray educational and societal values.
By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
1. Analyze how generative AI is reshaping cultures of collaboration, creation, and connection in education.
2. Reflect on the tensions between openness and algorithmic influence within their own contexts.
3. Envision strategies for resisting extractive AI models in favor of human-centered, values-driven practices.
4. Affirm their role as stewards of open pedagogy in the age of AI by articulating actionable commitments.
Participants will leave with a clearer understanding of the ethical, technical, and pedagogical literacies required to navigate this moment—and a renewed sense of agency to keep the doors of learning open.
Session duration: 1 hour
Please click on the facilitator’s name in the session info to view their bio.
This session will be recorded and shared on the website and on our YouTube channel
