A look beyond the sessions at CAUCE 2026
SESSION: Artificial Intelligence in Education: Ownership, Ethics, and the Future of Knowledge
PRESENTER: Dr. Rory McGreal, Editor, The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning (IRRODL), UNESCO Chair in Open Educational Resources, Athabasca University
What inspired you to submit this presentation, and why was this topic important for you to share with the CAUCE community?
I submitted this presentation because generative AI is rapidly changing how open educational resources are created, adapted, translated, and published. As UNESCO Chair in Open Educational Resources at Athabasca University, Canada’s Open University, I wanted to explore both the opportunities and the responsibilities involved in using AI to expand access to high-quality learning materials. The topic was especially important for the CAUCE community because continuing and distance education institutions are well positioned to use AI to support flexible, scalable, and inclusive learning, provided that human judgement, quality assurance, openness, and equity remain central.
What makes this topic particularly relevant to your institution, and why did you want to share those insights with others?
The subject is particularly relevant to Athabasca University because its open and distance-learning mandate has long depended on developing, sharing, and sustaining educational resources for learners regardless of location or schedule. AI offers promising ways to assist educators and publishers with drafting, revising, localizing, and enhancing OER, but it also raises important questions about authorship, copyright, accuracy, bias, accessibility, and the preservation of genuinely open licences. I wanted to share insights from this perspective because AI should strengthen—not undermine—the core OER commitments to access, participation, reuse, and public benefit.
How would you describe your experience presenting at the CAUCE Conference, and what stood out most to you about engaging with attendees?
Presenting at the CAUCE Conference was a very positive experience. The attendees were attentive, engaged, and participatory, and their questions and observations demonstrated a strong practical interest in how AI can be used responsibly in educational development and publishing. What stood out most was the collegial discussion: participants did not treat AI simply as a technical novelty, but as an issue requiring thoughtful decisions about pedagogy, institutional policy, academic integrity, and learner support.