About the Conference
 Openness and flexibility are major trends in contemporary education, influencing the whole spectrum of education institutions across the globe. Technological advancement and breakthroughs are bringing about a paradigm shift in contemporary education. Modes of learning and teaching are becoming more open and flexible in terms of time, space, curriculum contents, organization, pedagogical methods, infrastructure and requirements. This change does not only happen in open universities, but also conventional tertiary institutions, as well as schools. The rapid development of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) is one example that well manifests the global trend of open and flexible learning. With this background, the Open University of Hong Kong (OUHK) has organized the annual conferences of open and flexible education, which aim to:
- provide a platform for sharing research, practices and views relevant to open and flexible education;
- facilitate networking and cross-institutional collaboration among researchers and educators in both open and conventional universities; and
- promote open and flexible education to enhance educational access and quality.
Following the success of the First and Second International Conferences on Open and Flexible Education held in 2014 and 2015, the Third International Conference on Open and Flexible Education will be held on 6–8 July, 2016 at Jubilee College, the Open University of Hong Kong.
 
Conference theme
The theme for the Third International Conference on Open and Flexible Education (ICOFE 2016) is 'Innovative Pedagogy and Technology', featuring creative pedagogical practices to enhance open and flexible learning and novel use of technologies in educational contexts. It will explore the possibilities of new approaches and means of pedagogy for learning in a wider range of places and times. The conference encourages sharing of research and practices concerning teaching and ways to meet the needs of various types of learners, as well as for better or more effective processes, technologies, or ideas that are accepted by those in charge of education such as teachers, educators or policy makers.
Subthemes of the conference include the following:
| 1. |
Pedagogical innovations; |
| 2. |
Innovations in educational technology; |
| 3. |
Innovations in curriculum development; |
| 4. |
Mobile and ubiquitous learning; |
| 5. |
Engaging students and learning design; |
| 6. |
Social media and technology-mediated learning communities; and |
| 7. |
Open educational resources and MOOCs. |
We welcome papers on all topics related to open or flexible education. Papers on related topics will also be considered.
Conference language
The Conference will be conducted in English.
Papers submitted for presentation must be in English.
Conference publication
Accepted papers will be included in the conference proceedings. Authors of selected papers will also be invited to submit an extended version of their papers for journal publication or an edited book. |
