Tough economic times ahead call for acceleration and institutionalization of new, open models for scholarship and education. Years of pilot projects have produced sufficient bodies of evidence to define the model of scholarship for the 21st century.

Open education, open textbooks, open access to scholarly journals, open educational resources, open source software all point to new models that can reduce the cost of higher education while enhancing its mission.

In December of 2008, The OPEN Forum convened higher education leaders for a strategic dialogue to accelerate, broaden and sustain the strategic benefit of open.  Powerful speakers who are recognized as leaders, visionaries and innovators in the advancement of open solutions, addressed an attending body comprised of higher education technology leaders, academic leaders, and business leaders.

The Forum’s format was designed to facilitate dialogue from both speakers and audience alike, and the result was a rich and varied conversation about what is being accomplished now in advancing the opportunities of open and what can be accomplished in the future.

You may have missed the conference, but you needn’t miss the opportunity to hear the relevant and timely presentations given there.  All of the presentations were videotaped and are available for your viewing under “Proceedings.”