I regularly give keynotes, invited talks and workshops in the areas of digital, open and higher education. Recent topics have included higher and open education futures, critical and social justice approaches, critical digital literacies, and open education policy. A selection of recent presentations is below, with links to slides and media. All of these resources are openly licensed and available for use and/or adaptation. Please contact me if you wish to arrange a visit to your group or institution.
Selected keynotes and invited talks:
- Keynote – Imagining and building just, humane & sustainable education futures. TLU Works 2026: Celebrating Innovative Teaching & Learning, Munster Technological University, May 2026. [slides] [video]
- Keynote – Open education in Ireland: Capabilities, collectivities & co-creating just futures. HEA Open Education: Supporting Policy and Practice, Munster Technological University, May 2026. [slides] [video]
- Keynote – Higher education 2030: What stories do we tell (ourselves) about who we are? Teaching and Learning Showcase 2025, University College Cork, Ireland, December 4th, 2025. [slides]
- Keynote – New Suns: Imagining and building just, humane, and sustainable education futures. Teaching and Learning for Societal Wellbeing Conference, Discipline of Applied Social Sciences, School of Political Science & Sociology, University of Galway, Ireland, May 2025. [slides]
- Keynote – Addressing challenges to open education in an era of authoritarianism and big tech – joint keynote with Helen Beetham & Laura Czerniewicz. OTESSA 2025, Open/Technology in Education, Society, and Scholarship Association, Canada, May 2025. [slides]
- Keynote – The right to flourish. TUS Women’s Network, Technological University of the Shannon, Athlone, Ireland, January 2025. [summary]
- Keynote – Open educational practices for good. CUNY Lehman College, Bronx, New York, USA, May 2024. [slides]
- Keynote – Higher education for good: Considering open education. University of Regina, Canada, May 2024. [slides]
- Keynote – The future isn’t what it used to be: Open education at a crossroads – joint keynote with Laura Czerniewicz. OER24 Conference, Munster Technological University, Cork, Ireland, March 2024. [slides] [video] [keynote essay]
- Keynote – Kindness in education. SCoTENS project, Queens University Belfast, June 2023. [slides] [sketchnote]
- Keynote – Critical digital literacies: Developing agency and sustaining hope in troubled times. AMICAL Conference, AMICAL Consortium, Paris, June 2022. [slides & references] [video]
- Keynote – Building better futures for higher education. Curriculum Framework event, Atlantic Technological University, Sligo, January 2024. [slides]
- Keynote – Promoting equity, critical digital literacies, and hope. Ignition Erasmus project, Southeast Technological University, June 2023. [slides] [description] [video]
- Keynote – Taking time to reflect: Imagining higher education futures. Teaching & Learning Showcase, Atlantic Technological University, Galway. December 2022. [slides]
- Keynote – Open education and Open capabilities in a time of social change. Open and Affordable Community Forum, Virginia Academic Library Consortium, USA. September 2021. [slides] [video]
- Invited panelist – Considering openness, unbundling and rebundling. Open, Distance and eLearning Virtual Conference, Unisa, South Africa, August 2021.
- Invited talk – National approaches to digital and open policy: Ireland. UNESCO, OER Dynamic Coalition, June 2021.
- Invited talk – Using OER & OEP for Teaching & Learning; and Invited panelist, Access, Equity and Pedagogy, with Robin DeRosa, Sukaina Walji & Stacey Katz. Open Scholarship Week, NUI Galway, May 2021. [slides & references] [video] [video]
- Keynote – How does OpenEd fit within DigitalEd? DigitalEd Week, GMIT, Galway, May 2021. [slides]
- Faculty Seminar – Integrating OER and OEP in authentic elearning experiences. Faculty of Education, Open University of Sri Lanka, February 2021. [slides] [video]
- Keynote – Open Education Now. Future of Learning series, Commonwealth of Learning, Vancouver, January 2021. [slides & references] [video]
- Keynote – Experiences of digital transformation in higher education. Quality Forum, University of Mälmo, Sweden, November 2020. [slides]
- Invited talk – Use of OER and OEP in the online pivot, with Martin Weller. Education in time of a pandemic webinar series, European Distance & E-Learning Network (EDEN), May 2020. [info & recording]
- Keynote – Considering open, participatory and equitable pedagogies. Workshop: Transforming learning environments via student partnership, with Maha Bali. Centennial Symposium, American University Cairo, Egypt, March 2019. [slides] [references & links]
- Invited talk – Open education: What now?, with Martin Weller & Alastair Creelman. European Distance & E-Learning Network (EDEN), November 2018. [info & recording]
- Invited talk – Open educational practices in higher education: Practical and critical approaches. Universidad de la República, Uruguay, May 2018. [slides] [PRAXIS]
- Invited talk – OEP: Opening up education in South-Mediterranean countries. OpenMed, Universidad Internacional de la Rioja, Spain, December 2017. [slides] [recording]
- Invited talk – Open educational practices for teaching in higher education. e/merge Africa, University of Cape Town, South Africa, May 2017. [slides] [recording]
- Invited panelist – Mapping the politics of open, with Laura Czerniewicz & Muireanne O’Keeffe, OER17: The Politics of Open, London, April 2017. [video]
- Keynote – Open culture, open education, open questions. OER16 Conference, University of Edinburgh, April 2016. [slides] [visual thought] [sketchnote] [video]
- Keynote – Navigating the marvellous: Openness in education. ALTC 2014 Conference, University of Warwick, September 2014. [slides] [Medium post] [visual thought] [video]
- Keynote – On being an (open) educator. EdTech Conference, University College Cork, May 2013. [slides]
- Keynote – Exploring open education: Re-imagining higher education. CELT Symposium on Higher Education, National University of Ireland, Galway, June 2012. [slides]
Interviews:
- Interview with Catherine Cronin, European Open Education Champions, SPARC Europe (2021).
- Entretien avec Catherine Cronin, interview with Hèléne Pulker, Distances et Mediations des Savoirs, Nº 31 (2020).
-
Entrevista a Catherine Cronin, interview with Isabel Gutiérrez, Revista Interuniversitaria de Investigación en Tecnología Educativa, Nº 6 (2019).
- Open educational practices – Dr Catherine Cronin, Joint Research Centre, EU Science Hub (2018).
Selected presentations:
- Resisting and creativity: Generating AI alternatives, with Helen Beetham, Louise Drumm & Rosemarie McIlwhan. Open Education Conference (OER25), June 2025. [slides]
- Open education at a crossroads, with Laura Czerniewicz. Open Education Conference (OpenEd24), October 2024. [slides] [video]
- Higher Education for Good: Criticality, resistance and hope. Open Education Conference (OER23), April 2023. [slides]
- Applying the capability approach to open educational practices, with Gabi Witthaus. OER22 Conference, April 2022. [slides] [video]
- In the “after-times”: despair, criticality, resistance and hope, with Laura Czerniewicz. GO-GN webinar, February 2022. [slides]
- Building open capabilities: A national approach, Open Education Global Conference, September 2021. [slides & video]
- Policy in a time of change: Consultation, collaboration, diversity, Open Education Policy Forum #OEPF2021, September 2021.
- Practicing what we preach: An open resource on OER/OEP, with Angelica Risquez, Claire McAvinia & Celine Peignen. OERxDomains Conference, April 2021. [slides & references] [video]
- Developing enabling policies for digital and open teaching and learning, with Javiera Atenas & Leo Havemann. EdTech Winter Conference, January 2021. [slides & references]
- Why OER, and why now? CONUL Libraries and OER: The present and the future, January 2021. [slides & references]
- Framing OEP from a social justice perspective, workshop with Maha Bali & Rajiv Jhangiani. Open Education Global Conference, November 2020. [slides]
- Copyright law and open licenses for digital learning, with Darius Whelan. Enhancing Digital Teaching & Learning webinar, June 2020. [slides & references] [video]
- Critical digital literacies, data literacies and open practices. Digital Literacies and Open Practice module, City University of London, January 2020. [slides & references]
- Openness and prestige, with Bonnie Stewart & David White. Teaching Complexity, University of the Arts London, January 2019. [slides & recording]
- Equity Unbound: Equity-focused, open, connected, intercultural learning, with Mia Zamora & Maha Bali. MozFest, October 2018. [slides]
- Beyond practices: Values, challenges, and tensions associated with using OEP. Open Education Global Conference, TU Delft, Netherlands, April 2018. [references & links]
- Conceptualising OEP: A review of theoretical and empirical literature in OEP. Open Education Global Conference, TU Delft, Netherlands, April 2018. [references & links]
- Continually becoming: Open learners and open educators. OER18: Open to All, Bristol, April 2018. [visual thought] [video]
- Critical pragmatism and critical advocacy: Addressing the challenges of openness, with Laura Czerniewicz. OER17: The Politics of Open, London, April 2017.
- Using the power of narrative research to illuminate open educational practice, workshop with Caroline Kuhn. OER17: The Politics of Open, London, April 2017.
- Openness and praxis: Using OEP in higher education. Open Education Global Conference, Cape Town, South Africa, March 2017.
- Navigating the boundary between formal and informal learning in higher education. OER15: Mainstreaming Open Education, University of Cardiff, April 2015.
- Nurturing global collaboration. EdTech Conference, University College Dublin, May 2014.
- Networked learning and identity development in open online spaces. Networked Learning Conference, University of Edinburgh, April 2014.
- Enacting digital identities. Plymouth Enhanced Learning Conference, University of Plymouth, April 2013.
- Learning and teaching digital literacies. EdTech Conference, National University of Ireland, Maynooth, May 2012.
