2017 Open edX Conference
The Annual Meeting of the Open edX Community
The Open edX project is a learning experience platform originally created by edX, a nonprofit online initiative created by founding partners Harvard and MIT and composed of dozens of leading global institutions.
This event is focused on sharing knowledge among members of the global Open edX community. We will discuss innovative uses across higher education, training and lifelong learning, instructional design and course production techniques, and methods for operating, extending and enhancing the Open edX platform.
In previous years, 200 developers, educators, and decision-makers for educational and training initiatives who work with or want to learn more about the Open edX platform gathered to share, learn, and celebrate the platform.
Our keynote speakers this year are:
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Anant Agarwal, CEO and founder of edX
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Nick van Dam, Global CLO, McKinsey & Co.
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Vincent Zimmer, founder of Kiron
Our full schedule is online -- to learn more, dive into each of our tracks on our online schedule:
All attendees of the Open edX conference must abide by the conference's code of conduct.
Location
Universidad Carlos III Madrid (UC3M) has been an innovator in the area of MOOCs and an enthusiastic supporter of the Open edX project for many years. We are excited to explore beautiful Madrid and it's many sights, including:
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The Prado Museum, a short walk from the central Atocha train station and the conference hotels
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Gran Via, the central road through the old city of Madrid
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Lots of great food, wine and more!
Hands-on days
We are currently in the process of confirming space for our technical "hands-on" days the day before and after the main conference. We are planning to have two hands-on days: the day before the main conference and the day after.
Tuesday, May 23: Tutorials
The day before the conference, we are planning to host community-driven tutorials, including a developer environment "installfest" and tutorials on a variety of technical topics.
Friday, May 26: Project day and training
In past years, we have hosted a hackathon in conjunction with the Open edX conference. This year, due to time constraints, we will host a "project day" where edX and community engineers can share their project ideas, collaborate on designs, pair program and get feedback. We will have a short kickoff and wrap-up to share your project ideas and what you accomplished and learned during the day. You can share your idea for a project on the Open edX conference wiki.
We will also be hosting a one-day introductory course author training for anyone interested in learning or getting a refresher on the basics of creating courses using Studio.
Please indicate your interest in attending the hands-on day activities when you register.
Conference Hotels in Madrid
The location of the conference is in Leganés, a 25 minute train ride from the main train station in Madrid. We expect many attendees will be interested in exploring Madrid before and after conference proceedings, recommend three NH Hotels. All are within a 10-15 minute walk to the Atocha train station. From the train station, it is a 10 minute walk to the campus of UC3M.
Please note that there are two different rates for each of the three hotels. The first rate includes room and breakfast, the second includes room only. Please keep in mind that a buffet breakfast will be provided at the conference on both days.
Staying in Leganés
If any conference attendees choose to stay in Leganés, edX recommends the TRYP Madrid Leganés Hotel, just a few blocks from the UC3M campus.
We toured this hotel and can recommend it, but we are not providing a discounted rate or reserved block of rooms.
Directions to UC3M
The easiest way to travel is by taking the train: Cercanías Madrid (regional railways network).
From Atocha train station (Madrid) to UC3M at Leganés Campus:
- Take line C5, destination Humanes
- The train will make the following stops:
Méndez Álvaro – Doce de Octubre – Orcasitas – Puente Alcocer – Villaverde Alto – Zarzaquemada – Leganés - Get off at Leganés (Estimated time: 18-25 minutes)
- From Leganés Train Station to UC3M (7-10 minute walk)
From Leganés Train Station to UC3M
- Go upstairs to the street level and leave by the main exit
- Go left and walk Calle de Santa Rosa down to the main roundabout
- Take a right on to the Av. de la Universidad
- Take a left in to the walkway that leads toward the Library and Auditorio
- Follow the path, staying to the right, to the Auditorio
From the airport
- Take the underground/metro line 8 to Nuevos Ministerios. Change to the commuter train line (Cercanias) and take any train going to Atocha station (C2, C3, C4, C7, C10). Follow directions from Atocha Station above
Stay in touch
To keep up with the latest updates on Open edX Con 2017, join us on Slack, follow us on Twitter, and follow the #OpenedX2017 hashtag.