25.11.2025, 22:00–22:45 o'clock (Europe/Berlin), Stage One
It shouldn’t be a surprise that Open Education is lagging behind in Latin America. This continuous trend is a sample of old barriers and constraints in new, fast-evolving and uncertain contexts in different scales. Moreover, these trends respond to how Education as a system is under scrutiny and attack. This presentation will intend to light up contexts where Open Education is underestimated, omitted or threatened, but also feature bright examples of ongoing and impactful achievement from the Latin American region. How will Open Education look like in the era of AI disruption, right-wing political agenda, exacerbation of the climate crisis? Is it relevant to be “open” in this context?
Frank is a second-generation NOERd — he joined the game when it was already in full swing. On the one hand, he regrets that a bit, since he’s only now getting to know so many great people and past projects. On the other hand, he feels that this sometimes allows him to look at OER and OEP from a slightly different “lens.”
Beyond the big topic of openness, Frank can hardly rein in his curiosity about anything related to learning and teaching. That might have something to do with the fact that he once studied (vocational) pedagogy — but then again, maybe not.
Werner Westermann Juárez has worked in the Civic Education Program, at the Library of National Congress of Chile since 2015. He is a History, Geography and Social Sciences Teacher and Bachelor Graduate in History from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Over 25 years of work experience in digital technology-enabled education and training, as well as research and development projects, in national government agencies (Ministry of Education), higher education (REUNA, IPP), international agencies (ECLAC) and civil society institutions.
Open Education advocate and practitioner: co-writer of the Cape Town Open Education Declaration. Has developed research on Open Educational Resources OER adoption and impact (ROER4D) and developed web-based, interactive Open Textbooks and offline curriculum-aligned OER for Chile and El Salvador. Hub Coordinator for Open Education for a Better World OE4BW initiative and a member of Open Education Consortium’s Latin America Regional Node (OE LATAM). 2021 Open Education Award, mention Support Specialist. UNESCO HQ consultant on OER and AI in education policies and master plans. International Jury Member for UNESCO’s ICT in Education Global Prize since 2018.