For the past several months, 26 students from nine different countries have been participating in the UNOE Student Fellows project, organized within our UNITWIN Network on Open Education.
Build a Global Community of Students
Supported by a grant from the Hewlett Foundation, the project aims to build a global community of students from the countries where our UNESCO Chairs are based. Together, they engage in discussions and develop new imaginaries about the future of advanced technologies in education and the role that “openness” can play in the future of higher education.
As project coordinators and Chairs of the network, we deliberately chose to intervene as little as possible in the fellows’ discussions and activities in order to preserve their freedom of expression. This has not always been easy. We have had to learn to trust them, step back, and create a space where ideas can emerge freely, without the influence or oversight of teachers and supervisors.
26 Fellows, 9 Countries, 7 languages
Nico Pampier, a student at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, took on the leadership of the group. It is no small challenge, given the nine countries represented, the multiple time zones, and the diversity of languages involved.
Indeed, seven home languages are spoken across the fellows. While this linguistic diversity inevitably brings challenges, participants consistently make every effort to communicate, collaborate, and engage actively in the monthly meetings and project activities.
They were given just one instruction: select a topic from the many proposals submitted by the Chairs. Beyond that, the fellows were free to organize their work, discussions, and initiatives as they saw fit.
Students then organized themselves into small groups of four to six members, each focusing on a shared theme. The result is a set of multinational, multilingual, and multicultural teams whose diversity promises a wealth of perspectives and ideas. We look forward to discovering their final outputs, which are expected by the end of 2026.
Some Initiatives by the Fellows
The students, however, did not simply wait for the project to unfold. They quickly embraced the responsibility entrusted to them and launched several initiatives of their own. Today, we are proud to present:
A first individual deliverable, entitled Rapport d’étonnement (literally, an “astonishment report” – a pedagogical exercise used in France)
This exercise encourages students to take a fresh and reflective look at education by focusing on something that surprised, intrigued, or challenged them. They are invited to adopt a curious perspective and allow themselves a degree of naivety—whether genuine or intentional—in order to question practices, assumptions, and routines that are often taken for granted.
These reports explore a wide range of inspiring topics: critical perspectives on the relationship between assessment and learning; questions surrounding the emergence of generative AI and its implications for the future of education; reflections on the challenges of accessing Open Educational Resources (OER); more personal stories on the factors that spark the desire to learn and to succeed.
Take a moment to refresh your perspective and explore their contributions.
A great initiative developed by the Student Fellows from Universidad de la República in Uruguay. Discover here the “FANZINE PAVO REAL”, a collaborative project designed to help students around the world discover Open Educational Resources (OER) and learn how to create, adapt, and share their own openly licensed materials.
A series of international collaborative webinars, entitled “Reimagining Learning: Global Student Dialogues for the Future.” The first webinar took place on 13 June, and two more webinars are scheduled for 20 and 27 June (registration link below). These webinars provide an opportunity for students to share their thoughts, experiences and visions for the future of education on a global scale.
- 13 June 2026: Innovative Education with AI and OER
- 20 June 2026, 17:00 (CEST): Fair and Ethical Use of Artificial Intelligence in Assessment
- 27 June 2026, 17:00 (CEST): Motivations for learning and AI influence
Register here for the webinars
A webinar by 3 Tunisian Fellows, entitled “Transforming Student Research into Multilingual Open Educational Resources.“ Mainly aimed at students, the webinar will outline the characteristics of an OER and encourage the students to apply open licences to their final-year dissertations.
- 19 June 2026, 19:00 (CEST) : Transforming Student Research into Multilingual Open Educational Resources
These first achievements already demonstrate the creativity, commitment, and diversity of perspectives brought by the Student Fellows. Through their reflections, initiatives, and exchanges, they are helping to shape a pluralistic and international vision for the future of open education. We look forward to continuing this journey alongside them and to discovering the projects and outcomes that will emerge before the end of 2026.
