A treat for those who are reading posts here in OEG Connect, you are the first to get our early notice that we are in motion to open the “garden” for the 2026 Open Education Awards for Excellence.
Last year we set the program in motion with this theme, where the fruits and flowers of awards all start with the act of planting a “seed”, the nomination of a person, project, or practice to be considered for recognition. Each nomination seed was not only counted, but shared so you could know about each and all of them.
And to carry the metaphor to its fullest, in the names of all award winners, this program planted 900 trees around the world through the One Tree Planted organization.
It’s Time for This Year’s Planting
The awards web site is updated now to start the 2026 season, and we are sharing first here in OEG Connect that we open the awards garden for your nominations on May 11, 2026.
That means now is the time to consider who or what might deserve recognition in 2026. A seed need not be just for “big” projects, just any person or open education effort that inspires you this year or that should receive attention for its goals and accomplishments.
If you need inspiration, we offer the full gallery of OEAwards given out since 2011 as well as a collection of quotes and stories from past awardees.
We hope you already have a few seeds in mind to plant for 2026.