OLC Accelerate 2021 Presenter FAQs

• April 26, 2021: Proposals due by 11:59pm ET (extended from April 19)
• June 15, 2021: Notification of acceptance
• June 30, 2021: Deadline for presenters to accept
• July 21, 2021: Presentation schedule to be posted
• August 11, 2021: Deadline for presenters to register
• August 11, 2021: Final date for presenters to submit abstract edits
• September 2, 2021: Final date to request Zoom polls or breakout rooms (for virtual and onsite streamed presenters)
• September 10, 2021: Final date for presenters to upload presentation files and update conference presenter profile
• September 20-24, 2021: Virtual Conference
• October 5-8, 2021: Onsite Conference

• GUIDELINES ON PRESENTING YOUR SESSION: (What to cover; how to engage) Sessions should be designed with specific, identifiable learning outcomes for participants and provide participants with tangible “take-away” information. Presenters must consider how participant engagement will be used to achieve participant learning outcomes. Presenters must account for at least 5-10 minutes of Q & A during or at the end of the session to encourage audience participation.
• TIME, DATE & LENGTH OF SESSIONS: Education Sessions, Express Workshops, Gamified Sessions, and Industry Showcase Sessions will be held throughout the conference during each 45 minute concurrent session. Workshops are scheduled over two 45-minute time blocks. There are 15 minute breaks between each concurrent session. You can find the specific time for your session on the conference website Program page. We recommend that you arrive 15 minutes early to prepare and set up any necessary configurations needed for your session.
• PARTICIPATION BY ATTENDEES: Attendees are free to select any session to attend during a particular time slot; there is no advance registration for sessions. Depending on the interest level for your session and other sessions during your time slot, you may have anywhere from 10-100+ people in your session. Sessions that are live streamed (see the program to determine if your session is live streamed) will be available for on-demand viewing by all onsite and virtual attendees for one year post-conference.
• ROOM LAYOUT: Rooms will be primarily set in banquet round seating that will accommodate for social distancing requirements. There will be a podium and head table for presenters in the front of the room.
• PRESENTATION TECHNOLOGY: Each room is equipped with an LCD projector (16:9 aspect ratio), wireless Internet connection, laptop audio output capability, a podium and a screen. Rooms are not equipped with computers; presenters must provide their own computers. The conference does not provide laptops for presenters. We recommend you bring any specialized conversion cables along with you, such as Mac adapters, if needed to connect to HDMI. Microphones, including a mic at the podium (gooseneck or lav, depending on the room) for the lead presenter and mics on stands on the head table for co-presenters. Some rooms are of a size where it is deemed microphones are not needed. 
• ASSISTANCE FOR PRESENTERS: Technicians will be roaming the rooms to assist if needed. You will also have a hall monitor who can secure assistance for you as needed. 
• PARTICIPANT TECHNOLOGY PROVIDED: Presenters must explicitly note what technology participants are expected to bring along with them to the session in the session abstract. No in-room computers are available. PLEASE NOTE- not all participants will be able to bring computers or tablets. Wireless connectivity is provided for participants.
• PRIOR TO THE CONFERENCE: We ask that all presenters upload their presentation and any support materials (including handouts) to the conference repository prior to the conference (due September 10, 2021). Attendees will want to view in advance the conference repository to determine their session selection and find materials for those they will miss.
• HANDOUTS/DOCUMENTS FOR PARTICIPANTS: Handouts should be uploaded to the repository associated with your session (due September 10, 2021). If you wish to use hard-copy handouts during your session, please print them in advance and bring them with you. We are unable to print onsite.
• FINAL INSTRUCTIONS:
  Please note that computers are not provided for this or any session at OLC Accelerate; therefore all sessions are designated at BYOD (Bring Your Own Device). Each presenter must bring their own laptop/device, and must specify what device requirements are expected of participants attending the session.

• GUIDELINES ON PRESENTING YOUR SESSION: (What to cover; how to engage) Sessions should be designed with specific, identifiable learning outcomes for participants and provide participants with tangible “take-away” information. Presenters must consider how participant engagement will be used to achieve participant learning outcomes. Presenters must account for at least 5-10 minutes of Q & A during or at the end of the session to encourage audience participation.

  Workshops, Pre-conference Master Classes, and Summits should be designed with specific, identifiable learning outcomes for participants and provide participants with tangible “take-away” information, models, and/or products with multiple opportunities for collaborative and/or interactive group activities to engage participants in a more in-depth look into the topic and related technological tools. Presenters must consider how participant engagement will be used to achieve participant learning outcomes. Presenters must account for questions, answers, and/or whole group discussion within the course of the workshop.

• TIME, DATE & LENGTH OF SESSIONS: Education Sessions, Express Workshops, Gamified Sessions, and Industry Showcase Sessions will be held throughout the conference during each 45 minute concurrent session. Summits will take place in 3 parts of 45 minutes each. Workshops will have time slots of 120 minutes, spanning two 45-minute time blocks plus the 30-minute break in between. Pre-conference Master Classes will be held on Friday, September 17 and will be 3 hours in length each. 

  You can find the specific time for your session on the conference website Program page. Presenters should plan to enter their Zoom rooms through the attendee links about 10-15 minutes prior to the session start time. The OLC staff room manager will promote presenter to “co-host” status in the Zoom room. Please allow this 10-15 minutes to do any tech checks and finalize plans with your room manager and session chair for Q&A or other requests for your session. 

• PARTICIPATION BY ATTENDEES: Attendees are free to select any session to attend during a particular time slot; there is no advance registration for sessions. Depending on the interest level for your session and other sessions during your time slot, you may have anywhere from 10-100+ people in your session. All OLC Accelerate sessions will be recorded and made available for on-demand viewing by all onsite and virtual attendees for one year post-conference.
• PRESENTATION TECHNOLOGY: Presenters must provide their own computers and technology (including a headset and microphone) for their virtual presentation. We encourage all presenters to either attend or review the recording of the presenter services webinars for more guidance on what to expect as a virtual presenter. 
• ASSISTANCE FOR PRESENTERS: Each Zoom room is assigned an OLC staff manager and a volunteer session chair to assist as needed. 
• PRIOR TO THE CONFERENCE: We strongly encourage all presenters to upload their presentation and any support materials (including handouts) to the conference management system prior to the conference (due September 10, 2021). Many virtual attendees will look for your presentation materials during the session. Additionally, since there are a large number of sessions occurring throughout the conference, attendees will want to view in advance the conference repository to determine their session selection and find materials for those they will miss. Uploading your materials to the conference management system in advance is also an accessibility consideration. 
• HANDOUTS/DOCUMENTS FOR PARTICIPANTS: Handouts should be uploaded to your session in the conference management system no later than September 10, 2021. 

• GUIDELINES ON PRESENTING YOUR DISCOVERY OR EXPOSITION FOUNDRY ASYNCHRONOUS SESSION: (What to cover; how to engage) Discovery and Exposition Foundry Asynchronous Sessions will be presented virtually in an asynchronous format in conjunction with PlayPosit. These sessions should involve a brief (10-15 minutes maximum) video presentation that is added to PlayPosit where you will add interactions and engagement components that will encourage a meaningful experience for both you as a presenter as well as the attendees who watch your asynchronous video presentation.
• TIME, DATE & LENGTH OF DISCOVERY OR EXPOSITION FOUNDRY ASYNCHRONOUS SESSIONS: These sessions will be hosted asynchronously in the PlayPosit platform. You will not see a date or time associated with your presentation in the program listing.
• PARTICIPATION BY ATTENDEES: Attendees are free to view and participate in any one or all of the sessions. Depending on the types of engagement interactions you add to your PlayPosit presentation, attendees may engage and participate. If you would like to incorporate other technologies using the “web-embed” tool in PlayPosit, you may do so in order to encourage a dialogue between presenters and attendees. 
• PRESENTATION TECHNOLOGY: Presenters must provide their own computers and technology (including a headset and microphone) for their virtual video presentation creation. We encourage all presenters to either attend or review the recording of the presenter services webinars for more guidance on what to expect as a virtual presenter.  OLC will provide a presentation template and share a link to join the PlayPosit “class” where you will create your “bulb” by adding your video and interaction components. Completed presentation “bulbs” are due no later than September 10 in order for OLC to make your presentation available to the registered conference attendees by the start of the conference.  
• ASSISTANCE FOR PRESENTERS: Please contact conference@onlinelearning-c.org for assistance with your session. 
• PRIOR TO THE CONFERENCE: We require all  presenters to complete their presentation “bulb” in the shared PlayPosit “class” no later than September 10, 2021. Presenters may also upload their presentation and any support materials (including handouts) to the conference management system prior to the conference (due September 10, 2021). Sessions will remain available to conference attendees for one year post-conference for on demand viewing and continued conversations about your content. 
• HANDOUTS/DOCUMENTS FOR PARTICIPANTS: Handouts should be uploaded to your session in the conference management system no later than September 10, 2021. 

All virtual live streaming presentations will have a couple of housekeeping slides at the beginning and end of each session. The closing housekeeping slides will include a session evaluation reminder. Onsite presenters should download our “Session Evaluation Reminder Slide” (.pptx) to insert at the beginning and end of your presentation to encourage attendees to complete evaluations for your session. We recommend 16:9 ratio slides to maximize the screen size and proportions. Please note that we do not use paper evaluation forms. All sessions evaluations are done through the conference website, the conference beta platform or the conference mobile app.

OLC Accelerate will take place in two modalities. We will offer the same slate of vibrant conversation and knowledge sharing you’ve come to expect from virtual OLC events, then we’ll convene onsite two weeks later for more programming, including conversation, networking, and ample opportunity to share both your ideas and your knowledge. Join us, make new friends, and re-connect in Washington, D.C. at the gorgeous Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center!

• OLC Accelerate Virtual will take place September 20-24, 2021.
• OLC Accelerate Onsite will take place October 5-8, 2021.
• If you register for an “ALL ACCESS PASS”, you are registering for both the virtual and onsite components of the conference.
• If you register for “FULL VIRTUAL PASS”, you are registering for only the OLC Accelerate virtual portion of the conference.
• Onsite Presenters would register for the ALL ACCESS PASS.
• Virtual presenters would register for the FULL VIRTUAL PASS unless they intend to also participate in the onsite portion of the conference.

Yes, all presenters are required to register in advance of the conference. Presenters must register and pay the registration fee no later than August 11, 2021 in order to avoid potential session cancelation. The registration fee table can be found on the registration page. Any presenter unable to register by August 11 should contact Christine Hinkley, Sr. Director of Conferences, at christine.hinkley@onlinelearning-c.org with a description of the issue and the time frame you expect it to be resolved within. 

No, OLC does not cover any other conference-related expenses for presenters. As a non-profit, OLC is unable to provide assistance for travel or lodging expenses to presenters. Presenters are responsible for their own travel and lodging expenses, including all taxes and fees on said travel and lodging expenses.

The final date presenters can submit edits to their abstracts or submit co-presenter information is August 11, 2021. Any changes submitted after that date will not be included in the conference program. Any changes to presenters, session descriptions, etc. must be submitted no later than August 11 to conference@onlinelearning-c.org.

Yes, all proposals go through a rigorous 3-phase review process. The first phase consists of a double-blind peer-review. The second phase is review and recommendation by the track chairs. The third phase is a final review by the conference and program chairs and the OLC conference team.

Submission notifications are scheduled to be emailed on June 15. Notifications are sent to all authors on each submission. Only the lead presenter should claim the session. All submissions are sent notification emails, regardless of acceptance status. Please be sure to “whitelist” emails from the @onlinelearning-c.org domain. If you do not receive a notification email, please contact us at conference@onlinelearning-c.org.

No, OLC does not require a final paper submission. Your presentation is your final product. We require presenters to upload a final presentation by September 10, 2021 to the presenter’s session page so that it is available to conference attendees. Your presentation can be a link (ie. Prezi, SlideShare, VoiceThread, etc.) or a file upload (.pdf is recommended). This material, along with the full abstract and information about the authors, becomes part of the conference materials that remain on the website. You may also elect to submit a final paper (recommended for Research sessions), should you have one, for consideration for publication in OLC’s Online Learning Journal. These are the stated guidelines for the journal: papers should be full papers, which include scientific rigor and data. The results presented should clearly advance our field by providing new information. Papers that are purely anecdotal or have no research underlayment will not be considered for publication. Papers are typically 10 to 20 pages printed and conform to the guidelines for publication found at https://onlinelearningconsortium.org/read/journals/. All full paper submissions may be eligible for publication in the conference proceedings and/or special issue of the Online Learning Journal. These manuscripts must be original ( not published or accepted in a journal or conference proceedings and currently not under consideration for publication elsewhere). Papers are blind reviewed.

In light of the ongoing difficulties with the COVID-19 pandemic, and understanding the uncertainties and challenges institutions are currently facing, we are launching our Call for Presentations for our fall OLC Accelerate 2021 conference with flexible presentation options that accommodate both onsite and virtual participation. OLC is pleased to offer presenters a choice to present onsite in Washington, DC, or in a virtual presenter to virtual audience format. Additionally, we have moved Discovery Sessions to a completely virtual format in order to accommodate for social distancing needs in this presentation format. Presenters must register for the conference – onsite presenters must register for the All Access Pass. Virtual only presenters must register for the Full Virtual Access Pass.

No, OLC does not provide laptops for presenters. Each onsite presentation room is equipped with an LCD projector, a wired Internet connection to the podium, laptop audio output capability, a podium and a screen (16:9 ratio). Computers are not provided. Each presenter must bring their own laptop. LCD projectors are installed with an HDMI cable to accommodate both PC and Macintosh systems. Make certain that your computer is properly configured and all the necessary plug-ins have been pre-loaded prior to your presentation. Be sure to bring the appropriate adapters as needed if your computer or device does not have an HDMI port. In addition, because of the idiosyncrasies of internet traffic, you should consider loading Web pages onto a flash drive rather than trying to call them up live. If you have technical questions or other A/V needs not mentioned above, please contact conference@onlinelearning-c.org.

Virtual presenters are responsible for their own presentation technology, including but not limited to computers, headsets, and microphones. We strongly recommend presenters use a headset and microphone to ensure the best audio quality for their audience.

We will provide an HDMI connection at the podium for presentations. If your laptop does not have an HDMI output, we recommend you bring an adapter for your laptop depending on what ports your laptop has.

Yes, OLC has contracted for a special room rate at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center, where the conference will be held. Attendees of the conference must book their hotel room through the conference website no later than Monday, September 13, 2021 in order to receive discounted rates starting at $269++* per night plus taxes and fees. The special conference rate also applies for three days prior to and three days after the conclusion of the conference. You will be able to make your hotel reservations using the reservations link on the travel page. 

The conference website will have a complete listing of sessions where you may find the date and time assigned for your presentation. After the schedule is published in July, you may search for your presentation date/time/room assignment. You may search a number of ways – by track, by presentation type, date, etc. – to find your presentation. You can also use the Presenter tab to search by your last name. There are advanced search filters in the “Search” tab that allow you to search by keyword, date, session type, track, audience, or special session type. Click on the link for your presentation and you will see the full description for your session. Please refer to the conference website if you are uncertain about your presentation type or length. It will be listed as part of your presentation description. Be sure to check back frequently as presentation rooms, dates, and times do change. If attending onsite, we recommend that you plan to stay through the end of the conference (Friday at 1pm ET) and make your travel arrangements accordingly.

All virtual sessions will be presented in a virtual presenter to virtual audience format and will be recorded for on-demand viewing by conference attendees. 

Certain onsite sessions will also be designated for live streaming for virtual attendee viewing. Please review the live streaming schedule to determine if your session has been designated for streaming. The lead presenter of each accepted session must complete the presenter release form during the presentation claiming process. Beyond the release form, minimal additional preparation is required for live streamed presenters.

• We do ask that you use the microphone provided for your presentation as well as to repeat any questions you may be asked.
• Please do acknowledge your virtual audience and make sure that any activities you may plan for your session include an option for virtual attendees.
• You will have a session chair at your presentation to introduce your session as well as monitor questions during the broadcast from virtual attendees and present those to you on their behalf during Q & A. Your session chair may make contact with you prior to the start of the conference.
• All streamed sessions and virtual-to-virtual sessions will be available on-demand post-conference to all onsite and virtual attendees for 1 year.
• If you have any questions regarding the streaming sessions, contact the conference management team at conference@onlinelearning-c.org. Please take a moment and look over these guidelines and documents if your presentation is scheduled to be streamed.
• OLC Presenter Services – Streaming Presenter Considerations – A useful guide to prepare the presenters (coming soon)

Goals for Live Stream Sessions: 

• OLC Presenter Services – Streaming Presenter Considerations – A useful guide to prepare the presenters (coming soon)
• Actively involve virtual attendees in the session so they feel as if they are participating in the conference.
• Create an open dialog between virtual attendees the session presenters and session participants.

Tips for Designing Your Live Streamed Session: 

• Create and upload an online worksheet or handout so audience can take notes
• Be sure to upload your presentation and any additional materials so virtual attendees can access them quickly and easily
• Add the OLC-provided session evaluation reminder slide to the beginning and end of your slide deck
• Design with interaction in mind (Use interactive features (i.e. polling, Q&A, Twitter) at the beginning, middle and end interaction)
• Plan content in small segments that allow for discussion breaks or interactivity

Working with Your Session Chair:

• Arrive early to meet your Session Chair
• Agree on a signal indicating questions from the virtual audience
• Provide all necessary information to Session Chair (i.e. polling information) before session start
• Indicate if you want signals regarding time

Delivering an Interactive, Live Streamed Session

• Engage both audiences with your intro; ask questions, tell an interesting story
• Plan breaks for questions or comments; seek input from virtual audience; plan for a potential time delay in responses from virtual audience (could be up to 45 seconds based on upload and download speeds)
• Pay attention to signals from the Session Chair
• Repeat questions from in-room participants who do not use a microphone
• Be conscientious of wearing a microphone. Your mic will pick up any side commentary with co-presenters that the online audience can hear
• Save time at the end of the presentation for audience Q & A
• Provide contact information for post-session questions
• Thank both audiences for their participation
• Remind both onsite and virtual audience to please complete the session evaluation form (found on the session page on the conference website)

Yes. Each session has a link on the website that allows attendees to complete session evaluation forms online. We will provide a slide you should insert at the start and end of your presentation to encourage evaluations to be submitted by your session attendees. All session evaluations will be collected, tabulated by the conference management team, and the results sent to you in the weeks following the conference. Keynote presentations will have their evaluations gathered in the online post-conference survey.

 Each virtual-to-virtual session will have a session chair and an OLC staff member who will be available to assist if any technical issues may arise. At both the onsite and virtual-to-virtual conferences, the session chair will introduce the presentation to the audience, monitor the live stream, and collect virtual attendee questions to pose to the presenter(s) during Q & A.

Each onsite session will have either a session chair or a hall monitor. All live streamed sessions will have session chairs, who will notify the AV manager if the presenter is having technical issues, introduce the presentation to the onsite and virtual audiences, monitor the live stream, and collect virtual attendee questions to pose to the presenter(s) during Q & A. Non-streamed sessions will have hall monitors, who will report technical issues to the AV manager.

Yes! We strongly encourage you to post your presentation and any support materials to your conference session page no later than September 10, 2021. This is important for your fellow conference attendees so they can be prepared for your session. Doing so is also important for those who may need the resources to assist important accessibility issues. OLC is unable to make copies of handouts.

No, OLC does not provide flipcharts for presenters to use in the onsite presentation rooms. We recommend that you start a Google doc and project it as your “flip chart” and then share the doc with any participants who want access after your presentation.

We recommend creating your presentation in 16:9 format, but either 4:3 or 16:9 can be accommodated.

All virtual-to-virtual synchronous presentations and onsite streaming presentations will be held via Zoom Meeting rooms accessed through our online conference venue.

Breakout rooms are not encouraged because they cannot be recorded or captioned individually. However, if using a breakout room is critical to your presentation, please plan to leave one group in the main room for the benefit of on-demand viewers. Requests for breakout rooms should be made by contacting conference@onlinelearning-c.org no later than September 2.

If you would like to conduct a poll using Zoom’s functionality, submit your questions and answer options to conference@onlinelearning-c.org no later than September 2. If using external collaboration or polling tools, please be sure they can be screen-shared, included in the captioning, recorded as part of your presentation, and made available to the on-demand audience.

Yes! Let’s work together to create some buzz about your participation in this conference! Please promote your own presentation as well as the conference in general to your colleagues and social networks. The Twitter handle is @OLCToday; the hashtag for this conference is #OLCAccelerate. Feel free to create a hashtag for your own presentation as well. Presenters may indicate a custom hashtag in the presentation claiming process. We also suggest you post hashtags at the start of your session and encourage attendees to use them.

These presentations are asynchronous electronic poster sessions. With social distancing concerns top of mind, Discovery sessions will be fully virtual presentations that allow presenters to share their work, ideas, and innovations in a virtual presenter to virtual audience format. These sessions allow for a greater exchange of ideas and in-depth asynchronous conversations about important topics to the OLC community. 

• Each presenter will prepare a digital presentation and upload to an synchronous platform where audio comments can be added. This is essentially pre-recording your short presentation.
• Because these unique sessions are conducted asynchronously, there is no date or time listed in the program for your Discovery Session. We require that your presentation be uploaded to the designated platform for the conference Discovery Sessions by the September 10 deadline. You will receive information and link to your presentation shell from the OLC conference management team about a month before the deadline. 
• Each accepted presenter will register as a virtual attendee.  
• These Discovery Sessions should include a brief (10-15 minutes maximum) electronic presentation to elicit ideas from your peers. The Discovery Sessions allow for interactive 1:1 discussions between presenters and attendees. In general, we recommend a short series of PowerPoint slides (no more than 5) that hit your key points and are visually appealing to draw attendees to your presentation. 
• It is especially important for Discovery Session presenters to upload your presentation and any support materials (including handouts) to the conference repository prior to the conference. Questions on uploading to the repository can be emailed to OLC Conference Support at conference@onlinelearning-c.org. Any additional handouts should also be uploaded to the repository.  

It is becoming increasingly common for conference participants to document and disseminate the information shared in conference sessions through social media.  We are requesting that you help them (and us) capture, credit, and amplify your message more effectively and accurately. Here are some best practices and ideas for your consideration.

• Include your Twitter handle and conference hashtag on each slide. If you do not have a Twitter handle, consider including one of a research partner or affiliated program or institution. Doing so benefits you in several ways. First, it provides session attendees with an easy way to give you credit for your ideas. Second, it allows you to monitor what attendees are tweeting about your session. If they quote you incorrectly, you have the opportunity to correct them or engage them in dialogue. Finally, by having the information on each slide, it automatically provides a source and context when participants take pictures of your slides – even if they fail to caption the pictures on social media.
• Be explicit (in advance) about things you don’t want shared beyond the room. If there are just a few ideas within your talk that are sensitive in nature, just make that clear to your audience; live tweeters are even more likely to honor your wishes than the non-tweeting conference goer, because if they share something inappropriate you are more likely to find out! Be advised that all session recordings will be available to paid conference attendees for 1 year post-conference.
• Consider publishing your slides to a digital slide sharing service. Many presenters across disciplines are beginning to publish their slides – either in advance or immediately after –  to platforms such as www.slideshare.net.  This allows attendees to revisit the presentation and reaches individuals who were unable to attend your session, thereby amplifying your message far beyond your session.  If you choose to publish your slides, you can include the link in your session page instead of your final presentation file (due September 10, 2021).
• Use a microphone and repeat any audience questions into it so that all participants can engage. With sessions that are being live streamed in particular, virtual attendees will not be able to hear you or questions if they are not spoken into a microphone.

As lead presenter of a session at the conference, we urge you to upload or link to your presentation file and any additional supplemental files for your presentation. These materials will be available to onsite and virtual conference attendees on the OLC Accelerate 2021 website, linked on your session page.  Providing your final presentation is essential to providing a quality conference experience for all attendees.

• Log into your OLC user account
• Select “Conference Profile” from the left-hand menu.
• Once in the Conference Management System, click on “My Sessions” in the upper right.
• Next to your session, click on the “Edit” link.
• Click on the “Upload Files” link for your session.
• Add your presentation url or upload your presentation file using the file browser.  (If you are using PowerPoint, we recommend saving your ppt file as a PDF and uploading the smaller file-size PDF.)
• Scroll down and click “Save.”

We ask for files to be uploaded by September 10, 2021. If you make changes to your presentation in the weeks leading up to the conference, you may upload a revised version of your presentation at any time by following the same steps outlined above.