Every great session starts with a simple question: What does our community need to know right now? The program for OLC Accelerate 2026 isn’t just a schedule of events; it is a tapestry woven from the real-world challenges, triumphs, and “aha!” moments of practitioners like you.
As the Call for Proposals remains open through May 20, we want to do more than just invite you to speak. We want to share the beacons our community has lit. We asked our Accelerate 2025 attendees what they are most hungry to learn, and their feedback is a direct invitation for your expertise.
The 2026 Topics Wishlist
Before you look at the tracks or session types, take a moment to see where your spark aligns with your peers’ needs.
Our attendees are specifically looking for insights on:
- Leadership & Strategy: Navigating uncertain socio-political waters (especially for mid-level managers), leading remote teams, recruitment of online learners, dealing with resource scarcity, and program-level strategic discussions.
- The Future of AI: Moving beyond “how to use it” to focus on the impact of AI, its ethics, and rigorous scientific studies on the calibration of AI response quality.
- The Human Element: Integrating wellness, emotional literacy, mental health, and social action into our work. This includes mentorship programs and strategies for increasing students’ reading comprehension in a tech-saturated era.
- Pedagogy & Creative Instruction: Exploring alternate grading (like specifications grading), the actual effectiveness of gamification, novel teaching formats, and faculty-oriented pedagogical sessions.
- Design & Multimedia Ops: Systems thinking and design operations, multi-media (graphics, video, and interactive activities), and back-to-basics accessibility and course design for entry-level instructional designers.
- Student Success & Inclusion: How institutions are driving success through data-informed design, meeting the accessibility needs of multiple offices, and deep dives into student engagement studies.
- K-12 Pathways: Deep dives into MTSS (Multi-Tiered System of Supports) and specialized online assessment for K-12 environments.
- The Professional Landscape: Open Education (OER), entrepreneurship in education, the cost of publishing as a researcher, and career-enhancing sessions for practitioners at all levels.
Choosing Your Voice: Session Types
How do you want to share your brilliance? There’s more than the classic presentation experience at Accelerate. We have a selection of session formats that can match the energy of your content:
- For the Deep-Divers: Propose a Workshop (105 min) for hands-on, intensive learning.
- For the Storytellers: An Education Session (45 min) is perfect for the classic presentation or panel.
- For the Connection-Seekers: Choose Conversation, Not Presentation (45 min) to facilitate a room-wide dialogue, an Engagement Activity (30 min) to get people moving and doing, or a Discovery Session (45 min) where you’ll have multiple short, impactful conversations with small groups of attendees.
- For the Fast-Pacers: Try an Express Session (15 min) for high-impact insights or a Discovery Session for intimate, small-group interactions.
- For the Playful: Lead a Gamified Session (45 min) to teach through games and interaction.
- For the Graduate Students: Showcase your emerging research and build your professional network through a Graduate Student Discovery Session.
Personalize Your Impact
As you submit, don’t forget to use our Special Session Designations. Whether your work is focused on HBCUs, Community Colleges, K-12, Corporate Learning & Development, or Original Research, these tags help the right people find you.
Your voice is the key to illuminating these challenges. By aligning your proposal with these community needs, you aren’t just presenting; you are co-creating the future of learning with us. We can’t wait to see your brilliance in Orlando.
