Orlando, FL | Tuesday, November 17, 2026
Please RSVP for summits when purchasing your conference pass.
All summits will be held on Tuesday, November 17 from 8:00 am – 12:00 pm, and are free to conference attendees. Please RSVP for a summit when you register for the Conference Pass. Each attendee will be limited to one summit RSVP for the conference.
It is recommended that you arrive at the conference on Monday, November 16 if possible and come to Early Registration (3:00 – 6:00 pm ET) to secure your name badge and conference materials in advance of Tuesday morning.
Schedule coming soon…. More details will be available later this summer. Stay tuned!
Please join us for the AI Summit at Accelerate 2026! The AI Summit will consist of presentations by featured speakers focused on the theme of AI preparedness. Summit speakers will address questions like:
Dylan Barth, Ph.D
Vice President of Innovation and Programs, OLC
We cordially invite you to the HBCU Summit, a dedicated space for community-building, collaboration, establishing partnerships, capacity building, and action-oriented change, with the goal of showcasing innovation within Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), thereby enriching the overall educational landscape.
Connect, Collaborate, Innovate: Reimagining the HBCU Online Experience
What does the future of online learning look like at HBCUs — and who gets to shape it?
You do!
Connect with a network of HBCUs online learning leaders, faculty, instructional designers, administrators, and student success champions from HBCUs across the country.
What’s on the agenda?
Through lively collaborative spaces and quick-hitting spotlights, you’ll walk away with actionable strategies to elevate your campus’s online course quality and student success.
Attend…Learn…Lead…Share!
Secure your spot and join the conversation.
We’ll explore what’s working and what’s next — covering course quality, student engagement, governance, and institutional transformation.
This isn’t a lecture. It’s a living conversation, shaped by the people doing the work every day at institutions that have always punched above their weight and changed lives in the process.
The summit welcomes all faculty, staff, students, leaders, and advocates.
HBCU Summit Onsite Ambassador Initiative: While we would love to see as many people onsite for the summit as possible, we know that being able to attend a conference like this is often a tremendous privilege. With this in mind, the OLC is pleased to announce the “HBCU Summit Onsite Ambassador Initiative,” which provides free, unlimited, live-streaming access to the HBCU Summit for qualifying institutions (see below for more information on how to qualify).
To qualify for this initiative, an institution must have at least one institutional representative registered for the conference who 1) plans to attend the summit onsite in November, and 2) is willing to serve in the ambassador role (which does require them to forward correspondence and communications on behalf of the OLC to their institution). A single institution can have more than one ambassador, but must minimally have one person represent their institution onsite in order for that institution to qualify for initiative benefits.
For more information on becoming an HBCU Summit Onsite Ambassador, please email OLC’s Director of Accreditation and Strategy, Dr. Madeline Shellgren (madeline.shellgren@onlinelearning-c.org), with the subject line “HBCU Summit Onsite Ambassador.
Dionne Thorne, Ph.D., HBCU Summit Chair
Assistant Dean, Curriculum and Operations, College of Interdisciplinary and Continuing Studies, Morgan State University
N’Dieye Gray Danavall
Instructional Designer, Online & Continuing Education Division, Morehouse School of Medicine (Atlanta, GA)
Dr. Monique Earl-Lewis
Founding Director, Faculty Development, Teaching and Advising Center, Associate Professor of Africana Studies, Morehouse College
Tamika Moorehead, Ph.D.
Director, Faculty Affairs and the Center for Faculty/Staff Innovation, Alcorn State University
Saija Washington
Learning Design Consultant Extended Campus, North Carolina A & T State University
Amanda Glover
Distance Learning Coordinator, Fort Valley State University
Schedule coming soon…. More details will be available later this summer. Stay tuned!
This presentation explores the many interconnected skills that shape the work of today’s instructional designer and how those individual strengths come together to create meaningful learning experiences. Grounded in a learner-centered approach, the session will examine instructional design as a dynamic and evolving practice that requires both specialized expertise and the ability to connect diverse competencies into a cohesive whole.
Through a three-part interactive experience, participants will reflect on the “pieces” of their own instructional design puzzle, identifying areas where they excel and areas where they hope to grow. Topics will explore the varied roles IDs play—from strategist and collaborator to designer, facilitator, analyst, and advocate—and how each contributes to supporting learner success.
Participants will leave with a deeper understanding of their professional strengths, practical strategies for developing new skills, and a personalized plan for continued growth. By intentionally strengthening each piece of the instructional design puzzle while keeping learners at the center, instructional designers can increase their impact on courses, programs, institutions, and, most importantly, the learners they serve.
ID Summit 2026 include a holistic framework of instructional design that incorporates all elements. We are excited to share our model with you in advance of the ID 2026 Summit. All registrants will receive early-access pre-reading material that you are encouraged to review prior to the ID Summit. Please RSVP for the Instructional Design Summit when you register for the Conference Pass.
What’s on the agenda? ID Summit 2026 will be a reflective, interactive, developmental experience for attendees, including opportunities to:
Sherri Restauri, Ph.D.
Director of Professional Learning, OLC
Cindy Schanke
Instructional Designer, OLC
Schedule coming soon…. More details will be available later this summer. Stay tuned!
Please join us at the OLC K-12 Summit, which will take place on Tuesday, November 17 at the OLC Accelerate Conference. The K-12 Summit is an opportunity for K-12 educators and administrators to share effective practices and innovative teaching methods focused on online, blended, and digital learning. At the summit and the full conference, attendees can expect lively discussions about technology tools, creative ways to engage students, critical thinking in online learning, honing digital learning skills, digital citizenship, and more. Don’t miss out on this chance to learn and network at this K-12-centered event!
Illuminating Responsive Pedagogy: Assessment, Engagement, and Trust in K-12 Digital Learning
This half-day K-12 summit explores how schools can respond to the changing conditions of digital learning with thoughtful, human-centered pedagogy. Across four sessions, speakers will examine authentic learning design, assessment practices that reveal student thinking, strategies to strengthen student agency and engagement, and the role of teacher presence and trust in online environments. Technology, including AI where relevant, will be treated as part of the instructional context rather than the focal point, allowing participants to concentrate on enduring pedagogical questions that will remain important well beyond the current moment.
K-12 school or district employees are eligible for special K-12 Educator rates. Member or non-member rates will apply. The K-12 Summit is included at no additional cost.
Please check with your school or district to see if you will qualify for professional learning credit.
Frank Tomsic, K-12 Summit Co-Chair
Laurel Springs School
Lisa Hassler, K-12 Summit Co-Chair
National Louis University
Dylan Barth, Ph.D., OLC Program Advisor
VP of Innovation & Programs, OLC
Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get the latest conference updates, including registration discounts, calls for proposals, and programming announcements.
Registration and Call for Proposals are Now Open!
OLC Accelerate is the premiere online learning conference showcasing groundbreaking research and highly effective practices in online and digital learning across K-12, higher education, and corporate L&D.
Registration is Now Open!
OLC Elevate is a bold new initiative from OLC that brings high-impact digital learning discussions, hands-on workshops, and thought leadership directly to your regional community.