Are you working on a learning challenge that requires a creative, multi-disciplinary approach? We invite your team proposal to the Solution Design Summit at OLC Innovate 2018. Selected teams will:

  • produce a short video to pitch their solution
  • receive feedback on their SDS proposal and video pitch
  • participate in the SDS workshop seminar
  • network with peers and solicit feedback from experts
  • will “pitch” their solution during a session at OLC Innovate 2018
  • share with the OLC community after Innovate 2018 concludes.

Deadline to submit has been extended to November 1, 2017, 11:59pm ET.

Solution Design Summit Goals:

  • Encourage creative, design thinking for learning challenges
  • Foster dialogue among learners, educators, administrators, researchers, designers, and EdTech companies
  • Promote a collaborative, interdisciplinary approach towards the development of solutions for learning challenges

Who should apply to the Solution Design Summit?

This program is designed to welcome small, interdisciplinary teams with a diverse set of backgrounds, roles, and expertise. Possible teams may be:

  • University team comprised of members across multiple departments and divisions
  • Graduate school teams from different academic departments
  • Group of educators ranging from K-12 and higher education
  • Public-private partnership of a university and technology company
  • Organizations (private, non-profit, etc) who promote learning

Winning SDS team members will receive:

  1. A one-year OLC Professional Membership for up to 5 team members. Current OLC members would receive a 1-year extension to their existing OLC Professional Membership.
  2. A complimentary future OLC 2018 or 2019 conference registration for up to 5 team members, not applicable to OLC Innovate 2018.
  3. Showcase your solution through OLC. This could include a webinar, membership dashboard interaction, or OLC social media promotion.

 

The OLC Innovate Solution Design Summit: A Focus on Learning

The program seeks challenges in K-12, higher education, and/or workplace learning that require an innovative, multi-disciplinary team to solve the issue. You can select any topic, case study, issue, or challenge in need of a solution. The Solution Design Summit focuses on current learning challenges where an innovative solution idea could lead to increased student success and an enhanced student learning experience.

To get you started we’ve listed below some potential topic areas for your proposal.

Personalized and Adaptive Learning

To offer solutions post-secondary education is faced in developing courseware, learning, and creating an effective user experience based on course delivery and design. There are currently grants to examine the “speed adoption of next-generation digital courseware solutions by higher education institutions and faculty, in order to improve outcomes in general education courses, especially for disadvantaged and underserved student groups” and the impact of personalized learning to put learners at the center of this process.

  • How will personalized or adaptive learning support specific learner populations we want to reach?
  • Can learning design impact academic success?
  • Are there digital solutions to scaffolding the learner experience?

Professional Learning and Development

As we encourage learning and growth in our professions, it will be important for individuals to account for their skills and knowledge development. The role of formal and informal learning is blending with new opportunities to participate, engage, and continue educating oneself.

  • How do we recognize or provide evidence-based learning opportunities?
  • As continual learning is fluid in our learning communities, how do we provide credentials, badges or mark achievements of professional development?

Impact of Open Learning

Open educational resources (OER) have impacted how and when we learn. With the introduction of open courses, open textbooks, open content, and new models for open learning, we are faced with a number of challenges and questions to answer.

  • How will open education impact the way we approach learning?
  • What are some of the challenges we see with open course design and delivery?
  • What strategies and considerations must be taken into account for effective implementation and support for OER?

Choose Your Own Learning Challenge

Define your own challenge your organization or institution is facing, related to learning, and provide ideas and approaches you plan to initiate as a solution.

  • What are additional issues you encounter for learning in K-12, higher education, or with workforce learning?
  • What resources, initiatives, and ideas do you need to connect to support this solution design?

Your Solution 

Your solution should address one or more of the six following concerns OLC Innovate is focusing on. What do we mean by a solution?

Solutions come in many shapes and sizes. A solution could be anything from a custom, in-house designed application to a new implementation of a traditional educational strategy. The goal of your solution should be to help overcome challenges faced when addressing one of the “six concerns”. Remember pedagogy first-a solution may not be technology focused and rather a protocol, process and/or faculty programs.

The Six Concerns

  1. How do we develop learning environments that support interconnectedness between educators and students, and are equipped to quickly change processes and strategies, while simultaneously fostering and celebrating creativity and ingenuity?
  2. What new methods and technologies are most scalable in teaching and learning? Which are most prevalent and why?
  3. How has technology changed teaching and knowledge acquisition and how will we adjust current paradigms to ensure sound pedagogy as we innovate?
  4. How does technology in the classroom increase student engagement?
  5. What is the best balance between analog and digitally enhanced teaching?
  6. What are common obstacles that educators face regarding technology? How can we avoid being technocentric while improving pedagogical practice with technology?

OLC Innovate 2017 Vlog #5 – Solutions Design Summit

Videos from the 2017 Solution Design Summit

Videos from the 2016 Solution Design Summit

2016 Solution Design Summit in Review (blog posts submitted by participants)

Timeline and Schedule for OLC Innovate Solution Design Summit Involvement

During the Conference-1-2 on site working sessions along with a final presentation

Before the Conference

  1. Prospective SDS participants submit a challenge proposal by 11:59pm ET November 1, 2017.
  2. Acceptance notifications will be sent out to teams by December 20, 2017.
  3. Those SDS teams with accepted challenges will submit a solution pitch video for public review on the OLC Innovate 2018 website, by February 11, 2018.
  4. Experts and OLC Innovate attendees will be invited to view and comment online to provide feedback on the video pitches February 25 – March 11, 2018.
  5. Accepted teams should plan to meet before the conference for 1-2 webinars that will be scheduled via Doodle poll. 

During the Conference

  1. SDS teams participate in 1-2 onsite working sessions along with a final presentation. Please note the first working session will take place the morning of Wednesday April 18th, 2018. 
  2. Final presentations will take place on Friday, April 20, 2018. Accepted teams should plan their travel to attend the entire conference. 
  3. One member of the team must be a registered on site participant. Other team members may participate at a distance. Please notify committee if any special accommodations are needed.

Post-Conference Winning Team Benefits

The Judge-voted winning team will be awarded: 

  1. A one-year OLC Professional Membership for up to 5 team members. Current OLC members would receive a 1-year extension to their existing OLC Professional Membership.
  2. A complimentary future OLC 2018 or 2019 conference registration for up to 5 team members, not applicable to OLC Innovate 2018.
  3. An opportunity to showcase your solution through OLC. This could include a webinar, membership dashboard interaction, or OLC social media promotion.

The Community-voted winning team will be awarded:

  • A complimentary registration for a single OLC workshop as a professional development opportunity (up to 5 team members; not valid on Mastery Series or Certificate program)

Note:  Only registered, onsite attendee team members will be awarded prizes.

In order to participate in the OLC Innovate 2018 Solution Design Summit you will need to complete the following items:

  1. Complete your OLC Solution Design Summit Proposal.
  2. In this application, you will need to include:
    1. A title of your Solution Design Summit plan
    2. Short abstract about the challenge & solution (100-150 words)
    3. Extended abstract or description (up to 500 words) to detail the problem/challenge your solution team will be working on
    4. Description about each team member (affiliation, contact information, and how they will contribute to the team). Each team member will need a user account in the OLC Conference Management System and will need to be added to the submission in the “Presenters” area. Be sure to add additional details to the “Extended Abstract section of the submission form. 
    5. Potential ideas for the solution or approach your team will take to solve this challenge (up to 200 words). Be sure to include this in the “Extended Abstract” section of the submission form. 
    6. Who might benefit from this solution? Be sure to include this in the “Extended Abstract” section of the submission form. 

Be sure to read through all of the information about the Solution Design Summit prior to submitting. Review the timelines and requirements, and be sure to email and/or add sds@onlinelearning-c.org to your address book to ensure you receive your notification.

Proposals will go through a blind peer review process by a team representing K-12, higher ed, training, and EdTech. Proposals will be reviewed for clarity, relevance to one or more of the six concerns, inclusion of a team, and overall relevance to OLC Innovate 2018 conference.