Participate | Engagement Maps | What’s Next | Join the Slack Community
New to OLC Innovate? Attended previous OLC conferences and want to share your knowledge and expertise? Interested in connecting with others to discuss particular topics like instructional design, blended learning, faculty development, emerging technologies or digital literacy before, during, and after the conference? To participate, please fill out this short form, and we’ll get back to you with more information.
The OLC Innovate Ranger program is designed to enhance the conference experience for first-time conference attendees and anyone looking for additional networking opportunities at OLC conferences.
Engagement Maps (complete pdf of all persona “maps”; individual maps linked below)
| Red | #BLEND | Troop BLEND – Hybrid & Blended | |
| Navy | #UDL | Troop UDL – Accessibility & Universal Design | |
| Pink | #IDC | Troop IDC – Instructional Design Crew | |
| Royal | #STU | Troop STU – Students/Recent Graduates | |
| Burgundy | #TEACH | Troop TEACH – Online Instructor | |
| Kelly Green | #LEAD | Troop LEAD – Administrators and Emerging Leaders | |
| Yellow | #STUSUP | Troop Support – Student Support and Services |
Sign up to Participate
(Note: please open this sign up link and participate using Google Chrome. Safari will not work.)
After you sign up to participate in the Ranger Program, plan to attend the Ranger Kickoff Lunch on Wednesday, April 18th at 12:00pm CT (Hermitage D) for program participants. We’ll discuss:
- using Slack
- what to expect
- engagement maps
- getting organized before the conference
- and have roundtable discussions based on engagement map topics – to answer all your questions!
After that, we hope to see you in Slack, and at the OLC Innovate 2018 Ranger Face-To-Face Kickoff Lunch on Wednesday, 4/18/18 12:00 – 12:45pm CT (Hermitage D) in Nashville!
Please note: If any of you signed up as a “participant” but have been to OLC Innovate before – we can use a few more Rangers to help us staff the base station at the conference. Please let us know if you can also function as a Ranger.
The Ranger Station will be located in the exhibit hall (Ryman B1-B3).
Questions? Please ask us on Slack or email conference@onlinelearning-c.org. We look forward to meeting everyone very soon!
Please meet up with us on Slack! Slack is a “Team Communication Platform” (TCP), basically a chat client, but more expansive, since you can join “channels” or groups about various topics of interest, rather than just chat one-to-one. Slack can be used via a web browser, or as its own application on desktops, laptops, mobile phones, and tablets. For the uninitiated, please watch a short video demonstrating what Slack can do.
We have set up a Slack team to be used before, during, and after #OLCInnovate. We highly recommend you download the Slack applications for iPhone, Android, Mac, Windows, etc.
Join the OLC Innovate Slack Team
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Once you have set up your account login/password, you can visit https://olcinnovate.slack.com to sign in with your new credentials on any of your devices. (Please note that you will need to sign in to the team separately on every device on which you use Slack. So, if you sign in on a phone, that doesn’t mean you’ll also be signed up when you open up the application on your desktop. You’ll need to add the team (olcinnovate.slack.com) on each device, and sign in on that device to get started.) Once you have signed in, you’ll see a few default channels you have been added to. To see what other channels are available to join, click the “Channels” link in the left navigation to browse all channels. (Channel names may not exactly match what you see in this image.) You’ll find a list of channels you can join, channels you belong to, and the number of participants in each channel. You can join as many channels as interest you – and you can always leave and re-join channels later based on your needs. You can also configure different types of notifications for each channel so that you aren’t constantly inundated with notifications. There are a few default channels and how they might be used:
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You’ll also find channels for various personas or special interests in order to connect with like-minded folks, share ideas, and perhaps meet up in Nashville (keep in mind some of these may be sparsely populated until we get closer to the conference):
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Once you have joined some channels – you can start by introducing yourself in a channel or two, perhaps posting a link to an interested or inspiring article or a question that is on the top of your mind. Share information about the conference, upcoming sessions, sessions you are excited to see, things you plan to do during the conference, etc. Just keep in mind that communication in Slack may be somewhat synchronous, but may be entirely asynchronous, too, depending on when others are online and participating. If you have other ideas for channels or connected apps, please let us know and we’ll see what we can do.
Some Slack Video Resources to get you started:
- A short video on messaging in Slack. Keep in mind that if you really want to alert someone personally and quickly, you can use a direct message to that person, OR use @username in the channel to mention that person and send a notification.
- A short video on managing the notifications in Slack
We are inviting everyone to start joining the Slack channels whenever you like leading up to the conference. You can share session tips, ask questions, plan meet ups and your conference schedule, etc.
New to OLC Innovate? Attended previous OLC conferences and want to share your knowledge and expertise? Interested in connecting with others to discuss particular topics like instructional design, blended learning, faculty development, emerging technologies or digital literacy before, during, and after the conference? To participate, please fill out this short form, and we’ll get back to you with more information.
The OLC Innovate Ranger program is designed to enhance the conference experience for first-time conference attendees and anyone looking for additional networking opportunities at OLC conferences.
How #OLCInnovate Attendees Can Engage with OLC Innovate Rangers
Conference attendees will enjoy a guided experience that has been custom-built by colleagues who seek to share their knowledge and insight of the learning arena, but also are experienced in navigating OLC conferences.
You can participate in as few or as many Ranger activities as you’d like, and are free to explore the different guided learning journeys integrated with conference tracks and networking events.
We invite you to participate in a series of short and collegial engagement activities occurring before, during and after the conference. By signing up, you’ll be invited to join the #OLCInnovate Slack team (What is Slack?) to facilitate communication and coordination.
If this sounds good, please sign up!
If you would like to BE an OLC Innovate Ranger, please read on!
What Rangers Do
The main responsibilities of the OLC Innovate Rangers are to
- Familiarize attendees with the OLC conference landscape and language;
- Encourage dialogue and interaction between new and seasoned conference attendees;
- Help to create learning pathway maps through the conference program;
- Guide conversations at established OLC Innovate Ranger events;
- Help attendees connect with appropriate networks; and
- Support existing and mentor new OLC Innovate Rangers.
Conference attendees who engage with OLC Innovate Rangers or associated networking activities will enjoy a guided experience that has been custom-built by colleagues who seek to share their knowledge and insight of the learning arena, but also are experienced in navigating OLC conferences.
Attendees will be guided to participate in as few or as many Ranger activities as they’d like, and are free to explore the different guided learning journeys integrated with conference tracks and networking events.
As a Ranger, you will participate in a series of short and collegial engagement activities occurring before, during and after the conference:
Before the Conference
- Participate in virtual discussion, via Slack discussion and/or synchronous virtual meeting. (What is Slack?)
- Guide the development of the OLC Innovate Ranger operations manual. This will help us scale and measure the effectiveness of our program!
- Create learning pathway maps through the conference program for targeted demographics (faculty, instructional designers, administrators, library, etc.). These maps will detail pathways through the conference program that include theme-based sessions to attend in support of a specific topic or focus area.
- Contribute to developing logistics and resources for on-site networking and mentoring events.
During the Conference
If you are on-site, please be sure to arrive early enough to attend our Face-to-Face Kickoff Lunch, at 12:00-12:45 Wednesday (Hermitage D). And pick one or as many of the following as you’d like:
- Guide conference attendees during the conference. You can use Slack for instantaneous communication to help coordinate your meetups during the conference.
- Lead a field trip with conference attendees, such as a tour of the conference area for new attendees, a trip to Broadway, a group dinner, or lead a table discussion. Pick whatever you’d most enjoy, and share your experience and expertise with new colleagues.
- Contribute to social media and other channels in support of guiding conference attendees through the learning journey maps, and updating maps as needed. Whenever necessary, provide wayfinding services for attendees as they navigate through established learning pathway maps.
- Lead a table discussion during the Face-to-Face Ranger Kickoff session of the OLC Innovate 2018 Conference. Some tables will be focused on navigating the conference, while others will be focused on issues or challenges that arise in the pre-conference discussion of different conference streams (e.g., managing relationships between faculty and instructional designers; getting buy-in to implement analytics).
- Mentor a future OLC Innovate Ranger. Seasoned OLC attendees may ask about the OLC Innovate Ranger program. Encourage them to explore what you are doing and share your experiences with them.
After the Conference
- Participate in the the OLC Innovate Ranger debrief session, and/or Slack discussions.
What You’ll Receive as a Ranger
- A free ticket to the award lunch (Thursday)
- An especially awesome Ranger pin and bandana
- A chance to build your networks, strengthen our online learning community and find people interested in similar areas.
How to Sign Up
Please sign up (the earlier the better!) if you’d like to join the Ranger team and contribute to attendee engagement and networking at OLC Innovate.
https://tinyurl.com/olcrangersignup