Thursday Welcome, Blessing, and Introduction to the History and Culture of Hawaii

Join us for a 15 minute welcome and blessing, followed by an immersive audio and visual experience in the new sphere at the Maui Ocean Center introducing the history and culture of Hawaiʻi. The sphere presentation for September will be Humpback Whale. Luau to follow. 

Featured Presentation:
Purpose-Driven, Place-Based Active Learning – Indigenizing Innovation in Education

Dr. Miki Tomita

CEO & Founder, Education Incubator,
Co-Founder, XLR8YOUTH

Lele ka ‘iwa, malie kai ko’o
When the ‘iwa flies, the rough sea will be calm

What might this ʻōlelo noʻeau (wise and poetical teaching) offer us as a way of viewing our learners and doers? At Education Incubator, we believe that our learners can see beyond the conditions in front of us; they can pull new islands of sustainability and peace from the sea of unrest we have created in our world. If we allow education to be the space to take on the challenges immediately threatening our communities, and allow our learners to collaboratively create innovative solutions that defy our imagination, we may just find our calm seas.

What does it take to support these new networks of learners and innovation, across landscapes some of us have only heard of? What does it take to dream impossible dreams? The work of social innovation and entrepreneurship is leading the charge towards converting our teaching time into changing-the-world-time. But working in the innovation and entrepreneurship sectors also requires us to question the privilege of capital and capitalism, and what counts as knowledge and knowing in this changing world. It requires us to dive deeply into what drives us, what our purpose is, and what our intentions are for the work we do with others.

In Hawaiʻi, as in many communities around the world, we are turning the page from a generation of economics driven by tourism and commoditization of culture and place, working towards a redefinition and revitalization of culture and economy that is grounded in the innovation, wisdom, and strengths of Hawaiʻi and her communities. By grounding innovation and entrepreneurship in values such as aloha and mālama honua, we can achieve transformation and abundance for our communities.

From Islands to Archipelagos: The Power of Virtual Networks in Establishing Communities of Culture and Practice

Angela Gunder

Director of Instructional Design and Curriculum Development
The University of Arizona

The future of education depends on the strength and depth of the networks that educators, institutions and communities sustain as we collectively adapt to rapid change. In Hawaiʻi, the preservation and resurgence of culture-based education serves as a broader model for not only indigenous-serving and island universities to build effective online networks, but all institutions seeking to address issues of equity and intercultural competence in education. While the practice of creating and supporting robust and diverse networks is critical to the efficacy of our work, educators and practitioners consistently cite the marked struggle to break down silos and build meaningful cross-institutional collaborations in support of student success.

In this talk, the presenter will share collaborative methodologies informed by culture and technology tools, particularly those dedicated to collectively building and strengthening indigenous serving education systems. She will highlight thriving communities that exist to promote paradigm shifts in our isolating and exclusionary practices within higher education. Participants will leave with a call to action to consider the ways in which they might create “archipelagos” in their work, linking communities together like island chains in the vast ocean of education.

Supporting Student Success by Creating Engaged Online Learning Communities

Derek Snyder

Assistant Professor, English Department
University of Hawai’i Maui College

A high functioning distance education course relies on a paradigm-shift in pedagogy that focuses on a relationship-driven model to encourage student participation, create communities of practice, and support equity through effective support and building connections with students, including non-traditional and under-represented students. The presenter will share strategies to support student success in distance classrooms from an island university perspective.

The Games Peoples Play

Dr. Ryan Straight

Assistant Professor of Educational Technology
University of Arizona

Rapidly emerging technologies and cultural shifts pose ongoing challenges for higher education. The current and future generations of students learning in the digital age are immersed in online gaming. The presenter will explore opportunities for higher ed to adapt to the interests and experiences of its students through integrating concepts related to online gaming, creativity and design through the lens of multicultural education and indigenous perspectives.

How are indigenous and multicultural identities represented in video games? How can games be used to engage underrepresented groups and support deep learning in higher education? In this talk, Dr. Straight explores phenomena like gamification, game-based learning, and best practices for including these incredibly powerful but often mis- or under-utilized instructional strategies in supporting multicultural perspectives in education. He suggests ways in which, through these lenses, video games can create better understanding, engage underrepresented groups, and support more authentic learning experiences.

Vision 2029 Panel

Dr. Jennifer Mathes

Interim Chief Executive Officer
Online Learning Consortium

Panelists:

Deanna Kamakeʻeʻāina Reece

University of Hawaii Maui College

Miki Tomita

Education Incubator, XLR8YOUTH

Angela Gunder

The University of Arizona

Derek Snyder

University of Hawaii Maui College

Ryan Straight

University of Arizona

Significant changes are coming to online education. From balancing the need for educational innovation against regulatory realities, to using data driven approaches to better understand and manage change, to a new model of the university built around competency-based assessments, these are just a few of the factors driving change. The day’s final session brings together the thoughts and conclusions generated from the OLC Collaborate – Maui discussions to formulate a regional response to the changing educational environment. Topics gathered by OLC facilitators and session archivists during breakout sessions along with those posted online by participants during the day will be used to guide this interactive final session. Led by OLC, each of the day’s keynote speakers will have the opportunity to address the collectively generated questions and topics and place them in the context of the broader changes occurring in higher education.