The session types and other information will be helpful as you shape your presentation submission. The CFP is now closed. Thank you for your submission. Notifications were emailed to all submitters on July 20, 2020.
The session types are an important classification which guide the conference planning committee in the review and selection of proposals. Attendees also use this information to determine which session to attend during the actual conference. Detailed descriptions of each session type are provided below.
During the proposal submission process, you will be asked to identify which session type your presentation aligns with. Please be aware that selecting the incorrect session type may impact how your proposal is scored by the reviewers and possibly its likelihood of acceptance if incorrectly submitted.
Proposals that describe strategies for high levels of interactivity or engagement tend to receive higher peer review ratings during the Call For Proposals evaluation process. If you would like to explore strategies and technologies to support interactivity during your sessions, please visit the Presenter Services page. Coaching from Presenter Services is available to support you in meeting this goal.
All sessions are 45 minutes in length unless otherwise indicated.
Click on the (+) to expand each section to view full information on each topic.
Carefully review the session type descriptions below before submitting a proposal.
1. Education Session** (Traditional – Lecture or Interview)
Education Sessions provide an opportunity for presenters to share their work, innovations, or new opportunities to the OLC community. The presenters are responsible for driving the conversation and encouraging deep thinking about a topic, sharing practical applications of their work, or providing new and varying perspectives. There are two primary formats for this session type: presentations and panel sessions. Although these are more traditional formats, the presenters/panelists should strive to make the sessions as engaging as possible through polls, audience discussions, and other forms of interaction.
Note: When submitting the proposal, the names and affiliations of the presenters, moderator(s) and panelists are required to be included. Please do not include names or institutions in the abstract in order to keep the review process double-blind. All individuals (presenters, moderators, and panelists) will need OLC user accounts and must be listed as presenters on the proposal. (Presenters/panelists cannot be proposed as TBD.)
Key Features:
2. Express Workshop (Exploration)
These sessions are designed to provide the attendees with an opportunity to explore a new skill, strategy, or technology. By offering practical, hands-on learning activities, participants are fully engaged in the learning process. Facilitators provide both group and 1-1 guidance as necessary during the session. Attendees should walk away from the session feeling as though they have acquired a new skill, have developed an action plan, or have gain significant insight into a new technology. Proposals must include measurable outcomes and activities.
Note: Presenters are responsible for providing all Express Workshop materials. Instructions for uploading materials will be provided to all accepted presenters. Presenters are also responsible for ensuring all attendees can actively engage in the session. Please see the Presenter Services site for resources on making the session fully accessible.
Key Features:
3. Gamified Session (Interactive)
These sessions engage both the presenters and the attendees in a fun and unique OLC conference experience. Moving beyond traditional styles of presentations, attendees and presenters of this session type will have the ability to connect with the content and each other like never before. Presenters may draw upon well known games such as Jeopardy and Family Feud as example formats or inspiration. These sessions tend to draw large audiences, please be sure all attendees can be accommodated with the strategies used.
Key Features:
4. Discovery Session (Online Conversation)
With social distancing concerns top of mind, we are going to try a new format for Discovery Sessions for Accelerate 2020. Discovery sessions will be fully virtual presentations that allow presenters to share their work, ideas, and innovations in a virtual presenter to virtual audience format. These sessions allow for a greater exchange of ideas and in-depth asynchronous conversations about important topics to the OLC community. These digital presentations can include works in progress, research ideas, collaboration opportunities, best practices and practical applications, or pilot projects.
Note: Each presenter will prepare a digital presentation and upload to VoiceThread. Each accepted presenter will register as a virtual attendee. If you are an onsite presenter, you can also present a Discovery Session in the virtual to virtual modality.
Key Features:
5. Graduate Student Discovery Session (Online Conversation)
Proposals may include works in progress or completed research results. Discovery Sessions provide an excellent opportunity to present your ideas to your peers in a community forum.
We seek submissions by students currently enrolled in or recently graduated (within one year) from a Graduate (Master or Doctoral) program whose research is relevant to online teaching and learning. The proposal submission must follow the guidelines of the OLC Accelerate 2020 conference sessions.
Be sure to review the detailed Graduate Student Discovery Session page before submitting your proposal.
Key Features:
6. Workshop
Attendees should expect to be actively involved during Workshops.
Submissions for this session type should be interactive, 90-minute workshops that align with this year’s tracks and should seek to offer a more in depth exploration and activation of a topic than a shorter, regular conference session would allow. Workshops should be designed with 2-4 meaningful and measurable participant learning outcomes (LOs) with opportunities explicitly outlined by the presenters showcasing collaborative and/or interactive group activities that will be used during the session to achieve stated learning goals. Interactive workshops that highlight effective practices are desired.
Proposals for workshops should clearly address the following questions for reviewers:
Presenters must provide an opportunity for questions, answers, and/or whole or small group discussion within the course of the workshop and must describe how this element will be used to best engage participants. Elements of the workshop may be flipped to extend the amount of time participants can engage with the workshop content. Sessions that offer the opportunity to earn a credential, badge, or certificate are encouraged.
Workshops are offered free to all participants on a first-come, first-served basis. Please note that computers are not provided for this or any session at OLC Accelerate; therefore, all sessions are designated at BYOD (Bring Your Own Device). Each presenter must bring his/her own laptop/device and must specify in advance what device and/or software requirements (i.e., mobile device or laptop required for participation, required apps for full participation) are expected of participants attending the workshop. The program committee reserves the right to change a workshop’s proposed presentation type if another is deemed more appropriate for engagement and participation given its content.
Competition for workshop slots is highly competitive at Accelerate 2020. Please understand that you may be considered for an alternative format session instead of a workshop at the workshop chair’s discretion.
7. Lightning Talk (Short Provocation)
These compressed, 15 minute sessions provide an opportunity for presenters to inspire and engage participants in thinking through compelling concepts and findings in a short amount of time. Each talk will be arranged in a series of 3 talks within a 45 minute session block, allowing attendees to make connections and extensions across each of the individual talks within the session block. Because of the focused length, these sessions are great for sharing a driving question or provocation that attendees can continue to reflect upon well beyond the talk.
Key Features:
The following rubric will be used to evaluate all proposals in the refereed proposal review process.
Specific Criteria:
Presenters should include active engagement methodology during presentations to encourage audience/participants to ask questions. The CFP ratings are based on the following major categories:
During the review process, reviewers are also asked to indicate whether or not your proposal meets Effective Practice criteria and would be a good candidate for EP submission. We encourage, but do not require, Effective Practice submissions from conference presenters. EP submissions from conference presenters will be eligible for Effective Practice Awards selection; awards will be presented onsite at the conference. With regard to effective practices, reviewers will consider proposals in light of this question:
If your proposal is accepted, you will be asked to:
Note: The following standard audiovisual equipment will be provided in each room: data projector equipped with an HDMI cable to accommodate both PC and Macintosh platforms, an Internet connection, and a screen (16:9 slide ratio). (Note: Presenters should plan to provide their own computer equipment or other specialized equipment). Microphones will be supplied as needed in larger rooms.
If your presentation is accepted, you are strongly encouraged to post it as link or a pdf or PowerPoint file to the presentation repository by November 2, 2020. Doing so is important for attendees as an accessibility consideration. The contributions will remain online as part of the conference materials after the conference. The conference management team will provide instructions on how to upload your file(s) to your session page after acceptance of proposals. Session abstracts and information about the presenters also will be included on the site.
Companies and vendors provide value to OLC Conferences through program presentations, exhibits and sponsorships. Vendors may submit presentations in any of the program tracks or presentation formats:
