OLC Accelerate 2020 - OLC Research Summit

OLC Research Summit: Capturing and Advancing Our Work Through Research and Evidence Based Practices

Research is critical to the work of online education, student success, and effective practice. However, while there are many educators contributing to student-centered, transformative work, often individuals do not have the avenues and opportunities to share their work in ways that are open, accessible, and scalable. The OLC Research Summits seek to change this culture through participatory activities, hands-on co-creation, critical inquiry, artifact collaboration, the dissemination of key findings and learning, and meaningful action-based community-building.

Extending from the foundational work completed at the OLC Innovate 2020 Research Summit to determine the roles and responsibilities of educational researchers today, the OLC Accelerate 2020 Research Summit will focus on amplifying our collective efforts to support our shared goals aligned to student success through actionable, evidenced-based practices.

This OLC Research Summit will begin with an overview and audience-engaged discussion of the current landscape of online education research. In the second session, participants will explore resources, methods of approach, interactive toolkits, and opportunities to share their evidence within and across institutions in support of scaling best practices. Finally, participants will reflect on research in an experiential context by answering the following question – how we might as a community surface and collect themes that emerge from our collaborations? Focusing on OLC Accelerate as our research setting and context, how might we as a community produce a tangible artifact representing the scholarship, thought leadership, and opportunities arising from our work? Ultimately, these three, interconnected sessions at the OLC Accelerate 2020 Research Summit will provide us with new avenues of supporting student success through empirical research that is generative, connected, and impactful.

Registration for the OLC Research Summit is included in your OLC Accelerate 2020 conference registration.

Schedule

The Research Summit event is open to all OLC Innovate participants and held in three parts on Tuesday, November 17, 2020. Attendees can attend one or all of the sessions, and are encouraged to bring colleagues to attend as a connected cohort across the event.

November 17, 2:15pm – 3:00pm US ET – Enacting Impactful Research Methods in Our Educational Process and Practice

This session will examine research methods and continuous improvement strategies institutions are using right now, particularly as it relates to improving student engagement and increasing academic success through innovative teaching and learning strategies. Join Megan Tesene, PhD and Julie Neisler, PhD as they review the current landscape of digital learning research methodology and continuous improvement, the work that they are doing through APLU and Digital Promise for the Every Learner Everywhere Network, and how you too can implement these research methods and strategies in your own work.

Presenters:

Megan Tesene, Association of Public and Land-grant Universities
Julie Neisler, Digital Promise

November 17, 3:30pm – 4:15pm US ET – Meet the DETA Research Toolkit 2.0

This session will spotlight The National Research Center for Distance Education and Technological Advancements (DETA) Research Toolkit, a resource to support research conducted at the course, program, institutional, or cross-institutional levels. This hands-on session is perfect for researchers of all roles and experience levels looking to learn more about ways to share data across traditional institutional boundaries in support of success for all learners.

Presenter:

Tanya Joosten, University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee

November 17, 4:45pm – 5:30pm US ET – Research in Action: What Can We Learn from Conferences and Convenings

In this session, participants will reflect on research in an experiential context by answering the following questions – how we might as a community surface and collect themes that emerge from our collaborations? Focusing on OLC Accelerate as our research setting and context, how might we as a community produce a tangible artifact representing the scholarship, thought leadership, and opportunities arising from our work?

Presenters: