It is our pleasure to invite you to the 26th year of the Online Learning Consortium’s Accelerate Conference. This year’s conference theme is “20/20 Vision: Envisioning the Future of Online, Blended and Digital Learning”, which encourages us to reflect on the past, engage in the present, and envision a future dedicated to serving you, the members of our community.

There is no better time than now to engage in a conference experience focused on online learning. The events over the past few weeks related to the Coronavirus, which have forced institutions to respond to the challenges of serving an entire higher education community remotely, call for a need to engage in deeper thinking and a sharing of collective wisdom to help us all learn from these experiences and identify strategies for the future. 

Furthermore, with technologies, trends, and approaches evolving at an accelerated rate, it can be challenging for online and digital learning professionals to keep pace. With this in mind, OLC’s Accelerate conference offers an opportunity to learn about, discuss, and reflect on the challenges, opportunities, and possibilities within the online learning space.  

Join us at OLC Accelerate 2020 as we come together to build and strengthen our global network of expertise, increase collaboration and engagement among researchers and practitioners, share and discover new and emerging effective practices, and test and evaluate technologies for teaching and learning online. Our community cannot thrive without you!  Please consider submitting a proposal to present and join us for the conference onsite or virtually.

We are excited to announce two new tracks this year and a returning track.  New this year is the Equity, and Open Education track and an Instructional Design track. Returning this year and making a long-awaited comeback is the Blended Learning track! The Accelerate 2020 tracks, including some rebranded titles, includes:

• Research, Evaluation, and Learning Analytics
• NEW! Blended
• Leadership and Institutional Strategies
• Engaged and Effective Teaching and Learning
• Technology and Future Trends
• NEW! Instructional Design
• NEW! Access, Equity, and Open Education

We look forward to you sharing your expertise. Now more than ever, the higher education online community needs to come together, to learn from one another and use these synergies to improve the online experiences and opportunities for all students. 

Kind Regards, 

The OLC Accelerate 2020 Program Co-Chairs

Tina Rettler-Pagel and Janet Smith