In light of the current situation regarding the Coronavirus (COVID-19), OLC has dedicated times and resources towards providing support and space for continuing conversations around quality online instruction. As many educators have seen countless conferences forced to cancel during these difficult times, several organizations have tried to band together to create opportunities for us to share impactful research and effective practices.
OLC would like to amplify the critical work of the many educators in the AERA OTL SIG slated to present at the 2020 Annual Meeting. We invite you to explore the following opportunities, and help to keep our connections strong in spite of the challenges we are currently facing at our respective institutions and organizations around the world:
OLC Innovate 2020 | OLJ | OLC Accelerate 2020
Education Research Summit at OLC Innovate 2020 Virtual Conference (June 15-26, 2020)
In alignment with our mission to share the efficacy and impact of online teaching and learning, OLC has shifted their spring conference, OLC Innovate 2020, to a fully online experience. Honoring your commitment to empirical research and evidence based online practices, we invite those with accepted papers in the AERA Online Teaching and Learning SIG to submit to present at the OLC Innovate Virtual Conference (June 15-26) without further review.
Invitations will be sent to members of the AERA OTL SIG with information on where they can submit their paper to the OLC Education Research Summit.
If there are sufficient members of this SIG who want to present, there will be a special research track for these proposals. Regardless of the initial format of the paper submission, presenters will have the option of selecting an Education Session (15 minute presentation, with 3 presenters in a 45 minute slot) or a Discovery Session (an electronic poster submitted for asynchronous interaction using the tool VoiceThread). OLC will provide all confirmed presenters with special training and support for both session types. All presenters will need to register as participants of the conference, and can do so here.
Timeline of Important Dates:
- Apr 10 – Education Research Summit (ERS) CFP Opens
- Apr 24 – ERS CFP Closes
- May 8 – Deadline for ERS Presenters to Confirm Session
- May 15 – Webinar for Discovery Sessions
- May 19 – Webinar for Education Sessions
- June 1 – Deadline for Presenters to Register and Upload Presentations to Conference Website
For more information about this partnership with the Online Learning Consortium, please contact OLC’s VP of Learning, Angela Gunder (angela.gunder@onlinelearning-c.org).
How to Submit Your Proposal
Step 1: Login or Create an OLC user account. You need to be logged in to your OLC user account in order to submit a proposal. Once you have logged in to your OLC user account, select “Conference Profile” from the left-hand sidebar menu. You will be directed to the OLC Conference Management System to submit your proposal and update your conference profile.
Step 2: Ask Co-presenters Ensure Their OLC Conference Profile is Complete. All additional co-presenters also need to have OLC conference user accounts and should be added to the proposal at the time of submission.
Step 3. Navigate to the Conference Management System. Proceed to the conference management system, you will be able to submit a proposal by clicking on “Education Research Summit” within the CMS.
Step 4: Select the Correct Conference. Select “Education Research Summit > Submit Proposal” to begin.
Step 5: Submit Your Proposal. Fill out the submission form.
Step 6: Fill out/Update Your OLC Conference Profile. When submitting, please include as much information as possible in your OLC conference profile, including your biography, a profile picture, and most current contact information. (*Note: Your conference profile is housed in the conference management system and is separate from your OLC user profile at this time.)
Step 7: Click “Save” to submit the submission form. Clicking save submits your proposal. Note: You may edit your proposal up until the submission deadline, after which all submissions are considered final.
Special Issue of the OLJ
The Editors of the Online Learning journal wish to invite accepted presenters at the 2020 AERA annual meeting to publish in a special issue devoted to the Online Teaching and Learning Special Interest Group (OTL-SIG). This issue complements OLC’s partnership with the OTL-SIG to create both a presentation (Innovate) and publication opportunity.
Online Learning (OLJ) is the Online Learning Consortium’s (OLC) scholarly journal providing readers with rigorous peer-reviewed research in a variety of educational contexts from K-12 to higher education in the United States and internationally. The journal is currently engaged in an extended effort to further develop quality and rigor in systematic inquiry in online learning in support of the larger mission of the Online Learning Consortium. OLC is the leading professional organization devoted to advancing quality online learning by providing professional development, instruction, best practice publications, and guidance to educators, online learning professionals, and organizations around the world.
For more information about this partnership with the Online Learning Consortium, please contact OLC’s Editor of the OLJ, Peter Shea (pshea@albany.edu).
Research Track at OLC Accelerate 2020 in Orlando (November 17-20, 2020)
As educators and researchers make plans for future convenings in the wake of limited opportunities to present their work to the online learning community, OLC would like to invite individuals to consider submitting a proposal to the CFP for the OLC Accelerate 2020 Conference in Orlando from November 17-20. Members of the AERA OTL SIG are invited to consider submitting to the newly revised Research, Evaluation, and Learning Analytics track, with papers that focus on formal research of completed or well-developed studies that relate to digital, online and/or blended learning or the collection and use of data for improvement or accountability in online and blended learning.
Topics in this track might include:
- Data or learning analytics
- Challenge to quality research
- Application of theory and/or data to inform new directions in teaching and learning
- Evidence-based practices
- Research methodologies involving big data, business, intelligence, or data mining
- Interdisciplinary, country-specific, region-specific, or comparative studies on the effectiveness of blended, online, and digital learning initiatives
- Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL)
Presenters submitting formal research are strongly encouraged to submit extended versions of original research papers to OLC’s flagship journal, the Online Learning Journal.
OLC looks forward to spotlighting the depth and quality of work emerging from the educational research community on the topic of online teaching and learning.
For more information about OLC Accelerate 2020 and the Research, Evaluation, and Learning Analytics track, please contact OLC’s Director of Research, Lynette O’Keefe (lynette.o’keefe@onlinelearning-c.org).