Building Bridges in Digital, Blended, and Online Learning

Welcome to OLC Innovate 2020 Virtual Conference

Welcome to OLC and MERLOT’s first ever all-virtual conference.  Despite the cancellation of the onsite gathering in Chicago this April due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are very excited to instead host this conference in a modality that exemplifies the best practices in online teaching and learning.  Thank you for your patience and support as our staff and team of volunteers worked to update the program in order to deliver it in this new virtual presenters-to-virtual attendees format.

During the two week conference (June 15-26), the most important item you need to know is how to access the conference.  It is very important that attendees read through the log-in instructions below.
How to Log in to the Conference Daily

Beta Access (OLC Members only): OLC members are invited to access the conference in a new platform that the Online Learning Consortium is beta testing for this conference. Our hope is that you will find the new platform provides easier navigation of conference sessions, access to resources, and more interaction through our virtual exhibit hall. To access via the Beta view:

    • Log in to your OLC User account (that you used to register for the conference)
    • Once logged in, you will see two blue stripes at the top of the page:
      • The top blue stripe provides access in the Classic View. 
      • The bottom blue stripe – for OLC Members only – will take you to our new beta conference platform. We recommend you select this link labeled “Beta Access”. 
    • After you click the link, you will be redirected to the sign in page. Sign in with the email you used to register for the conference.

    OLC Innovate 2020 Beta Access

    • You will then find yourself on the Home page of the beta site.
    • Click on “Sessions” box which takes you to the list of sessions coming up for the day.
    • Click on the session title you wish to view.  (watch the video for many ways to search for a session).  This will open a pop-up box.
    • Click on the red “Attend” button. This will take you to a full session description.
    • Click on the green “Join the Webinar” button.
    • This will launch Zoom and your session will begin at the scheduled time (U.S. Eastern Daylight Time Zone).
    • If you arrive prior to the session start time, you will see a countdown clock above the “Attend” button. You won’t be able to enter the session room until 15 minutes prior to the scheduled start time.

    OLC members: For additional guidance on accessing and navigating sessions in the Beta view, please watch this video:

     
     
    Please note: As you enter a session, remember that links will be active 15 minutes before the start of each live-streamed session. Each room does have a maximum capacity of 1000 participants, so we encourage you to arrive a few minutes early to ensure you get a “seat” in the session. If you find that the capacity of the room has been reached, please select another session to attend during that time block and come back to view the on-demand recording at a later date.

    If you have access questions, please contact us at conference@onlinelearning-c.org for assistance. Post-conference, we will ask OLC members via the post-conference survey for feedback on the beta test.