OLC Innovate 2020 - Program Welcome

A very special welcome to OLC Innovate 2020! In response to the changing Coronavirus (COVID-19) situation and restrictions for in-person events, we have made the decision to transform OLC Innovate 2020 into a fully online event.  We look forward to the opportunity to continue learning and sharing more about online and digital learning and what innovation means to us. This is a time to be inspired and continue improving our practice so we can better serve our students. Whether this is your first OLC innovate or your fifth, we are looking forward to seeing you online!

Last year, we explored the theme of moving mountains, with the Colorado Rockies as a backdrop. This year, we’ll consider the importance of building bridges. We take our inspiration from our originally planned location of Chicago, the city with the most moveable bridges of any city in the world, an innovation developed in the early 1900s to support commercial shipping. The moveable bridge serves as a provocative metaphor for the kinds of agile connections and partnerships we need to form to support students in the pursuit of lifelong learning. Rich and diverse partnerships, whether they be with another unit within your organization, an institutional partner, or an external vendor, often spark the greatest innovations when a vision to support students is shared. Building bridges is key to tackling the challenges we face in higher ed today.

Supporting lifelong learning and diverse learners are critical values in online and digital learning, and we have tracks and activities to delve into these topics. Please consider submitting a proposal to the Lifelong Learning and Workforce Partnerships track if your passion is designing educational and career pathways for students.  And join us as we expand discussions on diversity and inclusion as part of our programming. Whatever your interests are, whether they be in emerging technologies, teaching and learning practice, or research methods, we invite you to share your expertise and lessons learned by submitting a proposal.  

Track themes include:

• Teaching and Learning Practice
• Open Learning
• Leadership and Advocacy
• Life-long Learning and Workforce Partnerships
• Process, Problems, and Practices
• Effective Tools, Toys, and Technologies
• Research: Designs, Methods, and Findings

Conversations around online teaching are among our favorite reasons to gather for OLC Innovate every year. Join in our ‘Conversations, Not Presentations,’ session format, which is a rare chance to gather with practitioners, instructors, administrators, and students to have candid discussion to problem solve, question process, and push ourselves further than we can on our own. We also want to highlight graduate student discovery sessions and encourage you to engage students in presenting. Students bring an important perspective as emerging practitioners and learners that enrich the conference experience. There are several session types – so find the one that is right for you! 

• Conversation, Not Presentation
• Present and Reflect Session
• Discovery Session
• Graduate Student Discovery Session
• Innovation Studio Design Thinking Challenge
• Workshop
• Career Forum Roundtable

OLC Innovate is a great chance to share and learn about innovations in research, practice, and technologies; but more importantly it’s a chance to build new bridges and strengthen connections with colleagues. We’re excited to see you for a phenomenal fully virtual #OLCInnovate!

– The OLC Innovate 2020 Program Team