OLC Accelerate 2021 CFP Submission Checklist

Please complete the steps listed below before submitting your proposal:

• Login or register a user account with OLC. 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. 
  
  
• When registering, please include as much information as possible in your OLC conference user profile, including your name, title, affiliation, biography, a profile picture, and most current contact information. All additional co-presenters also need to have OLC user accounts and should be added to the proposal at the time of submission. Please keep in mind that once you have registered or submitted a paper, all conference-related information can be found here at the OLC Accelerate 2021 website.
• After you login and proceed to the conference management system, you will be able to submit a proposal by clicking on “OLC Accelerate 2021” in the top menu navigation within the OLC conference management system.
• Note that each individual is limited to no more than three (3) submissions, including the roles of presenter, co-presenter, panelist, or workshop facilitator. 

Please compile all of the following information before submitting your proposal:

• Title of Presentation (limit of 120 characters): Please select a title that accurately describes your presentation content. Please use title capitalization for your proposal title. 
• Session Type:
  • Education Session
  • Express Workshop
  • Gamified Session
  • Discovery Session (virtual only)
  • Graduate Student Discovery Session (virtual only)
  • Workshop
  • Lightning Talk
• Program track: Please select the track that most closely aligns with your proposal. 
• Keywords: Using the “Keywords” field in the submission process, include relevant keywords. You may add as many unique keywords as apply. Please use commas to separate your keywords.
• Short Abstract (limit of 50 words) for inclusion in the conference website listings
• Extended Abstract (up to 1500 words for inclusion in the conference website and mobile app). Please provide a longer description and goals of the presentation. The extended abstract should:
  
  • Be concisely written, accurate, self-contained, and coherent
  • Identify how you plan to engage the audience. This can be accomplished through a number of techniques including small group moments, interactive question and answers, audience contribution, interactive handouts, games, partner exercises, etc.
  • Use a clear and direct writing style with active voice rather than passive
  • Give a clear statement of what participants will learn from this presentation
  • List what materials—slides, handouts, web links—will be provided during the presentation, posted on the conference web site, or submitted to the conference proceedings
  • Give participants a good idea of the content and format of your presentation
  • Persuade the proposal reviewers and conference attendees that you are going to present something unique, valuable and engaging
  • For research presentations please include a brief, concise description of context, questions, methods, results, conclusions, and a discussion/interpretation.
  • Workshops should be designed with specific, identifiable learning outcomes with in-class opportunities to support collaborative and/or interactive group activities.
  • Gamified sessions should clearly identify the game-like format being used, the anticipated learning outcomes, and the intended plan for audience engagement during the session.
• Who might benefit from the presentation? Indicate institution type, audience level, and target audience for attendees:
  • Indicate Institution Type: K-12, Higher Ed, Industry, Government, Other
  • Indicate Audience Level: All, Expert, Intermediate, Novice
  • Indicate Special Session Designation: Does your intended session directly address the unique perspectives of the any of the following: Blended, Community College, HBCU, Research, Leadership, or Equity & Inclusion?
  • Indicate Target Audience: Administrators, Design Thinkers, Faculty, Instructional Support, Students, Training Professionals, Technologists, Researchers, All Attendees, Other
• Proposal Planning Template (Auto-copy of google doc) Please use a copy of this google doc template for your own use in planning your proposal submission. Once you have your information gathered, it is easy to copy and paste into the fields in the OLC Conference Management System. 
• Proposal Planning Example (View-only google doc) This is an example of how you can use the planning template to help you plan your proposal submission.

General Reminders: 

• Please make sure you check your work for grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Since a broad audience will view your abstract you should spell out all acronyms. Also keep in mind that all information submitted through the online system will be used verbatim to generate the web agenda and any conference publications.
• Please make sure that your information is accurate and carefully edited. This includes information about you and your co-presenters.

Helpful Tips:

• Note: The following standard audiovisual equipment will be provided in each onsite presentation room: data projector equipped with an HDMI cable to accommodate both PC and Macintosh platforms, an Internet connection, and a screen (16:9 slide ratio). Note: Presenters are required to provide their own computer equipment or other specialized equipment.
• Virtual-to-virtual sessions will be held via Zoom. 
• Become part of the OLC Community – register for your (free) user account on www.onlinelearningconsortium.org.
• Please be sure to add conference@onlinelearning-c.org to your “safe-senders” list so you receive your notification as well as other important communications from the OLC Conference Team.