The OLC/MERLOT Program Committee seeks proposals that reflect and showcase our vibrant community of practice — promoting theory, research, methodology and/or applied effective practices in online, blended, and web-enhanced teaching and learning.
OLC is offering our annual spring conference in two modalities. OLC Innovate will be the all virtual option (virtual presenters to virtual attendees, March 8-17) and OLC Velocity will be the onsite program in Denver (March 17-20).
Education innovation. It’s how we, as a community, continue to thrive in this rapidly changing learning environment. It’s how we respond to, revolve around, and guide student success and satisfaction. Whether embracing emerging tech, incorporating intelligent learning management systems, or designing blended classrooms, now more than ever it is imperative that academic leaders, faculty, and administrators alike come together to ensure that our pedagogies are progressive, organic and continually break new ground.
Advancing education innovation requires continuous visionary leadership from all disciplines. And that’s why we’re inviting you to join us for this fully online, virtual conference. Together we will challenge our teaching and learning paradigms, reimagine the learning experience, and ideate on how disruptions in education today will shape the innovative classroom of tomorrow.
Moving our face-to-face conference to a blended format presents us with the unique opportunity to spotlight the best of what the online modality affords – meaningful collaboration and the ability to reflect and connect with colleagues around the globe.
During the OLC Innovate and OLC Velocity 2021 Conference, we will conduct a series of engaging sessions aimed at fostering organic interactions and collaborative cross-disciplinary problem-solving. Together we will build new foundations for stronger, better higher education environments. And because innovation scales best when ideas are shared, our work sessions will explore digital technologies and adapted teaching behaviors aimed at informing policy, inspiring leadership, and evolving practice at all levels impacting institutions, universities, and colleges
A blended OLC Innovate and OLC Velocity 2021 program offers both an online conference experience and an in-person experience that includes even more than the previous version of the virtual program:
Please join us for this reimagined event, and celebrate our collective resilience and dedication to forging connections without boundaries.
*Pre-conference workshops are an additional charge.
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Fantastic Networking“OLC Innovate provides the chance to network with educators who are not afraid to try out new ways to improve higher ed for students and who are generous with their ideas.” |
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Recharge Your Batteries“OLC Innovate really recharged my Instructional Design batteries. To have three days of motivated, engaging, and innovative people has been the highlight of my year. I can’t wait to attend OLC conferences and events in the near future! The conference paid for itself after about 2 hours on the first day!” |
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Now, New, Next“OLC Innovate was an amazing opportunity to connect with peers in the field, learn about new initiatives and technologies, and deepen my understanding and appreciation for what’s now, new, and next.” |
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New Ideas and Insights“The OLC Innovate Conference was one of the best conferences I’ve attended. The sessions and workshops all provided me with new ideas and insights for improving or incorporating innovation into the programs we’re developing under our TAACCCT grant. Everything was great…very enjoyable, I can’t wait to attend again.” |
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Community Engagement“I definitely would recommend this conference to colleagues because they will get a sense that they are not alone in their fields, they will meet people who can share strategies and resources to help solve the daunting problems we are facing in online learning.” |
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Immediately Applicable“I highly recommend this conference for anyone in the online learning field regardless of institution size. I am from an institution of less than 1500 students and was able to gain insight, ideas, and knowledge of applicable programming I can immediately start planning for my institution upon return.” |
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Explore, Share, Discover“An exciting and engaging opportunity to explore, share, and discover!” |
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Richness of Program Offerings“This conference was a truly wonderful experience. The richness of the program offerings and the Community College Summit provided so many new ideas to take back to my students and institution for implementation now and into the future.” |
OLC and MERLOT invite you to submit a proposal for presentation at our OLC Innovate & OLC Velocity 2021 conference. Topics may include: Blended Teaching and Learning, Career and Technical Education; Instructional Technologies and Tools; Leadership and Advocacy; Open Learning; Process, Problems, and Practices; Research: Designs, Methods, and Findings; and Teaching and Learning Practice.
We seek proposals for interactive sessions for workshops, discovery sessions, education sessions, conversations (not presentations), career forums, and hands-on innovation studio design thinking challenges that engage and inform participants.
Proposed sessions will be targeted to administrators, design thinkers, faculty, instructional support, students, training professionals, technologists, researchers and others.
Presenters and facilitators from the following areas are encouraged to submit proposals:
• Higher Education • K-12 Faculty • Researchers • Graduate scholars • Educational technology leaders • Instructional designers • Instructional technologists • Faculty • Instructors
Be sure to sign up for email alerts for ongoing updates.
This was an excellent conference. I left with tools I can implement immediately to improve the interactive possibilities of online education. The networking available at the conference was invaluable. Personally, I appreciated the morning yoga sessions and mindfulness meditation sessions.
Michelle Novotny-Sedelis, RN
MSN Nursing Instructor
Nicolet Area Technical College
I really enjoyed attending OLC Innovate 2019! I was able to learn about new technologies and techniques to help improve my department’s courses, and everyone was very friendly and happy to give advice. As a newcomer to this field it is wonderful to network and hear about others experiences.
Meaghan Donewar
Program Manager
Tulane University
I love OLC conferences because you have the opportunity to learn from others, feel each other’s pain and struggles with advice on how to get through in this innovative time, talk to vendors, and then talk to others as to why or why not they choose to work with those vendors. I love the research aspect, the practicality, and the networking OLC has to offer. It is the only conference I ever insist on attending because it keeps me up to date in this fast changing world and keeps me grounded in research even at the administrative level.
Dr. Maeghen M. Kuhn
Assistant Vice President, Adult and Online Education
Keuka College
OLC Innovate was one of the best professional development conferences I have attended. Ever. The sessions were well described, the presenters knew their stuff, and everything I experienced was well organized.
David Christianson
Instructional Designer
Hardin-Simmons University
OLC Innovate 2019 was wonderful. Apart from the engaging and thought-provoking sessions, plenty of time was structured in the program for networking and reconnecting with colleagues around the world.
Anonymous OLC Innovate 2019 Attendee
I would definitely recommend this conference to my colleagues because of the variety of topics and quality of the presenters. The location was great and the quality of the services was outstanding.
Charle Coffey
Assistant Professor
Motlow College
