OLC Innovate 2021 - Virtual Program Welcome

A very special welcome to OLC Innovate 2021! During an ever-evolving scenario relating to the current Coronavirus (COVID-19) situation and restrictions for in-person events, we are currently planning a virtual-only event for OLC Innovate 2021, running March 15-19, 2021. We look forward to the opportunity to continue learning and sharing more about online and digital learning and what innovation means to us as the Innovate 2021 event develops over the next 4 months. We feel that this is the time for us to work collaboratively and build up a wealth of best practices so we can better serve our students, our disciplines, and the field of digital and online learning. Whether this is your first OLC Innovate or your fifth, we are looking forward to collaborating with each of you over the next months as we count down to a great conference event together!

This year we are excited to offer a host of included, deep-dive experiences through our Summits, including the Blended Learning, Community College, HBCU, K-12, Instructional Design, International, OLC Leadership Network Event, and Research Summits. Our themes this year have been updated to incorporate the critical shifts happening in the educational arena, and include focus areas on life-long learning, leadership and advocacy, open learning, and more. We’re excited to share the full 9 tracks with you for OLC Innovate 2021 below.

Track themes for Innovate 2021 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
• Teaching and Learning Practice

OLC presenters go through a rigorous three-stage, double-blind review process upon conference proposal submission. Acceptance to present at OLC Innovate is competitive and is a great accomplishment. Tracks shown above have a limited number of slots available to fill, determined based on the formats available within our presentations for Innovate. Presentation formats for this year’s call for proposals included: 

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

If you’re presenting at OLC Innovate 2021 this year, it’s never too early to review our Presenter FAQs and other excellent resources from our Presenter Services team. We have built out helpful guides to assist you with developing the best virtual presentation possible, and you’ll even have an opportunity to sign up to meet with one of our amazing, well-versed Innovate Presenter Services Coaches as we near the conference time. 

We truly believe that OLC Innovate is a great chance to share and learn about innovations in research, practice, and technologies, particularly at such a challenging time for our world.  We’re excited to see you for a phenomenal fully virtual #OLCInnovate!

Kind Regards, 

The OLC Innovate 2021 Program Chairs

Sherri Restauri and Maddie Shellgren