OLC Innovate 2023 Program
We are pleased to announce the virtual and onsite programs for the OLC Innovate 2023 event, to be held virtually April 4-6, 2023 and onsite April 18-21, 2023 in Nashville, TN.
We are pleased to announce the virtual and onsite programs for the OLC Innovate 2023 event, to be held virtually April 4-6, 2023 and onsite April 18-21, 2023 in Nashville, TN.
All Sessions are 45 minutes in length unless otherwise noted.
All sessions are listed in US Central Time Zone.
ALL SESSION TIMES ARE LISTED IN US CENTRAL TIME
All virtual-to-virtual and selected onsite streaming sessions will be webcast via Zoom. Exceptions are virtual Discovery sessions, which will be presented asynchronously via PlayPosit throughout the conference. You will not see dates/times for asynchronous sessions.
Please join us for a wide variety of networking events throughout the conference and during in the 30 minute breaks between most concurrent sessions. If you are joining us onsite, be sure to visit the Engagement Boulevard (located in the exhibit hall) throughout the conference, and mark your calendar for our Engagement Block Party on Thursday, April 20 at 4:00pm. Don’t forget to look for our special evening social events in the schedule during both the virtual and onsite weeks.
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Not sure what to do between sessions? Consider checking out OLC Innovate's fully virtual and asynchronous engagement space. Each of the volunteer-driven engagement teams have prepared and carefully designed fun, engaging, and thought-provoking activities for you to take up on your own time. If nothing else, it is a great place to get new ideas for how to engage with others and build community. Plus, you'll get to learn more about OLC Innovate's 2023 Engagement Team (a group of dedicated volunteers from across the field who designed this year's engagement programming). Looking for the join link? Just visit any of the engagement team pages in our Engagez virtual conference platform (e.g. Speed Networking Lounge, Field Guides, OLC Live!, Innovation Studio, OLC Cafe & Mercantile, OLC Sanctuary, Innovation Crews, and more!).
Join us via Canvas now: https://olc.instructure.com/enroll/XTX6HC
The Field Guide Program is your go-to program for conference onboarding and orientation. Stop by the Field Guide Base Station, designed as a ‘just-in-time’ resource to enhance the conference experience, for help, guidance, recommendations, or even directions! Learn about the 'must-sees' and the 'must-dos' of OLC Innovate 2023!
The Innovation Studio provides space for attendees to collaborate and innovate together. Join our Innovation Studio leads, Kiran Budhrani and Brandon Poulliot, for design thinking strategies, problems of practice, and a chance to contribute to our OLC Innovate community-driven project!
Innovation Crews are flexible communities convened around shared interests before, during, and even after your conference experience. Facilitated by a “Crew Leader”, they provide a space for colleagues to connect, converse, support each other, and be part of a smaller group within the larger conference. Select a group that aligns with your interests and join a cohort of colleagues dedicated to both navigating OLC Innovate together and co-constructing a meaningful learning experience. Stop by the Field Guide station for details or contact us at conference@onlinelearning-c.org.
Join a Crew now in the OLC Innovate Slack space: https://join.slack.com/t/olcinnovate/shared_invite/zt-1qgeha4j7-mOguLWzfJ1p9XMfnpYOqOg.
Leading HBCUs implementing Affordable Learning Solutions (AL$) will share their practices for supporting faculty changing to no-cost and low-cost digital course materials and institutionalizing AL$ with policies and practices. Strategies for creating OER that are culturally relevant for Africana learners and implementing open educational practices will be presented as well.
Join us for a fun and interactive session centering on the asynchronous discovery sessions. Starting with a little bit of orientation, some guided road-mapping, and lots of key reflection and collaborative learning, this session will get us thinking about the possibilities for intentional asynchronous online engagement.
Can't wait for the conference to get started? Us either! Join us to jumpstart your networking, get a sneak peek about this year's offerings, and learn all about what the OLC and MERLOT community has to offer.
If you’re looking for support in orienting to the virtual conference, the First Timers Welcome and Orientation is a must! Get support in planning your conference experience and kick things off with some casual networking.
If you're attendigd the keynote, join us in Slack to engage in a dynamic discussion during the session, as we share insights, highlight key quotes or data, and collaboratively make ties to implications for what's next.
Join us for the dialogue in the OLC Innovate Slack space: https://join.slack.com/t/olcinnovate/shared_invite/zt-1qgeha4j7-mOguLWzfJ1p9XMfnpYOqOg
In The Book of Joy, the Dalai Lama, in conversation with Archbishop Desmond Tutu, invites us to develop our “Mental Immunity,” the skills we need, individually and collectively, to help ourselves and our communities guard against chronic stress so we may continue to learn and thrive. A key to developing such pivotal skills is understanding how our brains perceive and react to stressors and what enables us to self- and co-regulate.
Our understanding of the human brain—its development evolution—has inspired cognitive psychologists and behavioral neuroscientists to describe the brain as a social organ. Indeed, our reliance on social connection with others is a matter of survival not preference. Meaningful social connections inform our sense of safety and serve as the underlying basis for our thoughts, behaviors, and feelings. In order to cultivate digital learning spaces where such connections are possible, we must intentionally and explicitly design our learning communities and experiences to reflect and promote such vision.
In this session, we will examine polyvagal theory, which describes the nervous system as having a hierarchical organization. At the top of that hierarchy is our social engagement system which helps us connect and navigate relationships. In addition, we will consider the science of biological and behavioral resilience and the three factors that give rise to resilience: plasticity, sociality, and meaning. We will examine practical implications for how we can empower ourselves and our students to “befriend” our social engagement nervous system so we can continue to engage, learn, and thrive. Throughout, we will underscore the reality that “befriending” and regulating the nervous system, and by extension wellbeing, is not merely an individual responsibility but a societal one as well. Our intrinsic interconnectedness and interdependence equip us with the power to witness, uplift, and elevate the humanity of others and in doing so, we can begin to heal ourselves and others.
Prior to the start of the keynote, we will recognize our 2023 OLC and MERLOT Award winners. Please also join us Wednesday, April 5 from 10:15am-11:15pm US Central Time Zone (CT) for our OLC & MERLOT Awards Gala, where we will celebrate our award winners' achievements and have the opportunity to ask them questions.
Join OLC Live hosts in for a rich post-keynote discussion focused on open learning trends, strategies, and collaborative efforts. This session will feature shared insights and highlights from conference attendees related to the virtual keynote.
Join us for this conversation to help shape the future of our offerings and experiences with you in mind. OLC has been developing personas for our community to better serve and understand our participant’s journeys. We want to hear your story with OLC’s community (however long or short it’s been). We’ll use this time to better understand your needs and barriers to ensure we align offerings and experiences and make clear pathways for your success.
Having identified a need to ensure quality online education for students, our institution developed a rubric to facilitate a quality online course designation process to improve distance education and earn state designation. This session will share strategies for the development and implementation of a quality assurance process and rubric.
Our project involved an interdisciplinary team, technological development, and experiential learning. We created a system, AccessCyber, to amplify experiential learning and curriculum access. Our work was supported by the [information redacted for anonymized review].
How do you know that you’re meeting the needs of the communities that you serve? How can you connect with those you are not aware of to make a bigger impact in your organization or institution?
Join us for a discussion of how OLC developed a flexible landscape analysis framework to better understand the needs of our community. In this session, we will provide key strategies for conducting a landscape analysis, which can be applied in many contexts, including professional development, online program development, and student support services. Participants can adopt and adapt the OLC framework and will leave the session with a greater understanding of how to conduct an effective landscape analysis.
What evidence does your institution collect to ensure that online / distance learning is comparable to in-person learning? Join this conversation to share your strategies for providing evidence of quality and collaborate with your peers to establish a playbook of best practices for institutions when preparing for accreditation review.
Managing an online classroom requires appropriately setting up and facilitating an environment that maintains the same rigor and support students receive in a traditional setting. With minimal funding and subsequent lack of support, teachers are required to manage systems and resources on their own to ensure students remain engaged and motivated in their learning. This presentation will discuss tips, strategies, and tools that teachers can use and implement right away to provide a meaningful learning experience for the traditional student.
Do you ever feel like people don't know what you do all day? Have you ever had someone act suprised at what your job actually entails? Are you tired of attending conferences and leaving with no meaningful connections? Then get ready for Business Card Bonanza! During this event you will have the chance to actively seek out new connections and exchange virtual business cards to stay in touch.
Congratulations! You have been promoted! You’ve gone from ID to ID manager. You are excited! You are nervous! And you may be wondering, Now What!?! We invite you to share your journey from ID to manager with us in an engaging session.
The "Ed3" movement champions integrating education with internet technologies targeting decentralization, learner sovereignty, and verifiable credentials, known collectively as Web3 and the metaverse. While this movement grows, the knowledge, attitudes, and concerns of those involved remain unknown. Contextual to online learning, results and implications of such a study are discussed.
Culturally responsive teaching (CRT) strategies for success in all students in higher education are the topic of this session. Successful CRT strategies designed by faculty engaging with working adults in university programs to welcome and connect with students and promote student success are the session's focus.
Participants are invited to engage with Crews by attending the same session(s) or activity(s). Meet up with your crew lead to debrief and plan your next steps.
Join a Crew now in the OLC Innovate Slack space: https://join.slack.com/t/olcinnovate/shared_invite/zt-1qgeha4j7-mOguLWzfJ1p9XMfnpYOqOg
For three years, leaders and staff of organizations supporting open educational resources, practices, services, pedagogies, research, data, and more have informally gather monthly to share strategies, opportunities, and achievements in open education. Strategic collaborative projects were completed which educators around the world can leverage to accelerate the adoption of Open Education.
Does your university experience obstacles and siloing in building and executing a strategy around connecting curriculum to careers? Is this hindering your ability to drive transformative change in this area?
Join us we reflect on launching a university-wide initiative connecting curriculum to careers via instructional design, assessment, and data analytics.
How can you best engage students in virtual STEM courses? Engage in an online Q-sort alongside your fellow instructors to establish best practices to tackle this challenge. Learn about Q-methodology as a tool you can implement in your courses/research and create strategies to implement in your courses.
There’s so much to take in, explore, and learn at Innovate 2023! Join the conference leadership and planning team for an introduction to all of the exciting events, programming, and ways to engage and connect in this conference kickoff session. OLC Live! co-hosts will interview the conference chairs to share all of the exciting ways to make the most of your Innovate 2023 experience.
Understand the foundations of Cultural Intelligence (CI) through engaging interactive activities that guide participants in becoming more empathetic and compassionate in their daily practices. Participants receive an interactive digital guide with activities for implementing immediate action steps and engaging in ongoing reflection.
This virtual Musicians and Movies BINGO event is a fun and interactive activity that brings together music and movie enthusiasts. The game features a selection of iconic movies that prominently feature musicians as characters, themes or plot devices.
The event will be hosted virtually and participants can join from anywhere in the world. Each participant will receive a unique virtual BINGO card, which contains the names of various musicians that have appeared in movies or movie titles. The host will call out the names of musicians or movie titles, and participants will mark off their virtual BINGO cards accordingly. The first participant to complete a BINGO (i.e. a vertical, horizontal, or diagonal line) will be declared the winner.
Overall, this virtual Musicians and Movies BINGO event is a fun and interactive activity that brings together music and movie enthusiasts, with the host providing fun facts and trivia about the musicians and movies as the game progresses. It is an ideal activity for anyone looking to have a fun and engaging time while also expanding their knowledge of music and movies.
Description
This presentation focuses on the importance of queer and transgender inclusion in OER and strategies for how instructors can both evaluate existing OER and find new sources for their courses.
Need a boost of energy without the ups and downs of caffeine?! The presenters, both Board Certified Advanced Holistic Nurses, will provide holistic self-care tips to invigorate the mind, body, and spirit. From essential oils to forest bathing, there are many easy and enjoyable ways to rejuvenate teaching energy!
Whether starting or scaling, digital learning initiatives require intentional development of faculty and staff. Participants will learn how OLC’s Institute for Professional Development partners with institutions to provide professional learning on the latest digital learning practices and emerging technology trends. Hear directly from OLC staff and a panel of institutional leaders who have leveraged the Institute's offerings to support their faculty and staff.
Learn more about what the OLC Engagement Committee is doing behind the scenes for your Innovate 2023 experience. You'll get a sneak peek at some of the highlights so you can be prepared to be entertained and engaged both virtually and onsite. We'll also use this time to talk about engagement, generally, and why it is important to consider in and across our teaching and learning spaces.
Join us for a session full of ceremony and celebration as we spotlight the achievements, elevate the innovations, and honor the commitments of this year’s award recipients.
Online education is rapidly trending towards Mobile Learning. Students are not just learning online; rather they are learning on the go, self-pacing their educational path, and accessing learning content through various mediums and screen sizes. Join in to learn how online students communicate, access, and complete online learning activities!
The project Engineers & STEM contributes to a better understanding of the E of STEM highlighting the role of engineer’s contribution to the development of society. It is addressed to teachers and students of primary, secondary (K-12), and engineering education. Objectives, methodology, results, and interactive debate will be presented.
Are you looking to add more dimension to your discussions to make them even more engaging and encourage your students to develop their critical thinking skills? We will walk you through a new framework, developed out of our research (Berry & Kowal, 2022), that will help draw more out of your students to add depth to their responses and interactions with others. Come ready to apply a new model toward this essential component of many online courses and take your discussions from good to great!
Grab a snack or lunch, and join us for the OLC Innovate Design Sprints! The Design Sprints will take place over the course of two days and provide a fun way to learn about design thinking and other conference attendees.
In this session, we will draw upon the expertise of a panel of blended practitioners to answer the questions: How does blended and hybrid learning specifically lead to more equitable outcomes? How can we apply the most effective teaching practices of blended and hybrid learning to online and face-to-face modalities?
Are you ready to showcase your knowledge and quick thinking skills in a game of Family Feud? Join us for an exciting version of this classic game and compete against other individual players. With a little strategy and a lot of fun, you could come out on top. This game is perfect for networking and making new connections. Join us for a memorable and exciting game of Family Feud that will leave you energized and ready to take on anything.
This session will present an update on the cross-institutional collaboration to simultaneously address DEI and online course quality. SUNY, Cal State LA CETL, and now 66 other institutions are developing an online, openly-licensed, and freely available resource of annotations for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in online course design that can be used with any of the main online course quality rubrics, i.e., CVC-OEI, OSCQR, QOLT, or QM.
OLC provides official reviews for institutions to help them evaluate and address quality in their online courses and programs, and OLC relies on trained external reviewers to support these efforts. In this session, participants will learn about the scorecards within the OLC Quality Scorecard Suite, strategies for effectively completing course reviews at any institution, and the process for applying to be a Certified OLC Scorecard Reviewer.
Traditional teaching methods often seem useless when it comes to online learning. With tweaking, we can transform some familiar techniques into our digital classrooms.
We will take a few old-school, in-person instructional methods and translate them into interactive, online teaching strategies that will increase student engagement and active learning.
Participants are invited to engage with Crews by attending the same session(s) or activity(s). Meet up with your crew lead to debrief and plan your next steps.
Join a Crew now in the OLC Innovate Slack space: https://join.slack.com/t/olcinnovate/shared_invite/zt-1qgeha4j7-mOguLWzfJ1p9XMfnpYOqOg
The presenters will share ways they have implemented Transparent Leadership practices to retain staff and build a trusting and positive work environment for their team. They will discuss benefits and challenges they have experienced and call on the audience to share their experiences, ideas, and best practices in a discussion format.
Oral communication is essential in today’s workplace. This interactive session will explore effective and innovative ways to help online students acquire public speaking skills for workplace readiness.
In the rush to offer courses online early in the pandemic, ensuring that online technology and pedagogy are fully accessible and otherwise inclusive of students with disabilities was often overlooked. The presenter will share evidence-based tips on how to deliver an online course that is inclusive of all students.
Join OLC Live co-hosts Amy Archambault and Allegra Davis Hanna in a virtual lounge. Bring your coffee, share your ideas and inspirations, and hear from other attendees as you explore the virtual OLC Innovate conference.
Music is a powerful and influential tool that affects everyone, possibly without recognition. Using the Ludic Pedagogy framework and model as a guide, an engaging student-centered online assignment was created to help students explore history, culture, diversity, equity, and other topics through song lyrics. Use this in your class tomorrow!
Discover how MERLOT-SkillsCommons, Ohio TechNet (OTN) and education-industry partners are modeling innovative strategies to fill in-demand, skilled jobs in advanced manufacturing. Explore strategies accelerating innovation to fill today’s demands for high-tech manufacturing jobs. Learn how OTN’s partnership with MERLOT-SkillsCommons and the Ohio Manufacturers’ Association (OMA) is creating a portal of Free training resources of relevant and vetted content for Ohio’s workforce training programs.
This virtual trivia event is designed to engage and challenge participants' knowledge on various higher education topics. The event is intended for educators, students, and anyone interested in testing your knowledge about issues and recent events in higher education. The trivia questions will cover a range of topics, including student life, college affordability, technological advancements, policy changes, and more.
The event will be hosted virtually, and participants will be able to join from anywhere in the world. The event will be hosted live and will consist of several rounds, each featuring different categories and point values. Participants will be given a set amount of time to answer each question, and the host will provide feedback on the correct answer.
The event is designed to be engaging and interactive, providing an opportunity for participants to learn and engage in friendly competition with one another. The trivia questions are challenging, but also informative and thought-provoking, allowing participants to expand their knowledge of the issues that influence higher education.
Creating the quality and equitable digital learning environments of the future requires us to instantiate humanized, inclusive, and impactful experiences for our students. As a means of best aligning online, blended, and digital learning to their needs, what if we reimagined our practices and strategic processes to build our digital learning future in collaboration with our students? Bringing together the emergent themes of the conference, as well as diverse narratives of the lived-in experiences of our featured students, this plenary panel will leverage the wisdom of our students in collectively charting a path to a new reality where access to quality education within online, blended, and digital learning is inclusive of all learners, and collaboratively built from the articulated needs of our students.
What could be better than starting your day with a fresh cup of coffee, a positive attitude, and the chance to network with like-minded professionals? Join us for a morning of coffee, gratitude, and networking that will leave you feeling energized and inspired. Take a moment to express gratitude for your successes and set your intentions for the day ahead. Then, connect with other attendees and make new connections that could lead to exciting new opportunities. Don't miss out on this unique and rewarding networking experience!
What are Open Educational Resources (OER) and what role do they play in building equity into the educational landscape? OER goes beyond cost savings and provides customizable content which can reflect historically marginalized voices and viewpoints. This presentation will provide a foundation on what OER are, how they are used, and their importance in equity in education. Practical resources and tips for incorporating diverse content will also be provided.
'Maslow before Bloom’ calls for educators to meet learners’ basic needs before striving for academic outcomes. Common in residential settings, such motivational strategies are scarce in online tertiary environments. Using Maslow’s (1943) theory, recognize the needs of adult learners and gain practical strategies to meet these needs in online environments.
Researchers share the results of a meta-analysis examining research on synchronous instructor presence in online courses and the relationship to student outcomes. We will discuss the research process and unexpected challenges. The discussion will include how the results can be applied by different stakeholder groups, including recommendations for researchers.
Participants are invited to engage with Crews by attending the same session(s) or activity(s). Meet up with your crew lead to debrief and plan your next steps.
Join a Crew now in the OLC Innovate Slack space: https://join.slack.com/t/olcinnovate/shared_invite/zt-1qgeha4j7-mOguLWzfJ1p9XMfnpYOqOg
Face it! Faculty are BUSY! They are teaching, grading papers, planning lessons, engaged in service to the college through clubs and committees, and serving the university through committees. With time as limited as this; engaging in scheduled synchronous research programming is often difficult. In this session research findings will be provided related to asynchronous developmental research programming to meet the busy needs of online faculty so that they can access what they want and need easily – one ‘Bite’ of content at a time.
The Division of Digital Learning at the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board is advancing the OER ecosystem in Texas and beyond. Through research, advocacy, partnerships, and trainings this work eliminates geographical, financial, and procedural barriers and fosters the adoption of quality OER practices and materials.
Starting with an acknowledgement of lectures as a still widespread teaching technique, the presentation proposes an innovative, easy-to-implement teaching strategy that streamlines lecture planning, and transforms lectures into active, engaging encounters with course content: ACSL (ACtive SLide) is a low-prep, high-yield strategy with measurable results.
Grab a snack or lunch, and join us for the OLC Innovate Design Sprints! The Design Sprints will take place over the course of two days and provide a fun way to learn about design thinking and other conference attendees.
Is it possible to be “device agnostic” in higher education teaching and learning? This session invites audiences with various roles in teaching, learning, and innovation to unpack this question through discussion prompts, front-loaded with recent research. This discussion will be generative, with attendees contributing to a shareable resource and recommendations.
Adobe Express or Canva? Microsoft or Google? Zoom or Teams? Often it feels we focus more on the tool than the needs of our learners. Here we will discuss how understanding basic instructional design principles can help faculty effectively choose and use technology for teaching and learning.
Digital badges have been leveraged with increasing success to bridge the gap between the language of higher education and the workforce. But what about those who never matriculate? Join St. Catherine University as it shares its innovative approach to meeting the needs of this growing sub-set of job-ready students.
The conference may be almost over, but our community learning can and will extend far beyond this moment in time. Bring your conference highlights, lessons learned, tips and tricks, resources and tools...you name it...so that we can curate this year's 'biggest hits' together.
How are institutions building diverse and equity-centered opportunities for the future of online and blended education? What are existing and emerging evidence-based practices and opportunities that promote innovation and student success? This session will focus on topics related to using data to inform pedagogical and institutional changes related to equity, inclusive excellence, high-impact practices, and student success.
The sessions may be over, but the fun doesn't stop there! Live music, fun games, virtual celebrations, organically unpredictable Zoom antics...what's not to love? The OLC Innovate 2023 Closing Celebration will be an experience you don't want to miss, and we hope to see you there!
This session presents an overview of our open access interactive eBook for integrating critical media literacy with civic learning in K-12 schools and colleges. We explain our book design process, discuss connections between media and civics, and highlight ways to use resources with students in face-to-face and online settings.
Activities keep all learners engaged in the course, whether the activity is a group discussion, a lab, a discussion post, or a blog. As meaningful as many of the activities are, the activities do not prepare students for assessments if the activity, outcome, and assessment are not aligned. How do we know? Come to this session and let's talk about it.
Explore the potential of Open Educational Resources and Practices (OER/OEP) to foster intentionally-inclusive learning, encourage student engagement and promote instructor autonomy and reflection. Participants will gain familiarity with OER/OEP and their affordances, and will consider the potential for collaborative faculty-designer partnerships to foster more open, welcoming learning environments.
In this session, we will explore some of the ancillary services that complement online learning initiatives, such as academic advising, disability accommodations, and career development. We will briefly present our procedures, and explore with attendees what structures exist at other universities.
Technology and circumstances have opened doors to online education, and there are many reasons why students opt for online education. While online education offers the comfort of convenience, it also brings in several concerns of feeling alone, sitting in front of a device, and attempting to complete coursework with little support synchronously. Throughout this interactive session, you will have the opportunity to hear from different perspectives on how we have brought the classroom to the living room by enhancing our online offerings while building a sense of community.
In an undergraduate environmental science program at a large online institution, we addressed the skills gap between industry and higher education. Development of a curriculum-to-careers program map synthesized industry needs with education outcomes. Consequently, program graduates will be prepared with content knowledge, industry skills, and the ability to use both.
We will focus on strategies for creating a culture of compassion and connection in your classroom. Discussions will build upon practices used in virtual modalities by incorporating strategies to adjust expectations, be fully present, practice empathy, and connect with your students using your LMS.
Targeted feedback and holistic scoring are two of the most effective approaches for building a growth mindset culture among students. Join this session to dive into a case study on student persistence and explore a set of feedback strategies and holistic scoring methods that can be implemented across any discipline.
Cultural competence is an essential requirement of administrators, curriculum developers, faculty, and students who drive the mission, values, vision, and goals at academic institutions. Their scope of influence and efficacy is thus enabled through leadership appropriateness and skill. Universities preparing students for the next phase of their lives not only must equip their students academically, but also holistically in order for them to flourish-and this includes the area of cultural competence. This presentation offers insight into four leadership styles, Charismatic Leadership, Servant Leaderships, Transformational Leadership, and Situational Leadership and the application of each for effective cultural competency in academic settings.
In Taiwan, Native Languages become a new mandatory subject from grade 1 to 12 starting in 2022. This study examines the technical, pedagogical, and content knowledge (TPACK) of Taiwanese native language teachers (NLTs). Used the Delphi method, Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), the NLTs’ competency of teaching with technology was uncovered.
eLearnReady is a free, web-based tool designed to analyze students’ preparedness for online learning. After students complete the survey, eLearnReady analyzes their responses to identify their strengths and areas for improvement for online learning. The survey results are then provided to students as a comprehensive report, complete with study tips and videos that demonstrate methods for being a successful online learner. Given its usefulness and ease of use, to date, over 100,000 students have completed the eLearnReady survey across multiple states since eLearnReady was first introduced at the Online Learning Consortium (OLC) Innovate in April 2017. Some institutions of higher education have embedded eLearnReady into college and transfer student orientation sessions, freshman seminar classes, and other online courses to support students. This presentation will provide a high-level overview of the free eLearnReady Online Learning Student Readiness Survey; provide examples of implementation across colleges and universities; as well as share data on our research with this tool with the attendees.
Join us for an interactive experience supporting nontraditional online students with writing and research skills. Learn how we leverage embedded writing and research resources in the curriculum to support nontraditional student outcomes, foster an equitable online environment, and cultivate a Culture of Care.
Evolution occurs in response to a multitude of external and internal shaping forces. As a new instructional design team entering an untouched landscape of online program design for our university, our design processes inevitably evolved. Hear how we adapted every term to keep collaboration central and connect over common experiences.
Technological advances have increased educators' ability to innovate in the virtual synchronous environment. This presentation will provide detailed innovative learning strategies used during the implementation of virtual synchronous learning in a blended accelerated baccalaureate nursing program. Student course evaluation scores with open-ended comments and aggregate performance data will be shared.
Entry point courses are the gateway to beginning the college experience and for many open enrollment students this is their first engagement with a higher education institution. To help students persist in their first course, the instructors for an entry point course revised and flip flopped the content rich assignments to create a high touch and engaging entry point course. The redesign intentionally used cognitive primers, interactives, assignments, and discussions to yield an umbrella of support for students while helping them build connections to the university community.
This presentation will explore the collaboration between higher education and industry to uncover the benefits and barriers. Although educational institutions and organizations often pursue different outcomes, integration between them offers value to the community, industry, educational institution, and most importantly, the students.
First-year online students are at risk for dropping out. How might a free, optional virtual study hall support and engage students? Would this ultimately impact their persistence? This session shares student perceptions of how a virtual study hall impacted persistence as a first-year student.
The pandemic changed the way of life altogether, let alone education. What was once identified as non-traditional education is now beginning to be viewed as traditional education; how education is being provided. More and more institutions and organizations are adopting the non-traditional method of operating, educating, training, and engaging with basic communications and interactions. Per the pandemic, it became the sole method in continuing education across all educational platforms. However, with this method being applied, there is an identified concern where this new method has no human to human interaction and the learning experiences are minus humanized engagement. The question now is, how has the pandemic changed education for our students? And what can be done to help with the changes and pivots that had to take place? What is missing and needed?
Have you created a high-quality biology-related material you would like to share with the world? You can submit your resource to the MERLOT collection and achieve a 5-star rating from the MERLOT peer review process. This will increase the visibility, reach and attractiveness of your resource.
How can instructional designers and faculty experts in education work together to design faculty professional development for online/blended teaching that elevates pedagogical practices across all teaching modalities? Hear perspectives from across the university and gain ideas to develop partnerships for collaboration that elevate both instructional design and teaching pedagogy.
Observing, measuring, and coaching faculty performance is essential in managing faculty. We will consider and discuss how we can promote positive faculty performance outcomes by modifying the cadence of annual performance reviews, based on faculty performance, resulting in a more intentional approach regarding when and how we review faculty teaching.
The work force has needed to deal more effectively with ever-increasing amounts and types of information, increasingly by leveraging technology. These changes call for ICT literacy, which is unevenly addressed, especially for women are under-represented industries. These realities lead to economic and digital inequity. This session discusses partnership among SkillsCommon, WISE and MERLOT to build digital equity for women seeking sustainable employment.
Millions of us choose – or have to choose – to learn from someone physically distant. But as all of our interactions become increasingly rooted in remote digital experiences, what are we actually losing besides the proximity of other people? What are the risks of this loss and are they avoidable?
Field Guides support instructors with a lighthearted, relatable approach that increases instructor interaction with their designers and each other, autonomy in courses, and overall efficiency in course development. By leveraging our team, the affective domain, and diffusion of innovation, we share micro best practices, wrapped up in a Beyonce bow.
Students increase content knowledge and solve problems when creating multimedia presentations. This session will explore how multimedia presentations can be utilized to both engage online students and assess learning. Throughout the presentation, participants will contribute ideas to shared documents/boards that will be available to them after the presentation.
Sharing the range of OLC services and assets, participants will hear from OLC staff members in a series of lightning talks on their work within digital learning including grants, research, professional learning, strategic partnerships, global events, and community engagement. At the conclusion of each talk, participants will be able to contribute to the conversation of what’s next - including sharing their own ideas and opportunities for advancing connectedness and engagement in collaboration with the OLC.
Learn about this resource designed to be utilized to support development of a peer support program. Mental health is something many students struggle with, and this resource is loaded with tools that can be used by students as they support each other, while also preparing them for their future careers.
The COVID-19 pandemic forced institutions to rely on instructional design teams more than ever. As institutions and faculty members become more adapt to best practices concerning online education, the role of instructional designers will continue to evolve. This presentation will predict the future of instructional design in higher education.
In this session, we will present data on our research on students' creation and use of course reviews as a form of peer advising, and facilitate a conversation among representatives from other universities about their use of the same.
To support the introduction of blended learning after the COVID-19 era, we developed a teacher training program to improve the course design process of teachers. This presentation will share how the “Rebuild method” and “Course design toolkit” support course design while visualizing and modifying the course structure effectively and interactively.
Learn about the growing field of Aviation English language training. Enact pilot and air traffic control radio communications. Overview problems and solutions related to course design and contribute your own ideas for creating conditions for effective oral language skills development online.
This presentation describes a Dissertation Continuation Model (DCM) supporting equity for adjunct faculty serving as dissertation chairs and online doctoral students who have completed 12 credits of dissertation but have not defended their projects. This model was designed to center adjunct faculty experience and provide resources to online doctoral students.
All too often, online course quality is determined by a course’s compliance with industry standards rather than consultation with actual students. In this presentation, we share a case study of student-driven quality assurance practices recently developed in a University Center for Assessment, Teaching, and Technology.
Instructors and undergraduate student researchers evaluated teaching in live, synchronous online courses. This session will share what they learned about instructor practices that foster engagement and learning, and a tool that can be used by teachers and institutions to train, assess, and research online teaching and learning.
This session will explore ways in which instructors can develop and implement case studies/vignettes as teaching and assessment tools in online/hybrid teaching formats. Differences in application of case-studies in virtual/hybrid/face-to-face formats and the benefits to instructors and students of using them as pedagogical tools will be discussed as well.
Enhancing learner engagement in an online course can be challenging but can be accomplished by utilizing some of the key components of alternative instructional equivalencies. Furthermore, utilizing alternative instructional equivalencies to enhance online courses ensures a positive impact for both the learner and instructor through governing hours of classroom instruction.
With more digital and visual communication, youth need competencies in discerning and producing visual information digitally, especially in cross-cultural communication. To contextualize these literacies, educators can use fake news in teaching these skills. Learn effective strategies and venues for such teaching and learning.
This is a session about the virtual multi-pronged approach to help faculty move from a discussion of equity to the implementation of equity practices in the learning environment to positively impact student retention and success. How does gamification and other interventions used to support the personal journeys of faculty and staff impact not only their values but also the learning environment?
In this session/workshop you will learn about a way of teaching Hispanic culture and diversity online or face to face, using dance as a focus (flamenco and Afro-Cuban dance). We use two different approaches (Social Learning/Sociological Approach and Task-Based Learning Approach/Language for Specific Purposes), which have common learning outcomes. Attendees learn about diversity, tolerance, inclusion, and social justice, while learning about the dance and its social context. Attendees also learn some specific Spanish vocabulary through the dance and dance movements, as well as learning about Hispanic culture and respect for a different culture. By extension we all learn to be more tolerant and accepting of different cultures and ways of living. A brief post-task activity will be conducted to see what attendees learned from the session (4 questions to be answered in the session).
Open Educational Resources are more popular than ever. How do you find quality materials that are reviewed by experts? You turn to MERLOT. We hope that you, in turn, will consider becoming a MERLOT Peer Reviewer. By viewing this session, you will discover all the benefits of peer-reviewing for MERLOT.
The Field Guide Program is your go-to program for conference onboarding and orientation. Stop by the Field Guide Base Station, designed as a ‘just-in-time’ resource to enhance the conference experience, for help, guidance, recommendations, or even directions! Learn about the 'must-sees' and the 'must-dos' of OLC Innovate 2023!
The Field Guide Station is open daily during regular conference hours.
There will be no shortage of networking opportunities at this year's OLC Innovate conference. Join leads Jennifer Zaur and Cynthia Pascal for a variety of opportunities to get to know other conference attendees, and learn strategies for how to lead networking within your own teaching and learning spaces. Join the fun during Networking Coffee Breaks in the Engagement Boulevard, located in the exhibit hall (Ryman B5-B6 Exhibit Hall.).
Join a Crew now in the OLC Innovate Slack space: https://join.slack.com/t/olcinnovate/shared_invite/zt-1qgeha4j7-mOguLWzfJ1p9XMfnpYOqOg
Stop by the Field Guide Station daily during regular conference hours to sign-up for an Innovation Crew. Your Crew leader will be in touch once you sign-up.
OLC's Presenter Services provides custom programming and support to our presenter community. Forget your laptop adapter? Can't find your room? Having trouble connecting to the internet? Wanting to connect with a mentor? You can do all this and more by stopping by the Presenter Services & Tech Help Desk.
The Presenter Services and Tech Help Desk is open daily during regular conference hours.
As part of the broader Virtual and Onsite Experience at #OLCInnovate 2023, OLC Live! is a catered virtual lounge, conversation, and storytelling space where participants can engage directly with keynote speakers, select presenters, and other attendees. Join our OLC Live! hosts Amy Archambault and Cody House to connect virtually with a variety of personalities from the OLC community.
OLC Live! is located onsite near the windows in the Presidential Lobby (by conference registration area). Check the daily onsite schedule for specific OLC Live! session details.
The Grading Room was designed to provide dedicate space and resources for those needing to take time away from conference sessions and programming for things like grading. Please note that this room is expected to be a quite one, meant to facilitate focus and space for those needing to grade or otherwise work. For questions related to the Grading Room, please visit the conference registration desk.
The Grading Room is open daily during regular conference hours.
Join us daily (Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday) in the Innovate 2023 exhibit hall, located in Ryman Exhibit Hall B5-B6. Stop in for a cup of coffee, join in the Engagement Boulevard activities, chat with our sponsors and exhibitors, enjoy our receptions and special events, or take a musical break in the OLC Cafe...all located in our exciting exhibit hall! Don't forget to bring your exhibitor stamp card for a chance to win some fabulous prizes.
Exhibit Hall Hours
Tuesday: 3:00pm-6:00pm
Wednesday: 7:30am-12:00pm and 1:15pm-7:00pm
Thursday: 8:00am-3:15pm
Take the stairs, elevator, or escalator to Level 0 of the Convention Center, and proceed down the Ryman Exhibit Hall Foyer to exhibit halls B5 & B6. Breakfast (Wednesday & Thursday) and Networking Breaks are located in the exhibit hall. Coffee is available throughout the conference here.
Looking for a place to meet others, try new technologies, relax, have fun, or engage in new models and pedagogies? If this is you, you'll want to be sure to stop by the Engagement Boulevard on your OLC Innovate 2023 Conference journey. Open throughout the conference during regular Exhibit Hall hours, the Engagement Boulevard will be your main hub for interacting with this year's engagement team and their dynamic programming.
The Engagement Boulevard is open daily during regular exhibit hours.
There will be no shortage of networking opportunities at this year's OLC Innovate conference. Join leads Jennifer Zaur and Cynthia Pascal for a variety of opportunities to get to know other conference attendees, and learn strategies for how to lead networking within your own teaching and learning spaces.
Join the fun during Networking Coffee Breaks in the Engagement Boulevard, located in the exhibit hall (Ryman B5-B6 Exhibit Hall).
Inspired by local cafes and coffee shops, OLC's Cafe is designed as a space for community to gather around music, food, games, puzzles, and more. Looking for a place to network, meet up with a fellow conference attendee, eat lunch, take a break, or listen to local artists? The OLC Cafe is that place, intentionally situated right in the Exhbit Hall (one of our main conference community hubs)!
The OLC Cafe is open daily during regular exhibit hall hours.
Online course quality is often evaluated through scorecards and rubrics developed by instructors and instructional designers. Although such evaluation instruments are essential to promote a life cycle of continuous improvement, the student voice in online course quality can be lost amongst checklists and rating systems. Let’s change this!
In this session, participants will approach online course quality through a student-focused lens by analyzing the results of a qualitative study conducted by the OLC Research Center and applying those results to the scorecards within the OLC Quality Scorecard Suite. In addition, participants will learn how to effectively solicit student feedback through surveys, technology tools, and UX/LX feedback, as well as strategies for how to collaborate with students more explicitly in the process of improving quality.
There is a fee of $300 for this pre-conference Master Class. You may also register for this Master Class as part of a special $550 Combo package of 2 Master Classes (1 AM and 1 PM class).
The on-site HBCU summit will focus on strategies, actions, and outcomes for HBCUs providing quality online education that prioritizes student success. The summit topics will include:
Each topic will not only share the exciting work of HBCUs in these areas but will also be an invitation for HBCUs to participate in these initiatives. This summit is open to all registered onsite (All Access Pass) conference participants and we encourage any of the HBCUs in the United States to participate.
** Special Note: With funding from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Tennessee State University and the HBCU Affordable Learning Solutions Community will provide faculty and staff affiliated with any HBCU complimentary registration to the VIRTUAL INNOVATE Conference (April 4-7, 2023). To get the complimentary registration for the VIRTUAL INNOVATE Conference (ONLY), please contact Gerry Hanley at ghanley@csulb.edu
Artificial intelligence has the potential to revolutionize online education by creating sophisticated and personalized learning experiences and feedback for students. This workshop will examine the platform ChatGPT, assessing its capabilities and limitations while exploring potential implementation strategies. Participants will collaborate to create sample course content (objectives, syllabus, lecture notes, etc.).
There is a fee of $300 for this pre-conference Master Class. You may also register for this Master Class as part of a special $550 Combo package of 2 Master Classes (1 AM and 1 PM class).
Don't wait in line Wednesday morning and miss portions of a our First Timers Welcome and Orientation, numerous workshops, or the Leadership Summit. Check-in at conference registration Tuesdsy evening from 3-6pm ET to pick up your conference badge and materials. After you check-in, take part in the Tuesday evening Exhibit Hall Preview Reception (3:00pm-6:00pm, Ryman B5-B6 Exhibit Hall), where you will have an opportunity to get a jump-start on your exhibitor stamp card (for fabulous prizes) and enjoy some musical entertainment, games, and fun refreshments. Our Field Guide Station will also be open for program consulting and tours of Gaylord Opryland. Be sure to make your travel plans to arrive early enough on Tuesday to participate in these events.
OLC Innovate 2023 registration is located in the Convention Center in the Presidential Lobby area.
The Field Guide Program is your go-to program for conference onboarding and orientation. Stop by the Field Guide Base Station, designed as a ‘just-in-time’ resource to enhance the conference experience, for help, guidance, recommendations, or even directions during Tuesday's Early Registration hours! Learn about the 'must-sees' and the 'must-dos' of OLC Innovate 2023!
As we open OLC Innovate 2023, join us for an evening of light snacks, beverages, and community networking! Take this chance to get ahead on conference games (and your chance to win przes) like the Exhibitor stamp card and GooseChase, and engage in 1:1 conversations with our sponsors and exhibitors. Refreshments will be served.
Don't miss this chance for initial networking, storytelling, games, and community collaboration facilitated by the OLC Innovate 2023 Engagement Team.
Our volunteers are the heart of our conference programming. If you are an OLC Innovate 2023 volunteer, join us for this special reception gathering so that we can both celebrate your services to our community and gather for light-hearted fun and games.
Join the OLC Innovate Field Guides, Innovation Crews, and other conference attendees for a tour of the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center. There is no better way to explore this hotel and learn about conference layout than on a guided tour. Meet at the Field Guide Station near conference registration. Be sure to wear comfortable clothing and shoes (as we will be moving throughout the tour).
During the last hour of the Exhibit Hall Preview, join the engagement team for Storymasters! This networking event is designed to bring professionals together in a unique and creative way, using story cubes as a tool to facilitate conversation and connections. Participants will be given a set of story cubes, each containing different images, and will be asked to use these images to create stories and engage in conversations with other attendees.
Throughout the event, participants will be encouraged to swap story cubes and share their interpretations of the images, which will spark conversations and connections. The activity is designed to break the ice and encourage participants to step out of their comfort zone, allowing them to connect with others on a deeper level.
Overall, this networking is a fun and interactive way to meet new people, expand professional networks, and develop creative thinking skills. It is an ideal activity for professionals who want to connect with others in a unique and creative way, while also building their professional network and gaining new insights and perspectives from other attendees.
One of our favorite things about the OLC community is the organic ways we make connections. Use this space as a meeting spot, sign-up for self-organize and play card games, DnD, lead a craft night, and more.
To reserve space, leave your contact information and activity details in this sign-up document: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1fJfkU6Zumthp7dVR0xH_zh65wDzfWwCNEWG97EmqMjg/edit?usp=share_link
Start your day with an energizing vinyasa flow yoga session designed to help you de-stress, improve your focus, and prepare you to get the most out of your conference experience. We will move through a series of poses that are sequenced together in a flowing style, synchronized with the breath.
This class is suitable for all levels, from beginners to experienced practitioners. No previous yoga experience is necessary, and modifications will be offered to accommodate all levels of practice.
To participate, you will need comfortable clothing that allows for easy movement, a yoga mat (we will have towels on hand if you don’t have one), and a water bottle.
Note: OLC Innovate attendees participate in yoga classes at their own risk. In the unlikely event of injury, please note that the instructor, OLC, and the Gaylord Opryland Resort may not be held liable.
Start the first official day of OLC Innovate 2023 with breakfast prior to the morning's events. Grab your breakfast in the Exhibit Hall (Ryman Exhibit Hall B5-B6 ( down the escalator from conference registration, and the right down the Ryman Foyer), and enjoy time visiting with exhibitors or head to one of our engagement or program activities taking place this morning.
Higher education leaders today must become innovative on how to combat the consistent increase in marketing acquisition costs and the volatile retention rates. This session is designed for a panel of online, marketing, enrollment, and retention experts to discuss the “lost students” and how to target, support, and bring them back.
This session is included in the Leadership Summit at OLC Innovate 2023, focused on the theme of The Engaged Leader: Attending To The Complexities Of Digital Learning. With the rapidly-changing environment of online and blended education, it is essential to understand the complexities and impacts on teaching and learning in order to create digital learning environments that meet the needs of those they serve. Today’s leaders in digital learning must be attuned to the needs and priorities of many people: faculty, staff, students, executive leaders, vendors and business partners, and the community.
Sponsored by UWill
If you’re looking for support in orienting to the conference, the First Timers Welcome and Orientation is a must! Get support in planning your conference experience and kick things off with some casual networking.
Humanistic STEM (H-STEM) has the power to transform both STEM and humanities higher education. H-STEM is the ability to blend technical competence in STEM with humanities-based skills—such as critical thinking and communication—that employers desire. Presenters will discuss how this innovative program can be developed and delivered asynchronously online.
Meaningful engagement between instructors and students is an essential component of successful online and blended learning, driving higher quality interactions and experiences. This aligns with research-based effective online practices, accreditation requirements, as well as the US Department of Education’s (DoE) regulation requiring online courses to demonstrate regular and substantive interaction (RSI) "to ensure federal financial aid funds are used appropriately."
Collaborations between commercial providers and higher education are often inefficient, ineffective, bureaucratic, and poorly managed by both higher education and commercial providers. MERLOT-SkillsCommons and Partner in Publishing are leading a strategic initiative for commercial providers and educators to accelerate the sustained adoption of effective and affordable innovations in educational technologies.
This session is included in the Leadership Summit at OLC Innovate 2023, focused on the theme of The Engaged Leader: Attending To The Complexities Of Digital Learning. With the rapidly-changing environment of online and blended education, it is essential to understand the complexities and impacts on teaching and learning in order to create digital learning environments that meet the needs of those they serve. Today’s leaders in digital learning must be attuned to the needs and priorities of many people: faculty, staff, students, executive leaders, vendors and business partners, and the community.
Sponsored by UWill
In this OLC Live! interview, you will hear from your OLC Innovate Engagement Team Co-Chairs. We will highlight this years engagement programming, as well as discuss the importance of prioritizing engagement in your teaching and learning.
Join us for the live-stream, or onsite in the Community Gathering Space by the windows in the Presidential Lobby (near conference registration).
Join the OLC Innovate Field Guides, Innovation Crews, and other conference attendees for a tour of the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center. There is no better way to explore this hotel and learn about conference layout than on a guided tour. Meet at the Field Guide station near conference registration. Be sure to wear comfortable clothing and shoes (as we will be moving throughout the tour).
Join us in the Exhibit Hall for our first official networking coffee break of the conference. Not only is this an opportunity to recharge with a fresh cup of coffee or tea, but you will also have the opportunity to network with other attendees. Check out the Engagement Boulevard, relax to the music of a Nashville local musician in the OLC Cafe, meet with our conference exhibitors, and join one of our many games for an opportunity to win prizes!
What could be better than starting your day with a fresh cup of coffee, a positive attitude, and the chance to network with like-minded professionals? Join us for a morning of coffee, gratitude, and networking that will leave you feeling energized and inspired. Take a moment to express gratitude for your successes and set your intentions for the day ahead. Then, connect with other attendees and make new connections that could lead to exciting new opportunities. Don't miss out on this unique and rewarding networking experience!
There are four types of adjunct faculty: specialists and experts, freelancers, career-enders, and aspiring academics. The goal of this session would be to identify the needs and characteristics of each group, and brainstorm ways they can be supported and engaged with by the institution.
This session is included in the Leadership Summit at OLC Innovate 2023, focused on the theme of The Engaged Leader: Attending To The Complexities Of Digital Learning. With the rapidly-changing environment of online and blended education, it is essential to understand the complexities and impacts on teaching and learning in order to create digital learning environments that meet the needs of those they serve. Today’s leaders in digital learning must be attuned to the needs and priorities of many people: faculty, staff, students, executive leaders, vendors and business partners, and the community.
Sponsored by UWill
This session will explore and highlight an “edTech Playlist” of Web 2.0 tools that allow for collaboration, innovation, as well as being accessible for varying learners. Details regarding each tool will be provided in report card grades for how the tools rate in terms of accessibility.
What is the best way to design systems that are user-centered and put student voices at the center of student success initiatives? This session will describe how to employ user-centered design to uncover valuable insights and develop systems that support student success and retention through an interactive session based on a real case study from a large institution.
The COVID-19 pandemic spurred dramatic shifts in post-secondary teaching and learning that have fundamentally challenged long-held views and practices. This presentation highlights common instructional and assessment strategies that can be revisited and adapted to more effectively address the cognitive, emotional, and psychosocial needs of college students.
NOTE: Attendees for this workshop are asked to bring a device and syllabus to the workshop.
Strategies for managing academic technology teams in higher education can make or break a campus initiative. The F’ing Management strategy covers the principles of Family First, Friendship, Forgiveness, Fun, Fairness, Facilitation, and Flexibility. The sessions will discuss the application of these principles and why they work in higher education.
Building from the conversations that took place at the inaugural OLC Leadership Network Symposium in October 2023, we will discuss how digital learning leaders navigate the complex web of stakeholders with diverse needs and priorities. Join us as we explore topics such as strategies for building effective partnerships and collaborations, challenges and opportunities associated with managing multiple stakeholders, and insights and best practices from successful digital learning initiatives.
This panel discussion will provide a wrap-up of the Leadership Summit: The Engaged Leader: Attending To The Complexities Of Digital Learning by bringing together presenters from each of the three preceding sessions in the summit. We invite you to join us in gaining a deeper understanding of the importance of stakeholder engagement in digital learning and to learn about OLC leadership professional development opportunities that can help you and your team navigate the complexities of digital learning.
Sponsored by Uwill
A showcase of our online courses designed with inspiring themes. Themed courses are a creative solution for gaining the learner’s attention with interactive media. We will share our creative and collaborative ideation process and inspire you with your own. Our course development team consists of instructional designers and multimedia specialists.
If you were tasked to transform distance education at your institution, how would you do it? Through a team-led discussion, learn how leaders at one large, public research university envisioned and carried out a collaborative approach to transform online learning including examples of the networks and communities they created.
During this session, presenters will outline the reasons for streamlining the institutional process for reviewing and recognizing online courses for quality. With the accelerated growth of today’s online education landscape, presenters will share their process, results and lessons learned for implementing a scalable quality online course review process.
It can be difficult to understand where one might start with advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in their courses, programs, or institutions. This session will detail how a campus initiative formed around DEI, as well as document the stories of two projects and lessons learned in this initiative.
Whether you are considering full-time remote work or you are a remote instructor, instructional designer, administrator, or corporate professional development personnel, understanding the need for self-care in a home-based work environment is important. This conversation focuses on strategies for maintaining physical and emotional well-being when being a full-time remote worker.
COVID-19 forced instructors to create multimedia content for remote learning on campuses across the country. Unfortunately, most of this content lacked instructional value. This presentation teaches sound multimedia principles to guide the creation of multimedia content, and shows how these research-based concepts can enhance video instruction to increase learner comprehension.
This presentation explores the redesign process of courses across a multi-college district. The process involved establishing new courses for the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning and collaborating with faculty leaders and instructional teams. Attendees will gain insights into the potential impact of these approaches on redesigning courses successfully.
Creating engaging online courses isn't easy. You want student participation and real human interaction...not AI-generated text. VoiceThread has the answer.
Communities in Crisis: Student Voices on Climate Change is an Open Educational Resource developed by curating undergrad student essays and then publishing them using Pressbooks. This session will describe the project in detail including the idea, the partnership between a faculty member, a learning designer, and an undergraduate student, the student assignment, the selection process, and the technologies used to create the resource.
In 2014 Tarrant County College opened its virtual campus. TCC Connect Campus serves more than 29,000 students through 40 fully online degrees. Operating in a centralized fashion has allowed the campus to grow its enrollment by more than 10% yearly. This session covers an online enterprise's management and its role in student success.
This presentaton will outline a design case describing the tensions and resolutions of a virtual STEM mentoring program developed for mid-career STEM women faculty. The design focused on the self-paced modules. The case highlights the intersection of design elements, Bandura’s (1977) sources of self-efficacy, as related to mentoring competencies and career advancement.
Our institution adopted an asynchronous model for online learning. Despite historical practices, instructors thought that students would desire to engage with their instructors in real time rather than through back-and-forth asynchronous discussions and written feedback. This thought led to a more in-depth exploration of adaptive synchronous learning. The impact identified has now evolved into an institution level implementation plan. Presenters include both faculty and staff so that they can share their unique lens on Live Learning including the logistics of running sessions, major roadblocks identified, and student success metrics. Staff members will cover basics about adjunct faculty contracts, cloud-based conferencing platforms, and legal issues.
In this session, we briefly present and then lead a discovery discussion of the complex relationship between gender equity and anonymity in course forums in online classes. Our research suggests that patterns in anonymous posting may actually reinforce the same negative perceptions that give rise to it in the first place.
Research supports inclusion as critical for effective learning (Strayhorn, 2018). In a challenging statistics class, humanizing online discussions were designed to create meaningful connections and a sense of belongingness with the class. At the end of the semester, students were asked about participating in the discussions. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive.
This presentation will explore the strategies used to build and foster relationships with non-traditional fully online students. We will be showcasing how we communicate, engage and cultivate belonging with our students, while being physically distanced.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion starts with an idea. How about starting with gratitude?
Virtual reality experiences provide healthcare students an opportunity to practice professional and technical skills in contextualized environments leading to increased confidence in clinical practice. This session explores the collaborative process of designing and implementing an unfolding virtual reality experience within an institution.
veryone wants to create robust, interactive content but who has the time? This presentation showcases a solution in H5P, an open-source,easy-use technology, that designers and instructors can employ to help their courses meet the needs of all learners in accordance with the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Guidelines.
There continues to be a need to prepare practitioners with the skills necessary to address global challenges. This presentation will give an overview of the Metaverse and explore the possibilities for how the Metaverse could be used to teach practice skills and connect students globally.
Mission vision and values statements are essential to building an inclusive, engaged, and empowered culture within your online course development team. But how do you ensure your statements will be meaningful and long-lasting? This presentation will detail strategies and demonstrate a whole-team approach for creating your own MVV development project.
All college instructors, especially knowledgeable industry experts new to the classroom, need strong teaching skills and practical approaches to teaching and learning. Western Dakota Technical College helps improve instructor retention and student engagement using California State University SkillsCommons’ Jumpstart to Successful Instruction, an online, self-paced open course.
As many students experience isolation in online courses, community building is crucial to students’ engagement in online courses. This presentation will share a creative way to make human connection and build learning community in an online course. Participants will take away new ideas with resource to enhance their online courses.
Collaborative partnerships, including the Texas International Education Consortium and the Online Learning Consortium, leverage resources and expertise to offer Ghana and the Philippines higher education institutions capacity building in their quest to become Centers of Excellence for online instruction. Learn how we cultivated sustainability at multiple levels: individual, institutional, and social. Our research reveals how we provided the unique opportunity to not only re-engage students at risk for attrition, but also reimagine education to include higher-order thinking and flexible learning that will better prepare its students for the global workforce. Funding for these projects were through the United States Department of State, the Commission of Higher Education in the Philippines, and EducationUSA Manila.
GeoGebra's free Math Open Educational Recourses (OERs) are leading the way for educators to incorporate customizable student-centered discovery-based learning in any teaching modality. Come with your device and learn how to increase access, equity, and engagement as you create your own course specific Tarsia (9-square) puzzle in GeoGebra.
Get the scoop on what it takes to launch or scale a successful digital badging program. We'll cover everything from key terminology to the role of instructional designers and faculty in program development. We'll provide two institutional examples and share our experiences and valuable lessons learned.
Participants will discover a unique approach to faculty training that integrates the following: immersive student and faculty experience, active LMS engagement, personalized support, and opportunities to demonstrate effective and inclusive practices that align with the university’s values and initiatives. Participants will leave with ideas to implement at their learning institutions.
The critical connection between post-secondary education and workforce readiness is in the spotlight more than ever before. Yet, only 26% of working adults believe college prepared them with the necessary skills for career success. Join us as we discuss a framework for creating incremental value in learner-centric credentials.
This design studio thinking session engages participants in better understanding the nature and scope of the problems found in professional development offered to graduate teaching assistants. Participants will collaboratively draft a GTA training program proposal that can be implemented at their institutions.
Learn how our team of expert educators (but novice web designers) applied our pedagogic expertise to UX and web design techniques like personas, user tasks, card sorting, and accessibility to improve our teaching and learning resources website.
Recently, the expectations for "regular and substantive interaction" have been increased for online learning. What does that mean? What are the implications? What does that "look like" in a course? Let's talk about how we're interpreting this required element, how we are implementing this in our courses, and come up with some innovative ideas to bring back to our campuses!
Learners cannot be expected to passively soak in knowledge simply presented to them. Engagement is now more crucial than ever, but engaging learners is much easier said than done. Come and discover how an Instructional Designer incorporated the powerful H5P tool to create transformative, impactful, and engaging learning experiences.
First year, GenEd classes are the gateway to an undergraduate degree. Yet, failure rates can be above 50%, having significant impacts on a student’s educational trajectory. This session will explore how leading online programs use digital communities to scale personalized support and increase success rates among first year students.
This session will explore how Carolina HyFlex Lab Kits have been implemented at Wytheville Community College for anatomy and microbiology courses. The lab kits allow professors to provide students with a flexible learning option to meet their individual learning needs from week to week whether that be on-campus, synchronously online, or asynchronously online.
In this session, participants will learn how one university system uses its quality course review process as a faculty development program--and how the most effective learning moments for faculty occur where the two intersect/converge.
In this session, OLC's Madeline Shellgren will facilitate an interactive discussion with industry partners around a series of best practices across the field of online, blended, digital, and flexible learning. Styled as a "Point / Counter-point" debate, each industry partner will be joined by an academic partner and have time to respond to a provocative prompt, affording them space to speak into their perspectives as well as provide insight into possible solutions to the ubiquitous challenges we face today as a global learning community. Audience members will be a key stakeholder in this lively conversation, offering provocations of their own and helping to synthesize the experience through co-created takeaways. A key goal of this session (and all Exposition Foundry programming) is to facilitate space for buildinga more intentional community across academic and industry sectors alike. Join us in our bridge-building efforts and for your chance to help drive the dialogue.
As educators, we strive to create environments inclusive of racial, ethnic, ability and other differences. Accordingly, online educators should promote body diversity in their pedagogy. This session will equip you to avoid diet culture pitfalls, examine harmful stereotypes, and validate learners struggling with poor body image and disordered eating.
Case Studies: Why More of Us Should Write Them (and Read Them) is an argument for developing data-informed documentation about instructional innovations so they may be readily reviewed and repeated. To ensure the growth and evolution of innovative teaching and learning, results and key features must be documented and shared.
In this presentation, we discuss examples of data analytics we used to explore trends in student enrollments, demographics, and learning outcomes in an online MicroMasters program. Based on our findings, we invite attendees to in-depth conversations about leveraging large-scale learning data to gain insights about online students’ needs and experiences.
This topic will introduce the participants to a persuasive discussion format that is based on the Iowa Caucuses. Within this particular exemplar, an overview of an assignment provided on the ethical and social issues related to genetics and genomics will be provided.
This study examines faculty perspectives about confidence and readiness to teach online after completing the Online Pedagogy Program at Midwest Community College. Triangulation of qualitative and quantitative data provided outcomes that were shaped into recommendations for improvement to the design and delivery of the Online Pedagogy Program.
In this session, we will discuss how student choice can be thoughtfully incorporated can personalize course content to increase and deepen engagement.
The purpose of this presentation is to summarize the process of redesigning an online course for a blended format. The course offers students the flexibility to learn at their own pace with the online resources available to them during the week, while getting discipline-specific (STEM) tests during the computer-facilitated tutorials. A data-driven approach is used to guide the choice of assessment questions based on click-level data gleaned from the course content.
This interactive session focuses on the blueprints for online learning that have been utilized for more than ten years to foster student support and success with the districts throughout Pennsylvania. Join me to get the keys to open the door to student success in online learning!
Can students have place-based learning experiences when they are online and asynchronous? When they don’t share a place at all? It’s not just possible, it’s more effective than in a traditional shared classroom. Discover course design approaches that get students away from their computers and into their own diverse communities.
NMHU experienced crisis beyond COVID: wildfires, flooding, and water insecurities. Leadership is exploring lessons learned at the same time addressing our increasingly segmented demographics. Join us as we explore the lessons learned and positive movement forward in crafting quality educational experience for each segment and delivery modality.
In this session, we discuss how the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) impacts researchers interested in studying online, at-scale education programs, which often enroll EU students. We discuss our own difficulties with ensuring GDPR compliance, suggest general research implications, and provide practical recommendations for conducting research in online education.
Participants in this roundtable session will explore the post-pandemic experiences of women in online leadership and their fight against burnout and for work-life balance. We will examine the impact of emotional labor and today’s shifting workplace realities. Come share what organizations need to do to better support their female leaders.
This session will present a deep dive into UT San Antonio’s use of institutional data to inform, inspire and sustain digital transformation. The key focus will address using institutional data to both prioritize areas for research and to help develop specific ways to measure the impact of faculty development programs focusing student outcomes (course gpa, persistence) and faculty success. In 2022, Academic Innovation at UTSA proposed supporting and hiring a position in Institutional Research that would be dedicated to helping measure impact across our area, especially focusing on the work of Teaching, Learning and Digital Transformation. This position has accelerated our ability to move forward.
In this session, join OLC Live! hosts Amy Archambault and Cody House for a conversation around the field's current "hot topics." We'll have space to share as a community what we do (or do not) know about them, and what are insights thus far tell us about their impact in and across the field.
Join us for the live-stream, or onsite in the Community Gathering Space by the windows in the Presidential Lobby (near conference registration).
Join us in the Exhibit Hall for our second networking coffee break of the conference. Not only is this an opportunity to recharge with a fresh cup of coffee or tea, but you will also have the opportunity to network with other attendees. Check out the Engagement Boulevard, relax to the music of a Nashville local musician in the OLC Cafe, meet with our conference exhibitors, and join one of our many games for an opportunity to win prizes!
Get ready to exercise your creativity and quick thinking skills with a game of Scattegories! This fun and fast-paced game is perfect for team building, networking, and just having a great time with your colleagues. Work against the clock to come up with unique answers that fit the categories provided. You never know what hilarious and creative answers your team will come up with. Join us for a memorable and exciting game of Scattegories that will leave you energized and ready for whatever comes next!
This presentation aims to demonstrate a how virtual STEM peer mentoring training was designed, and in turn, promotes the STEM self-efficacy of White and Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) women undergraduate engineering students at an institution serving a minority population. The design process and learning experience design study (inclusive of remote synchronous usability test and interviews) results will be presented and discussed. Participants will have the opportunity to interact with the content and provide recommendations.
The Collaborative Active Learning Instructional Design (CAL-ID) Model is to be used by instructional designers during a course design and development process while working with a subject-matter expert. In this presentation, I will describe the research methodology used in the creation of this model and present the three pillars of the model and how these work together to create a unique design and development process focused on active learning.
As the COVID-19 pandemic forced all learning programs online, faculty were afforded the opportunity to utilize multiple resources for learning materials. The pandemic also forced changes in the administrator, access, and provision of health services. New resources, processes and programs were introduced at lightening speed, compared with prior timeframes.
“Regular and substantive interaction” (RSI) is used in the “distance education” definition to delineate federal financial aid eligibility for courses. Based on recent information from the U.S. Department of Education, panelists will share clever strategies to comply and discuss how compliance could support best practice overall.
In this active, 45-minute session, attendees will be actively involved in a design thinking challenge centered on developing low-threshold ways to humanize online education. Participants work collaboratively to create and share meaningful solutions to this challenge through the identification of unmet needs of learners, brainstorming ideas, and prototyping solutions.
It’s crucial to create inclusive learning environments to include, connect, and engage every student in online and blended courses. This interactive session will share what we did and how we did to help faculty create inclusive learning environments and authentic leaning to engage all students through a DEI grant project.
To remove the barriers of educational inequality and increase inclusivity, come and discover a hidden jewel to student success. Be ready to bring your A-Team.
Institutions often hesitate to offer online science programs due to concerns about quality, accessibility, safety, and cost. Come learn what’s really possible in online science courses, how you can create online learning experiences that are the same quality as in-person courses, and how to dispel these myths on your campus.
Discussion boards are one of the most commonly used tools in online education to assess student understanding and promote class interaction. However, many times they become monotonous activities for students and instructors alike. Learn how UT Martin is using five simple approaches to make online discussions more engaging and interactive.
Authentic assessments challenge students to develop real-world skills while increasing satisfaction and engagement; they can also be daunting to develop. A framework for developing authentic assessments integrating best practices and Understanding by Design concepts will be shared. Design templates will guide participants in the creation of an authentic assessment.
We want to share our unique narrative about our entry-point experience at a fully online, asynchronous university that serves working adults. If you are looking for a traditional first-year seminar where students meet their professors in the quad and chat over lattes, then this presentation isn’t for you!
In this presentation, we introduce the need for “ecosystems building” to support, sustain, and scale large-scale academic transformation projects in higher education and offer a framework to institutionalize active+adaptive blended learning as a campus strategy. We invite you to engage in our Math Pathways academic transformation project, embodying the persona of an “Ecosystem Builder” and help explore key decisions around stakeholder buy-in, change management, faculty development, course design, adaptive courseware selection, and student support.
The authors will discuss the differences between VR simulations versus on-ground simulation experiences, review development of the pilot program plan and describe the multiphase approach toward implementation. Additionally, the authors present a review of initial outcomes and testimonies of learner experience throughout the pilot program and examine the learners’ improvement in clinical reasoning skills with VR simulations.
This study departs from past literature that characterizes flexibility as a universally positive or negative experience of online learners, to understand flexibility as a relative, individual process (Houlden & Velestianos, 2019). This qualitative case study explores how 15 full-time virtual students (11th and 12th graders) perceive and experience flexibility (of time, pace, place, and pedagogy) when learning online at a K-12 virtual school.
How do we ensure that online students can learn independently, while never learning alone? Join us for a conversation with leaders in online instruction as we discuss how virtual learning communities deliver just-in-time support to reduce faculty workload, increase peer engagement, and improve outcomes for students learning at a distance.
While employers look for a more skilled workforce, individuals are struggling with the rising cost of a college degree. Educators, this is our time to shine! Come learn about our solution-driven partnership with a local business that is transforming lives through our innovative approach to online learning.
Join this session to explore an example of how building a physical learning space for synchronous online teaching can foster student and faculty engagement. Discover ideas and resources for designing an effective studio that supports the online instructor with tools, screens, and space.
In this interactive session, we share how and why instructional designers must take educational research into their own hands. Working through a real-world case study, we engage participants to think about how to design, instrument, and evaluate a learning activity to drive evidence-informed changes that measurably improve a learning experience.
This session will present a summary and discussion of Teaching at Scale: Improving Access, Outcomes, and Impact through Digital Instruction, published in October 2022 by Routledge. The session will focus on ten opportunities and six design principles for teaching at scale.
During this session, we will showcase one method of utilizing Digital Escape Rooms as part of faculty development. Our goal is to minimize the effects of technology resistance and fatigue amongst Faculty while promoting the use of Digital Escape Rooms within their courses.
The Center for Instructional Design (CID) has assisted 20 faculty members with “Edging Out” an online course—from core courses to graduate-level courses. Expanding the reach of this work, CID is building a section in our website called “UTEP Edge Online Resources.” The goal is to provide faculty with examples of real life, high-impact assignments and assessments categorized by subject or discipline. This provides online students with greater access to UTEP and is facilitated by creating a more meaningful sense of belonging to one’s institution (Ostini, et al., 2020; Thistoll & Yates, 2016).
This proposal is to present a comprehensive Teaching Case Study that was written to align with Program and Course Objectives for a Business Management program written with Open Educational, Responsible Management, and Culturally Responsive pedagogies to support diverse learner needs.
The session will discuss considerations of virtual reality in educational environments. It will also examine the viability of Second Life as a platform in education. This session will highlight Valdosta State University’s virtual campus in Second Life. Second Life is an internet-based virtual environment program, which allows users to interact with other users through the use of motional avatars.
SUNY Empire State University faculty, professionals, and administrators will discuss their campus’s implementation of Desire2Learn’s Brightspace. Participants will address the challenges and potential solutions found when completing a Learning Management System (LMS) transition. They will also look at the impact of SUNY’s initiative to bring 51 campuses together under one Digital Learning Environment (DLE).
Returning due to its success, the OLC Watch Party space is a physical location where you can join with other colleagues, tune into a live streamed session, and engage in discussion as the session takes place. Whether you're looking for dynamic conversation or simply couldn't make it to the main session room in time, this new offering is designed to make our streamed sessions more accessible and engaging.
Ensuring that flexible learning practices and pedagogies lead to sustainable development for students and programs requires generating evidence of innovation efficacy and effectiveness. This presentation considers methods and models for practicing an “always be piloting” approach to educational research on innovations in flexible learning design and delivery.
The rapid transition to online teaching necessitated by the coronavirus pandemic has been a good opportunity to rethink our approach to teaching in any modality. Moving to an online format suggests that many activities that have traditionally been synchronous and instructor-paced can be improved by making them asynchronous and self-paced. What may have seemed like a challenge at first turned out to be a great opportunity to improve the quality of education.
In this dual-format keynote, Dr. Eric Mazur will begin with a lightning talk offering provocations and insights into how we might use this critical moment in time to reimagine our teaching and learning practices across modalities through the lens of the unique affordances of quality online education. Then, we will move into a lively a collegial fireside chat that will give the audience a chance to engage in dialogue with Dr. Mazur about how to situate these practices within diverse teaching and learning contexts. Ultimately, this talk will provide participants with new perspectives on their role as change agents in guiding the field into the practice of setting learning free.
Please join us immediately following the keynote in the exhibit hall (Ryman Exhibit Hall B5-B6) for our Innovate 2023 Welcome Reception! Refreshments and food will be served.
Returning due to its success, the OLC Watch Party space is a physical location where you can join with other colleagues, tune into a live streamed session, and engage in discussion as the session takes place. Whether you're looking for dynamic conversation or simply couldn't make it to the main session room in time, this new offering is designed to make our streamed sessions more accessible and engaging.
Join OLC Live! co-hosts as they seek out the emerging trends and topics, as well as engaging members of the conference community at Innovate 2023. We will be driving this conversation in the OLC Live! Slack channel, so join us for productive back-channelling during this year's keynote!
Join us for the dialogue in the OLC Innovate Slack space: https://join.slack.com/t/olcinnovate/shared_invite/zt-1rld3yp6c-kbYouE8zF~w9sDXBmZr3ZA
Join in Slack or onsite in the Community Gathering Space by the windows in the Presidential Lobby (near conference registration).
Immediately following the Keynote Address, join your fellow conference attendees in the Exhibit Hall for networking and to visit with our sponsors and exhibitors. Refreshments will be served; don’t forget your complimentary drink ticket!
During the last hour of the Welcome Reception, join the engagement team for a series of fun games and a chance to win prizes. This group style Jeopardy game is focused on various topics influencing higher education. The game is designed to engage and challenge participants' knowledge on issues that are relevant and impactful in the field of higher education today. The game consists of several categories and will test each participants knowledge. Each category is divided into different point values, ranging from 100 to 500, and participants can select questions from any category and point value. The game is intended for groups of educators, students, or anyone interested in learning about current topics in higher education. The questions are designed to be challenging, but also informative and thought-provoking, providing an opportunity for participants to engage in critical thinking and discussions about the issues.
One of our favorite things about the OLC community is the organic ways we make connections. Use this space as a meeting spot, sign-up for self-organize and play card games, DnD, lead a craft night, and more.
To reserve space, leave your contact information and activity details in this sign-up document: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1fJfkU6Zumthp7dVR0xH_zh65wDzfWwCNEWG97EmqMjg/edit?usp=share_link
Start your day with an energizing vinyasa flow yoga session designed to help you de-stress, improve your focus, and prepare you to get the most out of your conference experience. We will move through a series of poses that are sequenced together in a flowing style, synchronized with the breath.
This class is suitable for all levels, from beginners to experienced practitioners. No previous yoga experience is necessary, and modifications will be offered to accommodate all levels of practice.
To participate, you will need comfortable clothing that allows for easy movement, a yoga mat (we will have towels on hand if you don’t have one), and a water bottle.
Note: OLC Innovate attendees participate in yoga classes at their own risk. In the unlikely event of injury, please note that the instructor, OLC, and the Gaylord Opryland Resort may not be held liable.
Join us for breakfast in the exhibit hall (Ryman Exhibit Hall B5-B6) prior to the morning's sessions. Our exhibits will be open, offering you an opportunity to have discussions with sponsors and exhibitors as well as work on your exhibitor stamp card!
This education session details how one fully online program sought to address its adult students’ desire for greater community and their need for additional support at key programmatic points. Come learn about the value and the challenges of developing and launching an online peer-mentoring program and capstone mentoring course.
In this session, David Joyner, co-author of The Distributed Classroom, will present and lead a discussion of the book, emphasizing the distributed classroom matrix and how it facilitates greater opportunities for online education.
This interactive session invites participants to experience an escape room-style learning approach implemented in an online, asynchronous graduate course. Attendees will learn key takeaways to help them develop and implement similar assignments to increase student engagement, provide learners with practical experiences, and develop valuable skills.
The field of instructional design and learning technology, as well as the roles within them, are constantly evolving. Join us to discuss the evolving roles of instructional design and learning technology professionals across educational sectors and how we can position ourselves to be ready for the next evolution!
The use of digital materials in higher education classrooms is on the rise. Join us for a closer look at this transition from physical, print materials to a digital-first future over the last decade. We’ll discuss how we got here, and what this might mean for the future of education.
Rowan-Cabarrus Community College (RCCC), the 8th largest community college in North Carolina, is no stranger to redesigning developmental education. Over a four-year period, RCCC adapted a state-implemented redesign to better serve Rowan-Cabarrus students. In fall 2022, RCCC rolled out its own model, based on 7 premises, they’d like to share.
Online faculty may feel disconnected from the institution and their peers. In order to support students effectively, institutions must fully support and create a strong faculty community as well. This session shares effective strategies in building engaged faculty cohorts who create student-centric learning environments.
Learn about creating highly engaging online courses, the art of storytelling, and components to successfully running fully asynchronous courses.
This session will demonstrate our new features on accessibility and we will discuss the use of Chat GPT and the concerns of educators.
The recent partnership of MERLOT-SkillsCommons and CourseNetworking World (CN World) is delivering a free and open learning management platform and ePortfolio, combined with the free and open teaching and learning library, and supported with experts sharing open educational practices to higher education in developing countries.
A good online discussion will engage students beyond the read, write, and respond model, as this approach can seem routine and obligatory. We look to stimulate critical thinking and reflection. This session will present various tools, techniques, and strategies for creating impactful online discussion activities in your courses.
As the popularity of esports and gaming continues to grow in higher education, where might leaders, researchers, and practitioners in online and digital learning identify points of intersection, connection, and advocacy? Join us to learn more about collegiate esports and its parallels to the challenges, opportunities of online learning.
At TCSPP, we have several campuses and three different delivery modalities, online, blended, and on-gorund. The challenge was to develop the same course for all campuses and modalities. This included modifying the syllabus and creating one Canvas course for all modalities. This presentation provides the recipe of how we did it!
Third-grade reading proficiency is an indicator of future student success; however 47% of students in one state are not meeting this goal. This mixed methodology study investigated the extent to which virtual school in second grade prepared students for third grade reading achievement using pre and post COVID data.
The design of online programs varies widely, however the desire for students to feel connected to the student community is present along that full spectrum. In this session we’ll present the approach taken by our institution and discuss what has worked well (or not so well) at other institutions.
By enhancing instructor presence in an online course, instructors can foster a connection with students and build a strong online learning community. This session explores opportunities for creating an engaged online learning community and strategies to build and maintain a sense of instructor presence throughout an online course.
Implementing a culture of care in online learning is crucial to student success. This session will explore the idea of a culture of care and how the use of artificial intelligence-based tools allow faculty to create a supportive and flexible learning environment for students.
ActiveFlex expansion occurred at our university in Fall 2021. As Ian Malcolm said, “preoccupied with whether we could, we didn’t stop to think if we should”. Positive early results overshadowed development issues. Our journey describes ActiveFlex challenges, solutions, and future concerns. Although challenges arise, resilience and flexibility find a way.
This presentation will explore the dynamic relationship of program leadership and community involvement regarding internship experiences of students. Buy-in from hospital and healthcare leadership is necessary for successful internship experiences. Program leadership has learned how to foster these relationships through trial and error.
We always talk about how to prepare faculty to teach online but rarely do we talk about how we celebrate faculty and students making the work environment more enjoyable. This session will focus on the fun in celebrating eLearning and it's success. The audience will be asked to share their celebrations and ideas, too!
Are you looking for a versatile, intuitive tool to expand connection, collaboration, and engagement? Padlet is a cloud-based platform that allows users to upload, create, and share all forms of content on virtual bulletin boards. Whether you are hosting a brainstorming session, presenting concepts, reflecting on the learning experience, co-creating content, or showcasing student work, Padlet can empower your practice.
The Food Justice Leadership Academy was a pilot mini-course that examined the structural, historical, and cultural roots of the US food system and issues surrounding disparities in food access, land ownership, agricultural practices, distribution of technology within African American communities.
Instructional designers and instructors alike often find themselves lost, overwhelmed, or reverting to what they know without exploring new possibilities. The FIU Online Showcase Course is an inspiration hub that highlights teaching strategies, learning science, and diverse educational materials in an effort to empower us to imagine limitless e-learning possibilities.
Learn how one instructional designer is letting data inform faculty training. The presenter will describe the types of data collected, identify key themes found in the data, describe current faculty training efforts, and share the vision for an ongoing faculty training plan based on the analysis of the data.
Returning due to its success, the OLC Watch Party space is a physical location where you can join with other colleagues, tune into a live streamed session, and engage in discussion as the session takes place. Whether you're looking for dynamic conversation or simply couldn't make it to the main session room in time, this new offering is designed to make our streamed sessions more accessible and engaging.
Gather is a teleconferencing environment where users can create avatars and move around a virtual online environment, interacting synchronously or asynchronously. In this session, we will tour a Gather virtual classroom created in Spring 2022 for a Department of State grant-funded virtual exchange program between universities in the US and Japan.
Join OLC Live co-hosts Amy Archambault and Cody House in a virtual (and onsite) lounge. Bring your coffee, share your ideas and inspirations, and hear from other attendees as you explore the onsite OLC Innovate conference.
Join us for the live-stream, or onsite in the Community Gathering Space by the windows in the Presidential Lobby (near conference registration).
Join us in the Exhibit Hall for a networking coffee break. Not only is this an opportunity to recharge with a fresh cup of coffee or tea, but you will also have the opportunity to network with other attendees. Check out the Engagement Boulevard, relax to the music of a Nashville local musician in the OLC Cafe, meet with our conference exhibitors, and join one of our many games for an opportunity to win prizes!
Are you tired of the same old small talk at networking events? Join us for a session that will spice up your conversations with creative prompts! Share your unique experiences and perspectives with other attendees using thought-provoking conversation starters. This is the perfect opportunity to break the ice, make new connections, and learn from others in your field. You'll leave with new insights and a fresh approach to networking. Don't miss out on this chance to connect in a meaningful and memorable way!
Student success is always a priority in higher education. Recent reports, however, show a nationwide decline in enrollment rate and high drop rate (Melanie, 2022). This presentation will share a success story of a popular online course as well as hands-on experiences to offer tips for designing and implementing a short-term asynchronous online course which prioritizes student success and maintains an outstanding pass rate.
When Universal Design for Learning has not yet been fully implemented in course design and students still struggle, what might educators do? Introducing a prescriptive analytics approach, attendees will leave understanding how traditional analytics ideas can be extended to compare simulated worlds where support interventions did or did not occur.
This presentation emphasizes mindful collaboration between faculty and students in selecting appropriate and engaging Capstone projects. The new interactive Capstone project selection tool is designed to assist students and faculty in discussing, analyzing, and selecting appropriate Capstone projects by evaluating their project ideas across program criteria. This tool makes course expectations transparent and provides a supportive EDI environment for students from diverse backgrounds.
In this conversation, we will explore key decisions around program design in higher education. The session will be driven by your interests, experiences, and challenges in program design at your institution. Together, we will discuss potential frameworks for navigating programmatic design, regardless of our role in the process.
In this session, an online faculty member, online department chair, and online administrator from different institutions will share strategies that help define and highlight what great online courses do best, to improve observation and evaluation, and more importantly course review and instructor training.
Sense of belonging is critical to student success, but for students learning online, belonging can be an elusive goal. Join us for a panel discussion as we unpack the mystery of belonging - why it matters, where and when to foster it, and how it can really be measured.
Obtaining a college education is full of life’s challenges. Every student no matter their background or socioeconomic status will face adversity. This session is designed to provide attendees with the tools to create a mobile friendly curriculum increasing the chances of student success, while cutting down on institutional attrition rates.
Join us to learn how other institutions have used custom solutions to improve user experience, monitor retention, and engage students.
Attracting underrepresented students to degree programs—and preparing them for productive careers—is a familiar charge for instructors and curriculum developers. Hear how Tennessee State University made its agricultural programs accessible to a diverse population by developing flexible, interconnected online courses that help students stay on track and graduate.
On February 15, 2023, the U.S. Department of Education released new guidance with rules about any contracted services and a series of questions about companies helping institutions with online learning. For some time, it was expected that there would be a change in guidance regarding Online Program Management (OPM) and the revenue-sharing model used by some of those companies. There has been much interest in assuring student consumer protection in this growing industry and we expected action to happen. We did not expect this.
The large-scale change in guidance focused on the “Third Party Servicers” (TPS) rules and was far broader than expected. regarding almost any service for which an institution might contract. According to Phil Hill of PhilonEdTech blog:
“Basically, if a vendor provides software and services enabling in almost any way an academic program eligible for Title IV financial aid, that vendor may be considered a TPS with all of the increased regulations.”
This could have an impact on contracts for OPMs, tutoring services, retention tracking, student analytics, adaptive learning, learning management systems, contracted instructional design, and (surprisingly) even contracting for financial aid consulting. This regulatory guidance will reach into every corner of an institution. And there were some surprising elements including the exclusion of the use of foreign contractors and the inclusion of services offered to an institution by its own higher education system.
Regarding OPMs, the Department sought input with nine questions about institutional experiences with those vendors. They also asked about the impact of changing or eliminating the “Bundled Services” exception that allows OPMs to use a revenue sharing (taking a percentage of tuition) model for the recruitment of students.
In this session, we will go through a quick recap of what was said in the announcement, what we have learned since then, the various interpretations of the wording (that has confused many), and possible next steps. The bulk of the time will be spent in discussion in hearing about interpretations that attendees are using and sharing how institutions are responding and reacting.
See more on this issue at: https://wcet.wiche.edu/frontiers/2023/02/22/ed-department-shakes-up-opms-third-party-servicers-this-is-huge/
Academic ableism, whether intentional or unintentional, is harmful. Academic ableism is a term that was coined to describe the discrimination of disabled people in the academic space. Come to this session to learn what academic ableism is, ways to avoid it and resources/edtech tools you can use to combat it.
In this presentation, Katie Linder shares about the inclusive five-month process used to develop an equity-serving digital strategy for the University of Colorado Denver, which capitalizes on the university’s strategic plan and positions the institution to be a university for life for learners of all backgrounds, careers, and ages.
Doctoral attrition has been a perennial concern across disciplines and decades with distance (DE) education doctoral programs consistently experiencing higher attrition than traditional/residential programs. To addresses this issue, we propose a mentorship model of differentiated support for online doctoral candidates depending on the candidate’s knowledge, skill, and level of self-direction.
This session will share the University of Arizona Global Campus’s Academic Operations department’s approach to leveraging the continuous improvement process to carry out faculty focused system and process improvement initiatives. The focus of this presentation will be outline the design, development, and implementation of a new adjunct faculty compensation model the university launched in October of 2021, and the continuous improvement process used to evaluate and collect feedback from faculty and staff. This data collection process helped drive data driven decisions on planned improvements to the model for the next fiscal year.
Complementary - not competing - programs. Managing a healthy online portfolio across a system of institutions requires leadership collaboration across campuses. This session presents a process for chief academic officers across a system to review online degree proposals to ensure that online degree offerings provide multiple pathways for students.
In this session, we will present the results of our research on retention rates in an at-scale degree program. We find that despite the accommodating admissions, retention is comparable to other more selective online programs, and not far behind on-campus programs.
How can the curriculum and student learning experience for fully online academic programs be intentionally designed to facilitate success for the specific student audience? This session will discuss one university’s holistic approach to program planning and how that information carries through to course design with a focus on student success.
The presentation will highlight the many benefits of creating a programmatic approach to meeting accessibility compliance using a supplier-partner relationship. This includes the gamut of online courses from high school to graduate school. BYU’s highly collaborative partnership with Symbiosis and the program is put in place from each party’s perspective.
This session will highlight podcasting as a stage for sharing research and advocacy through simple planning steps and intentional focus on a specific area of change work.
We share our developed quality assurance processes for the development of new online courses, and the review of existing courses, and how we created a process that satisfied key institutional stakeholders including administrators, union leaders, faculty, and staff.
In an 8-week online course, students studied topics including math anxiety, mindset, and memory formation. Students examined root causes of their math anxiety, strategies for dealing with these negative feelings, and explored mathematics applications. A comparison of pre- and post-course MSEAQ results showed an increase in reported self-efficacy regarding mathematics.
Course quality reviews have a number of benefits for various stakeholders. Why then do institutions find the process and outcomes so darn frustrating? This presentation will showcase how one institution iterated to solve issues in the course review process and implement scalable, learner-centered feedback for faculty developing online courses.
This session outlines the need at our institution for faculty support on OER adoption and authoring, describes the ways in which institutional partners collaborate in an on-going response, shares efficacy data on these solutions, and engages participants in a conversation to brainstorm and troubleshoot the application of these ideas.
How a small break room at a major university was converted into a studio to film faculty and their presentations, and how it propelled the department to develop a full-service technologically-advanced studio. Discussion includes equipment needs, implementation, keys to functionality, facilitating faculty needs, ease of use, and expected costs.
This roundtable will address the value of leaders’ commitment to their own professional development through exploring a working model of a community of practice. Practical resources will be shared, and participants will be invited to make connections based on shared interests and jumpstart their own innovative learning community.
The five OLC Pillars of Quality Online Education—learning effectiveness, scale, access, faculty satisfaction, and student satisfaction—have guided the OLC’s trajectory since 1997. As online learning has evolved over the last 26 years, however, so have the needs of the community members we serve. Accordingly, we have re-examined and revised our definitions of quality online, blended, and digital learning within global conversations about educational equity. Our goal in this project was to assist our community of educators, practitioners, researchers, and administrators in anticipating future trends, identifying opportunities, and managing change at scale. In this session, participants will learn about the revisions to the OLC Pillars of Quality Online Education, our process for revising the pillars, and how this work can help address quality at their institutions or organizations.
Join OLC Live! co-hosts as they talk to conference attendees "on the road" about sessions and activities. We will explore the different directions attendees are taking - with a little OLC trivia along the way! If you get stopped, be ready to answer some questions - and you might just win a prize!
Join us for the live-stream, or onsite in the Community Gathering Space by the windows in the Presidential Lobby (near conference registration).
We welcome you to a thought-provoking, accessible interactive installation, themed around diversity, equity, and inclusion. Come consider and celebrate how far we’ve journeyed. Ruminate on where we still need to go as a community. Network with colleagues, identify new collaborations, and join us for an afternoon of critical, fun reflection. Lunch will be provided during this event, located in the Ryman B5-B6 Exhibit Hall.
Successful blended learning is essential for universities in the 21st century. This presentation will introduce three key dimensions of blended learning readiness: institutional readiness, instructor readiness, and student readiness. Additionally we will discuss frameworks and strategies that provide insight into the dimensions of blended learning readiness.
The topic of online proctoring has received heightened attention due to the pandemic and recent legal cases. The research literature has not sought out the voices of online learners. This session will share the results of a mixed method survey of online students' perceptions of online proctoring.
How do you manage communication with multiple stakeholders representing different aspects of an online course development project? Learn about the Blueprint used at one university to create quality courses in a 14-week period by coordinating communication across all members of the design and development teams.
The session focuses on best practices related to online teaching and learning using a sustainable course design format which begins with designing an online asynchronous course that can be used to teach in other modalities. Participants can share their experiences and apply our best practices at their own institutions.
Neuroscience and positive psychology converge to provide innovative insights into teaching and learning. With the biological underpinnings of learning and emotion as our foundation, we will examine how positive psychology strategies can be employed to build community, increase learner resilience, promote engagement, and contribute to learning outcomes. Participants will leave with actionable strategies that can be immediately employed in online classrooms.
We will present ways of using Virtual Reality (VR) technology to develop a new genre of virtual study abroad to bridge the access gap with respect to experiential learning opportunities for online learners. Instead of bringing the classroom to students, we want to take our students to see the world.
Join us to learn how the #1 Ranked Thunderbird School of Global Management offers high-quality education to the world at no cost to learners in 40 languages. Learn about our Language Translation Factory to scale accurate course translation and how partners like Google and Instructure help drive our global impact.
OpenStax publishes high-quality, peer-reviewed, openly licensed college textbooks that are absolutely free online and low cost in print. We've also developed a low-cost, research-based courseware that gives students the tools they need to complete their course the first time around. To date, OpenStax has saved students more than $1.8 billion dollars in education costs while putting customizable, high-quality, peer-reviewed, and openly licensed materials into the hands of instructors and learners. OpenStax has 57 titles in its library, with 10 additional titles underway by 2024. Explore OpenStax textbooks firsthand and learn about the Allied Partners ancillary materials, the Institutional Partners Program, and more. Learn how you can leverage free, high-quality OpenStax textbooks and course materials for your students.
Learn how The University of Arizona's master's program in bilingual journalism is meeting the needs of students by creating individualized learning paths within Brightspace tailored for linguistic, cultural, and educational considerations.
OERs add flexibility to teaching by allowing faculty to customize content to be specific to the course. Our session presents a playbook for determining when OERs are appropriate and beneficial, where and how to search for OERs, assessing quality, integrating, and revising and refreshing your OERs over time.
Digital Storytelling is a meaningful way to build engagement and inclusion into courses, empowering students from a variety of backgrounds and learning modalities with transferable skills in media making and communication. This presentation will demonstrate various digital storytelling assignments that educators can easily adopt into their online and hybrid courses.
The ENHANCE Learning Model includes seven strategies (Engage, Navigate, Highlight, Assessment, Network, Connect, and Edutain) to inform intentional design and delivery of the learning experience. The participants will be introduced to the instructional dynamics involved in the EHANCE Learning Model. The participants will also have an opportunity consider various ways to immediately apply this model to create enhanced learning environments and experiences for their learners.
Advances in technology have enabled a variety of electronic pedagogical approaches in nursing education. Research conducted at a midwestern university to determine the effect of virtual patient simulation on prelicensure baccalaureate nursing students’ clinical reasoning found statistically significant improved clinical reasoning scores.
This session will focus on stories of successful online course design; gamification, accessible design, universal design for learning, and technology enhanced instruction. Sharing strategies to promote success and including your voice in this journey to improve the ideation and application of inventive and exploratory designs for online courses.
The purpose of this study is to increase online student course completion and progression using social engagement strategies that provide support and motivation through peer-to-peer and peer-to-faculty engagement. This study aims to promote the kind of online academic momentum which contributes to long-term retention and, ultimately, graduation.
Quality online education practices involve the most effective means to engage a varied higher education student population. This means that fundamental activities in the online classroom—Topic Presentations/Lessons, Discussions, and Assignments—should feature creative educational strategies that enhance the learning process. Interested students=Involved students=Informed students!
Although graduate students constitute only 15% of all students enrolled in higher education, they are responsible for approximately 40% of the total $1.5 trillion U.S. student loan debt (Miller, 2020). Numerous researchers have found that high levels of graduate student borrowing not only restricts career prospects, but it frequently compels students to leave online graduate programs early (e.g., Pabian, 2018). Therefore, open educational resources (OERs) have been proposed as one viable initiative to reduce the cost of online coursework. This study presents findings on student satisfaction and potential barriers to effectiveness from a project to implement OERs in six online classes in an Ed.D. higher education program.
This Discovery Session will introduce the role of the Office of Micro-Credentials Instructional Design team at Florida International University. Insight will be given into our design and development workflow and intensive quality assurance review process which ensures the high quality of all Micro-Credentials launched.
Power up student learning! From simple scenarios to emerging technologies, let's level up learning by adding interactive elements and instructor presence to engage students more deeply. We challenge you to join our journey from bricks to clicks to learn more about our process for working with instructors to develop rigorous learning experiences. We will explain how we work with instructors to make content come alive for all students, regardless of time or space.
In this session, we discuss: non-academic obstacles experienced by students in a large online graduate program; demographic differences in the obstacles they experience; how these obstacles impact their studies; and which obstacles are directly related to the pandemic. We also present potential mitigation efforts suggested by students.
This presentation showcases university initiatives inspired by the pandemic. This includes a summary of findings of an oral history project that documented faculty online teaching experiences during the pandemic and perceptions of how this impacted their teaching. The presenters describe a resulting multi-pronged university initiative that encourages uses of research-based, online teaching practices.
This interactive session will use Mentimeter to lead a discussion on how we can improve upon student-student interaction in face-to-face and online courses by using the Voicethread tool. Specifically, the presenter will share the do’s and do not’s when including the tool within pre-service teacher courses.
Visitors will explore our unique approach to faculty orientation, training, and development that highlights a community of care, positive growth mindset, inclusive teaching practices, and life-long learning. We will answer questions about logistics, content, instructional design, faculty support, and ongoing professional development and conduct demonstrations in our learning management system.
CANCELLED - As technology rapidly evolves, creating equal opportunities for all learners becomes increasingly crucial. But is technology helping or hindering inclusivity? In this session, we'll explore practical applications and use cases for leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) technology to create more inclusive learning environments and provide personalized learning experiences for learners of all backgrounds and abilities.
How long does it take for an instructional designer to develop a course? It depends. Join five higher education institutions to hear about how they have collaborated to start answering this question together and learn about the contextual elements that impact instructional designer capacity and workload in all types of course development projects.
Join OLC Live! co-hosts will talk with some of the leads, speakers, and attendees of this year's Summits. Join us in finding common themes and learn about what participants in the summits took away from the sessions.
Join us for the live-stream, or onsite in the Community Gathering Space by the windows in the Presidential Lobby (near conference registration).
Join us in the Exhibit Hall for our final networking coffee break of the conference. Don't miss this last opportunity to complete your exhibit stamp cards, which may be turned in at the OLC booth or conference registration desk. A prize may be coming your way!
Let's show some gratitude to the presenters who made an impact at the conference! Join us for a fun and creative session where you'll have the chance to make personalized thank you notes to the presentations that inspired you. This is your opportunity to connect with other attendees, share your insights, and show your support for the outstanding work being done in your field. Don't miss out on this chance to spread some positivity and celebrate the power of collaboration!
Reimagining career services in a digital environment requires key partners, persistent innovations, and scalable solutions to create meaningful change. This session shares strategies for standing up a virtual career platform that increases online learner engagement by curating the most relevant digital resources for an adult and working student population
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the vast majority of college classes were placed online, including instrumental lessons that had never really been conducted virtually before. This research data showed a significant relationship between teacher opinion of virtual lessons and their opinion of the impact of virtual lessons.
Molloy University’s membership with Quality Matters supports a culture of continuous improvement. Taking a sub-set of Quality Matters standards led to an abbreviated quality checklist that is now applied to online courses. Learn about how this program was planned, piloted, revised, and fully launched as the first faculty badge program.
In this session, we will discuss and share ideas for how to design online courses that are intentional, clear, intuitive, and sludge-free – making them more accessible, engaging and welcoming.
In this session, we will explore possible solutions to OER challenges, namely design and structure, technology integration, and rigor. Through a guided brainstorming session, we will create a checklist that can be used to ensure the OER we create or adapt are high-quality, engaging, usable, and integrate technology appropriately.
Experiential education is the cornerstone of teaching in a virtual or in-person environment. The notion of teaching straight from a textbook is not equipping our students at HBCUs with the relevant skills necessary to succeed once they graduate. We will explore how to incorporate entrepreneurial case studies, speaker series, and increase participation with students.
Are you challenged to create engaging strategies and locate tools to capture students’ attention?
Our session will highlight faculty examples of learning activities using various tools to promote student engagement, prioritizing learner-learner, learner-content, and learner-instructor interactions. Please join our Padlet Example Board to participate in our pre-workshop discussion and share your ideas.