The Online Learning Consortium is thrilled to be partnering with Every Learner Everywhere on the upcoming event OLC Ideate: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Digital Learning Environments. The event takes place across five days (December 7-11, 2020) and intentionally incorporates both asynchronous and synchronous sessions. Our collective goal is to meaningfully engage our community in dialogue around how we might amplify effect practices for digital learning equity. You’ve been identified (whether that be through OLC’s community or the ELE network) as a leader in this area, and as such we are excited to invite you to lead a salon at OLC Ideate. Below please find additional information that will serve to further contextualize this ask and the opportunities therein.

We have tremendous gratitude for your contributions to this field and your consideration of this event. We of course hope to see you at the event, but nevertheless are thankful for your thought leadership and your commitment to this work.

Information for Salon Leaders

What does it mean to ‘lead a salon’?

If you are new to the OLC Ideate model, we’ve intentionally moved away from the ‘sit-and-get’ model and designed “salons” based around active, collaborative, and importantly dialogue-based sessions. This might look like a 15 minute provocation (like a TED talk in format) followed by a 30 minute activity, or an asynchronous session where you lead participants through a series of reflective prompts or an activity based on storytelling or co-construction.

As a salon leader, your role is to facilitate either a 45-minute session block or design (and pre-record) an asynchronous self-paced activity. You can get a better sense of the schedule and the general structure of the event by reviewing the Schedule at a Glance.

How do I sign up for a session as a salon leader?

If this is an opportunity you’re interested in and can commit to, please complete this short speaking sign-up form by the end of the day November 29th. We will begin reviewing proposals for the purposes of finalizing the program the morning of November 30th. The form asks for some basic contact information and does ask for a brief title and session description. We need this to get a general sense of your plans for that we can determine where in the program you will have the most impact. You will still be able to have the opportunity to continue to narrow your focus and refine your session description even after the program is finalized. We will follow-up after you have submitted for a bio and speaker profile image.

What logistical information do I need to know for this event?

Participants will access all salons from a password-protected portal here on the web – they will receive instructions for how to access the portal after registering for the event. Registration for the event is free and open to all educators who would like to participate.

Live sessions will take place via Zoom (discussion style with all of the Zoom tools as opposed to locked down webinar style rooms) and you can optionally choose to utilize breakout rooms and other zoom functions (e.g. polling) if it supports your session design. Asynchronous sessions will be pre-recorded content guiding participants through self-paced activities and will be facilitated through PlayPosit (explicit instructions for how this will be managed will be sent to those who choose this option).

How is this OLC Ideate event guiding future work in the area of diversity, equity and inclusion?

After much discussion around what this OLC Ideate would accomplish, we are positioning this as a moment for our community to come together around one central question: How might we create infrastructure, resources and support to ensure that our digital learning environments are equitable and inclusive of ALL learners? Recognizing that folks are entering into this work from a variety of perspectives and experience levels, it is our goal to, as a community, surface where we are collectively at, charter our path for where we want to go, and determine our needs for meeting our desired outcomes. As such, we’ve structured the event around 5 central themes (one theme per day: Orientation, Inspiration, Ideation, Implementation, Operationalization) that will support the community in collaboratively moving through these goals, ending the event with a community-generated charter for ensuring diversity, equity, and inclusion within digital learning environments. We will follow this event with a connected OLC Ideate in Spring 2021 that will focus on initiatives identified as impactful (including action research and advocacy) during this event.

What do I do if I have additional questions?

We invite you to reach out to Maddie Shellgren, Director of Online Engagement, at maddie.shellgren@onlinelearning-c.org with any questions or comments that you may have. Maddie is also available to help craft and shape your salon with engagement activities and supportive technology, so please don’t hesitate to reach out as you craft your session.