Join the Online Learning Consortium this summer for a series of webinars designed to help you prepare for fall with research-backed practices, strategies, and ideas from the OLC Community.

Attendees selected each of these presentations—with topics including the benefits of online learning, design thinking with AI, utilizing thinking routines for more engaging discussions, and how swag can help cultivate community, connection, and retention in online programs—as best in their track at the OLC Accelerate 2023 conference last fall.

This series is truly for the community, by the community.

TRACK: Research, Evaluation, and Learning Analytics

What Can Online Learning Do For Students That Face-to-Face Learning Cannot?

February 13, 2024 2:00pm – 3:00pm (ET)

This webinar will reveal the preliminary results of a qualitative study where online instructors with varying levels of experience in teaching online were asked to respond to the question, “How does online learning provide specific benefits to students that traditional classrooms don’t?”. The preliminary results of this analysis, which yielded several major themes in the benefits of online learning (e.g., flexibility, diversity, and course design) will be discussed, along with practical implications for students, faculty, and instructional designers.

	Naomi Aguiar Assistant Director of Research – Oregon State University Ecampus
	Nadia Jaramillo Oregon State University Ecampus

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TRACK: Technology and Future Trends

Design Thinking with AI for Online Instruction

February 27, 2024 at 2:00pm – 3:00pm (ET)

This webinar will present several ways that AI-powered tools can be utilized to encourage collaborative learning reflection among faculty, including facilitating online discussions, providing personalized feedback, analyzing data, and creating virtual communities to connect and share resources. Strategies for promoting a culture of sharing best practices and ways that institutions can encourage teachers to participate in regular professional development sessions focused on using AI-powered tools and technologies will also be shared.

	Ellen Ramsey, PhD Associate Professor – Lynn University
	JeVaughn Lancaster Instructional Design Manager – Lynn University

Register

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Track: Engaged and Effective Teaching and Learning

Creating Energizing Discussion & Reflection Opportunities with Thinking Routines

March 12, 2024 at 12:00pm – 1:00pm (ET)

In this webinar, we will explore the Thinking Routines website, discuss the different categories of routines, and engage in experiential activities based on the routines. We will also explore concrete ways that the routines can be incorporated into a variety of course activities and assignments (such as formative assessments, discussions, reflections, reading responses, and more). In addition, we will discuss how thinking routines can be used in creative ways in order to provide students with multimodal opportunities to share their thinking and learning. Participants will leave the session with dozens of thinking routines that they can immediately implement into their instruction, regardless of the discipline they teach.

Tolulope (Tolu) Noah, Ed.D. Instructional Learning Spaces Coordinator – California State University, Long Beach

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Track: Student Support and Succes

The T-shirt Effect: How Swag Has Cultivated Community, Connection, and Retention in an Online EdD Program

March 26, 2024 at 3:00pm – 4:00pm (ET)

Join this webinar to learn more about how the team from Baylor University utilizes strategic delivery of thoughtful program-branded swag as a form of relationship marketing to help foster community, promote belonging, and create connections between stakeholders in their online EdD program. They will also review the results of a multi-year research study measuring the impact of the swag strategy

	Erin O’Connor Marsano, Ed.D. Lecturer – Baylor University
	Cece Lively Director of Portfolio Management for Professional Education – Baylor University
	Amy Sloan, Ed.D. Lecturer – Baylor University
	Laila Sanguras, Ph.D. Graduate Program Director – Baylor University

Register

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