What Comes Next May Surprise You: The Future of Work and Learning

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Session Materials

Brief Abstract

As people begin to make their way back to in-person work and school, a lot of us are wondering how much our new world will look like our old world. John Baker, President and CEO of global learning leader D2L believes the future of work and learning will look very different. Not just because technology will help us digitize – but because technology will help learning and work become more human. In this exciting, collaborative session, you’ll hear provocations from John along with other thought leaders within the learning and workforce community connection space, and participate in futurecasting our digital learning future.

 

Presenters

Lead Presenter: John Baker, D2L

John Baker, President and CEO John founded D2L in 1999, at the age of 22, while a student at the University of Waterloo. He envisioned D2L as a global software company dedicated to changing the way the world learns. John is a strong believer in community involvement and devotes both his personal and business efforts to supporting young entrepreneurs who are developing and applying technology to improve society worldwide. He was appointed to the Governing Council of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. He is also a member (Entrepreneurs’ Circle) of the Business Council of Canada and the Business Higher Education Roundtable, is past chair of the board of Communitech, and is a board member of Canada’s National Ballet School. John has been awarded the Meritorious Service Cross, the EY Entrepreneur of the Year (Ontario for Software and Technology), the Young Alumni Achievement Medal from the University of Waterloo, and the Intrepid Entrepreneur of the Year in the Waterloo Region Hall of Fame. John graduated from the University of Waterloo with an Honours B.A.Sc. in systems design engineering, with First Class Honours and an option in management sciences.

Co-presenter: Angela Gunder, Online Learning Consortium

Angela Gunder is the Chief Academic Officer and VP of Learning for the Online Learning Consortium. In this role, she is responsible for gathering, curating, and leveraging the intellectual capital created by and disseminated through OLC. Prior to her position at the OLC, Angela served as the Director of Instructional Design & Curriculum Development for the Office of Digital Learning, managing and mentoring the team that builds the fully-online programs for The University of Arizona. Her over fifteen-year career as a designer for higher education informs her instructional design practice, where she leverages her expertise in web design, usability, visual communication, programming, and standards-based online learning. She is an Associate Editor for the Teacher Education Board of MERLOT, and the recipient of the 2018 MERLOT Distinguished Service Award, the organization’s highest honor. She is also the recipient of two Online Learning Consortium Effective Practice Awards for the creation of a framework for personal learning networks, and for the creation of exploratory installations of education technology, respectively. In 2019, Dr. Gunder was named an OLC Fellow for her dedication to service, innovation, and scholarship in support of student success in online learning. Her research interests include open educational practices, digital literacies, narrative in online course design, and emerging technology for second language acquisition. She holds a B.S. in Computer Science and Fine Art from Fordham University, a M.Ed. in Education Technology from Arizona State University. Angela completed her Ph.D. in Teaching, Learning and Sociocultural Studies at The University of Arizona, where in 2020 she was named an Erasmus Scholar by the College of Education for her commitment to the college, the university and to the community. Pronouns: she/her/hers

Co-presenter: Jill Buban, EdAssist Solutions

Co-presenter: Gerry Hanley, California State University - Long Beach/ MERLOT/ SkillsCommons

Gerard L. Hanley Ph.D. is the Executive Director of MERLOT (Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching, www.merlot.org) and SkillsCommons (www.skillscommons.org) for the California State University, the Director for the Center for Usability for Design and Accessibility and Professor of Psychology at California State University, Long Beach. At MERLOT and SkillsCommons, he directs the development and sustainability of the international consortium and technology strategy to provide open educational services to improve teaching and learning and continues to development the US Department of Labor's open repository of educational resources for workforce development. Gerry's previous positions include Assistance Vice Chancellor for Academic Technology Services at the CSU Office of the Chancellor, the Director of Faculty Development and Director of Strategy Planning at CSU, Long Beach.

Co-presenter: Abra McAndrew, University of Arizona

Extended Abstract

As people begin to make their way back to in-person work and school, a lot of us are wondering how much our new world will look like our old world. John Baker, President and CEO of global learning leader D2L believes the future of work and learning will look very different. Not just because technology will help us digitize – but because technology will help learning and work become more human. In this exciting, collaborative session, you’ll hear provocations from John along with other thought leaders within the learning and workforce community connection space, and participate in futurecasting our digital learning future.

This session will consist of a collection of short lightning talks, allowing participants to reflect on the big ideas shared by each of the presenters. Between each talk, participants will be asked to reflect on a driving question that they will collectively answer in a collaborative worksheet. The result will be a crowdsourced artifact illuminating our path forward in critically defining our collective actions to detail and inform the connection between learning and work success, respectively.

We invite you to take part in this experiential and connective session that will help to generate new ideas for how we might best amplify the effective practices within the classroom that best prepare the workforce of tomorrow.