I’ve worn glasses since I was five years old. I can’t recall how it felt the first time I put on glasses, but I know whenever I wake up, I can’t see a thing and reach for my glasses immediately. Without them, I may have a sense of what’s around me, but the world is overly blurry and hard to navigate. Even now as I’m getting older, I find myself wearing contacts but reaching for reading glasses more and more. I have a sense of what is in front of me, but I need my glasses to bring things into focus.

I share this because the theme for the 2026 Online Learning Consortium Innovate conference is Future in Focus: Vision, Innovation, and Global Impact for a New Era. There have been so many changes to education recently: Policy shifts, AI, and questions regarding the value of higher education. Many of us have been educators for at least a few years, and while we’ve been able to predict certain trends in education, the past few years have brought unexpected developments. As individual practitioners, we may foresee the impact of some of these developments. To clearly see what lies ahead, we may need assistance. While I’m unaware of a pair of glasses which can do just that, I do know that there is power and clarity when people gather together to share ideas. By gathering together for the 2026 Innovate conference, we can bring the future into focus.

At Innovate 2026, you’ll join your peers in envisioning an inspired new era of digital learning. Together, we’ll discuss emerging tools and inventive technologies which have the power to reshape learning in our online classrooms. As creative leaders of digital learning, we’ll discuss the bold ways we are transforming learning for today’s students and reimagining next-generation learning for tomorrow. We’re bringing the fuzzy future into clear focus with dynamic learning design, daring teaching innovations, and courageous collaboration centered on student success and empowerment.

And it’s not just ideating what the future may bring. The secret sauce of an OLC conference is the OLC community. Attendees come hungry for inspiration and ideas, but they are just as willing to share their own experiences. You’ll see presenters attending other conference sessions because Innovators know that true innovation sparks when people come together. Ideas build upon ideas, and our momentum as a community of passionate educators is unmatched when it comes to driving a new era of digital learning.

What ideas can you share with your peers? What excites you about the future of online learning? What are you doing at work that makes you proud? When you’re leaving work feeling energized and inspired, what is it you’re doing? I want to know, and your peers do as well. Will you share what drives you when it comes to digital learning? Presentation proposals for Innovate 2026 are still being accepted. This is your chance to shape the conversation around digital learning. What do you want to say? How are you shaping the future of online education?

I hope you will join us online at Innovate 2026. Bring your ideas. Glasses are optional.