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This session is part of the “OLC Membership Live Fireside Chat” series and is available only to OLC members. Consider becoming an OLC member for access to these and many other great benefits!
Join three experts with decades of experience in online learning for an informal fireside chat. Through candid reflections and shared perspectives, the panel will explore how online learning has evolved over the past 30 years, the pivotal moments that shaped its direction, and how expectations among learners, educators, institutions, and industry have changed.
Looking ahead, the conversation will consider how higher education and corporate partners can work together to strengthen learning experiences and better serve learners and the organizations that support them. Panelists will discuss what past experience can teach us, which assumptions deserve reconsideration, and what meaningful progress could look like. Attendees will leave with questions and practical perspectives to inform their own decisions about the future of online learning.
Presenters
Bethany Bovard | Instructional Design Consultant & Online Facilitator
Bethany has more than 25 years of experience in distance education and online learning across military, K–12, and higher education settings. Throughout her career, she has focused on supporting trainers, teachers, and faculty in designing and facilitating meaningful online learning experiences that leverage the affordances of technology while thoughtfully addressing its challenges. A strong advocate for online learning, Bethany also approaches it with a critical eye, drawing on her experiences as a student, educator, and instructional designer to continually examine its opportunities, limitations, and impact on learning.
Carrie Miller | Senior Researcher, Online Learning Consortium
As senior researcher at OLC, Carrie designs, conducts, and manages the portfolio of research projects that align with the mission, vision, and goals of the Online Learning Consortium. She brings with her over 15 years of experience as an online educator and instructional designer with a passion for research. She has peer-reviewed publications covering a variety of topics such as open educational resources, online course best practices, and game-based learning. In addition to a strong background in higher education teaching and instructional design, Carrie brings with her extensive experience in customer service and small business management. She holds a PhD in Educational Technology from Arizona State University, an MS in French from Minnesota State University, and BA in French from Arizona State University.
Carey Smouse | Vice President, Customer Experience, Honorlock
In her role as Vice President of Customer Experience, Carey supports Honorlock client institutions, leaders, and faculty in achieving their academic integrity and student success goals, while ensuring a high-quality customer experience. A former instructional designer, Carey has 25 years of experience in corporate learning & development, higher education teaching & learning, and education technology customer success, sales, and product. Prior to Honorlock, she led customer success initiatives and deep client partnerships at Blackboard and HelioCampus. Carey is a North Carolina native and has a BA in Psychology from UNC-Chapel Hill and an MPA from Jacksonville State University.
Olena Zhadko | Chief Online Learning Officer, Associate Dean of Online Education, CUNY
Olena (Lena) Zhadko, PhD, is the Chief Online Learning Officer and University Associate Dean of Online Education at the City University of New York (CUNY), where she leads university-wide strategy for online education and digital learning across CUNY’s 26 colleges. Previously, she served as Interim University Executive Director of CUNY Online and Senior Director of the Center for Teaching & Learning at Lehman College. An accomplished higher education leader and published author, Dr. Zhadko is the co-author of several Routledge books, including Teaching Online: A Practical Guide (2026), Best Practices for Mentoring in Online Programs: Supporting Faculty and Students in Higher Education (2023), and Best Practices in Designing Courses with Open Educational Resources (2020). She brings extensive experience in academic innovation, faculty development, digital transformation, and expanding access to high-quality online education.
Sherri Restauri | Director of Professional Learning, Online Learning Consortium
Sherri brings more than 24 years of experience in professional development, instructional design, and organizational change management to the OLC team. Both as an administrator and a faculty member, her work has focused on developing scalable, inclusive, and research-informed learning experiences tailored to diverse institutional contexts.
As the leader of the OLC Center for Professional Learning (CPL), Sherri focuses on collaboration and learner-centered design to ensure meaningful impact. She is dedicated to creating responsible, flexible learning opportunities grounded in data-led research.
An accomplished researcher and speaker on inclusive digital learning, Sherri looks forward to expanding OLC’s scope of high-quality educational opportunities. Her goal is to drive innovation and excellence in digital education worldwide.