by Karen Nichols
I'm back from Orlando and so excited to try, share and continue to learn about all of the presentation topics from the 21st Annual Online Learning Consortium International Conference 2015. There were hundreds of sessions so I couldn't attend all of the ones I would have liked, but I did my best to sample a bit of everything.
Congratulations to Xavier's own Richard Peters who received the award for best in track for: Going High-Tech in Higher Education: The HBCU Dilemma. (If the streamed session is no longer available when you read this, please reply to the blog post for more information.)
College of Arts and Sciences Dean Anil Kukreja and I co-presented on Taking Shape: A Collaborative, Comprehensive Faculty Development Plan for Our Online/Hybrid Instructors. (If you're interested in a copy of the powerpoint and accompanying documents please reply to the blog post with your email address.)
- Content Builder actually hosted by MERLOT
- MERLOT Bookmark Collection
- Course ePortfolios (click this link to see sample course eportfolios)
The conference featured Discovery Sessions where you could browse an assortment of "how-to" type presentations as well as a Technology Test Kitchen where various gadgets were showcased along with educational uses. Numerous opportunities to meet and connect with peers were also available.
The big news of the OLC conference was that they were awarded a 2.5 million dollar grant from the Gates Foundation. Member institutions will be able to compete for grants in order to improve outcomes for underserved students.
As I was leaving Orlando, I took this photo and it really captures the soaring feeling I had concerning the future of online education, thanks in large part to the people I met from the conference and their dedication to continuous improvement and ultimately to the students we serve.
