For a shorter schedule-at-a-glance, visit our Schedule webpage. All times listed are based in the Pacific Time Zone.
Distance Education Policy Update - What's New, What's Gone, What's Happening?
This session offers a comprehensive overview of the evolving landscape of distance education policy in the United States, spotlighting the latest developments and anticipations in federal regulation and legislation. Join us for an enlightening discussion on what's new in distance education policy, including regulatory changes, and legislative actions that impact the delivery and quality of online education. Our panel of experts will also provide insightful forecasts on what's on the horizon, examining potential policy shifts, emerging trends, and the implications for institutions, educators, and students engaged in distance learning. Whether you're directly involved in distance education or interested in the broader implications of policy changes on the educational landscape, this session will equip you with essential knowledge and perspectives to navigate the future of distance education in the US.
Giving Credit to Non-Credit: Building a Professional, Continuing, and Non-Credit Portfolio in a Decentralized System
Universities are leaders in sharing their expertise and knowledge more broadly through non-credit opportunities like continuing education and professional training. However, for many research and regional institutions, the instructional focus has narrowed to opportunities in the degree space. While campus leaders talk about these opportunities, many struggle to produce tangible results. This session provides an overview of IU’s approach to professional and continuing education through their IU Expand platform and explores the pros and cons of this “grass-roots” approach to training. Attendees will be engaged through conversation and polling to understand its applicability to the broader higher education community.
High Impact Design for Online Courses: A learner-focused design model purpose-built for online modalities.
This workshop will dive into High-Impact Design for Online Courses (HIDOC) – a new design model that attends to the unique considerations and constraints of online education. HIDOC is a holistic, robust 8-step design process for online and hybrid courses that is perfect for faculty, SMEs, and IDs looking to create great online learning experiences. Participants will leave with a thorough understanding of the model, as well as hands-on practice utilizing the free companion design documents.
As Told by an Instructional Designer: From Brewing Labs to City Maps, Harnessing Immersive Tools for Course Design
Roll up your sleeves and take part in this collaborative workshop! It showcases how immersive technologies like virtual labs and interactive maps transform learning, making it engaging and accessible for diverse audiences, including veterans and deployed service members. Using examples from Brewing Sciences and City Planning, participants will explore creative instructional design processes, strategies for adapting content to varied needs, and lessons learned from deploying these tools. Through collaboration and hands-on interaction, attendees will uncover the potential of technology-enhanced learning to break barriers, promote real-world connections, and create transformative educational experiences. Walk away with actionable ideas to harness immersive tools for today’s dynamic and diverse learners.
Breaking Barriers: Applying Universal Design to Foster Equity in Online Learning
Universal Design (UD) provides a powerful framework for addressing overlooked barriers in online learning and continuing education, particularly for underserved populations in higher education. This session examines how these barriers negatively impact long-term employment and economic outcomes, particularly for disabled learners. Participants will use personas to simulate how barriers are experienced, gaining valuable insights into the systemic challenges faced by these learners. Through practical examples and strategies, attendees will explore how UD can create accessible, inclusive, and equitable educational environments that benefit all learners while addressing inequities in higher education.
Culture as Strategy: Bridging Values, Workforce, and Innovation
How can we prioritize culture in a way that aligns with organizational strategy and encourages innovation? Join this workshop to explore the intersection of culture, risk taking, and workforce engagement in the digital age. Using design-thinking activities, we’ll tackle questions about engaging employees, adapting to changing workforce needs, and evaluating culture alongside strategy. Hear lessons learned from the Division of Academic Innovation, share your own experiences, and co-create actionable solutions for fostering a culture of open innovation. Come ready to get messy, brainstorm, and rethink how culture can drive strategic success.
Digital Accessibility: Get Ready for Updates to Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act
We will open by defining digital accessibility and explaining why it is necessary, including simulations of how disabled users interact with technology. Then, we will guide participants through prioritizing and planning to address accessibility barriers in course materials.
Innovating Together: Credentialing as a Model for Inclusive and Sustainable Change
Navigating change in higher education requires more than technical knowledge or top-down approaches. Successful innovation depends on relational and inclusive leadership that engages diverse stakeholders and builds trust across institutional boundaries. This session explores practical strategies for leading change using relational models, emphasizing the importance of inclusivity to ensure all voices—faculty, staff, students, and partners—are valued. Through scenario-based activities and collaborative planning, participants will learn to overcome resistance, build coalitions, and align initiatives with institutional missions. Attendees will leave equipped with tools to foster trust and collaboration for sustainable, scalable change initiatives.
Same strategy, different tactics: How do learning analytic dashboards differ based on the target audience?
Explore how learner analytics dashboards can support student success by providing actionable insights to students, instructors and advisors. This session will showcase systems developed by U-M, UCF and UNLV, highlighting features like online behavioral patterns associated with desirable academic outcomes, real-time course performance data for advisors, and student engagement metrics for instructors. Through interactive discussions and activities, participants will critique existing designs, provide feedback, and articulate the types of data they find most valuable. Attendees will leave with practical strategies to leverage analytics for identifying at-risk students, tailoring interventions, and fostering equitable, supportive learning environments.
Using AI to Launch Your Next Microcredential
Ray and Lee will bring their experience with AI to demonstrate how a school can use AI to develop a draft of a launch plan for a Microcredential. After a short demonstration of how each of the three AI platforms works, participants will work at their table to build a Microcredential Launch Plan for one of the schools at their table. All participants will get the launch plan output examples from all the tables following the session.
AI Enabled Transfer: A Win for Learners (and You)!
Transfer remains one of the most frustrating experiences for learners and institutions. Using AI cutting edge research, learning how both tools and a network approach can lead to improved credit mobility.
Building a Competitive Online MBA Program Through Data-Driven Design and Stakeholder Engagement
Participants will learn how a top-tier business school leveraged strategic leadership, data management, innovative instructional design, and commitment to continuous improvement to establish a successful online Masters of Business Administration program. Presenters will discuss how stakeholders were engaged to design a program that bridges graduate education with industry needs, attracting diverse working professionals. Presenters will also share how rigorous alignment and curriculum mapping helped put the program at the forefront of measuring excellence in online higher education. Participants will be encouraged to discuss how this approach might be scaled or customized to adapt to the rapidly changing online learning landscape.
Creating Change: Strategically Launching a University-Wide Online AI Portfolio
The session will provide a detailed look at the key strategies employed by Purdue University to successfully navigate the complexities of creating new online graduate programming in a rapidly evolving field. Key areas of discussion will include: Creating a dynamic and responsive ecosystem of AI learning opportunities; leveraging micro-credentials, certificates, and executive training programs to enhance the value proposition of the OMSAI program; fostering strong industry partnerships that extend beyond traditional enrollment models; demonstrating the value of interdisciplinary collaboration in developing and delivering innovative online programs.
Designing Courses In Which Students Use AI to Create Their Own Content
While the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) to accelerate course content generation is fairly new, it is already becoming outdated. In this workshop, we share a trailblazing new approach to Online Course Development which brings together GenAI for the design of a course framework, Learn About for the generation of course modules, and traditional discussions and labs for social and applied learning. We will share our experiments, lead the audience through the development of their own online course using GenAI and Learn About, and engage in discussion about the consequences on Online Course Development and Instructional Design.
Faculty Perceptions of uHoo Learning Analytics on Teaching Practices
After a year of use, KSU’s uHoo Analytics continues to attract more faculty adopters. A survey of these users revealed that faculty engagement with uHoo led to changes in teaching behaviors that aimed to improve student outcomes. Researchers found that faculty appreciated the actionable insights, particularly from alerts and assessment dashboards, which influenced their communication, feedback, and student interaction. However, barriers such as LMS setup and the need for ongoing training were noted. Recommendations for implementing similar systems will be shared.
From Competition to Collaboration: Inside the UT/ASU Partnership
In March 2024, Arizona State University and The University of Tennessee, Knoxville entered into a formal collaboration, aimed at improving access to credit and non-credit online programs. Providing operational consulting, joint technology solution efforts, and a facilitated course exchange program, the partnership is built upon a foundation that asks, “what happens when universities collaborate rather than compete?” This session will be delivered as a moderated panel, featuring leaders from both universities as they discuss the origins of the partnership, the first year of the collaboration, and their respective visions of the future of their collaborative efforts.
Leveraging Coursera to Upskill Mission-Focused Staff at Los Alamos National Laboratory
Hear from the architect of the Coursera AI upskilling pilot at Los Alamos National Laboratory and key Coursera for Government leadership on real-time outcomes of the pilot; as well as scalable lessons learned that universities, government employers, and learners alike may apply as this model has the potential to scale and meet emerging AI needs in large-scale, mission-focused government organizations.
Maximizing Workforce Impact and Revenue Through Strategic Online Program Development
Discover proven strategies for selecting the right online educational programs that meet workforce needs and drive revenue growth. Join the University of Tennessee - Chattanooga as they share their successful program development approach, including market research, employer relationships, financial assistance, career services, cost-benefit analysis, and enrollment strategies. Learn from their highly successful medical coding program in partnership with AAPC, featuring unique program design elements, interactive features, industry certifications, and ease of implementation. Gain practical tips for driving community impact and financial sustainability. Leave with actionable insights for your own program development efforts and explore AAPC's healthcare career-path program.
Navigating Dynamics with Position and Organizational Structure Changes
Promotion? Reorg'd out of a senior role? Job change? Bait and switch on your new job description? Each requires a change in mind set and interaction. Promotions and job changes are usually viewed as positive steps on a career path, but the reality might not quite live up to expectations. Reorgs and bait and switch situations can be painful and confusing and require a decision about whether to stay or go. Join the panel of online education leaders with lived experience in these situations to hear how they navigated changes in their roles. The audience will be invited to engage in Q&A with panelists.
Leadership in Turbulent Times: Building Resilience Through Adaptive Networks
When higher education's toughest challenges prove too complex for any leader to solve alone, the strategic intersection of adaptive leadership and intentional networking becomes the foundation for institutional transformation. You will learn how to distinguish technical from adaptive challenges while building cross-institutional relationships that support complex change. We'll examine how intentional network development creates resilience during uncertainty and provides diverse perspectives essential for leading in this environment. Participants will develop strategies for cultivating networks that regulate distress, amplify multiple voices, and distribute leadership. Leave with practical tools to build adaptive capacity through strategic connections within and beyond your institution.
Program Onboarding: Unlocking Opportunities for Growth and Impact
Discover a collaborative approach to onboarding new academic programs with the support of an academic innovation team and instructional designers. This session outlines strategies for aligning program goals with institutional priorities, designing engaging learning experiences, and fostering faculty readiness through professional development. Emphasizing cross-functional collaboration and iterative design, it provides actionable steps to streamline program onboarding while maintaining quality and innovation. Ideal for administrators, faculty, and support staff, this presentation equips attendees with a practical framework to ensure successful program launches and continuous improvement in higher education.
Rebuilding Trust and Driving Growth: Strategic Storytelling in Online Education
This session explores how thematic storytelling, data-driven insights, and cross-functional collaboration can rebuild trust in higher education and drive enrollment growth. Using Georgia State University and CU Boulder campaigns as case studies, attendees will learn how storytelling can showcase accessibility, career relevance, and program outcomes. Participants will gain actionable strategies for measuring ROI, breaking down silos, and creating omnichannel marketing campaigns that engage prospective students through personalized journeys. By the end of the session, attendees will leave with practical tools to connect with students, demonstrate institutional value, and achieve measurable results.
Responsible Access: A strategy for determining internationally located student eligibility for online programs
Online programs play a key role in an institution's internationalization strategy and introduce a complex web of regulatory and compliance issues. Learn key questions to ask, campus partners to leverage, and research resources institutions can use to establish a scalable strategy to inform decisions related to the admission and enrollment of internationally located students in both credit and non-credit programs. Presenters will share practical insights for determining eligibility, tracking students, monitoring tax registration thresholds, and maintaining student disclosures that support online units in leveraging their existing distance education compliance roles to help increase access to programs in emerging markets.
Scaling Course Revisions: A Holistic Approach to Redefining Learning Experiences
Discover LSU Online & Continuing Education's innovative approach to streamlining course revisions across a system of institutions and programs. This session, tailored for educators, designers, and administrators, will provide an overview of the revision process, covering topics like prioritization, goal-setting, and setting revision tiers, and concludes with audience engagement and an interactive activity.
The Chief Online Learning Officers’ Guidebook: A Panel Session with the Co-Authors and Expert Contributors
Hear from the co-authors of The Chief Online Learning Officers’ Guidebook (Routledge 2025) and select expert contributors in a behind-the-scenes look into the book’s key themes and messages. The discussion will include musings on what didn’t make in into the book, as well as insights the co-authors gleaned from working with 50-plus of their distinguished COLO peers.
Breaking Barriers: Adaptive and Inclusive Course Design for Accessibility
The Learning and Innovation Team (LIT) at the Continuing and Professional Education (CPE) division of UC Davis is excited to share their design strategies for creating inclusive and adaptive online courses. As part of CPE's commitment to fostering an inclusive learning environment, Ally, an accessibility-enhancing tool, has been integrated into select online courses.
Building Bridges: Designing an Engaging and Scalable Fully-Online High School Dual Enrollment Program
Fully-online dual enrollment programs offer a transformative pathway for high school students to earn college credits with flexibility and accessibility. This session explores the creation of a scalable, self-supporting program designed to expand opportunities through partnerships with public schools, charter schools, private schools, and homeschool families. Key topics include building a financially sustainable model, promoting equitable access, and implementing strategies for student success. Attendees will gain practical insights on leveraging technology, fostering K-12 collaborations, and designing student-centered support systems to ensure retention and achievement. Leave equipped with tools to launch or enhance a fully-online dual enrollment program in your region.
Building the Future of Learning Design: Partnerships, Personas, and Processes
Learn how Excelsior University and Ease Learning collaborated to build a robust learning design (LD) team and support the refresh of 500 online programs. This session will offer insights into using external partnerships for staffing and outsourcing, while also creating internal structures and processes to support long-term success. Walk away with practical strategies for aligning roles, identifying skill gaps, and fostering collaboration to meet institutional goals.
Change Management and Adult Re-entry
This session will explore an approach to change management for campuses seeking to expand access through adult re-entry programs. OPE units have long been considered the units on campus that excel in adult re-entry programs. However, adult re-entry is changing just as other demographic challenges impact higher education. This session will address some of the challenges we will face in the next 3-5 years and change management techniques that we can use to build on our previous success for the future.
Cutting Through the Noise: Promoting Your Professional Development
Success in the digital world means cutting through the noise of the online professional development space. By leveraging existing resources, building intentional connections, and fostering an entrepreneurial spirit, COLOs can successfully cut through the noise and elevate their programs. In this presentation, Florida State University’s Institute for Trauma and Resilience Studies will share evidence-based strategies and examples from their own experience growing the ITRS Professional Development Portfolio. Participants will have the opportunity to connect with presenters and other attendees to share experiences and brainstorm new opportunities. Attendees will leave with practical strategies for growing and marketing their own programs.
Empowering Adult Learners: Building Student Success in Online Programs at Scale
Discover how the University of North Texas supports adult learners in online at-scale programs through holistic strategies that address community-building, academic success, and career readiness. Participants will explore initiatives like Talon to Talon, virtual success coaching, and multi-modal outreach that have driven measurable success, including a 13% increase in retention. In this interactive workshop, attendees will identify challenges at their institutions and develop tailored, scalable solutions to support online learners.
Empowering Educators as AI Builders: A Case Study in Content Transformation
This session explores how Artificial Intelligence (AI) can empower higher education institutions to navigate challenges of evolving learner needs. Learn how to leverage AI to transform course content into engaging, personalized modules, streamline operations, and improve student outcomes. Discover how Arizona State University (ASU) partnered with LearningMate to revolutionize content development using AI-powered tools and a new Content Management System (CMS). Gain practical strategies for AI adoption and receive an exclusive roadmap for implementing AI across your institution.
Exploring the Critical Role of Networks and Social Capial in Online Student Success
Non-traditional learners, juggle work, family, and academics—a balancing act that becomes even trickier in the online learning space, where isolation and impostor syndrome can derail success. How can administrators create online environments that foster connection, inclusion, and resilience? Join Dr. Kim Siegenthaler and Dr. Patricia Milner as they share strategies to build online communities that empower students. From leveraging peer networks to equipping advisors and coaches as key connectors, this session offers actionable tools to break barriers, boost belonging, and drive success.
From Vision to Practice: AI Integration Insights from Faculty Leaders
Throughout the higher education landscape, institutions, departments, and programs are struggling to determine what the widespread availability of Generative AI technologies could mean for their day-to-day operations. Join faculty members on the forefront of evaluating and determining institutional directions for AI at a discussion hosted by Everspring, as they talk through the successes and challenges they’ve taken on and the paths they envision moving forward.
Getting to Know the Needs of Corporate Learners
The corporate demand for upskilling and reskilling has never been stronger. Higher education has the offerings needed to provide the lifetime learning employees are craving. How can institutions make that learning experience ideal for full-time employed, adult students? Hint: there are a lot of tips we can borrow from our friends in online learning to reduce student barriers. Discover these tips and more as we dive into what employed learners are looking for in their corporate learning experiences.
Holistic Student Support in a Digital World: Balancing Technology and Human Connection
As institutions increasingly leverage technology to expand access to support services, the need to maintain meaningful human connection becomes more critical than ever. This panel will explore strategies for delivering holistic student support in digital and hybrid environments, emphasizing the importance of balancing technological advancements with personalized care. Panelists will share insights on effective practices, challenges, and opportunities for enhancing student success while navigating the complexities of a digital-first world.
Immersive Online Learning: AI Simulations for Engagement and Skill Development
Discover how AI simulations can transform online learning by creating dynamic, interactive environments that foster engagement and skill development. This session explores integrating AI-powered simulations into online courses to replicate real-world scenarios, enabling learners to practice critical thinking and problem-solving.
Improving learner and staff experiences: Using Canvas’ Mastery Paths to streamline certificate processes
Using the LMS system as the central location for online/ distance learning courses requires an efficient and user-friendly system for the user and the personnel charged with managing reporting and registration. The use of Mastery paths to streamline the administrative process can benefit administrators charged with exam verification and the timely issuance of credentials. Other higher education personnel could leverage this method to manage registration (using the Canvas Storefront) and certificates to improve operational efficiency and user satisfaction.
Intersection of AI-Voice Technology and Accessibility at North America Campuses
This roundtable will explore practical strategies for improving video accessibility in online learning environments, focusing on WCAG 2.1 Level AA guidelines. A leading tech startup, Recap Innovations, will showcase its platform that automatically generates transcripts, captions, subtitles, translations, synthetic voiceovers, and audio descriptions, all in multiple languages—streamlining accessibility and ensuring compliance with WCAG 2.1 AA guidelines. Participants will discuss video accessibility challenges in online programs, share experiences, and learn how to evaluate and integrate AI solutions alongside human oversight to ensure compliance. Attendees will leave with actionable insights and resources to enhance video accessibility in their own educational settings.
Learning Design Projects: Building Faculty Innovation in Online Spaces
In this session, we will provide opportunities for administrators invested in digital learning, instructional designers, and faculty innovators to reflect on considerations for designing programs that allow faculty to innovate and creating opportunities to position faculty as digital leaders. We will showcase our collaborative Learning Design Projects model that can be replicated and scaled across institutional contexts.
LORI: AI-Driven Tool for Efficient Leadership Evaluation in Holistic Admissions
Leadership is a critical 21st-century skill for success in graduate education and beyond. However, admissions processes lack standardized methods to evaluate leadership effectively. Letters of Recommendation (LORs) are key in holistic admissions, offering insights into lifetime learning skills like leadership, adaptability, and collaboration, yet they are often subject to inefficiencies and bias. LORI (LOR Insights) is an AI-powered tool that analyzes LORs using Natural Language Processing and Large Language Models to detect key leadership traits. This session explores LORI’s role in streamlining admissions, enhancing fairness, and fostering alignment with workforce and educational goals.
Motivation, meta-analysis and next steps to support online learners: Informing the research literature from a practitioner perspective
In face-to-face courses, there is a strong relationship between college students’ motivation and academic performance. Within online and blended learning, however, reviews have been subject or construct specific. In this session, the presenters will share both methods and results from their recently published comprehensive meta-analysis of the relationship between student motivation and learning performance measures in both online and blended learning environments. With attendee engagement, we will discuss how this relates to existing decision-making and policies, plausible explanations between differences in online and blended learning, and recommend next steps for the research community.
Predicting Student Success with Explainable AI (XAI) in Online Master's Program
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming higher education by leveraging predictive analytics to enhance student success. This study explores how Explainable AI (XAI) can analyze application and enrollment data to predict outcomes in an Online Master’s Program at a STEM-focused university. Using machine learning and feature importance techniques, we identify key success factors, including recommendation support level, standardized test scores, employment history, and prior degree field. Our findings support data-driven decision-making for educators and offer students actionable insights. An interactive session will engage participants in comparing human assumptions with AI-driven predictions, highlighting XAI’s role in optimizing student outcomes and course design.
The Birth of an ID Model: Creating the Collaborative Active Learning Instructional Design (CAL-ID) Model
The Collaborative Active Learning Instructional Design (CAL-ID) Model is to be used by instructional designers during a course design and development process while working with a subject-matter expert. The goal of this model is to promote the use of active learning techniques and strategies in online courses through the use of reflection and discussion. This model was formed through an action research study that occurred in Spring 2022. Qualitative data collected consisted of instructional design reflections presented on the Be an Instructional Design Podcast. These reflections helped ground this model into three separate pillars: collaboration, an active learning course planning map, and reflection. In this presentation, I will discuss the research study that occurred and present the research methodology used in the creation of this model. I will also present the three pillars of the model and how these work together to create a unique design and development process focused on active learning.
The Strategic Mix: In-sourcing, Outsourcing, and Unbundled Services for Peak Performance in Marketing, Enrollment Management & Student Success
Universities are moving away from the one-size-fits-all OPM (Online Program Management) model toward a strategic blend of operational approaches. This shift combines in-sourcing to maintain control over core functions, outsourcing to access specialized expertise, and unbundled services for flexible scaling. Instead of fully outsourcing enrollment and student success operations, institutions now focus on data-driven decision-making to determine the ideal mix of these models. Insights from experts at NMU, St. Catherine's, and the University of Florida College of Journalism demonstrate how this approach helps universities optimize resources and ensure student success while maintaining their unique identity.
Thriving in Transition: Change Management and Culture in Launching Online Programs
Discover how the University of Utah successfully navigated leadership transitions while launching online degree programs. This session explores strategies to align stakeholders, foster collaboration, and maintain momentum amid shifting directives. Highlighting real-life examples, attendees will learn to address resistance, balance competing priorities, and leverage change as an opportunity for innovation. Gain actionable insights to build adaptable frameworks, preserve institutional goals, and cultivate a culture of flexibility and collaboration. Whether facing leadership turnover or evolving priorities, this session offers practical tools to ensure online program success in a dynamic higher education environment.
Transformative Online Learning and On-Campus Students
This panel brings together diverse institutional perspectives to explore the under examined role of online learning for on-campus students. Panelists will address the opportunities, challenges, and persistent misconceptions surrounding online education, particularly the view of it as a "lesser" pedagogy. Grounded in post-pandemic trends and enrollment data, the session seeks to bridge the divide between online and face-to-face learning discourses. Through candid discussion, panelists will highlight how online learning can complement residential education, offering new pathways to flexibility, engagement, and inclusivity, while navigating the complexities of institutional culture and student expectations.
Unleashing Course Author Potential
This highly interactive workshop provides a space for instructional designers and leaders to share their experiences, challenges, and best practices in fostering instructor commitment to high quality course authorship. We understand that course authors face many competing priorities and have firmly ingrained course authorship methods that can be obstacles to efforts by instructional designers to support them in creating the optimal online learning experiences for students. In this workshop, we will dive into our collective wisdom and leave with practical strategies that are both simple and innovative.
Building an Internal OPM for Online Enrollment and Student Success
During this session, we’ll share lessons learned and practical advice for building internal centralized capacity to provide online enrollment and student support services. We’ll explore how to build and structure a team to support online undergraduate and graduate students, how to balance the use of automated and manual outreach to engage students, and pain points and recommendations for building a foundation of collaboration with campus partners. This session will provide a blueprint for others and encourage participants to contribute from their experiences of internally managing online enrollment and student success.
Built-In Accessibility: Shifting from a Reactive to Proactive Model
Making content accessible to people with disabilities is much quicker and easier when starting from the beginning, but it’s not yet a habit that most people have. How then do we support instructors and staff in making this change? This presentation will discuss how we collaborated between departments to create an environment of learning, technology tools, and on-demand resources to help instructors and instructional designers across the institution make more accessible content.
Collaborative Instructional Design as Faculty Development
Changing workplace demands that higher education train students with different core competencies. Further changing student needs asks for different pedagogical approaches in terms of modality, course design, and tools. These changes require faculty development and adoption, which often face resistance or poor uptake. Collaborative instructional design can address the issue of faculty buy-in, where faculty from the same subject matter collectively develop course materials while adopting new pedagogical tools and methods. For effective implementation, faculty needs structured instructional design guidance with the tools and pedagogy to integrate new competencies and methods.
Digital Accessibility Foundations: Or How to Create Content for Everyone
Last year, we investigated common accessibility issues at the University of North Texas. We discovered challenges related to electronic document accessibility and the impact of basic accessibility training on faculty. To address this need and offer learning opportunities to other professionals, we introduced an online digital accessibility microcredential. This program equips diverse professionals, including marketers, UX designers, and educators, with essential knowledge and practical skills for creating inclusive digital content. Learners explore legal frameworks, international standards, and disability etiquette while engaging in hands-on applications. Continuous improvement, guided by learner feedback, ensures the course remains impactful. The microcredential is available for internal and external audiences.
Engaging Remote Educators: Lessons from An Online University’s Annual Faculty Experience Survey
The University of Arizona Global Campus (UAGC) relies on remote Associate Faculty to deliver most of its courses. Monitoring their well-being and engagement is challenging due to their diverse commitments. For seven years, UAGC has conducted annual surveys to gather insights on faculty experience, including classroom experience, culture, benefits, compensation, training, diversity, equity, inclusion, and AI impact. Achieving a 42% response rate for 2023-2024, UAGC has used these insights to drive improvements in compensation, training, communication, and classroom experience. This session will discuss survey operationalization, key findings from January 2025, and strategic initiatives to enhance faculty experience.
Enhancing Faculty Integration: The Role of Structured Onboarding, Peer Mentorship, and Belonging
This session explores innovative strategies to enhance faculty onboarding through structured programs that prioritize mentorship, belonging, and inclusivity. Learn how dual mentorship models, affinity group support, and hands-on learning can address both professional and personal needs, fostering integration and retention. Attendees will gain practical tools to design onboarding processes that build community, support diverse faculty, and promote long-term success. Ideal for faculty developers and institutional leaders, this session emphasizes actionable steps to create inclusive and engaging onboarding programs that empower new faculty and strengthen academic communities.
From Insights to Impact: Leveraging Campus Data for Institutional Change
Discover innovative ways campus data can drive impactful teaching and learning improvements. This session highlights practical strategies for using tools like the Curie platform to design instructor-supportive learning modules, collect actionable insights, and enhance teaching practices. Presenters will share real-world perspectives on customizing educational tools to meet institutional needs and tie instructional improvements to measurable student outcomes. Join us to uncover how to leverage data effectively to foster a culture of evidence-based improvement and institutional growth.
From Stackables to Pathways
Stackable programs and micro-credentials are revolutionizing higher education by enhancing flexibility, accessibility, and workforce alignment. These innovative models empower students to tailor their educational pathways, acquire industry-relevant skills incrementally, and seamlessly transition between learning and professional advancement. Micro-credentials offer focused, cost-effective certifications that demonstrate proficiency in specific areas and can be stacked toward advanced degrees. At LaFetra College of Education, our stackable programs lead to master’s and doctorate degrees, fostering adaptability for diverse learners and employers. By prioritizing inclusivity and responsiveness, these approaches prepare students to thrive in an evolving labor market while supporting lifelong learning and career growth.
Implementing a Student Support Help Desk for Online Students
AU Online of Augusta University has developed a Student Help Center which contains a robust knowledge -base and ticketing system for students. Our highly engaging and cost-effective solution was quickly implemented in July 2024 and has been well received by students who now enjoy 24/7/365 support. Our approach has led to deeper understandings of the root causes to student issues which has led to solutions and higher student satisfaction translating into high retention levels. Come here our story and how it is possible for anyone to implement.
Improving Project Outcomes using Strategic Design Planning
Every instructional design project has unique circumstances, just like every book on the shelf has a different tale to tell. How do you know if the story will end well? To improve project outcomes, instructional designers must initiate early planning and close collaboration with their team. Without proper planning, a project may fall short of stakeholder expectations. How can instructional designers consistently ensure that both stakeholder expectations and learner needs are met? Strategic design planning purposefully aligns project goals with the design initiatives to be undertaken.
Integration of AI in higher education
The integration of AI in higher education is rapidly transforming teaching, learning, and administrative processes, offering significant benefits in terms of personalization, efficiency, and accessibility. Despite the numerous benefits, the use of AI in higher education raises important ethical and privacy concerns, including data security, algorithmic bias, and the potential for unequal access to technology.
LMS Transition as a Reimagining of Courses
This session will explore adopting a new Learning Management System as a reimagining of how a course achieves its instructional goals. While an LMS transition often generates attention around the technical aspect of using the new LMS, this session will focus solely on what this type of transition means in terms of how courses are designed and delivered. This process of adopting a new LMS requires institutions to reimagine and reinterpret how they think about courses; drawing from LMS transitions at three different institutions, this session will focus on actionable guidance for leaders to support this type of reinterpretation.
Optimizing Student Success: Effective Preparatory Methods for Online Graduate Program
This session explores the impact of different preparatory methods on student success in a large-scale online graduate computer science program. We focus on using predictive analytics to examine students’ various preparatory methods and its effectiveness on their learning outcomes across diverse demographic and technical backgrounds. Our research aims to identify the most beneficial preparation types for students, particularly those without strong technical foundations, using advanced machine learning techniques.
Partnering with Purpose: Community Engagement in AI Education Design
The Integrating AI for Transformative Learning in K-12 Schools course, developed by Auburn Online in partnership with the Alabama School Library Association, showcases the power of community engagement in professional development. This asynchronous, modular course equips K-12 educators with foundational AI knowledge and practical strategies. This session explores the collaborative process of designing, pilot testing, and promoting the course, emphasizing the role of partnerships in addressing AI literacy gaps and real-world classroom needs. Institutional leaders will gain actionable insights into leveraging community collaboration to drive innovation, strengthen stakeholder relationships, and prepare educators for the transformative potential of AI.
Program Pathway: From Research and Grants to Development of Innovative Online and Hybrid
Oregon State University’s Professional and Continuing Education (PACE) department began a path to non-credit program development and credentialing through proper research and quality standard documentation. This session invites participants to discover the motivations behind PACE's significant programmatic shift and the detailed steps taken to realize their current successes. Join us to explore the strategic planning, collaborative efforts, and key achievements that mark PACE's contributions to the evolving landscape of credentialing in higher education.
Reengaging a “mostly” remote workforce
We live in a work world where working remotely or in a hybrid format is now commonplace, which has brought us great benefits and also ongoing challenges. Keeping faculty and staff engaged with both their work and each other is a key challenge we face! This presentation will share the work our learning design organization has done to re-engage our team and build better team cohesiveness and collaboration through a recent “Community Day” retreat. We will take participants through the day’s activities and share the resources created to support our ongoing efforts to ensure our team works together effectively.
Strategic Benefits of Online Course Development as Faculty Professional Learning
Explore how Middlebury leverages the course development process to enhance faculty digital literacy and institutional growth. Learn how their approach pairs faculty with instructional designers for intensive 4-month collaborations, empowering faculty to maintain and iterate their online courses independently. This model not only ensures course quality but serves as professional learning, building faculty expertise in digital pedagogy and learning technologies. Discover how this strategy scales online learning efforts, strengthens faculty relationships, and positively impacts both online and on-ground programs. Join us to discuss the benefits and challenges of building faculty digital literacy through course development.
The "Why" in AI: Building an Online Course Series Addressing Industry Specific AI and Ethics
Baylor University Extended Learning will take you on a rapid-fire journey highlighting the development and launch of its groundbreaking asynchronous online course series, “Navigating the Future: AI & Ethics.” Learn how the series was built from market research to pro forma to learning design to launch. Participants will hear how faculty SMEs from multiple industries developed specialized content to take students on a deep dive into healthcare, law, and other areas regarding the consequences of misusing or misunderstanding AI. Baylor will share how the strength of internal collaboration across the university brought this popular non-credit series to life.
The Modern Learner: Creating an Engaging Enrollment Experience
This session will explore key findings from EducationDynamics’ latest report, which draws on insights from over 3,000 students currently pursuing or considering higher education. Attendees will gain valuable, data-driven insights into the preferences, motivations, and behaviors of Modern Learners. This presentation will focus on how institutions can adapt enrollment and marketing strategies to meet the needs of this career-focused audience. Higher education leaders will be equipped with actionable strategies to optimize marketing, outreach, and enrollment processes to better support these learners in making informed decisions about their education, while better attracting and retaining this demographic.
The Value of SARA: Cost Savings and Compliance
Teaching students across state lines can be complex, costly and difficult to understand. Join us to learn about how State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (SARA) provides cost savings, streamlines state authorization processes, offers tools and resources to lead and manage change in an environment that is constantly changing and evolving.
There and Back Again: A Quest for Accessible Library Resources
Leveraging existing resources has become a major focus of universities looking to cut costs and streamline offerings for both faculty and students. To address two issues at once, we looked to the Indiana University library system for ways to both promote their vast repositories and reduce remediation efforts for inaccessible PDFs. In this talk, we will describe the challenges we encountered, our project management strategy, and our takeaways from the process – a job aid, lessons learned, and our hopes for a more accessible future.
Transforming Education for Adult Learners: Meeting SCND Student Needs
This session explores strategies for supporting SCND students—an underserved population of over 40 million learners. By addressing their unique needs and treating them as a distinct market segment, institutions can create equitable experiences that significantly enhance retention and graduation rates. Participants will learn how to evaluate adult students' academic and social-emotional readiness, provide targeted enrollment support, and design personalized interventions during their educational journey. The session will also emphasize the importance of well designed online programs and virtual support systems in accommodating adult learners’ diverse schedules and responsibilities. Attendees will leave with practical steps to better serve this critical student demographic.
Voice of the Online Learner 2025: A Toolbox for Increasing Student Engagement
This presentation reviews findings from the Risepoint 2025 Voice of the Online Learner Survey report, the 14th annual report surveying online students. While summarizing this audience’s preferences, we will focus on a need noted by respondents for “increased engagement with both student peers and instructors.” To better serve these learners (grad student focus) we will outline primary instructional activities, as well as popular tools for improving collaboration and communication. We will also discuss how instruction intersects with technology, such as AI and automated assessments. The audience will be able to share their challenges and successes in building course community.