Submission Information

Tracks

• Digital Innovation Track

  Innovative and successful digital learning approaches do not happen by accident, and there is a wide array of established and emerging strategies that can be employed to increase the probability that a course practice, instructional approach, or university initiative is successful. Sessions within the Innovation track will address both established approaches and emerging models. Indeed, much has been developed in recent years. The pandemic forced higher education to adopt new methods, and our distance from emergency remote teaching is beginning to reveal which pedagogies and practices positively influenced student learning and student success and which did not. Powerful, often disruptive innovations have become part of our ever-emerging lexicon, and this track will highlight the state-of-the-art from within the domain of learning and technology in higher education. Sessions in this track will focus on, but will not be limited to

  • approaches to empowering and preparing key stakeholders to effectively utilize and build a productive community conversation around digital innovations in higher education;
  • effective ways to leverage technology to meet the challenges associated with teaching courses of all types and sizes through online and blended approaches;
  • use of emerging technologies, such as machine learning, learning analytics, courseware, etc., to advance student learning and student success;
  • strategies to ensure those without access to broadband, the latest technologies, and other resources are treated equitably in learning settings;
  • leveraging technologies that serve as a component or strategy within larger, high-impact practice scenarios; and,
  • best practices in technology management, the diffusion of innovation, adoption models, and faculty and student buy-in.

• Artificial Intelligence (AI) Track

  The emergence of powerful generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools is having a significant and disruptive impact on higher education today. Since 2022, students have actively leveraged AI to help with a variety of course-related tasks. At the same time, nearly all business sectors now anticipate using generative AI in the workplace, and many are already reporting challenges filling roles that now require AI skills. While the initial inclination may have been to limit AI’s influence in the college classroom, higher education now has the companion challenge of preparing students for a world where working with AI is increasingly likely to be a job expectation and a sought-after competency. This year’s AI Track thus focuses on empowering one another to rethink traditional curricular, pedagogical, and assessment to embrace AI into existing courses and programs, all while building a productive community conversation around AI and its future in higher education. Sessions in this track will focus on, but will not be limited to

  • approaches to empowering and preparing key stakeholders to embrace and use AI in higher education, reinventing the conversation into a productive community of practice;
  • effective ways to leverage AI in college classrooms, across programs, and throughout institutions to support students in their educational journeys and beyond;
  • establishing and innovating AI-based pedagogical and assessment practices situated in the college classroom; and
  • approaches to the use of faculty development, workshop series, summer institutes, institutional supports, and communities of practice that empower faculty and leaders as they leverage AI in their educational practice; and
  • establishing the ethical, equity, and academic integrity implications of AI in higher education as a tool wielded by students, faculty, and administrators in higher education.

• Open Learning Track

  Opportunities for exploring open learning approaches abound in our current higher education environment, and best practices are evolving regarding course design, development, delivery, and assessment. Sessions for the Open Learning track will address established approaches and emerging models associated with excellence in open learning, open educational practices (OEP), and open educational resources (OER). The theme for this year’s Open Learning Track revolves around empowering higher education to build a community of openness focused on supporting students across their learning journeys. Inherent to this theme is preparing educators and institutions to effectively integrate OER and OEP into what we situate as best practice, perhaps even high-impact practice. Sessions in this track will focus on, but will not be limited to

  • approaches to empowering and preparing key stakeholders to effectively utilize and build a productive and supportive community around open learning, OER, and OEP throughout higher education;
  • establishing open education strategies, including OER, as not only a means to increase college affordability but also to reduce degree attainment gaps, improve learning for all students, and enhance course quality;
  • strategies and approaches that enable students, faculty, and publishers to create, share, publish, and remix knowledge via openly licensed work;
  • approaches to the use of faculty learning communities, workshop series, summer institutes, communities of practice, and emerging faculty and leadership development that empower faculty and leaders as they leverage open learning practices and lead open learning initiatives; and,
  • research on OER, OEP, and open learning strategies.

• ePortfolio Practice and Research Track

  For decades, ePortfolios have been used on numerous campuses worldwide, advancing teaching and learning, assessment, career development, and other key initiatives. Faculty and other educational professionals are working at every stage of ePortfolio application and adoption, including by performing in-depth research on the use and effectiveness of ePortfolios. The theme for this year’s ePortfolio Practice and Research track focuses on empowering and preparing practitioners and the larger community to come together around the significance of integrative learning and the practice of “folio thinking” as an essential outcome in higher education accomplished through ePortfolios—the 11^th named high-impact practice. Sessions in this track will address hands-on, practical applications of ePortfolios based on first-hand experience developing ePortfolio programs and incorporating ePortfolios into pedagogical and assessment practices. This track is also a place to share the results of research on ePortfolios, serving to inform our ePortfolio practices and strategies for enhanced student learning, student success, assessment, and career development. Sessions in this track will focus on, but will not be limited to

  • approaches to empowering and preparing key stakeholders to effectively utilize and build a productive and supportive community around “folio thinking” and integrative learning, with ePortfolios as a tool to facilitate those higher-order cognitive processes;
  • the effect of using ePortfolios on student performance, including deep learning, GPA, completion, reflective practice, motivation, and other key outcomes;
  • instructional and assessment approaches, including the use of ePortfolios for signature work, scaffolding learning development, and program improvement, as well as ePortfolio’s role as a high-impact practice;
  • professional development applications and uses, including faculty development toward the integration of ePortfolios into instruction and assessment practices at various levels;
  • assisting students with career development as well as examining how employers and institutions are using ePortfolios in their hiring and professional development practices; and,
  • emerging ePortfolio topics, such as digital ethics and storytelling through ePortfolios in times of crisis.