FREE Online Conference: OLC Ideate Labs for Online STEM: Innovating STEM Education 2020

To:	Higher Education Leaders
From :	Jennifer Matthis (Online Learning Consortium CEO) Gerry Hanley (MERLOT Executive Director) JP Bayard (Event Chair and Cal State University Engineering Faculty)
Re:	Invitation -OLC Ideate Labs for Online STEM: Innovating STEM Education 2020
Date:	July 24, 2020

 

 

 The Online Learning Consortium (https://onlinelearningconsortium.org/) and MERLOT (http://merlot.org) would like to invite you to our OLC Ideate Labs for Online STEM: Innovating STEM Education 2020 Expo on August 19-21, 2020. The free virtual expo will showcase a wide range of virtual and other technology-enabled labs offered by commercial providers, as well as open educational resource providers, and provide guidance on how best to deploy the different types of virtual labs to achieve successful learning outcomes. 

Background: The upending impact of the COVID-19 outbreak upon higher education has created an immediate demand for alternative methods for delivering laboratory experiences, given campus facilities will continue to be mostly restricted to an online environment. Even if some in-person teaching is allowed in the fall, with social distancing protocols likely mandated, there will be fewer students per lab space, yet a need to make up the additional FTEs in a virtual modality in order to meet enrollment targets. By mixing virtual labs with wet labs, higher education institutions can possibly deliver the same number of FTEs using half of the laboratory physical space. (see report on Virtual labs project at CSU Los Angeles and a testimonial from a faculty at CSU San Marcos). 

MERLOT has had a Virtual Labs portal for a number of years which provides easy access to virtual labs across STEM disciplines, both free and fee-based labs, as well as teaching ePortfolios and case studies for using virtual labs. Partnering with the Online Learning Consortium provides additional professional development offerings including the OLC's Online Science Labs Mastery Series https://onlinelearningconsortium.org/learn/mastery-series/. 

Event Details: This event will foster conversations, exploration and relationship-building between higher education leaders and established online labs providers, organized around 4 strategic themes/questions: 

 

• WHY CONSIDER VIRTUAL LABS? If you are just getting started, what are the unique affordances of digital, virtual, and distance labs and strategies for intentionally incorporating them into STEM educational spaces into the future? 
• HOW TO GET BUY-IN FOR EXPLORING VIRTUAL LABS? How do you center engagement, welcome exploration / failure, and ensure quality within virtual, digital, and distance labs, so people can try these innovations? 
• HOW DO YOU PLAN FOR SUSTAINING SUCCESS WITH VIRTUAL LABS? How do you connect with stakeholders to discuss policy, resources, training, and the relationship between innovative virtual / digital / distance content and certifying / governing / professional bodies? 
• HOW DO YOU SUCCESSFULLY IMPLEMENT VIRTUAL LABS? What are demonstrated strategies for implementing virtual, digital, and distance labs with sustainability, affordability, accessibility, and equity in mind? 

The OLC and MERLOT will facilitate a three-day virtual exposition of virtual laboratory curriculum and tools (e.g., AR/VR, animations, simulations/models, simulations of real experiments, and labs at home) using the Zoom video conference system. We have invited commercial and non-commercial partners to submit proposals for 45 minute sessions aimed at providing you information about tools and strategies that would support the implementation of technology in your STEM labs. The selected Lab providers will present their curriculum, pedagogy, assessment methods, tools and requirements in dialogue with STEM faculty and educational leaders who are either looking to either enhance their in-person lab course experience with some virtual activities, replace the lab entirely with a virtual or at-home option, or simply are curious about the laboratory options available at a distance. Anchored in the four major themes above, the event builds intentional space for building meaningful connections between technology partners and educators, creating multiple entry points for various levels of Lab adoption, as well as authentic storytelling around the implementation of Lab technologies, and (re)imagine in community the future of Online Labs for STEM. 

While the first year of the Expo will focus mostly on STEM, we also recognize the opportunities to extend dialogues around Labs to the humanities, arts, and indeed across the breadth of our institutional landscapes. 

The cost of the virtual expo will be covered by the commercial providers sponsorship, which enables OLC and MERLOT to keep your participation FREE of registration fees. The Expo will pay special attention to having providers with established higher-Ed experience in serving the needs of lower division general education laboratory courses, but will also include computational science providers, recognizing that data analysis and representation is a significant part of laboratory activities. The sessions will be recorded and will be available through the MERLOT and OLC portals. Asynchronous online discussions where we invite both technology partners and educators alike to story their Lab experiences will also be centered around the presentations, resources and recordings. 

 

We hope this free event and subsequent optional services will be helpful for you and your institution as you plan the delivery of your academic laboratory courses in this evolving higher education environment. We invite you to register for this exciting and timely event, and feel free to forward this letter to other colleagues who might benefit from this activity. The transformation of our STEM labs is admittedly a daunting undertaking, and the OLC/MERLOT partnership is committed to bringing resources and community to support the journey. 

For all logistic information about the Expo, please contact Madeline Shellgren at maddie.shellgren@onlinelearning-c.org. For general information about the Expo, contact JP Bayard at bayardj@csus.edu.