Plenary|Featured Sessions

Description: Congressman Neguse will host a conversation with student leaders to address the power of student advocacy in shaping policy on today’s most pressing higher education issues. COLTT attendees are invited to participate in a moderated chat during the panel as Rep. Neguse and the students identify issues, discuss how to effect change in the classroom and the state Capitol, and strategize how to represent student voices within their own institutions and state-wide.

Bio: Congressman Joe Neguse was elected to the 2nd District U.S. House of Representatives in 2018 as the first African-American member of Congress in Colorado history. He is a member of the House Judiciary Committee, House Natural Resources Committee and the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis.

Description: Critical to sustaining Open Educational Practices (OEP) and Open Educational Resources (OER) in higher education (HE) is recognizing educators’ use/adaptation/creation of both. OEP/OER are supported when educators have academic freedom and security, yet few HE institutions in Canada/the U.S. recognize OEP/OER in tenure and promotion (T&P). We’ll address the recognition of OEP/OER in T&P, engage participants in breakout groups to discuss barriers, introduce the University of British Columbia’s incorporation of OEP/OER recognition in T&P, and consider how to make the case for OEP/OER credit in T&P. Participants will leave better equipped to further consider and advocate for recognition of OEP/OER in T&P at their own institutions.

Bio: Amanda Coolidge is an uninvited settler on the Esquimalt and Songhees Nation of of the Lək̓ʷəŋən (Lekwungen) Speaking Peoples. Amanda is the Director of Open Education at BCcampus in British Columbia, Canada. She leads the province's initiatives in open education from open textbooks to open pedagogy and with a team of nine other people who work across British Columbia to enhance access for students. Amanda has a Masters in educational technology and has had many years of experience as an instructional designer at various universities across Canada.

Amanda has worked in open education in Calgary, Alberta; Nairobi, Kenya and in British Columbia. When Amanda is not at work, she can often be found on the beaches and in the woods of British Columbia traveling with her family in their 32 foot fifth wheel RV. Amanda, her husband, and her son live in the RV seven months of the year and enjoy everything there is about the outdoors and the opportunity to explore across North America.

At COLTT, she will focus on impactful work in Open Education and DEI as well as the share a landmark addition of OER to faculty tenure and promotion evaluation at a BC Institution (University of British Columbia).  Check out her keynote transcript, From Lost to Belonging, presented at the Open Education 2019 Conference in Phoenix, Arizona.

Description: We live in a society that values credentials.  Having them provides advantages--certain doors open, different conversations happen.  You could argue that micro-credentials have always been around and used across society.   Education is behind the curve in its adoption of micro-credentials as a way to signal skills and abilities, and it is hurting all learners, but especially new majority learners.  It is time for education to take action, to credential learning and skills more frequently, more discreetly and invest in the future of micro-credentials.

Bio: As Education Design Lab’s Chief Program Officer, Don is responsible for driving and coordinating the Lab’s design challenge initiatives and building the Lab’s reputation for unique success in human-centered field testing for equitable postsecondary and workforce solutions. Don is a thought and accountability partner for our education designers, helping them meet their goals, push innovation and architecture in our design processes.

Don’s portfolio also includes providing strategic direction for the Lab’s micro-credentialing team, specifically the Lab’s vsbl platform to deliver their dynamic 21st century skills framework and digital badges, which he helped design in his previous role at the Lab.

As CPO, Don is instrumental in identifying strategic partners to amplify the Lab’s design and micro-credentialing work and associated products. In addition, Don is responsible for funder deliverables, media dissemination campaigns and success outcomes.

Don's session, Micro-credentialing: Our Next Great Academic and Moral Imperative, will challenge COLTT attendees to consider design as a top priority at any stage of micro-credentials and badging development.This session is sponsored by Participate.