Learning and Technology Symposium

Forging the Future of Learning: Moving Forward Together! Call for proposals open (deadline Dec. 20)!

We invite you to help us forge the future of learning by sharing your expertise to shape the conversation! 

Track Themes: 

• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) & Inclusive Teaching
• Supporting Student Engagement and Success
• Innovative Technologies and Learning Spaces
• Open Educational Resources, Open Pedagogy & Open Access Scholarship
• Course Design
• Learning Professionals as Researchers 

Track Theme Descriptions:

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) & Inclusive Teaching: Learning and Technology is firmly dedicated to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion. Presentations might include the following discussions of programs or methods:

• Inclusive and representative online course design
• Digital accessibility
• Social and racial justice
• Universal design for learning (UDL)
• Equity-minded teaching
• Engaging diverse learners

Supporting Student Engagement and Success: Share best practices, applications of theories, and your experiences implementing strategies to generate student success in the classroom and beyond. Presentations might include discussions of programs or methods such as:

• Leveraging life skills and fluencies 
• Engaging students or adult learners
• Adaptive and personalized learning
• Active learning and high-impact practices (HIPs)
• Digital fluency and literacies
• Classroom methods or outcomes that encourage engagement and success

Innovative Technologies and Learning Spaces: The future of learning will occur in physical and virtual environments. How are you leveraging space and/or innovative technologies to engage students in learning and discovery? Your presentation might focus on:

• Designing, evaluating, supporting, and constructing learning environments (e.g., to include new and upfitted classrooms, as well as auxiliary spaces and library initiatives)
• Initiatives and programs to train and support faculty to use these spaces  
• Educational technologies, tools and strategies to engage students in diverse learning spaces  

Open Educational Resources, Open Pedagogy & Open Access Scholarship: The Open movements (Open Educational Resources, Open Pedagogy, Open Access) are transforming teaching and learning by increasing access, promoting equity, and engagement. Presentations might include topics like:

• Open educational practices, pedagogy, and research
• Programs or initiatives that support the creation and use of OER content or OP teaching practices
• Initiatives, processes, policies, or efforts to increase access
• Affordability and cost containment
• Open access: supporting and promoting open access scholarship and publishing

Course Design: Course design underpins all delivery modes of instruction and includes facets such as quality assurance and assessment. Its principles are often associated with quality criteria that inform the design and development of instruction. Possible topics for this theme:

• Course design for any modality: online, blended/hybrid, hyflex, technology-enhanced
• Case studies on the use of course design, including those developed to address unique needs or challenges
• Case studies on the use of quality criteria (Quality Matters, OLC Scorecard, or institution developed criteria)
• Evaluation/assessment results of implementing a new modality, program, etc.
• Scaling course design and implementation

Learning Professionals as Researchers: 

Instructional designers, instructional technologies, librarians, faculty, and other learning professionals are uniquely qualified to engage in research on teaching and learning. This session is meant to encourage participants to share strategies to guide their approach to developing and implementing scholarship of teaching and learning projects. Presentations might address:

• Your process and approach for pairing research with practice
• How you cultivate and maintain collaborative research partnerships with colleagues
• Your burgeoning, ongoing, and published research in the areas of faculty development, student success, open educational resources (OER), institutional policy and strategic planning, and more!

Please contact us at learning.tech@northcarolina.edu for any questions or comments.

REGISTRATION IS CLOSED

REGISTRATION UPDATE 4/7/23
This event is at capacity and is no longer accepting registrations, including on-site registration. Thank you for your interest and we hope to see you at a future event.

Costs

We are excited to offer an early bird registration fee for the 2023 Learning and Technology Symposium! Early bird registration ensures that both groups and individuals are afforded the same opportunity for savings when registering.

Early bird registration is set at $125 per person (in a group or individual). Thereafter, only groups of 5 or more will receive the discounted registration price of $125 per person. Individual registration fee will increase to $200 per person on February 15, 2023.

Individual Registration:	*Group Registration (5 or more):
Early Bird (until Feb. 15): $125 Registration (Feb. 16- Mar. 3): $200 per personOn-Site Registration: $225	Registration: $125 per personOn-Site Registration: not available

What is included with registration? Registration covers attendance at all the conference events, continental breakfast, lunch, and a refreshment break Thursday and Friday, and a reception on Thursday. *Parking at the Dubois Center is not included in the registration. There is paid parking at the Dubois Center. Please see the list of conference hotels for parking options. 

*Group registration planning document: This document includes the information that needs to be entered for each person in a group registration. It is meant to be a helpful planning document for the point person organizing group registrations.

Refund and Cancellation Policy

Payment Policy

• Access to the conference will not be provided until full payment is received.
• Conference registration may be paid with a credit card.
• On-site Registration and Payment: On-site registration for individuals will be available.

Substitution Policy

Substitutions to a different attendee is allowed one time and conversion of a registration from are allowed one time and must be made by Thursday, March 16, 2023 (four weeks before the event). No substitutions or conversions will be allowed after this date.

• Substitutions:
  • No substitution fee is assessed.
  • The request for substitution, along with the name and email address of the previous registrant plus the substitute must be emailed to learning.tech@northcarolina.edu

Cancellation Policy

The UNC System Learning and Technology Symposium is funded by sponsorships and registration fees. State funds are not used to sustain this important event. Therefore, our refund policy is strictly applied to cover venue, food, and beverage commitments.

• 30 days or more before the event (by March 13, 2023, 5:00 pm ET): Individual or group package registration is cancelable with a refund.
  • Cancellation request must be submitted in writing to learning.tech@northcarolina.edu by this deadline. 
  • A $35 cancellation fee will be deducted from the refunded amount.
  • A group package (virtual only) cancellation will result in the cancellation of all attendees registered through that group package.

• Within 30 days of the event (after March 14, 2023): No cancellations are allowed. No refunds will be issued for cancellation or non-attendance.

Non-attendance or Change in Form of Conference

If you do not attend the program and do not submit a written request for refund or substitution request by March 13, 2023, 5:00 pm ET, no refunds will be given. The Learning and Technology Symposium is not responsible for any change/cancellation charges assessed by airlines, travel agents, hotels or other similar vendors.

The UNC System Learning and Technology Symposium Planning Committee strives to deliver this event as scheduled. However, we reserve the right to reschedule and/or restructure due to unforeseen extenuating circumstances. Should the event delivery mode need to be changed, all registrants will be automatically converted to registrations for a virtual event.

Conference Venue

The Symposium will be held at the Dubois Center at UNC Charlotte Center City, 320 E. 9th Street, Charlotte, NC 28202

Parking at the Dubois Center

Several of the conference hotels are within walking distance or a short Uber or Taxi from the Dubois Center.

There are a number of pay-to-park options within walking distance of The Dubois Center at UNC Charlotte Center City.  Seventh Street Parking Deck is a short walk through First Ward Park. Visitors can pay to park by the hour. Additional pay-to-park options can be found on the Preferred Parking website. The closest of these is 422 E 9th Street on the corner of 9th and Brevard Street.. Other nearby lots are at 8th & College, 9th & College, and 9th & Tryon. There are metered spaces on Brevard and 8th Street to pay during the day. These meters are free after 6pm weekdays and all day on weekends. 

To park at  422 E. 9th Street gravel lot, you will need to download the park mobile app, pick zone #96422, and put the space number. There is no pay station in this lot. 

Handicapped parking is available at 625 N. Brevard and requires a University/Center City parking permit in conjunction with the appropriate handicapped placard. 

• For more information about parking 

Conference Hotel

There is not a specific conference hotel. Please see this list of hotels near the Dubois Center.

Conference Hotel

The Symposium has secured a block of hotel rooms at a reduced rate at the Holiday Inn Charlotte Center City, 230 North College Street, Charlotte, NC 28202.

Use the link below to book a room at the block rate. The last day to book at the group rate is 3/13/23.

Holiday Inn Block Rate (click to book your room)

ONLINE Group Code: UNC

Arrival Date: 4/12/23

Depart Date:  4/14/23

Reservation Cutoff Date: 3/13/23

***When you click on the link you will need to input your arrival and depart dates***

Reservations can also be made by calling the Hotel Front Desk directly at (704) 335-5400 Monday-Friday 8AM-5PM or by calling 1-800-HOLIDAY.  When calling in to make reservations guests must identify themselves as members of the UNC System Learning & Technology Symposium.

If the block is full when you reserve, please contact Heather McCullough, Director, Learning and Technology, to have more rooms added and do not book a pre-paid non-refundable room.

Additional area hotels

Please see this list of additional hotels near the Dubois Center.

Interactive Program

Registered attendees can access an interactive program by downloading the conference app, Whova.

Detailed Program (click here)

General Agenda

Thursday, April 13

7:00 AM Registration/Welcome Desk Open
7:30 AM Coffee and Refreshments

8:30 AM Welcome and Symposium Overview
8:45 AM Keynote
10:00 AM Concurrent Sessions
11:00 AM Concurrent Sessions
12:00 PM Lunch
1:00 PM Vendor Sessions
2:00 PM Unconference Planning & Unconference Sessions
4:00 PM Concurrent Sessions
5:00 PM Reception

Friday, April 14

8:00 AM Registration/Welcome Desk Open
8:30 AM Coffee and Refreshments

9:00 AM Concurrent Sessions
10:00 AM Concurrent Sessions
11:00 AM Concurrent Sessions
12:00 PM Lunch
1:00 PM Poster Session
3:30 PM Awards and Wrap-Up

Todd D. Zakrajsek, Ph.D. was a tenured associate professor of psychology and built faculty development efforts at three universities before joining UNC-Chapel Hill, where he currently provides resources for faculty on various topics related to teaching/learning, leadership, and scholarly activity. Todd has served on many educationally related boards and work groups. Current and past board memberships include the Journal of Excellence in College Teaching, International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, College Teaching, and Education in the Health Professions. Todd has consulted with organizations such as The American Council on Education (ACE), Microsoft, Harvard, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Todd also founded the International Teaching Learning Cooperative (ITLC), an organization created to bring together faculty members to advance students learning in higher education. The ITLC currently hosts four interdisciplinary teaching and learning conferences in the US. Todd has delivered keynote addresses and campus workshops at over 300 conferences and university campuses. Todd’s recent books include The New Science of Learning, 3rd Ed (2022); Teaching for Learning 2nd Ed (2021 – with Claire Major and Michael Harris); Advancing Online Teaching (2021 – with Kevin Kelly); and Dynamic Lecturing (2017 – with Christine Harrington). Todd has given over 300 campus workshops and keynote addresses in 49 states and 12 countries. 

Engaging Students Online and Onsite

Drawing on the field of psychology, this session will delve into factors that stimulate students’ interest and motivation related to the learning process. These factors come into play for teaching onsite or online and may be incorporated into teaching strategies for any discipline. An anticipated outcome of this session is that participants will have new strategies (including ed tech solutions) that are easy to implement and may be used right away. 

Promote Your Session

Help us spread the word about the 2023 UNC System Learning and Technology Symposium! Add #UNCLT23 to your social media posts so that others can like and share your posts! We have provided a few examples below, but feel free to customize the bold sections with your own content! We encourage you to include one our 2023 Symposium themes:

• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) & Inclusive Teaching
• Supporting Student Engagement and Success
• Innovative Technologies and Learning Spaces
• Open Educational Resources, Open Pedagogy & Open Access Scholarship
• Course Design
• Learning Professionals as Researchers

Social Posts – Use of one (or more!) of these posts to share your involvement with the Symposium

I’m presenting at #UNCLT23 on [topic/theme]! Join me at the 2023 @UNC_System Learning and Technology Symposium in Charlotte this April! www.northcarolina.edu/UNCLT #NCHigherEd

Want to learn more about [topic/theme]? Join me at #UNCLT23! The 2023 @UNC_System Learning and Technology Symposium is being held in Charlotte, NC on April 13-14. www.northcarolina.edu/UNCLT #NCHigherEd

Together, we’re forging the future of higher education! Join the conversation April 13-14 at #UNCLT23 — the 2023 @UNC_System Learning and Technology Symposium will showcase innovative and effective teaching practices from across the #UNCSystem. www.northcarolina.edu/UNCLT

Download an event promo photo here.

Racheal Brooks, Ph.D., North Carolina Central University

Eli Collins-Brown, Ph.D., Western Carolina University

Wendy Creasy, Ph.D., East Carolina University

Sarah Falls, M.S., University of North Carolina School of the Arts

Bart Ganzert, Ed.D., Winston-Salem State University

Jules Keith-Le, M.F.A., University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Bethany Smith, M.S., North Carolina State University

The 2023 UNC System Learning and Technology Symposium Planning Committee is pleased to announce the annual UNC System Learning and Technology Conference. This year, the conference will be held on April 13-14, 2023, at the Dubois Center located on the Center City campus of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Our plan for this conference is to connect annually over 200 learning and technology professionals throughout the 16 universities and 1 high school that make up the University of North Carolina System. The UNC System has an economic impact of over $3 billion annually in goods and services expenditures, and educates over 230,000 students annually.

We would like to take this opportunity to invite you to apply to sponsor and/or exhibit at our symposium.  We know that this opportunity will provide a valuable experience for your organization!

If you are interested in participating as a sponsor for the 2023 symposium, please complete this application form. 

Included below is a chart explaining the sponsorship levels available.

If you have any questions, please email Heather McCullough at learning.tech@northcarolina.edu.  

Once again, the 2023 UNC System Learning and Technology Symposium Planning Committee would like to welcome you to this exciting symposium, and we look forward to seeing you in Charlotte!

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2023 UNC System Learning and Technology Symposium Sponsorship Levels

Platinum Level Sponsorship – $7,500

Included in the Sponsors Listing in the 2023 Symposium Program

Included on the conference website

Included on digital signage at Dubois Center during event

Table Top Exhibit one-day of conference on the main floor near the Registration Table and First Floor Lounge area

Includes registration for two sponsor employees

*These sponsorship levels are limited due to space and will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. 

Gold Level Sponsorship – $5,000

Included in the Sponsors Listing in the 2023 Symposium Program

Included on the conference website

Included on digital signage at Dubois Center during event

Table Top Exhibit one-day of conference on the atrium level near the lunch buffet 

Includes registration for two sponsor employees

*These sponsorship levels are limited due to space and will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis.

Silver Level Sponsorship – $3,000

Included in the Sponsors Listing in the 2023 Symposium Program

Included on the conference website

Included on digital signage at Dubois Center during event

Includes registration for one sponsor employees

*Does not include a physical display

Bronze Level Sponsorship – $1,500

Included in the Sponsors Listing in the 2023 Symposium Program

Included on the conference website

Included on digital signage at Dubois Center during event