IOHES Events | Office of the Provost

Back to Symposium

Code	Program Track
AEA	Accessibility, Equity & Access: Ideas and approaches that help create more inclusive, supportive learning environments.
IT	Innovation & Trends: Fresh ideas and emerging trends shaping the future of learning.
LS	Leadership & Strategy: Big-picture thinking for guiding programs, people, and progress.
OP	Online Pedagogy & Instructional Strategies: Creative strategies to engage learners in online and blended spaces.
SS	Student Success: Supporting students as they grow, persist, and achieve their goals.
TT	Technology & Tools: Tools and tips to enhance teaching, learning, and everyday workflows.

9 – 10 a.m. Welcome & Keynote

Accessibility Is a Relationship Worth Cultivating

Keynote Speaker: Kyla Williams Tate

As online and digital learning spaces expand, accessibility remains one of higher education’s most shared and most tested institutional responsibilities. Yet it has standards, checklists, and compliance frameworks that sometimes still manage to feel exclusionary despite its inclusion goals. When accessibility is treated as a requirement rather than a relationship, inclusive design and equitable participation become casualties of compliance. Grounded in research, storytelling, and poetry, this session invites everyone who learns, teaches, designs, supports, or leads to carry the Ecological Relational Access Framework into their daily practice across online and digital learning spaces.

10:15 – 11:00 a.m. Breakout 1 (Presentations, Virtual Roundtable)

Accessibility by Design: The Role of Quality Assurance

Affiliated Institution/Organization(s): University of Illinois Springfield

Session Format: Presentation

Session Track(s):

Better Together: The Power of Human-AI Collaboration in Online Higher Education

Affiliated Institution/Organization(s): University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Session Format: Presentation

Session Track(s):

Constructive Controversy: A Learner Centered Teaching Strategy

Affiliated Institution/Organization(s): University of Illinois

Session Format: Presentation

Session Track(s):

Documentation as Pedagogy: Writing Help Content That Actually Teaches

Affiliated Institution/Organization(s): Lake Land College

Session Format: Presentation

Session Track(s):

AEA

Herding Cats or Building Bridges? Unifying IT, Faculty, and Design for Digital Equity

Affiliated Institution/Organization(s): Southern Illinois University Edwardsville/Southern Illinois University Carbondale

Session Format: Presentation

Session Track(s):

AEA

You, Me, & Course Accessibility: Faculty & Staff Collaboration for Digital Accessibility

Affiliated Institution/Organization(s): University of Illinois Springfield

Session Format: Virtual Roundtables

Session Track(s):

AEA

11:00 – 11:15 a.m. Break

11:15 – 12:00 p.m. Breakout 2 (Presentations, Panel, Poster Session)

Leveraging AI to Cultivate Human Skills AI Can’t Replace

Affiliated Institution/Organization(s): University of Illinois Urbana Champaign

Session Format: Presentation

Session Track(s):

Radicalizing Learning in the Online Classroom: A Needed Revolution

Affiliated Institution/Organization(s): Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

Session Format: Presentation

Session Track(s):

Small Campus, Big Lift: Building Sustainable Digital Accessibility Infrastructure

Affiliated Institution/Organization(s): University of Illinois Springfield

Session Format: Presentation

Session Track(s):

AEA

Reimagining Digital Learning Enterprises: The Updated UPCEA Hallmarks of Excellence in Online Leadership

Affiliated Institution/Organization(s): University of Illinois Springfield and UPCEA

Session Format: Panel

Session Track(s):

Inclusive Teaching and Student Support

Three sequential poster presentations exploring digital equity, support for neurodiverse students, and strategies to reduce cognitive load.

Affiliated Institution/Organization(s): Joliet Junior College (Tutoring and Learning Center), Murray State University, Northern Illinois University

Session Format: Poster

Session Track(s):

AEA

12:00 – 12:45 p.m. Chief Online Learning Officers (COLO) Panel

A Leadership Conversation: The Future of Accessible Digital Learning

As higher education continues to evolve, leaders are reimagining how digital learning can be more inclusive, engaging, and accessible for every student. Join a panel of college online learning leaders as they share insights on advancing accessibility beyond compliance, supporting faculty in creating inclusive learning experiences, leveraging emerging technologies, and addressing the challenges and opportunities shaping the future of online education. This conversation will explore practical strategies and leadership perspectives for building equitable digital learning environments that foster student success.

Session Moderator:

Lisa Anderson, Assistant Provost for Digital Education, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Panelists:

Jennifer Albat, Associate Director of Teaching Innovation and Learning Technologies, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Emily Boles, Chief Online Learning Officer, University of Illinois Springfield
Nikki LaGrone, Director, Center for Teaching & Learning, Governors State University
Anthony Pina, Chief Online Learning Officer, Illinois State University
Jason Rhode, Vice Provost for Academic Innovation and Lifelong Learning and Chief Online Learning Officer, Northern Illinois University