Day 1 agenda
Thursday 10 July
Please note: Sessions and break timings are subject to change
8:30 AM - Registration and refreshments
Delegate registration desk open from 8.30 AM. Coffee and pastries will be available in Cloth Hall Court.
9:00 AM - Welcome and opening statement
Margaret Korosec, Director of Online Education, will welcome delegates to the first day of the Online Learning Summit.
Masud Khokar, Chief Digital and Information Officer, will provide an opening statement.
9:15 AM - Plenary: State of the Online Education Landscape - a US/UK comparison
State of the sector address with US and UK perspective. This session will explore emergent trends in scaling and sustaining online education and highlighting measures of success in online education. What is scale and why so much focus on it? Why is scale held with a small number of institutions? Can every institution reach scale and is that a measure of success? What can we learn from other metrics, such as retention, completion and student success? Morgan will kick off this session with the state of US online education, followed by Neil covering the state of online education in the UK. Phil will comment on the two perspectives and then facilitate the discussion with audience questions.
Chair: Margaret Korosec
Speakers: Neil Mosley, Glenda Morgan, Phil Hill
10:00 - 10:45 AM - Future-ready platforms that help shape the next generation of learning experience
This panel features academic innovation leaders from four major Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) and Learning Management System (LMS) providers. Together, we'll examine how these platforms are evolving to meet the needs of future learners, the role of generative AI in enhancing the student experience, and how providers are aligning their strategies with the goals of the institutions they serve.
Chair: Phil Hill
Panel: Cristi Ford (D2L), Melissa Loble (Instructure), Nicolaas Matthijs (Anthology), Scott Anderberg (Moodle)
10:45 AM - Break
Please note that break timings are subject to change.
11:15 AM - Perspective: Exploring institutional models that enable scalable online education
As online education becomes core to institutional strategy, universities face a critical choice: build internal capacity or partner with external providers. This panel explores case studies and perspectives from institutions that have engaged Online Program Managers (OPMs) or invested in in-house digital capabilities (and a bit of in-between!). Panelists will examine the strategic, operational, and academic implications of each path, the evolving value proposition of OPMs in a shifting market. Join this candid discussion on navigating the choices institutions have and rethinking the business model of online learning in higher education.
Chair: Neil Mosley
Panel: Amy Sampson (Greenwich), Damian Ward (Hertfordshire), Anna Wood (UAL)
12:00 PM - Lunch
Lunch will be served in the ground floor of Cloth Hall Court until 1:00 PM.
1:00 PM - Keynote: Professor Martin Bean CВЕ
We're delighted to welcome Professor Martin Bean CBE from The Bean Centre as our keynote speaker. Drawing on extensive experience leading higher education institutions, Professor Martin Bean will guide us through the critical skills gap in society at this time and what higher education institutions can urgently do to survive and thrive. He’ll offer suggestions for the agile leadership needed in times of turbulence. This session will conclude with a Q&A opportunity.
Chair: Margaret Korosec
1:45 PM - Provocation: Learning Engineering as Engine of Change
We'll be talking all things Learning Engineering with the expertise of Jim Goodell, diving into what learning engineering is and how it complements approaches to learning design. This interactive session will start off with Jim sharing the principles of Learning Engineering, followed by a radical scenario where the audience can apply learning engineering principles to help address the challenge. This will be synthesised with a panel bringing different perspectives to the challenge and approaches to resolve.
Chair: Matt Cornock
Presentation: Jim Goodell
Panel: Maria Soledad Ramirez-Montoya, Julie Lindsey
2:45 PM - Break
Please note that break timings are subject to change.
3:10 PM - Future-Proofing Higher Ed: Flexibility, AI, and the Lifelong Learning Imperative [Event partner presentation]
With shifting student needs and new career demands, the future belongs to institutions that adapt. This short session outlines how embracing hybrid models, microcredentials, and responsible AI can help universities stay competitive and inclusive in a lifelong learning landscape.
Chair: Margaret Korosec
Presenter: Siân Wilson (Instructure)
3:20 PM - The Art of Partnership: Accountability, Communication, and Complexity
What makes a 'good' university partner? In this panel discussion, we'll explore the elements of governance and communication that can enable successful partnerships.
Chair: Margaret Korosec
Panel: Rajay Naik, Gideon Shimson, Roger Larson, Farzana Latif
4:00 PM - Lingua Connect: Al and Collaborative Language Learning for SDGs and Knowledge Equity
Lingua Connect is an innovative inter-institutional initiative connecting students from Brazil, Mexico, and the UK through collaborative online language learning. Its team of educators will explore practical ways to apply interculturality, sustainability, and knowledge equity principles within an online international digital scenario. The panel will also reflect on how they are actively shaping Generative AI tools in the project to ensure the reliability of content and learner-centred interactions.
Chair: Antonio Martinez-Arboleda
Panel: David Glasserman Morales, Luciana Silva, Sofia Martinho, Maria Soledad Ramirez-Montoya, Ronaldo Gomes Jr.
4:45 PM - End of day one
Reflections from day one with a chance to review live-scribed session summaries from Buttercrumble.
5:00 PM - OLS2025 Drinks reception
At the end of day one, delegates and speakers are invited to join an optional drinks reception on the ground floor of Cloth Hall Court. The drinks reception will conclude at 6:00 PM.