educause 2018

10 innovative things on our radar at EDUCAUSE 2018


At the annual EDUCAUSE conference, attendees will be surrounded by innovative thought leadership and IT trends

It’s that time again–next week, we’re heading to the EDUCAUSE Annual Conference in Denver.

The EDUCAUSE Annual Conference calls together the best thinking in higher education IT to become even better at what they do and to spark new conversations and ideas.

We’re eager to take advantage of the innovative sessions, presentations, and minds that will surround us at the conference.

EDUCAUSE has made it easy to initiate or continue meaningful conversations through braindates, which are one-on-one or small group conversations that attendees book with other event participants about a specific topic. Learn more here.

In addition to special workshops and events, the breakout session content has been categorized into the various programmatic tracks:

  • Creating a Culture of Data-Informed Decision-Making
  • Evolving Infrastructure and Enterprise IT
  • Exploring Innovation in Teaching and Learning
  • Leading and Partnering Across the Institution
  • Managing and Reducing Information Technology Risk
  • Transforming the Student Experience

Here are some of the things we’re most looking forward to:

1. During her general session, Michele Norris, former NPR host and special correspondent, and founding director of The Race Card Project, will discuss The Race Card Project and how six-word snapshots paint a vivid picture of America’s attitudes and experiences about race during a fascinating moment in American history. “Eavesdropping on America’s Conversation on Race” takes place on Oct. 31 at 8 a.m. in the Bellco Theater.

2. Tech Forward: Enabling Bold Innovations That Connect Education and Work: As institutions look into ways to serve learners over a lifetime, how might technology enable this? Postsecondary education, workforce development, and adult learning are converging to meet a need for unconventional, cross-sector collaborations focused on hiring, training, and upskilling. This session will explore promising innovations that bridge education and work.

3. Digital Transformation in Higher Ed: What It Means for You: We are at the start of a digital transformation (DX) in higher education that brings with it unprecedented impact on our culture, workforce, and use of technology. DX also brings great potential. This session will unveil EDUCAUSE Digital Transformation Task Force recommendations for how to embrace DX and address DX challenges.

4. The Future of Higher Education: Our Response to Disruption: Higher education is experiencing transformational forces from many directions. The digital transformation is impacting user expectations, skills, risks, and opportunities. Financial challenges are impacting students and institutions. The workforce needs for education are shifting toward lifelong learners. Institutions will need to respond in many different areas. Learn about the challenges and trends and the responses that higher ed institutions need to take to remain relevant in these shifting times.

5. Advice for Women Aspiring to Leadership Roles in IT: This session will feature discussion with women CIOs on their perspectives regarding effective approaches to managing conscious and unconscious gender bias and other professional leadership development topics for women who seek IT leadership roles.

6. #EDU2030: Higher Education Reimagined: The Department of Education’s Office of Educational Technology challenged innovators to share their visions for the future of higher education. The 10 winners, including two selected through public choice, were announced in October. This session reflects on ideas that were proposed and how traditional higher education actors, new technology providers, and the general public view the transformation that is needed in higher education.

7. Blockchains and Credentialing: Educational Use Cases and Technologies of Trust: Blockchains have emerged with the potential to transform business, education, and governments. From incentivizing community participation via monetary rewards to providing trust-enabling autonomy and agency to mobile learners, what are the educational use cases that blockchains support? Is it hype or substance? Learn what the ASU and Salesforce partnership has found.

8. What Do We Owe Students When We Collect Their Data? In this session, presenters will engage in a thoughtful exploration of the new responsibilities leaders take on as the collection and use of student data have become a key part of practice. They will explore the ethical issues in the use of big data that are often overlooked as they respond to excitement over the possibilities.

9. Creating Skills Transparency for Employers Through Digital Credentials: Formal records of knowledge have traditionally been limited to schools, governments, and professional certifiers. Today, employers and employees seek to validate skills gained on the job with precise, data-rich credentials. Learn how Lumina Foundation, ACE, and Credly are partnering to empower employees with usable, competency-based records.

10. Closing out the show is Serena Williams’ husband, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, who will share lessons he’s learned from co-founding Reddit, along with best practices for design and community that he imparts to the startups he advises and invests in. “Make Something People Love” kicks off at 10:15 a.m. on Nov. 2 in the Bellco Theater.

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Laura Ascione

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