Save the Date: National Distance Learning Week Lunchtime Series

Online learning has become an established part of higher education, but its continued growth raises questions that extend well beyond enrollment. Students need flexible, high-quality learning experiences; faculty need support for effective and sustainable teaching; and institutions need strategies for quality, accessibility, emerging technologies, and student success.

Recent findings from the 2026 CHLOE Conversations report series reinforce this broader picture. Online learning leaders describe online education as increasingly central to enrollment, access, revenue, and student success, while identifying ongoing challenges related to institutional strategy, faculty and instructional design support, accessibility, and the use of data for continuous improvement. At the same time, artificial intelligence is prompting new conversations about assessment, course design, instructor presence, and what students should expect from a high-quality learning experience.

These questions make this year's 20th anniversary of National Distance Learning Week (NDLW), November 2–6, particularly timely. The 2026 theme from the U.S. Distance Learning Association, “Advancing AI, Global Education (OER), and the Sustainable Future of Distance Education,” invites institutions to consider not only where distance education is headed, but how we design and support effective learning experiences along the way.

UMBC has participated in NDLW programming for many years. This year, Instructional Technology invites the campus community to join us for two lunchtime conversations exploring these questions from complementary perspectives: how we design learning experiences for today's learners and how we imagine the future of online learning.

November 2 from 12-1 PM: UDL Learning Experiences
How do intentional design choices help students engage, participate, and succeed -- and do students recognize those choices? The Monday panel will explore how Universal Design for Learning can help instructors anticipate learner variability while creating purposeful learning experiences. Panelists will share examples, lessons learned, and ideas for helping students understand and use the choices and supports built into their courses.

🎟️ Register for Monday's session.

November 4 from 12-1 PM: Imagine the Future of Online Learning
The Wednesday session will invite panelists, faculty, and other members of the UMBC community into a broader conversation about the opportunities, challenges, and choices that may influence the next generation of online learning. We expect to explore questions such as:

• What will students need and expect from online learning?

• What makes online teaching effective and sustainable for faculty?

• What should distinguish a high-quality online learning experience?

• How might AI and emerging technologies change course design, teaching, assessment, and student support?

• Where will human connection and instructor presence matter most?

• What opportunities should UMBC be paying attention to as distance education continues to evolve?

🎟️ Register for Wednesday's session.

Together, these conversations invite us to think about online learning as more than a delivery format. Join us during National Distance Learning Week to share experiences, explore possibilities, and contribute to the conversation about what comes next for teaching and learning at UMBC. Save the dates -- November 2 and November 4 -- and bookmark this post for registration links and additional NDLW opportunities.

Other Opportunities

All sessions from the U.S. Distance Learning Association are free to attend, but require registration via USDLA as a guest.

Day 1 - Monday, November 2, 2026 (1-2:30 PM EST)

AI in Action

Dr. Robbie Melton will deliver the opening keynote, spotlighting how AI is reshaping global education, accelerating institutional transformation, and unlocking new possibilities for access, equity, and impact. With compelling insights, real-world examples, and strategic vision, Dr. Melton will challenge attendees to move from curiosity to confident implementation. 

Day 4 - Thursday, November 5, 2026 (1-2 PM EST)

Quality Assurance for Distance Education in the Age of AI

Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming teaching, learning, assessment, student support, and institutional management. As these changes accelerate, quality assurance becomes even more important to ensure that innovation is accompanied by ethics, transparency, inclusion, educational excellence, and continuous improvement. Panelists will discuss the objectives, criteria, methodologies, implementation processes, and impacts of various models, while exploring how quality frameworks can evolve to address the opportunities and challenges created by artificial intelligence.

Day 5 - Friday, November 6, 2026 (1-2 PM EST)

Advancing AI and OER through an Open Pedagogy

What happens in an online classroom when students are empowered to create, license, and publish their own OER resources? Open pedagogy, coupled with powerful new AI tools, provides an opportunity for students to rewrite traditional (costly) educational materials and counters many of the pedagogical problems caused by AI. Students build literacy with AI tools while selecting, creating, and even publishing the most relevant and up-to-date knowledge you can find. Open pedagogy upends the publishing paradigm by centering students as the creators rather than receivers of educational materials, and it provides motivation for embracing the struggle of learning – helping students be the humans in the loop in the Age of AI.