Discovery Series Presents:

Topic: Ideas, Approaches, and Strategies for DEI in the Learning, Design, and Technology Curriculum
Speaker: Dr. Curt Bonk, Professor of Instructional Systems Technology at Indiana University Bloomington, College of Education

Abstract: : Addressing issues of learner diversity, equity, and inclusion are front and center in higher education and across every educational sector today. One of the disciplines that is attracting a highly diverse audience today is the field of learning, design, and technology (LDT) as learners today come from nearly every discipline. Poll any online LDT class and you will find that the learners come from not just the field of education, but from radiology, speech pathology, nursing, operations management, communications, agriculture, fashion design, language education, and dozens more disciplines. With online and blended learning technologies, such learners can attend from nearly anywhere within the inhabitable parts of the planet. Of course, their experiences, backgrounds, expectations, and needs are widely diverse as well. And when they finish their degrees or certificates, many of them will be designing and refining instruction for future leaders and innovators around the globe with widely disparate internet access, equipment, and financial resources. In this session, Curt Bonk will discuss ways he has successfully fostered a learning community in diverse LDT classes rich in interaction, engagement, and inclusion of all voices. Drawing on an abundance of open educational resources and knowledge of OER practices, he utilizes instructional techniques rich in choice, flexibility, autonomy, and multiple forms of representation. By the end of this session, there will be dozens of methods that you can use to motivate and engage the diverse learners of this world.

Bio: Dr. Curtis J. Bonk is a professor at Indiana University Bloomington who specializes in research on nontraditional and informal learning at the intersection of psychology, technology, education, and business. Self-described as part accountant, part educational psychologist, part digital learning technologist, part global educator, part writer, part inspirational speaker, part creative pedagogist, part maverick, and part entrepreneur.