Event Registration - United States Distance Learning Association

Presenter: Darren Denham, CPACC, Assistant Director of Digital Accessibility and Tracy Fairless, Director of the Learning Design Team, University of Central Oklahoma

From 1 to Many: How UCO Grew its Digital Accessibility Exponentially 

• Development of a three-tiered digital accessibility micro-credential to equip staff and faculty with foundational knowledge, individualized planning, and direct application skills.
• Growth of a cross-functional Digital Accessibility Coalition empowered to create, remediate, and influence accessible and inclusive digital resources for the university.

Presenter: Dr. Frederick T. Wehrle, Founder, EDUO Studio

Online Courses That Generate Personalized Content For Each Student

Emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Quantum Computing and Fusion Energy, are fundamentally transforming every profession at an accelerated pace. For the foreseeable future, Online Courses will require ongoing, substantial redesigns to remain up-to-date and relevant. This concerns every aspect of a course, from reformulating Learning Objectives to re-imagining how to assess students, to redesigning the content to fit into 1/3 of the original course duration, etc. Current processes and methods cannot accommodate these needs at scale, forcing institutions to consider phasing out large parts of the online portfolio. In this presentation, I will share early experiments with Google Opal, Vids and Learn About to demonstrate a basic framework for the development of Online Courses that simplifies the process of maintaining them up-to-date. The framework relies on Subject Matter Experts and Instructional Designers to provide the required oversight and process management, and uses Generative AI tools to dynamically generate most of the content, allowing for full personalization for each individual student.

Dr. Frederick T. Wehrle is an academic innovator dedicated to making learning 3x more efficient. In his roles as Assistant Dean for Academic Innovation and Learning at UCLA and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at UC Berkeley, he led the design and re-design of programs and the development of organizational structures to support ongoing innovation across all departments. His work is grounded in recent neuroscientific research on learning pathways, which allowed him to develop novel, outcome-based program designs using in-context pedagogy. Dr. Wehrle holds a PhD in Management Sciences from the University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne, and a MSc in Biology with a focus on behavioral ecology and neurobiology. Throughout his career, Dr. Wehrle has designed and implemented pioneering learning and curriculum models, including the "Global Study Pathways" for international partnerships. Beyond his senior leadership experience at the University of California, he led internationalization and accreditation efforts for business schools in France, where he also served as Associate Professor.

2026 USDLA National Conference and Award Ceremony

Dates: June 22nd – 25th

The host location will be Cleveland Marriott Downtown at Key Tower

The conference promises something for everyone:

• Multiple Keynotes from Industry Leaders
• Monday Afternoon Pre-Conference Sessions
• Monday Evening Conference Kickoff Party
• 50+ Concurrent Sessions
• International Awards Luncheon Celebration
• Bill Jackson Memorial Walk/Run
• Night on the Town with Colleagues
• Public Policy Forum
• State Chapters Meeting
• Virtual Option for Select Sessions
• Optional Rock & Roll Fame Event (If Available)

Our USDLA National Conference has long been an event where we mingle, discuss technology and learn from an audience broader than our own. Nothing can replace those live in-person interactions and conference feedback has always focused on those personal relationships made with one another.

For our 39th anniversary will be focusing on tracks that are in high demand as we continue to navigate both remote and in-person learning strategies. These tracks include:

• Backstage Pass to Policy: Navigating Governance and Regulation in Distance Education
• The Headliners: Distance and Digital Leadership on the Higher Education Main stage
• Open Mic, Open Minds: Ensuring Quality, Flexibility, and Access in Online Learning
• The Digital AI Groove: Exploring Innovative Techniques and Technologies Education
• The ID Set List: Curating Best Practices in Instructional Design
• Amplify Every Voice: Ensuring Accessibility and Inclusivity in Online Education
• The K-12 Playground: Curating Best Practices in the K-12 Space