The USDLA Awards Committee is pleased to announce the six award categories for the 2026 USDLA annual awards. These award categories have been designed to provide an opportunity for a wide range of activities and individuals to participate in this years’ nominations. Each award category is listed below with a brief description of the award and a link to the criterion rubric. 1. Dr. Janet McMahill Rising Star Award The Rising Star Award is presented to an individual demonstrating exceptional promise in the field of distance education. “Distance Education” includes online, hybrid, asynchronous/synchronous modalities, and related digital learning environments. No more than 5 years of post-qualification experience relevant to distance education. Part-time or consultancy work counts toward experience if the work is in the field. 2. USDLA Collaboration & Impact Award This award recognizes programs that foster global learning through cross-border or cross-sector collaboration. Honorees promote inclusive, technology-enabled education that connects learners, institutions, and communities across cultures and geographies. Open to individuals, teams, institutions, or organizations worldwide. Projects must have been active within the last 12 months. Eligible initiatives may include:
3. USDLA Innovative Leadership Award This award recognizes instructors and talent developers who create a sense of belonging and connection in their virtual classrooms. This award is for those who build strong student-to-student and student-to-instructor relationships through activities like group projects, peer feedback, or virtual social events. 4. USDLA Distance Learning Compass Award (select from the following subcategories)
4a. Mental Health & Wellness - Creative approaches to online counseling, stress management tools, and digital wellness initiatives that promote emotional resilience and psychological safety for higher education students or preschool through 12th-grade schools taking classes online. Example: AI-powered chat counseling, mindfulness apps, virtual therapy groups. 4b. Community-Building & Belonging - Programs that cultivate meaningful peer connections through virtual clubs, interest-based groups, and inclusive social platforms across an online degree program or institutionally based or within a class for higher education or within an online school, grade level, or class for preschool through 12th grade schools. Example: Online cultural festivals, student-led forums, gamified networking 4c. Mentorship & Personal Growth - Scalable mentorship models that empower students through guidance, skill-building, and career exploration. Example: Peer-to-peer matching platforms, global mentor databases 4d. Post-Graduation Success - Support systems that bridge the gap between education and employment, including job placement services, alumni networks, and career coaching for online higher education programs or institutional programs and online high schools. Example: Virtual job fairs, resume labs, employer partnerships 4e. Student Advocacy & Digital Citizenship - Initiatives that amplify student voices, promote digital rights, advocate for healthy screen habits and intentional technology use, foster online spaces where students feel safe, heard, and connected, and encourage responsible online engagement. Example: Student-led digital policy campaigns, online safety education
5. USDLA Excellence in Professional Development Award (select from the following subcategories)
5a. Microcredentialing - Celebrating programs that offer focused, stackable credentials designed to provide learners with targeted skills for professional advancement or personal enrichment. These initiatives enable learners to quickly gain specialized knowledge and demonstrate proficiency in emerging fields, making education agile and relevant. 5b. Continuing Education Programs - Honoring continuing education programs that provide ongoing opportunities for learners seeking to maintain, update, or broaden their knowledge and skills. These courses are tailored for professionals and lifelong learners who wish to stay at the forefront of their fields and adapt to changing industry standards. 5c. Talent Development Programs - Recognizing innovative distance learning initiatives that cultivate workforce talent, promote career progression, and bridge skills gaps. These programs are designed to support organizations and individuals in fostering growth, adaptability, and leadership— empowering learners to thrive in complex, dynamic environments.
6. USDLA Trendsetter Innovation Award (select from the following subcategories)
6a. Artificial Intelligence (AI) - This award recognizes outstanding contributions by faculty, instructional designers, schools, organizations, or individuals in the ethical and innovative application of artificial intelligence to online teaching and learning. Award recipients leverage AI to create engaging, innovative, and personalized experiences that improve learning outcomes by extending the possibilities of digital pedagogy. Emphasis is placed on principled and responsible implementation to ensure that AI is used to enhance and enrich—not replace—the human aspects of education. 6b. Multimodality - This award recognizes faculty, instructional designers, schools, or organizations, and individuals who design and implement learning environments that skillfully integrate multiple modes of instruction, including video, audio, interactive technologies, virtual augmented and/or extended reality (AR, VR, XR), and emerging media. Award recipients demonstrate a capacity to engage diverse learners by creatively and thoughtfully curating modalities that deepen understanding, foster active participation, and expand the reach of online education. 6c. Accessibility and Inclusion - This award recognizes agencies, corporations, institutions, programs, organizations, or schools that demonstrate an unwavering commitment to accessible, equitable, and inclusive digital learning environments for learners with disabilities and/or exceptionalities and learners from underrepresented populations. Recipients set a standard for accessible and adaptive technologies for diverse learners through cultural and equitable learning experiences that include responsive pedagogical practices to ensure all learners—regardless of ability, background, or circumstance—have multiple and responsive opportunities for success. Their work reflects the belief that true innovation in education must be accessible, equitable, and inclusive.
The cost to submit a nomination will be $100.00 for USDLA members and $200.00 for non-members. The award submission fee for non-members includes a single USDLA Member-Individual membership for one year. This membership will be valid for one year from the date of submission.
The USDLA 2026 Awards will be presented to the award winners at the 2026 National Conference, June 2026.
NOTE – please do not submit a nomination for the same project/person that won an award in the previous three years. Nominations that are the same as previous winners will be rejected.
