Advancing a Higher Education Ecosystem for Competency Development 

THEME: Advancing Higher Education Ecosystems for Competency Development

ICED24 will address the roles and responsibilities of educational developers in advancing higher education ecosystems that serve to enable learners to build competencies for the 21st century and beyond. 

Higher education (HE) ecosystems are complex, with multiple players and spaces that influence learning and how it happens. These ecosystems center three key elements—learners, facilitators of learning, and programs—and how these elements interact in terms of institutional settings, learner engagement, academic/professional development, collegial engagement, regulators and policy makers, the community and industry as well as other external stakeholders and societal factors.

Educational developers are well positioned to influence and contribute to these HE ecosystems and promote collaboration and cooperation among different stakeholders to help learners become critical thinkers and problem solvers. This conference will explore and generate knowledge to inform ecosystems that best support learners in developing the competencies that the world needs. Together, we will explore:

a)  the elements of ecosystems that support learning for the future

b) how to design ecosystems that nurture the competencies that our graduates should exhibit, and

c) how to build capacity among ourselves to navigate and influence these ecosystems.

Through this exploration, session facilitators should address any of these questions:

●       How have HE ecosystems shifted: what are the lessons learned that we should retain and build on?

●       How should these ecosystems be shifted next?

●       What knowledge and competencies do our learners most need and how do faculty effectively support their development?

●       What knowledge and competencies do faculty and other facilitators of learning most need?

●       What learning assessments hold the most promise?

●       How best can emerging technologies be integrated to help students develop needed competencies and enhance educational outcomes?

●       How do we ensure equitable access and positive educational experiences for all learners?

●       How do we support the health and resilience of all in higher education ecosystems?

●       How do we encourage faculty and senior administrators to support and nurture the learning-focused elements of their higher education ecosystem?

●       What system-level actions or initiatives best enable agile and responsive HE ecosystems?

●       What competencies do educational developers need to engage meaningfully and successfully in current and future HE ecosystems?

The conference will provide peer learning and the sharing of research and lessons learned about successful ecosystems that nurture competency development for not only the students but also for learning facilitators and educational developers. 

Call for Conference Abstracts

The desired proposals will address the theme of creating meaningful higher education ecosystems that promote the development of key competencies required in the future of work and the roles and responsibilities of educational and academic developers in advancing these ecosystems.