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Completion Conference 24

Join us in-person for the Fifth Annual OCCDLA Distance Learning Completion Conference, on Friday, April 12, at Linn-Benton Community College in Albany, Oregon in the Calapooia Center (2nd Floor). This conference will also be online via Zoom. The theme this year is “Cultivating Community: Designing from Disruption/Building Resiliency.” This is a free conference and is sponsored by the Higher Education Coordinating Commission and OCCDLA.

Keynote Speaker

We are excited to welcome Rodrigo Gomez, Full Professor of English at San Diego Miramar College who will deliver our keynote address, “Embracing Change, Empowering Minds: The Role of Generative AI in Shaping Resilient Education.”

Rodrigo Gomez has been teaching transfer-level composition and literature courses since 2016. Professor Gomez has a passion for rhetoric, pedagogy, and poetry.

Rodrigo Gomez.

He maintains a keen interest in gamification, edtech, and web3 technologies, like artificial intelligence (AI), particularly in how they can make education more engaging, relevant, and impactful for students.

Embracing the forefront of educational innovation, Professor Gomez pioneered the integration of AI tools like ChatGPT into his teaching practices since their public launch. He has devoted significant time to mastering this emerging AI literacy and actively contributing to the critical conversation around it, highlighted by his five-part series “Writing in the Age of AI” presented in Fall 2023. His efforts also include presenting to hundreds of educators on best practices for integrating AI into the classroom. These initiatives underscore Professor Gomez’s dedication to not only utilizing AI in educational settings but also shaping the discourse on how these technologies can be effectively and responsibly integrated into traditional teaching methodologies.

In addition to his work with AI, Professor Gomez is also an innovator in the metaverse, leading the development of Miramar College’s first professional development program in this novel virtual space. His creation of the immersive “Syllaverse” provides a model for the educational potential of new platforms, underscoring his dedication to the future of teaching and learning.

Schedule at a Glance

All faculty and staff at Oregon community colleges involved with online learning are encouraged to attend, and registration is free. A stipend is available for part-time faculty who attend.

	On Site Agena	Virtual Agenda
8:30	Continental breakfast	Breakfast as you like
9:00	Welcome & Icebreaker - - Conference history
9:15	Virtual Keynote - Rodrigo Gomez
10:30	Break	Break
10:45	Roundtable discussions - 2 rounds of 25 mins	Roundtable discussions - 2 rounds of 25 mins
11:45	Lunch	Open link for virtual lunch groups
12:30	4 Concurrent sessions - 50 minutes	4 Concurrent sessions - 50 minutes
1:20	Break	Break
1:30	Student Panel	Student Panel
2:30	Adjourn	Adjourn

Register

Stipends are available for part-time faculty:

$250 for those attending in-person
$150 for those attending online

Present at the Conference

Share your insights and methods for building resilience for your students or yourself with colleagues from across the state. Presentations can focus on course design, communication strategies, feedback strategies, and social learning approaches.

We are seeking presenters for the following formats:

50 minute in-person presentations
50 minute virtual/remote presentations
In-person and online facilitators for roundtable discussions

Submit your session proposal