Seventh Annual Conference on Teaching and Learning
University of Windsor, Windsor, ON
May 1-2, 2013

The Ontario Minister of Training, Colleges, and Universities recently said that higher education is in a period of “revolution, not evolution." “Innovate or die” was a recurring theme at a day-long summit co-sponsored by the Carnegie Corporation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on the Future of Higher Education. How do we ensure that innovation and revolution benefit student learning, retention, and success? What are the pitfalls and the promises? Post-secondary teaching and learning is poised for radical transformation, inspired or perhaps impelled by budget challenges, student demands, changes in technology, global competition, "super-courses" such as massive open online courses (MOOCs), distributed learning, mounting costs, poor student retention rates, open access and copyright issues, and the escalating requirements of labour-market needs and government accountability. At On the Verge, we will explore the forces disrupting and driving change in the post-secondary sector, and the pedagogies, delivery methods, and curriculum models, which might give meaning to a world in which information is increasingly abundant and accessible.

The seventh annual University of Windsor-Oakland University Teaching and Learning Conference will take place in Windsor, Ontario, on May 1 and 2, 2013. The Provosts' Forum on the Future of University Teaching will open the conference on May 1. This inaugural event, jointly sponsored by the University of Windsor and Oakland University provosts, offers academics, administrators, deans, faculty, students, and private sector professionals an opportunity to explore new directions for post-secondary education. Through active learning, debate, collaboration, and social media, stakeholders will grapple with scenarios, both radical and conservative, about the future of teaching and learning. The Dr. Wilbert J. McKeachie International Poster Competition will close the Provosts’ Forum. The second day of the conference, May 2, will feature peer-reviewed concurrent sessions.

Among the threads which will be explored on both days are:

• the future of how: modes, media, and meaning in an era of ubiquitous information
• the future of why: factors determining new directions and the interests that our institutions serve
• the future of where: creating space for learning -- on campus, in the work place, at home
• the future of who: learners, traditional and non-traditional; communities; networks; markets, education systems, and the role of government
• the future of when: teaching at the speed of change; new patterns and pathways to credentialing and re-schooling.