MENOMONIE – The founder of Khan Academy will be one of the keynote speakers as the University of Wisconsin-Stout hosts the 7th annual Effordability Summit at the Memorial Student Center, Monday, April 7 and Tuesday, April 8.
The event brings two Artificial Intelligence (AI) experts as keynote speakers. On Monday, Sal Khan, CEO and founder of the Khan Academy, will deliver a virtual presentation entitled, “The One-World Schoolhouse: Education Reimagined.” Tuesday’s keynote presenter is Stephen Kelly, Project Manager-NextGen Student Implementation at Minnesota State Colleges and Universities. Kelly will blend concepts from game design and how those concepts relate to using technology in education.
The two-day conference hosts a variety of keynote speakers, breakout sessions, networking events and professional development opportunities centered on affordable, accessible textbooks and learning technology. Vendors take part in the event with booths and demonstrations throughout the conference.
“It is such a learning-community based regional conference with a very unique feel that encompasses all that is so valuable about true community collaboration and learning on a personal professional development level,” said Karen Pikula, Open Education Resources (OER) Faculty Development Coordinator at Minnesota State and member of the Summit planning committee. The event is free and open for all to attend.
“This summit is a great, no cost opportunity to hear from national speakers and content experts as we all work to create affordable curricular learning opportunities for students and support their success,” said Sandra Scott, Dean of Students at UW-Stout.
In addition to the two keynote presentations, the Summit will host more than 30 breakout sessions, panel presentations, and demonstrations throughout the Student Center. “Attend as many panels and discussions as you can. You never know what you are going to learn and how it might translate to your everyday work,” said Nick Strauss, Customer Success Manager with campus partner RedShelf when asked about advice for first time attenders.
“Come with an open mind,” said Robert Butterfield, director of Instructional Resources Service at UW-Stout and Summit planning committee member since the event’s inception. “There is just so much opportunity to learn and grow in supporting quality education. You just never know what great idea you may encounter.”
Past Effordability Summit events have welcomed keynote speakers from a wide variety of professions. Last year, Haben Girma, the first deafblind student to graduate from Harvard Law School, presented a keynote address that discussed the importance of providing access to education for all students. In 2023, David Wiley, CEO of Lumen Learning, opened the event and attended breakout sessions and discussions throughout the day. That same year, author and educator Bryan Alexander presented a topic on the future of education, and later offered a discussion on his most recent book, “Academia Next: The Futures of Higher Education.”
This blend of education with technology has long been a focus of the Summit, as it impacts teaching and learning at all levels. Sue Traxler, CIO and Assistant Chancellor for Learning and Information Technology, has observed this trend, and comments on the networking connections made at the conference. “My favorite (keynote presentation) has been Bryan Alexander,” Traxler said. “I especially enjoyed having both the large session and the smaller breakout session with him.”
For the second consecutive year, the Summit is sponsored in part by the Tommy G. Thompson Center on Public Leadership with a grant award that allows organizers to keep the event free and accessible to all.
When asked about the target audience and who might benefit from attending, Cory Mitchell, Collection Development Librarian at UW-Stout said, “Nearly anybody in K-12 and higher education, like technologists, IT, instructional designers, librarians, administrators, faculty, staff, and students. But also, people outside higher education like teachers, public librarians, business and industry, vendors that work with education and also people from the Menomonie community.”
Registration for the event is live and can be submitted by going to the Effordability Summit website at https://www.uwstout.edu/effordability. You can also view past keynote presentations, and nominate someone in the education field for this year’s awards.
More information is available by emailing [email protected]. The full schedule of events will be available in the Cvent app prior to the conference and will also be available on the Effordability Summit website.
Amber Olson is the digital resource specialist for UW-Stout Instructional Resource Services
