- Overview
- Speakers
- Agenda
Thought Partner Program: Bridging AI, OER, and Accessibility: Designing Learning For All
This session is full, and we are no longer accepting registrations.
Where: Virtual
When:
Wednesday, June 3, 2026, 3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Wednesday, June 10, 2026, 3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Wednesday, June 17, 2026, 3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Note: Zoom login instructions will be sent the day prior. If you have not received login instructions by 4:00 pm the day before the first session, please check your spam folder. If you still have not received the login details, please email nercomp@nercomp.org.
Workshop Organizers: Lance Eaton of Northeastern University, Antonia Levy of the City University of New York, and Mounika Ragula of LeMoyne College
Registration Fee:
NERCOMP Member: Free
Non-Member: $45
Event Overview
How can AI (in particular, generative artificial intelligence), open educational resources (OER), and digital accessibility come together to create more equitable learning experiences? This three-part Thought Partner program explores how these interconnected approaches can enhance teaching, support faculty, and expand access for all learners. Through discussion, real-world examples, and shared reflection, participants will move from understanding their own practice to advancing faculty support and tackling the ethical and long-term implications of this evolving work.
Each session focuses on a theme and builds upon the last. Session themes include:
Where We Are: Exploring how AI, OER, and digital accessibility show up in our own professional roles and how the three areas connect in practice.
Moving It Forward: Strategies and approaches for helping faculty create and adapt learning materials that are open, accessible, and AI-informed.
Looking Ahead: Navigating the ethical, legal, and human dimensions of this work and sustaining our practice in the face of ongoing change and uncertainty.
Thought Partner Programs are more informal than traditional webinars or workshops, with a focus on dialogue and sharing.
Learning Outcomes
Participants will:
- Connect the dots between AI, OER, and accessibility (including Universal Design for Learning – UDL) to support inclusive, scalable learning
- Apply practical strategies to integrate AI and open resources into their day-to-day work
- Navigate ethical and equity considerations when using AI in teaching and content creation
- Build a network of peers exploring this rapidly evolving space
Note: These sessions will not be recorded. To prioritize group connection and experience, participants will have the option to turn on their cameras and microphones during the sessions.
Registration Cancellation Policy:
By clicking the "Order Now" button, you indicate a commitment to attend and will be held responsible for the registration fee. Your fee can be refunded if you notify us of a cancellation at least 1 day prior to the event via email to nercomp@nercomp.org.
Accessibility
NERCOMP strives to make its online offerings and In-person workshops accessible for all registrants. Please contact us should you have an accessibility need. We've worked to provide resources that are accessible to as many people as possible, and if you encounter any issues while attending our events, please contact us at accessibility@nercomp.org or at 860-345-2081 to request assistance.
Lance Eaton
Dr. Lance Eaton is the Senior Associate Director of AI in Teaching and Learning at Northeastern University. He has earned a Master's in American Studies (UMASS Boston), Public Administration (Suffolk University), and Instructional Design (UMASS Boston). He completed his Ph.D. in Higher Education (UMASS Boston) with a focus on academic piracy and how scholars navigate the privatization of research literature in the 21st century. His work engages with the possibility of digital tools for expanding teaching and learning communities while considering the profound issues and questions that educational technologies open up for students, faculty, and higher ed as a whole. He has engaged with scores of higher education institutions about navigating the complexities and possibilities that generative AI represents for us at this moment
Antonia Levy
Antonia Levy brings over a decade of experience leading faculty development and accessibility initiatives at CUNY School of Professional Studies, where she serves as Associate Director of Faculty Development and Instructional Technology. A proud alumna of the school’s Disability Studies program and co-creator of the OpenUDL framework — which connects Universal Design for Learning and open pedagogy — she is deeply invested in building higher education systems that work for everyone from the ground up. Originally from East Germany and trained as a sociologist, Antonia approaches the possibilities and tensions of generative AI in education through the lens of equity and access, asking not just what these tools can do, but who they serve and who they leave behind.
Mounika Ragula
Dr. Mounika Ragula serves as an Instructional Technology Designer at Le Moyne College in NY. She holds a PhD in Curriculum, Instruction, and Media Technology from Indiana State University. Dr. Ragula possesses substantial expertise in instructional design and instructional technology, particularly in the areas of online teaching, strategic integration of technological tools in teaching and course design, creation of accessible instructional content, and utilization of open educational resources. She also serves as the digital accessibility liaison to advance the accessibility of course content at the college.
Agenda
Session 1 — Wednesday, June 3 | Where We Are: Using AI, OER & Accessibility in Our Own Work
This opening session starts the practitioners in the room. How are instructional designers, accessibility specialists, and educational technology staff already drawing on AI, open educational resources, and accessibility frameworks in their day-to-day roles? What does that look like in practice, and where do the three areas actually touch?
Organizers will share brief, honest examples from their own work, and what they're experimenting with, what's working, and what's still uncertain. The bulk of the session is conversation: participants sharing their own experiences, naming what feels possible, and surfacing the questions they most want to explore together.
Session 2 — Wednesday, June 10 | Moving It Forward: How Do We Help Faculty?
Having grounded the conversation in our own practice, we turn to the people we support. How do we help faculty understand and use AI to create or adapt OER with accessibility genuinely built in and not added after the fact? This session explores practical strategies for faculty support: how to have productive conversations, what examples and models are most useful, and how to build capacity without overwhelming people. Participants will share approaches from their own institutions and think together about what's transferable.
Session 3 — Wednesday, June 17 | Looking Ahead: Ethics, Care & the Future of Learning
In our final session, we hold the bigger questions. In a moment of rapid change, how do we use AI, OER, and accessibility tools in ways that are ethical, legally sound, and genuinely kind to students, especially those most often underserved by traditional educational design? How do we stay curious about what these tools might help us imagine for the future of learning, while accepting that we'll never have complete answers? This session makes space for the ambiguity, the unresolved tensions, and the question of how we sustain this work and each other over time.