Call for Proposals

We are currently accepting proposals for presentations that confront significant challenges in access, method, and meaning within learning design and educational technology. Rather than focusing on specific technologies, we invite proposals that address complex, interconnected problems in research, design, ethics, and policy, i.e., problems that require collaborative, problem-centered approaches and demand meaningful commitment to change that reaches across our usual interests.

The OTESSA-US Research and Design Symposium will be held in Santa Fe, NM, at the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture (May 29-30). Attendees can explore Santa Fe’s cultural and outdoor offerings, with time included in the agenda for exploration. Sessions will be delivered in person. For anyone preferring to present online, please see the call for proposals for the online site.

• Associated Publication: Participants will have the opportunity to submit developed manuscripts to aligned publication venues, including the OTESSA Journal, Journal of Applied Instructional Design, or Journal of Computing in Higher Education. All submissions will be subject to each journal’s standard scope and peer review processes.
• Further Details: We have compiled a FAQ to provide further details.

Deadlines

This year, OTESSA-US will take place in Santa Fe, NM May 29-30. The following dates apply to this call. Submission details will be provided via email.

• Proposals due (submit OTESSA Session Proposal form through OTESSA submission site) – March 9, 2026
• Notifications of acceptance – April 6, 2026
• 2,500-word drafts due (submit via Google Forms)- May 11, 2026
• On-site meeting dates – May 29-30, 2026
• Final paper submission (submit through JCHE site) – Sept. 30
  • Submission details will be provided via email.

Symposium Theme: Confronting Access, Method, and Meaning in Learning

Building on our inaugural grand challenges initiative, we invite proposals that actively confront (not merely rethink) the persistent challenges facing our field. We seek work that demonstrates commitment to meaningful change through collaborative effort and rigorous inquiry across contexts including K-12, higher education, workplace learning, and adult education. For additional context on this approach, we encourage you to review the Journal of Computing in Higher Education special issue on “The Research We Need” (Volume 37, Issue 2), which explores critical questions about the direction and priorities of research in our field.

Associated Strands

This year’s theme focuses on five interconnected strands that address fundamental questions about how we design, study, and practice in the field of instructional design and educational technology:

1. Access & Design

How do design and co-design choices shape who participates in learning? We invite proposals that move beyond compliance-based approaches to accessibility and instead examine participatory, justice-oriented approaches to learning design. This strand welcomes work on:

• Participatory and co-design approaches that center marginalized voices
• Justice-oriented design frameworks
• Accessibility as a fundamental design principle rather than an afterthought
• How power dynamics shape access to learning opportunities
• Inclusive design across diverse learner populations and contexts

2. Methods

How do we strategically identify and choose design AND research methods in learning design? What counts as valid inquiry in our field? This strand invites critical examination of our methodological choices and encourages proposals that:

• Challenge or expand what counts as rigorous research in IDT
• Address the strategic selection of research and design methods
• Confront the paradoxes of methodological eclecticism
• Document and theorize design knowledge and precedent
• Bridge traditional research with practice-based inquiry
• Explore methods that capture complexity in learning environments

3.Ethics & Power

Who defines learning problems? Who determines outcomes? Where are accountability, care, and equity in LIDT practice (and why is the answer so often “they’re not”?). This strand invites critical examination of values and power in our work:

• Ethics and power in instructional design practice
• Who gets to define learning problems and desired outcomes
• The role of accountability, care, and equity in LIDT
• Challenging the absence of ethical frameworks in everyday practice
• Justice-oriented approaches to defining and solving learning problems

4. Technology & Human Factors

How do emerging technologies (particularly artificial intelligence) mediate meaning, learning, identity, experience, and self-awareness? Why does our pedagogy not only lag behind technological change but often accept new technologies uncritically? This strand calls for leadership in confronting the field’s long-standing tendency toward technological boosterism and its lack of critical design approaches. We invite contributions that interrogate and reimagine the relationship between technology, pedagogy, and human experience, including:

• How AI and emerging technologies shape learning, identity, and human experience
• Critical examination of why pedagogy lags behind technological change
• The field’s responsibility to counter boosterism and move toward critical, justice-oriented design
• Rethinking human factors in an age of pervasive AI and automation
• Developing critical design practices that resist default adoption narratives

5. The Research We Need: Additional Challenges

We welcome proposals that address additional significant challenges in learning design, (provided they clearly align with the conference’s focus on shared, problem-centered work). More specifically, these proposals should reflect challenges and issues that require collective action within the field, as well as demonstrate a clear connection to the broader conversations in this CFP rather than operate independently of them.

Characteristics of Successful Proposals

A successful proposal will incorporate the following:

• Adhere to submission requirements: title, preferred session format, session type (research, practice, or policy), conference theme, mode of delivery (online or on site), selected review type, and a concise 150 to 200 word abstract entered directly into the OTESSA Session Proposal form.
• Problem framing: What is the problem and how are you framing it?
• Clear need or gap: Why does this problem matter and what gap exists?
• Your contribution: How does your research or practice contribute to addressing this problem?
• Collaborative potential: How might your work connect with others tackling similar challenges?
• Broader frameworks: Consider how your work maps to international or global frameworks, such as UNESCO’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

We are particularly interested in proposals that demonstrate a commitment to moving beyond isolated efforts toward collaborative, cross-contextual work that can drive meaningful change in the field.

Author Commitments

By submitting to the OTESSA Research and Design Symposium, you are agreeing to:

1. Follow symposium presentation and discussion guidelines
2. Submit a 2,500-word draft by the deadline (late submissions may result in rescinded acceptance)
3. Read and review ~10 draft papers (~2,500 words each) from other presenters (available approximately two weeks before the symposium)
4. Fully attend and actively participate in the symposium
5. Revise drafts, review others’ work, and submit the final draft by the deadline
6. Participate in the peer review process of the JCHE special issue
7. Review proofs for publication

We will be hosting the in-person portion of OTESSA-US Research and Design Symposium in Santa Fe, NM at the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture (MIAC). MIAC is within walking distance of other museums, art galleries, hotels and dining. Upon acceptance of your proposal, we encourage you to locate a hotel that appeals to your interests and budget. Santa Fe is home to many artists, museums, southwest dining, and great hiking and other outdoor activities. We plan to leave room in the agenda for you to enjoy Santa Fe either on your own or as part of semi-structured group excursions.

If travel is not an option, we certainly understand! OTESSA is happy to support our colleagues who, for whatever reason, cannot join us in person. Please check the OTESSA site for dates for virtual presentations and select virtual as your preferred modality when you submit your proposal. Please note that the virtual option does not include the World Cafe format (where you prepare a paper, etc.). If you prefer virtual participation, please consult the presentation options for that venue in the main conference call.

OTESSA-US Collaboration with PIDT and Plans Ahead

OTESSA-US + PIDT

This year, we are piloting the combination of PIDT (Professors of Instructional Design Technology) with OTESSA-US! PIDT will be hosted by UNM in Santa Fe, NM May 26-28. Folks are welcome to register for both events – there is a discounted rate for joint registration of events. 

This year’s PIDT will start on the evening of May 26 and include some anchoring sessions on Grand Challenges and an Editor’s Summit. Per usual, during the May 26 evening meeting, we will further discuss additional interests and topics that participants wish to discuss and create an agenda based on participants.

More information on PIDT will be posted soon. The same venue will be used for both. As with OTESSA, your lodging will be independent from registration.

The Road Ahead for OTESSA-US

This symposium is part of an ongoing initiative to build collaborative research and practice communities around significant challenges in our field. We encourage participants to view this not just as yet another conference but as an opportunity to form lasting networks for collaboration and cross-pollination of ideas. Our goal is to foster coordinated efforts that can inform research funding priorities, guide practice, and ultimately make a meaningful difference in addressing the complex problems facing education and learning design. We look forward to your proposals and to continuing this important work together.

We will also be rotating OTESSA-US across venues, alongside PIDT, in future years. For 2027 and beyond, we plan to rotate between Provo, Utah, Athens, Georgia, and Santa Fe, NM.

Catering Preferences

You will receive an email with a link to an online form to indicate dietary needs and entrée choices. Please submit by the deadline specified in the email so vendors can finalize counts.