Homecoming (Homestaying): A Return to Learning through Innovation

2021 AECT International Convention
Chicago, Illinois
November 2 - November 6 2021

Concurrent Sessions, Posters, Panels & Roundtable: November 2 - November 6
Workshop Sessions: November 2, November 3, & November 7

AECT International Convention to be held in Chicago, Illnois from November 2-6, 2021. The AECT International Convention brings together AECT members and affiliated educational researchers and practitioners interested in learning design, performance improvement, and technologies. The goal is to:

• engage in social discourse and academic exchanges
• showcase evidence-based practices
• share their research findings,
• and advanced design, development, integration of emerging technologies

All with the purpose to enrich individuals’ learning experiences and promote our members’ professional development. This year, we celebrate an opportunity to reunite after the COVID pandemic and explore innovation in a time where what we know of learning and performance was tested.

The theme for the 2021 AECT convention is Homecoming Homestaying: A return to learning through innovation. These traditions of hospitality take on renewed meaning in the wake of recent global events and provide a foundation of fellowship and tribute as we recognize the innovations driving solutions and change. We focus on a definition of innovation that emphasizes novelty and contributes to positive change in learning and celebrate this theme in the cradle of innovation.

We celebrate this culture of innovation by creating a homecoming nexus, bringing together scholars across disciplines to address learning, performance, and technology in all contexts. We have roots and connections in educational technology, instructional design, learning sciences, systems theories, learning engineering. We work in contexts including schools, higher education, corporate, military, non-profit, adult education, international, and alternative educational settings. Thus, the theme of AECT 2021 focuses on coming together to celebrate and ignite innovation. Within the spirit of playfulness, we hope that you will embrace the role of innovation and its vital contributions to problem-solving, creativity, and relationships. This year’s Homecoming Homestaying theme provides a grounded connection for our experiences as a community, using entertaining thematic elements to create a unifying experience rather than a focus for proposals.