MEDIA ADVISORY

DATE: 5-8 p.m. March 13; 5-7:30 p.m. March 14

EVENT: University of Michigan President Mark Schlissel will announce an innovative new mechanism to connect faculty and the public around current events and issues.

The announcement will kick off the first day of the two-day event “Academic Innovation Forum on Broadening the University of Michigan Community.”

Last fall, Schlissel launched the Academic Innovation Initiative and challenged the campus to further embrace digital technology, learning analytics and innovation in work with students, in laboratories and in interactions with individuals and communities across the globe.

The event will also feature a keynote talk by edX CEO Anant Agarwal, who will address how technology affords scholars new audiences and new channels for public engagement. Agarwal is founder of the online learning destination and MOOC provider that U-M partnered with in 2015.

A U-M faculty panel will discuss how the university currently engages pre-college and lifelong learners, and how it can further scale and enhance efforts.

Participants are encouraged to attend the opening reception at 5 p.m. March 13 and stay through the program, which begins at 6 p.m.

The Office of Academic Innovation also will conduct a student design jam 5-7:30 p.m. March 14. Students will build prototypes that will help digital learning platforms better meet the individualized needs of learners, leverage opportunities for social learning, and anticipate the future of credentials and records of learning in a digital age.

PLACE: Michigan League Ballroom (forum); Palmer Commons, Great Lakes Room (student design jam), Ann Arbor.

SPONSORS: Office of the President, Office of Academic Innovation

INFORMATION: myumi.ch/L1n4O