Educators from across UNMC gathered at the Truhlsen Campus Events Center for the second annual InnovatED Symposium to discuss and collaborate around the theme “Empowering Minds, Innovating Health Care Education.”
The event, held Sept. 11, was organized with an interprofessional approach in mind, featuring presenters from the colleges of medicine, pharmacy, public health, allied health professions and nursing, along with graduate studies and interactive e-learning.
The sponsoring agencies – the UNMC Interprofessional Academy of Educators and UNMC Distance Education – also featured strongly in the day.
Topics included AI, educational technology and health care simulation – even bringing the gaming experience into learning.
“It’s so great to have all of us together to bring our ideas forward so that we can continue to push one another to be better educators and to make the best experience for our learners,” said Brian Boerner, MD, director of the Interprofessional Academy of Educators and an associate professor of internal medicine in the UNMC College of Medicine.
The keynote speaker was Deepak Keshwani, PhD, an associate professor and director of undergraduate programs for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Department of Biological Systems Engineering.
His topic was “Reimagining Responsive Teaching” – with a broad discussion of what is changing in the world we live in and how educators can respond well.
Dr. Keshwani highlighted a shifting society, rising mental health concerns among students and evolving technology. Citing the book “Adaptation Advantage,” he pointed to the rapid increase in the velocity of change that’s occurring, offering the author’s perspective that the rate of change will never be slower than it is today.
He encouraged the educators in the room to slow down their own perspectives and think through change. As one piece of advice for the symposium, he urged attendees to connect with someone vastly different in what, how and who they teach.
“Think broader as to who your community of practice could be,” Dr. Keshwani said.