An organization I've heard mentioned since my arrival at Regis University in late August is the eLearning Consortium of Colorado, or the eLCC. Regis is a member of the consortium but apparently has not been actively involved for a number of years. The eLCC is a group of mostly Colorado higher education institutions whose mission is to enhance educational opportunities through distance learning. The eLCC is very similar, although much smaller in scope, to the Texas Distance Learning Association, or TXDLA. I was associated with the TXDLA for a number of years and found the collaborative and networking opportunities of great benefit. The TXDLA also had a phenomenal annual conference.
The eLCC meets monthly except for August and December. September’s meeting was held this past Friday, September 24th, at the University of Denver’s new education building (beoooootiful building BTW).
Technology Demo
The meeting started with Lydia Gil, DU Spanish Lecturer, presenting on her use of media in an intro Spanish course. DU uses Blackboard Learn, the newest iteration of BB, and Lydia provided input on a number of ways she was able to incorporate media. First, she explained how students used FlipCams to create video introductions of themselves, in Spanish. This proved to be quite effective for the participants, who were forced to speak in a non-native language, as well as classmates, who could then see their classmates as well as hear the language being spoken. Lydia also used video Skype to bring in guest speakers for an interactive class discussion. Again, the ability to hear and speak the language was especially helpful to students.
There was an issue when using the BB Voiceboard. It turned out to be a Wimba issue that was easily fixed but only after the conclusion of the exercise. Lydia summed up her presentation with some lessons learned, such as
- Preparation is key when using technology in the classroom;
- Explore the classroom technology setup prior to class to become familiar with the buttons, switches, and other key workings of the equipment.
Professional Development
A number of institutions discussed their professional development activities. One in particular was Front Range Community College who put on a 3-day conference for faculty. The mini-conference was designed similar to a conference, with breakout sessions, keynote addresses, and lunch provided. Faculty could attend some or all of the activities based on time and interest. I like this concept and may try something similar.
Summary of July Meeting
The July meeting was summarized. Participants agreed to try a virtual meeting on November 19th. The October meeting is being held at Pikes Peak Community College. There is no meeting in December.
The annual eLCC conference is in April. A location has yet to be decided. There was much discussion on locations and the degree to which many member institutions could participate. Money is tight, and travel funds are even tighter.
Annual Report Format
The format for annual reports received from member institutions was discussed. A template was placed into Google Docs. The format will use SurveyMonkey, with the link being sent to the institutional representative of each member. The survey should be sent the week of September 27th.
JeLCC
The proposed Journal of the eLearning Consortium of Colorado (JeLCC) needs peer reviewers. Many meeting participants expressed interest but didn’t receive the initial call for reviewers. The request will be resent.
What's Hot (and not) in Conferences
Members then discussed which conferences of the past year had been of most interest. The Professional and Organizational Development (POD) conference was mentioned as an excellent resource for faculty development ideas. The National University Telecommunications Network (NUTN) conference was also mentioned as being exceptional. I mentioned the Distance Learning Administration (DLA) conference as being a small but exceptional resource for those involved with distance learning administration. I also brought up the Sloan-C College Pass. This provides for 100 seats in any of the myriad online workshops put on by Sloan-C throughout the calendar year. A great resource and a great bargain.
SL
Second Life was brought up in discussion, with one institution (didn’t catch which one) beginning development of an area. A good resource for getting started with SL is Cheryl Comstock of CCC Online.
This was an excellent sharing of resources and I look forward to the next meeting.
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