WCET 2011 conference highlights

This past week was the 2011 WCET annual conference, held at the Denver City Center Marriott. This was my first WCET conference since 2004 when I presented on plagiarism detection services. Time certainly does fly!

The opening day keynote provided good resources that included:

• A new take on favorite websites (http://edu.allmyfaves.com/)
• Samantha Penney's take on Bloom's taxonomy for technology (http://www.usi.edu/distance/bdt.htm)
• A great retention method from HeadMagnet (http://headmagnet.com/).

Rob Robinson, David Cillay and Chris Manriquez gave their perspectives in an interactive panel discussion on the changing roles of today's learning technology leaders. They emphasized the critical need to sift through the ever-expanding amounts of data to find the information needed to make sound decisions. This is the only way for new initiatives to get off the drawing board. They also talked about the importance of the hybrid model and the conversion of seat-based courses to hybrid. Not only does this provide economies of scale for classroom space but places course materials online for greater access. 

Ritchie Boyd, Julie Kelleher and Loyce Pailen represented the WCET LMS CIG. The panel facilitated discussion on the academic technology ecosystem and the expanding role of 3rd party products. Many of the technologies being adopted by faculty are not necessarily formally supported by IT departments. Apps such as Dropbox, YouTube, and Google Docs are preferred by faculty for their ease of use, simplicity, availability and collaborative potential. IT departments are concerned with their long term availability and the potential security issues. Future online CIG discussions will expand on these issues.

Perhaps the highlight of sessions was one presented by colleagues at CPS Learning Design. Dr. Ling Thompson, Sally Cordrey and Jane Johnson presented on their award-winning Passport to Course Development. The three discussed the development of their multi-media course on course development for faculty. The behind-the-scenes look demonstrated the highly talented staff working at Learning Design. The course won the 2011 WCET Outstanding Work (WOW) award for "innovative, technology-based solutions to a significant problem or need in higher education." A much-deserved recognition.