2016 COLTT Conference - Highlights for Carl Kinney

Well once again I will say this conference is great conference for the price and the fact that it is held in Boulder.  Jill a co-worker commented that this year the conference didn't seem to focus on specific tools.  I have to agree that this year it seemed to take on a more holistic approach to education and learning.  I liked this approach.  It wasn't that technology was ignored at all, but it was more about how we interact with technology, and how it can be used to enhance our capabilities.  One of my biggest takeaways was how I think about technology.  I had a tendency to keep technology in a box, and go get what I needed out of the box when I needed it.  After hearing Professor Brenda J. Allen (CU Denver) give the Keynote on Optimizing Technology's Promise, I realized that technology is not something in a box.  It is something that is all around us, and keeping it in a box really could limit how we use it.  I liked how she described technology as anything that isn't part of the human body that helps increase human capability. This isn't a direct quote, but it is the message that I came away with, and I think it really opens the door to a more inclusive view of technology.  Prior to this I never considered eye-glasses technology.  

   

Here are some additional highlights for me from the conference:

• Don't minimize the person.  Say a person who is blind, not a blind person.  
• We need to consider getting more data on the user experience of our courses (both faculty and students)
• Collaboration is critical in working with anyone on a project.  Listening and managing expectations up-front is critical.
• Content Experts tend to want to share what they know, and Instructional Designers want to share what the student needs to know.  
• Contemplative Learning uses all 3 forms of learning (true transformation):
• 3rd person - authority
• 2nd person - synergy between two or more
• 1st person - reflective
• MSU Denver is using Agile and a Market Driven model for instructional design.  

I am happy to talk more on all or any of the above.  Stop by and let's chat.