Sloan-C Blended Learning Conference 2012 Virtual Attendee Experience

This was my first time attending a Sloan-C Conference as a virtual attendee, so I was interested in how I would be able to interact with the online interface and participate synchronously online. I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to view live streamed sessions and participate seamlessly via Poll Everywhere polls from presenters as well as an in-room chat, Twitter and Facebook feeds. Overall, I enjoyed my online conference experience and appreciated the flexibility to participate right at my desktop.  I'm looking forward to my next online conference.

Session Take Aways:

1. Blend Your Own Faculty Development Program Using Open Components from the Blended Learning Toolkit
   Speakers: Kevin Thompson & Linda Futch, Univ. of Central Florida
   • Great resource with downloadable templates with blended best practices, http://bit.ly/blendkit
2. Comparing Traditional and Blended Learning: Evidence From the ClassroomSpeakers: Geri Mason & Baine Craft, Seattle Pacific University
   
   • They captured both qualitative & quantitative data based upon Garrison & Vaughan's categories within their surveys.
   • Their Conclusion: Blended learning doesn't help (in regards to retention, but maybe facilitate more group cohesion), but it doesn't hurt (Univ. needs more classroom space, professor needs to take a sabbatical)
   • Confirmed that no new materials were developed for the blended course, which I personally viewed as a major item they should have addressed when transitioning to a blended environment and may have impacted their findings.
   • Noted that their course catalog didn't indicate "blended" as a designation and some students took that by surprise.
3. K12 to Higher Education, Two Perspectives on Planning for the Digital Future
   Speakers: Kurt Kiefer, Stephen Sanders, Johannes Britz, Wisconsin Dept. of Ed & Univ. of Wisconsin
   
   • Planning process included focus groups and questionnaires. They mentioned investing in infrastructure and bandwidth as an important foundation.
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   • Faculty development is key.
   • Digital content repository has also been a focus.
   • End goal is to save teachers time and money while providing a global education for students.
4. Online and Blended Learning: Maximizing the Investment
   Speakers: Mary Niemiec & Laura Pederick, Univ. of Nebraska & Univ. of Wisconsin Milwaukee
   
   • Online programs are normally driven by a cost recovery model and income is used to fund resources (e.g. student support, instructional design, etc.)
   • Blended programs have less new $$. Therefore, there is a need to look at allocation of resources to support a blended model.
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5. Defining K-12 Blended Learning: The Roles of Leaders, Teachers, Students & Parents
   Speaker: Allison Powell, International Association of K-12 Online Learning
   
   
   
   • Main theme throughout the presentation focused on addressing diverse learners through differentiated instruction with a combination of face-to-face instruction coupled with independent online digital instruction.
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   • Model blended schools shared: Rocketship Education, New York School of One, Carpe Diem School,  New Line Learning Academy.
6. Start Strong: Residential Support for New Students of Blended and Online Education
   Speaker: Joanne Dolan, Rasmussen College
   
   • Found many students apprehensive with online courses. Optional learning center/tutor program to support students with a goal of getting students off to a strong start (reduce anxiety).  
   • 30 minute session with experienced blended and online students; will start by asking students to log into their courses and assess their level and support needs.  Ensure students leave with something concrete and useful.
   • Improvements: brought advanced students (probed needs, e.g. APA formatting, reference pages) in and adapted program to focus on nursing students.  
7. How to Successfully Evaluate Blended Learning
   Presenters: Chuk Dziuban & Patsy Moskal, University of Central Florida
   • Common term that arises is "quality" and is difficult to measure (clarity, authenticity, unity, suspense, economy, depth, proportion, vividness, emphasis, authority, flow & precision).
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   • UCF Blended Learning Toolkit survey instruments, http://blended.online.ucf.edu/evaluation-resources/survey-instruments/.
8. Designing an Inquiry-Based Approach to Blended Learning
   Presenter: Norm Vaughan, Mount Royal University, Canada
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   • Dennis Littky, The 3R's of Engagement: 1) Relevance, 2) Rigour, 3) Relationships, http://bigpicture.org.
   • Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Optimal Flow: the mental state of operation in which the person is fully immersed in what he or she is doing by a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of the activity.
   • Daniel Pink, 1) Autonomy, 2) Mastery, 3) Purpose.
   • Dimensions of engagement: social engagement, academic engagement, intellectual engagement
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