I have been invited to once again share the recommendations from the Junior Achievement Digital Strategy Task Force that I am a member of. This task force was assembled to assist JA in thinking about how to integrate digital delivery and engagement into their existing infrastructure. I will be co-resenting to the Board of Directors with Dr. John Box of JA.
Download Ja_task_force as a 10 MB PDF.
I have been invited to present a keynote talk at Marywood University to talk about bridging the gap between in and out of school literacy. It will be interesting talking to folks about how the role of digital expression in building continuity between school and personal lives online. I am very much looking forward to the experience.
I will once again be heading to western PA to address parents, faculty, and students at the Quaker Valley School District. We'll spend our time talking about the role of creativity and innovative thought as it relates to teaching with technology. I always have a blast with my friends from QV.
I have been invited to the Junior Achievement National Conference to deliver recommendations from the JA Digital Strategy Task Force that I am a member of. This task force was assembled to assist JA in thinking about how to integrate digital delivery and engagement into their existing infrastructure. It has been a great opportunity to work with JA on this and I am looking forward to representing the outcomes of our team to the JA Nation Organization.
My good friend and colleague (and TLT Faculty Fellow), Dr. Christopher Long and I will give a talk at Penn State's Learning Design Summer Camp. Our talk, titled Hacking Pedagogy, will make the case that we as teachers, learners, designers, and administrators need to think about how to move our audiences from non-engagement to cooperation. This notion of cooperative learning can be a model for building new forms of thinking in the ways we create opportunities in our classrooms and work environments. We have made a call for community participation in the talk and hope to create a space to host an ongoing field guide of examples and approaches that others can use as they design teaching, learning, and other forms of collaborative participation.
This morning I was part of an invited panel asked to speak about social networks and how they might be useful for connecting alumni. I have given quite a few talks to the PSU Alumni Association, but this was the first time it was specific to just a single College … in this case Communications. It was a fun presentation and I worked to keep it light. The highlight for me was getting to meet two additional colleagues here at PSU doing similar research related to social networks. I love when I have a chance right here in my own backyard to make new friends with very similar and overlapping interests.
Download my slides as an 18 MB PDF.
This week I will be in Washington, DC to participate as a speaker in the Chronicle of Higher Education's Connecting to Compete event. This is an event targeted at International institutions thinking about how to leverage information technology and social computing to connect with their audiences. It is a real honor to be a part of the event and I hope to share some interesting thoughts to help press the day's conversation forward.
Download the PDF of my slides.
Earlier this year I received an invitation from colleagues at EDUCAUSE to do featured session on "Doing More with Much Less: Pursuing an Innovative Teaching and Learning Agenda in a Time of Fiscal Austerity" at the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI) 2010 Annual Meeting. I am honored to be part of a panel that will take time to talk to the audience about the things we are each doing at our institutions to help continue to push forward even in times of economic turmoil. I plan to spend my time discussing how we've re-evaluated our strategic planning, how we've turned to the community to produce local (and high value) professional development, and how we have leveraged existing IT infrastructure to innovate. I would be lying if I didn't mention that I am a bit intimidated to be a part of a panel like this and hope I can hold my own with my fellow panelists. From the program:
Supporting an innovative program for teaching and learning is challenging even in the best of times. But when institutions face severe fiscal austerity, such support becomes a difficult task. We all face tough choices about what to emphasize and what to stop supporting. We find we must tax our creativity to the utmost to find new support strategies and resources. We are all asking ourselves similar questions: Is the cloud our salvation? Should we focus on support services and scale back on providing learning infrastructure? Can institutions collaborate on resource development? What are the core priorities that need to be retained? At this discussion, leaders in the field will discuss their ideas, programs, and the decisions they have made and are facing, and they will facilitate a brainstorming session with audience participants.