eLearning Symposium 1/14/04

The eLearning Symposium was a great success. Based on our review of the evaluations, it is clear that it met the expectations of the participants as well as those of us that planned the event. For those who are interested, the links to the morning presentations and the web page of the keynote address can be found below.

The event goals were to offer both faculty models and a range of technological possibilities. With feedback such as a desire for more WebCT training, interest in going into more depth on issues, and wanting to see more demos, it is clear to us that our goal was met. Likewise, it was interesting to read the comments related to the keynote address, which was delivered remotely. People noted the difficulty in engaging with the speaker because they couldn’t see him, their concerns about needing help using a similar technology themselves, and the challenges of presenting dynamically on-line. We encourage everyone to continue to reflect on that experience as you think about what may or may not work for your own teaching.

In addition, it may be of interest to you to know that BC now has over 550 courses per semester in WebCT, representing roughly a third of our course offerings. Also, we have been conducting customized training seminars for faculty and graduate students in several locations on campus, providing support in becoming comfortable with course management tools. Support staff continues to grow, with the addition of 3 Graduate Web Assistants (GWAs) last year and 2 new Instructional Designer positions currently being filled. We have been hosting video conferences in locations such as Gasson 6, and will soon be adding tools such as Impatica for PowerPoint and HorizonLive to provide more possibilities for people interested in delivering presentations remotely. To learn more about instructional technology support at BC, we invite you to peruse the ATS web site regularly.

eLearning Symposium Presentations

Steven Gilbert, our keynote speaker, is President of the Teaching, Learning, and Technology (TLT) Group, an independent nonprofit organization. Previous positions include serving as VP for EDUCOM (now EDUCAUSE) and as Director of Technology Projects for the AAHE. He is a consultant, public speaker, moderates a listserv of 5,000 subscribers for the discussion of issues related to education, technology and change, and develops and leads webcasts and other on-line activities. Steve holds a BA in Mathematics from Princeton, an Ed. M. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Creative Instruction, Creative Technology