Tag Archives: Conferences

TCC 2010 Online Presentation and Resources

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I’ll be presenting a session titled Communicating, sharing, and learning online: A guide for starting your own blog on April 21st at the TCC Worldwide Online Conference. I’ve attended this event twice, but this will be my first time presenting here! Per the conference tip sheet’s instructions I’ve tried to keep my slides simple. There are a lot of related resources I would like to share with the session attendees, so I’ve collected them here in this post.

My main objective with this presentation is to encourage my fellow instructional designers and technologists to consider blogging as a professional development activity. I think there are a lot of unique approaches and stories out there and sharing them via blog can be educational, helpful, and cathartic. I do not claim expertise where blogs are concerned, but I do believe in the learning benefits and potential for collaboration.

Whether or not you attend this conference or session, please reply with additional suggestions for us all. Thanks!

Choosing  a Blogging Tool – Many free options available! Obviously I have a bias here but encourage you to explore and compare. What are your favorite bloggers using? A nice comparison of WordPress and Blogger is available online.

Finding Your Voice

I challenge you to find someone who explains this any better than Jess Jurick did at WordCamp Miami. Check out her presentation online. 

Setting Goals

I lot of people actually blog about blogging (it’s not just me). Take a look at what some of them are saying about setting goals for the experience and for the process itself.

Writing Ideas

So, you would like to give blogging a try but don’t know what to write about? Where is your expertise? What are you interested in? Here are a couple of nice lists to get you started.

The “Cool Kids”

I am showing a few examples in the presentation itself. Who are the big names, leaders, influencers in your field of expertise or area of interest? Check out their websites and blogs. What are they talking about? Which posts get the most response?

Some Things to Think About…

…As you get started

…After getting set up

As you move forward with your own blog, remember your goals. Revisit them frequently!

[View presentation slides via slideshare.]

Image credit: Stock.XCHNG

What I Learned at WordCamp

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Yesterday I attended Wordcamp Miami 2010 – one of the best conference-type experiences I’ve had in a while. In summary: very well organized, motivating speakers, friendly people, comfortable venue, and a nice lunch.  There were three program tracks: 1) developer, 2) social media, and 3) beginner.  I moved around a bit across the tracks and found all of the speakers and presentations to be helpful and encouraging. Other participants were also willing to share their insights.

I’ll be working on ideas I got at this event for some time, but here are a couple of items to share right now:

  • Jess Jurick’s Findng Your Blogging Voice was well attended and well received. Jess was also one of the organizers. Check out her presentation slides and her blog. Her presentation includes some other blog examples worth exploring.
  • WordPress SEO with John Carcutt helped even a non-programmer type like myself understand the importance of search engine optimization and how I can get started. He also previewed some changes on the way from Google.
  • Jim Turner’s From Daddy Blogger to Business Blogger explored the entrepreneurial side of blogging. Just Google ‘Genuine’ or ‘Hire a Blogger’ to find out more.
  • Tammy Hart is a self-taught developer. Her presentation, WordPress & Working with Clients, was full of tips and lessons learned. She introduced a number of resources, such as page.ly, and had down-to-earth suggestions for getting the work done.

There were many other speakers and more about each of them can be found on the WordCamp Miami website speakers page. By the way, there are WordCamps across the U.S. and the globe. Check out this calendar to find one near you. I think you’ll find a lot to learn and be motivated by, even if you don’t blog with WordPress.

Thanks to all organizers, speakers and participants for a great event. See you in 2011, WordCamp Miami!

image credit: WordCamp Miami

Marketability of Graduates

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I attended the Sloan-C Conference on Online Learning last week and three themes surfaced as I attended sessions and talked with other participants:

ImReady-greenforall.orgPart 3: Marketability of Graduates

Maybe it’s the career counselor in me that tuned in to this theme. In a session on Corporate Partnerships, Phil Ice of APUS posed the question: What is the college experience today? He pointed out that his experience and expectations were different than what you would find today enrolling as a Freshman/First-Year student. I instantly remembered the groan I heard over the phone as I told my parents I had finally declared a major (on the last possible day in my sophomore year at a private liberal arts college). It was Psychology. I think one of them actually said “oh no”. What was I going to do with that? I wasn’t at all sure.

Conversations and presentations addressed the preparation of graduates for the eventual job search.

  • Program and degree advisory panels that include local employers. Why shouldn’t they weigh in on coursework and internship requirements? They are the ones that will eventually receive the resumes from these students and apparently they aren’t as willing to train new employees as they used to be. University as vocational-technical? No, there’s more to it than that, but there is also a practical application side to what students need from the college experience of the early 21st century.
  • Online identities created using web 2.0 and social networking tools. And then marketing oneself professionally by documenting education, experience, and providing examples of work.
  • Vendor/Exhibitor products addressed “helping students reach their career goals”, e-portfolio systems to enhance “career advancement”, and skills and cultural training options offering “virtual business trip” scenarios.

How does online education play into all of this? Are online students different than on-campus students? The market for online students seems to be the working adult who needs to continue education in order to prepare for a career change or advancement while still on-the-job. At least, this is what you see in the commercials. Could the market be changing to include new high school graduates as well? Employability and job stability may be concerns, and motives for enrolling in online education, across the board.

photo credit: greenforall.org, Flickr