Conference Connections Rewiring theCircuit By George Siemens, Peter Tittenberger, and Terry Anderson
n late 1971, several “entirely forgettable” messages were sent between two machines (today we would call them computers, but the word machines more accurately reflects their size at that time) located only a few feet from each other.1 Like the first telephones and televisions, e-mail would soon grow in popularity, astonishing even the most I optimistic proponents of the new technology. The rudimentary origins of a new medium often belie the substantial shift in perspective and practice afforded to subsequent researchers and users.
George Siemens is Associate Director, Learning Technologies Centre, at the University of Manitoba and is Founder and President of Complexive Systems Inc. Peter Tittenberger is Director, Learning Technologies Centre, at the University of Manitoba. Terry Anderson is Professor and Canada Research Chair in Dis- tance Education at Athabasca University.
14 Educause review March/April 2008 © 2008 George Siemens, Peter Tittenberger, and Terry Anderson Illustration by Hank Osuna, © 2008 The real emphasis should be less on technology to play an important role in conferences, and more on the affordance of the open the more informal discussions and pre- sentations at “unconferences” offer valu- dialogue that now defines the primary value able exposure to cutting-edge ideas. The real emphasis should be less on of conferences. technology and more on the affordance opportunity costs when professionals are of the open dialogue that now defines the not performing their normal work. The primary value of conferences. Whether a high ecological footprint of air travel can small-table discussion, a chat at the bar, also be added to the expenses associated or a contribution to the conference wiki, Educators who have experimented with face-to-face conferences. Finally, blog session, or Twitter-fest, the common with using technologies in classrooms will the personal cost of time away from fam- defining theme centers on control. Instead likely recall the domino of possibility effect of ily and community must be included to of listening passively, conference attend- providing a web page with reading mate- calculate the true costs of attending and ees in each of these scenarios experience rials. Access creates possibilities, which also organizing this form of professional a high level of engagement and owner- in turn shape students’ expectations. The development. ship. Web technology, to date, has best course web page developed into learning These high—and increasing—confer- symbolized this important shift, since its management systems, which have since ence costs are intersecting with the en- decentralized structure does not reflect as morphed into increasingly decentralized, hanced interaction, the shift in perspec- strong a central position for the speaker distributed, and modular teaching tools. tive, and the greater opportunities offered or teacher. The plethora of tools—blogs, wikis, pod- by the new social technologies. Anyone Thomas Kuhn’s focus on concept- casts, social bookmarking, Skype, Twit- can now create and distribute content/ induced innovations by thinkers like ter, Facebook—can be intimidating. But information with free online tools. In field Newton and Einstein represents only part for many educators, these tools form the after field, the barriers of participation in of the change experienced in information basis of new approaches to, and means of, global conversations have fallen: radio and knowledge environments. Freeman interacting with students, each other, and is giving way to podcasts, newspapers to Dyson states that tool-based innovations information. online journalism, and geographical rela- are far more common. Although certain Having gained prominence in geek tionships to online social networking. So advances in science and society may well culture, e-mail and social tools have too are conferences being “remade,” with be driven by conceptual and theoretical moved into classrooms, corporate train- the decline in barriers and the addition shifts in thinking, the development of ing programs, and more recently, spaces of technology influencing not only how new tools creates new affordances and of academic dialogue including journals, attendees participate but also how orga- possibilities of use.3 Consider how the books, and—our focus here—confer- nizers host conferences today. following two elements are currently in- ences.2 Conferences are designed to meet fluencing conferences: the ongoing educational and training Adding Technology to Conferences needs of professionals. A secondary and, Conference attendees often desire a n The process of creating, validating, some would argue, primary function is voice—the ability to comment on key- and disseminating information: who to facilitate networking, informal learn- notes and sessions and to discuss subjects knows, who organizes, who speaks, ing, and socialization among profession- that interest them. The voice of attendees who validates (i.e., Kuhn’s conceptual/ als. Conferences are short-term (time- has traditionally been shuttled into the philosophical change) bounded), in contrast to ongoing work hallway, where the rich conversation van- n The use of technology to extend dia- programs or distributed mailing lists. ishes as rapidly as the words are spoken. logue beyond barriers of time, space, They are often paid for by the employers A critical concern arises: “How can these and related cultural variables (i.e., of professionals, with the expectation discussions be captured so that they can Dyson's tool-based change) that both the formal and the informal spiral into increased dialogue and under- sessions will enhance the professionals’ standing for others not present?” These parallel changes are also re- performance in the workplace. Confer- In his 2004 book The Wisdom of Crowds, flected in traditional classrooms: the ences are accessible (usually for a fee) to James Surowieki captured the spirit of knowledge-authority of the instructor is all members of the profession and often the collaborative trends in media and so- increasingly balanced with the awareness to the general public as well. ciety. The combined individual activities of the social developments in learning. Conferences are also expensive. of many can provide an accurate under- The social basis of learning is extended Attending face-to-face conferences is standing of even the most complex issues. through pedagogies of exploration costly not only because of the high and “We all know something” is the underly- (problem-based learning, experience- increasing price of hotels, transportation, ing theme driving much technological based learning) instead of through an conference center bookings, and meals and societal change. Although the well- exclusive emphasis on presentation and but also because of the disruption and crafted reasoning of experts will continue lecture. These trends in learning theories
16 Educause review March/April 2008 Computers, mobile phones, podcasts, blogs, The power to collaborate... and the pedagogy of exploration follow a progressive trend in education since the Second Life, RSS, Google Reader, and many late nineteenth century. Though subject 4 no matter where you are to criticism, the shift in our understand- similar tools afford new ways of interacting ing of learning and our approaches to teaching runs parallel to the growth of before, during, and after conferences. technology use in minimizing traditional These days, exchanging ideas and information happens control-based barriers. additional resources, and connect with Technology as a tool for transforming conference colleagues. off campus as often as in the classroom. Empower your practice in conferences is largely our focus Along with the greater control offered here. Computers, mobile phones, pod- to attendees by the inclusion of technol- sage, via a wiki or podcast, and enable institution with web-enabled collaboration from Xythos casts, blogs, Second Life, RSS, Google ogy, participation is similarly increased. corresponding conversation ahead of Reader, and many similar tools afford For example, Australia’s eLearning06 and following the conference event. The and keep everyone in the game. new ways of interacting before, during, conference used mobile technology to additional opportunities to engage with and after conferences. Like general ap- more fully involve participants in con- presenters and other conference attend- proaches to teaching and learning with ference presentations.5 Questions were ees before, during, and after the confer- technology, technology use in confer- posed to participants via SMS (each at- ence constitute the primary attribute of ences runs on a continuum: augmented, tendee provided his/her mobile phone a blended conference. Wikis can be used blended, simultaneous-blended, online, information at registration), and keynote for sharing conference resources with at- Almost half of our campus population was and unconferences—with a correspond- presenters responded, with aggregated tendees, as was done by the Ohio Digital “ ing level of participant control. questions and comments projected for Commons for Education 2007 Confer- underserved because we did not provide a others to see. Similar results could be ence (http://www.oln.org/conferences/ web-enabled document collaboration service. With Augmented Conferences achieved through the use of “clicker” ODCE2007/ODCE2007.php). During its An augmented conference is one in student-response systems. Global Summit 2006, education.au used Xythos, we’ve leveled the playing field. Xythos helps which technology enhances face-to-face Less common is the use of technology wikis for recording small-group discus- us to better support our highly-mobile community sessions and presentations. Of course, to augment the sessions, presentations, sions that followed each presentation with a solution everyone can use. ” technology has been used to augment and conversations that occur in the in- (http://www.educationau.edu.au/jahia/ face-to-face conferences since the days formal spaces of dialogue and network- Jahia/pid/305). EDUCAUSE offered pod- of the famed magic lantern. Today, most ing. For example, a conference wiki or cast interviews with many of the present- conferences augment face-to-face pre- blog may be used during the conference. ers at its 2007 annual conference (http:// sentations with projected PowerPoint Conferences can also encourage the use connect.educause.edu/term_view/ Paul Bishop, Vice President for Information Technology slides or, for the more ambitious, with of a conference tag to extend the conver- EDUCAUSE2007). And Elliott Masie Santa Barbara City College live web browsing and video clips. These sations and commentaries into partici- used similar blended approaches in his technology-enhanced presentations mir- pants’ personal spaces and can then bring e-learning conference series, including ror the format of the modern classroom, them together through aggregation. For a Second Life presence, wiki notes to where technology plays a role in aug- example, EDUCAUSE promoted the use capture conference proceedings, and menting the delivery of content. of the “EDUCAUSE2007” tag for its an- podcasts before the event (http://www Also prevalent in most conferences nual conference, with attendees’ tagged .learningwiki.com). Capturing key ideas today is the e-mail room and/or wireless blogs, links, and photos aggregated on in a wiki or podcast extends the value of Streamline content storage. Enable secure collaboration. access for laptops. This brings the office the association’s website (http://connect the conference well beyond the physical Protect vital institutional content. Get in control with Xythos. to the conference for many participants, .educause.edu/term_view/EDUCAUSE meeting. Conference members who are allowing them to stay current with non- 2007). Twitter (a micro-blog tool in which unable to attend certain sessions because conference work (though some would a writer describes current activities or of scheduling conflicts are able to review Discover why more academic institutions, like SBCC, rely on Xythos. argue that this is not entirely a positive resources to a network of friends and the content of the session—or additional development!). The last several years in colleagues who have subscribed to the content—after the event. Visit www.xythos.com/SBCC to learn more. particular have seen a significant rise in writer’s Twitter feed), IRC, social tagging technology presence: overhead presenta- systems such as Diigo, and photo-sharing Simultaneous-Blended Conferences tions have given way to PowerPoint, paper sites such as Flickr may be used to in- A simultaneous-blended conference in- handouts have yielded to wikis, and blog crease opportunities for participants to volves simultaneous live and streamed comments on proceedings have risen interact during and after the conference. presentations. For example, conference in popularity. Wireless access during proceedings may be streamed live on- conferences has become even more im- Blended Conferences line (audio, graphics, or video), allowing portant, since it affects how participants Blended conferences have both online participation by attendees who are not are able to interact with information. and face-to-face components. For ex- able to physically attend. The University Participants can look up references, cre- ample, a keynote presenter may compile of Manitoba used this technique in Jan- www.xythos.com ate shareable notes and comments, seek an introductory or supplemental mes- uary 2007 during the Personal Learning 1-888-4XYTHOS
18 Educause review March/April 2008 Conference proceedings may be streamed live uted conversation in Pageflakes. For online (audio, graphics, or video), allowing example, the tag “OCC2007” would appear in blog search engines (e.g., participation by attendees who are not able Technorati, Icerocket, or Google Blog Search), as well as in various social to physically attend. Online Conferences bookmarking or personal information Online conferences are delivered com- management tools (e.g., del.icio.us).9 pletely online. Conferences may include n K–12 Online Conference (http:// synchronous sessions delivered via a k12onlineconference.org/): a multi- web-conferencing platform like Ellumi- week online conference with planned Environments symposium (http://www nate (with the sessions recorded for view- keynotes, informal “When Night Falls” .umanitoba.ca/learning_technologies/ ing by others in different time zones) and reflections, and open dialogue and plesymposium/). Video of the event was also asynchronous discussions hosted in reflection on learning experiences. streamed live, allowing remote partici- mailing lists, discussion forums, or por- The conference served as a catalyst for pants to observe conference activities. tals or learning management systems. many in the K–12 education sector to Numerous conferences have adopted Terry Anderson (a co-author of this explore alternative views of teaching similar dual approaches—including vir- article) claims to have organized the first and learning. The coalescence of com- tual presentations broadcast to a face- virtual conference held on the Internet, munity around significant learning to-face audience—to extend the reach of in 1992.8 Most early online conferences events (with K–12, global in nature) conference activities.6 relied exclusively on e-mail, often with provides the foundation for sustained Second Life adds additional oppor volunteers porting messages beyond the change far greater than what might be tunities for conference organizers to early Internet to FidoNet, Usenet, and possible in a traditional conference. include remote participants. Eduserv other bulletin board systems and private n EDUCAUSE Learning Institute Foundation’s Symposium 2007 (http:// networks. In a second conference, in (ELI) Web Symposium (http://www www.eduserv.org.uk/foundation/ 1994, Anderson was the first to organize .educause.edu/eliws061): a multi-day symposium/2007/) simultaneously sessions in immersive contexts using text- online symposium with presentations streamed all conference proceedings based MUD tools. In 1995, the University targeting academic leaders. The sym- into various Second Life locations, with of Maryland was the first to charge a fee posium was hosted in Horizon Wimba each location permitting up to forty for remote participants to attend a virtual and moderated by Diana Oblinger avatars to attend. The visual presence of conference. of EDUCAUSE. Presenters delivered others increases the sense of connect- Recent examples of online confer- PowerPoint presentations to remote edness for participants: “A key aspect ences include the following: locations, with pauses for questions of virtual worlds such as Second Life is and answers during and following the the sense of presence participants feel n Webheads in Action Online Conver- event. in the space.” Similarly, the “power of gence (http://wiaoc.org): a multi-day n Technology, Colleges, and Commu- presence” and the “enrichment of ex- online conference. Presentations are nity (http://tcc.kcc.hawaii.edu): the perience” have been cited as important held in various platforms (Elluminate, oldest continuing online conference, sensibilities that enhance the learner’s webcast, audio, Skypecast, Flickr, founded in 1996 by Kapi’olani Com- experience in alternative spaces (virtual Interwise). Question-and-answer ses- munity College (KCC) in Hawaii. worlds) such as Second Life.7 sions are held during the live event. Hosted annually by KCC and the A word of caution is warranted, Recordings are available for later University of Hawai’i at Manoa, Edu- however. Conference organizers and listening/viewing. Post-session dialogue cational Technology Department, in presenters need to be aware of the in- is distributed across attendees’ blogs. association with Osaka Gakuin Uni- creased complexity that results from n Online Connectivism Conference versity (Japan) and in partnership with the use of technology. Second Life has (http://umanitoba.ca/learning_ LearningTimes.org in New York, this a history of delays, since the system technologies/connectivisim) and virtual conference has been an inno- often “bogs down” under the strain the Future of Education (http:// vator in the use of many synchronous of too many users. Speakers must be umanitoba.ca/learning_technologies/ and asynchronous conference tools. able to attend to both face-to-face and conferences/foe/): week-long con- n NMC Series of Online Symposia: a virtual audiences. With the possibility ferences with approximately 1,700 series of ongoing conferences held on of Second Life failures or disjointed registrants from more than sixty coun- the New Media Consortium (NMC) conversations as speakers try to blend tries. Live presentations were held in Second Life campus. The NMC events two audiences into one coherent pre- Elluminate. Asynchronous discus- augment face-to-face and virtual con- sentation, additional technical and sions were hosted in Moodle. Confer- ferences and have recently been held human facilitation support will likely ence tags were suggested for bloggers as stand-alone immersive-context be required. to use in order to aggregate the distrib- sessions.
20 Educause review March/April 2008 Though likely to grow in promi- experiences in planning the first Web- nence, completely online conferences heads in Action Online Convergence: ar- Using Technology are still relatively obscure and appeal to ranging for sponsorship, speakers, tech- to Increase individuals who are oriented to online nical details, conference logistics, and environments. Although online confer- post-conference evaluation.13 Additional Conference Connections ences are very cost-effective, participants’ guidelines specifically for the planning onference planning commit- propensity to provide only “continuous of unconferences and BarCamps are also C tees can substantially increase partial attention”10—in which the confer- available.14 attendees’ opportunities to connect ence competes with unrelated demands The planning cycles for online con- with each other and needed informa- from the home or workplace—may seri- ferences are shorter than for traditional, tion by adopting a few approaches: ously degrade the attention given to, face-to-face conferences. And unconfer- and thus the outcomes from, an online ences can be organized in a matter of days 1. Record presentations (with audio conference. or weeks. But even unconferences don’t at a minimum, video preferred). work equally well in all locations. Larger Keynotes should be streamed and Unconferences, BarCamps, and Open Spaces communities—such as Toronto, London, recorded. Ideally, all conference The most radical shift in conference plan- or San Francisco—are able to draw on a sessions would be recorded and ning has resulted in the unconference: a larger population base. made available online. gathering that is held with no formal con- Greater utilization of technology in 2. Permit flexibility in the confer- ference planning at all. Unconferences conferences provides value for ence schedule for “soft periods,” and their sister events—BarCamps (http:// when attendees are encouraged www.barcamp.org/)11 and Open Space n extending activities and dialogue, to self-organize on themes of per- conferences (http://www.openspace n capturing content, sonal interest. world.org/)—are largely self-organized n supporting conversations, 3. Provide pre-conference inter- and are generally held face-to-face. These n encouraging social networking, views, podcasts, or online discus- approaches to conferences are focused n enabling tagging, sions with keynote speakers and more on distributed control and informal n fostering backchannel communica- thought leaders in the field. organization and less on the medium of tion, and 4. Promote conference tags for blog- delivery. A recent Business Week article n aggregating content. gers to use so that discussions can expressed the appeal of unconferences: be found and aggregated for those “The loose structure helps ensure that Extending Activities and Dialogue attendees who are less technically ideas being batted around are relevant Planning to extend conference activities inclined or interested. to people in the room and presented and dialogue with technology requires 5. Aggregate conference discus- with minimal pomp.”12 Unconferences consideration of the intended audience sions and centralize the many offer the greatest level of informality and and of the expertise of organizers. For- voices in a site such as Pageflakes. participant organization. Conference tunately, the use of podcasts, wikis, and Distributed conversations can be organizers play a facilitative, rather than blogs to promote conference events is not overwhelming for many. Promote a presentation-filtering, role. Facilitating an overly challenging task. Many tools the conference aggregation page networking and self-organization are mentioned here are open source or are during introductory sessions and important cornerstones for today’s un- available for use without charge (though daily opening presentations. conferences. Traditional conferences can advertisements sometimes accompany 6. Provide all conference notes, take advantage of unconference formats the latter). The simply social nature of papers, and presentations in wiki by creating space in conference agendas these tools is the cause of much of their form for others to review after the for participants to self-organize. success. When planning events, organiz- conference. Better yet, involve ers should consider podcasts of potential students or other interested par- Adding Technology speakers, wikis to capture or share pre- ties in blogging and summarizing to Conference Planning sentations, and wrap-up e-mails and dis- conference sessions. How should conference organizers use cussions (though in fairness, we should 7. Create opportunities for connec- technology to address the diverse needs note that often the lofty aspirations of tions and networking through of participants? Currently, planning tech- post-conference dialogue quickly give tools like introNetworks, Elgg, or nology use in conferences is in a stage way to the reality of work pressures). similar networking services (by of flux. Generally accepted approaches completing a personal profile, for organizing and hosting participative Capturing Content attendees can connect with oth- conferences have not yet emerged. But Planned presentations, keynotes, and ers of shared interest), Facebook guidelines are available from organizers plenaries—whether delivered online or in communities, Ning networks, and of previous events. Vance Stevens has a traditional conference—can be recorded Second Life meetings. published a detailed description of his via Elluminate, podcasting, or Camtasia
22 Educause review March/April 2008 Organizers may want to establish a central Studio. The low cost of recording and hosting makes audio a viable option for web page to capture the multitude of voices, any conference. TEDTalks (http://www .ted.com/talks) has increased its already images, and information generated exceptional reputation through the release of conference video clips. The re- information transfer and communica- by attendees. cording of sessions also allows attendees tion occur within organizations.16 Once to listen to presentations they may not network connections have been repre- have been able to attend due to schedule sented in a map, individuals can seek key conflicts. nodes (or nodes of personal interest). In a conference, for example, through the use planners can consider the use of central- Supporting Conversations of introNetworks (http://intronetworks ized services—perhaps a Moodle discus- If you build it, will they come? No. Con- .com/), participants can actively seek sion board or a Ning network. versation does not occur simply as a result out individuals with shared interests, in of creating a social space. Much like an related fields, or with similar social con- Aggregating Content online course will not produce conversa- nections. In online conferences, similar When conference proceedings shift from tion without some direction and facilita- networking can occur through the use of the podium to the conference floor, a tion from the instructor, conference con- attendr (http://attendr.com).17 concern quickly arises for most attendees: versation in Moodle or other forums will how to follow the multitude of voices. not necessarily be successful. During the Enabling Tagging Several tools are available to assist at- Online Connectivism Conference, vari- Regardless of conference format, the use tendees in following the distributed con- ous bloggers were approached to serve of a conference tag enables attendees to versations: conference tags, blog search as perspective filters, commenting on locate conference-related content and engines (Icerocket, Google Blog search, presentations from the context of K–12, each other. When participants upload Technorati), and aggregation sites (Page- emerging countries, gender issues, and an image to Flickr, for example, the con- flakes, Newsvine, and iGoogle). Organiz- poverty. The intent was to raise the level ference tag allows others to search for ers may want to establish a central web of dialogue, rather than relying solely on related images. When participants blog page to capture the multitude of voices, dialogue to emerge. It is often easier to or post resources in a social bookmarking images, and information generated by join a conversation than to initiate it. service like del.icio.us, tags allow the con- attendees. Experienced bloggers may tent to be found. Search services—such as make little use of the aggregated page, but Encouraging Social Networking Technorati—rely on tags to display aggre- individuals who are less involved with Social networking is vital to effective con- gated activities in blogs and wikis. reading information via RSS will find the ferences—whether held online or face- resource useful. to-face. EventVue (http://www.eventvue Fostering Backchannel Communication .com/), according to CrunchBase, “builds Whether the conference is held face-to- Benefits of Adding Technology to online communities for conferences in face or online, social “microblogging” Conferences and Conference Planning order to improve conference networking tools such as Twitter, Jaiku, and Pownce Incorporating technology into confer- amongst individuals. EventVue lets you allow attendees to form their own social ences and conference planning offers nu- see other attendees, search for others networks during conference proceedings. merous benefits to presenters, attendees, based on mutual interests, and also con- Previously, “backchanneling” (holding and organizers. nect before the conference.”15 Confabb side conversations about conference top- Costs. Cost is a limiting factor for many (http://www.confabb.com/) provides a ics or speakers) was handled through IRC would-be conference attendees. In ad- similar service by offering a central place or instant messaging. Conference orga- dition to conference fees, the expenses to publicize conferences, connect with nizers can participate, and make explicit, for travel, accommodation, and time friends/colleagues, and broaden the backchannel conversation by establishing away from work are significant. Online social experience. Other tools, not exclu- a microblog identity (e.g., a Twitter profile conferences eliminate some of these sively focused on conferences, include can be used to post updates relating to the expenses. In addition, environmental Elgg, Twitter, or tools that are under the conference and can then be included on concerns are prominent today. Online control of participants (e.g., personal the main conference aggregation page). conferences have the added benefit of blogs) but that utilize conference tags in Tool selection should account for reducing the ecological footprint. Many order to connect with others. the broadest interests of conference at- conference planners, already considering Social network analysis—the explo- tendees. Many teachers, instructors, and the environmental impact of activities, ration of connections between people, academics have started blogging, but they are using digital media instead of paper with the exploration often represented still compose a small percentage of the copies of proceedings. In Canada, for ex- visually in map form—is frequently cited field. To include others in the side con- ample, Tree Canada assists organizations as important in understanding how versations of the conference, conference in planning carbon-neutral events and
24 Educause review March/April 2008 IDEngines_Ad_FIN.pdf 2/4/08 12:05:24 PM
The bounded nature of face-to-face conferences pletely online conferences do not provide can be at least partially overcome through attendees the opportunity to break from daily activities. Many conference attend- streaming video and audio of keynote ees at both the Online Connectivism Conference and the Future of Education presenters. meeting felt that work pressures affected Wipe out repetitive recognition and service to the academic their ability to actively participate. In- community. stead of a period of refreshment, online Exposure and Impact. Organizers and conferences may become a period of ad- maintains a list of conferences that have presenters benefit from the increased ditional stress. adopted zero-impact principles.18 exposure of freely shared conference Social aspects. As defined by Vicki Suter, WPA/802.1X Depth of learning. The rush of regular resources. Conferences that stream or re- Bryan Alexander, and Pascal Kaplan in conference sessions often results in par- cord keynote presentations often benefit 2005: “Conferences are only partially ticipants not being able to explore topics from far greater numbers of viewers about content.”19 The social experiences at a depth they desire. When conference watching the archived sessions than the with colleagues—getting together for support calls. proceedings are blended or online, at- actual live conference. Presenters—hop- meals and beverages—are important tendees can spend significantly more ing to bring about change through their lubricants for dialogue. Until we can time exploring resources and discussing work—benefit from increased attention stream wine online, the face-to-face en- ideas with presenters and other confer- and discussion around key ideas. Present- gagement will still hold a priority billing. ence attendees. Interaction online also ers can also benefit from a two-way flow In survey results following the Online offers greater prospects for improved of open conversations. The K–12 Online Connectivism Conference and the Future face-to-face dialogue. Conference, as mentioned earlier, co- of Education conference, 76 percent (of
Quality. The challenges of engagement alesced educators in disparate locations 224 respondents) and 81 percent (of 56 re- C in communities with many participants around means to improve the quality of spondents), respectively, stated that they and few contributors are faced online learning. The potential impact of a con- were unable to spend the desired amount M as well. Those who do participate add ference with at least a partial online pres- of time attending the conference. Con- Y “Before AutoConnect, I’d get 20–30 requests for assistance on significantly to the quality of dialogue. ence is far greater than what can occur cerns primarily centered on time zone CM WPA/802.1X setup per day. Since subscribing to AutoConnect™, In-depth online discussions—not re- through traditional means. The increased (for attending the conference live), work MY stricted by time and place—of key ideas, exposure of conference activities is sig- demands, or schedule conflicts. I’m down to 1–2 requests for setup help every other day. contrasting viewpoints, and multiple nificant. For example, presentations of Revenues. The addition of technology CY ” perspectives enhance the depth of the the University of Manitoba’s Online Con- to a traditional conference adds value for CMY Randy Schapel, Manager of Academic Computing, Mott Community College
pre-, during, and post-conference learn- nectivism Conference have been viewed attendees. A purely online conference, K ing experience. more than 15,000 times. however, results in a change in attendees’ Retrievability. Recordings of presenta- Change. Perhaps of greatest importance willingness to pay. In the surveys con- No longer do students and faculty have to wrestle with From posture checking to authenticating access in tions can greatly extend the reach of con- is the progressive growth of a discipline’s ducted after the Online Connectivism ™ ferences and the reputation of presenters. ability to engage around key ideas and Conference and the Future of Education 15-step network connection instructions. multi-directory environments, Identity Engines offers Audio and video recordings of conference create conversational spirals to attend to conference, 70 percent and 73 percent a full suite of solutions for role-based network ™ keynote speakers are commonly available emerging trends. The capacity for critical of attendees, respectively, stated they The Ignition AutoConnect 802.1X client configuration access control. following events. These resources are reflection, vision creation, and direction would not have attended if a fee had been wizard eliminates the need to spend time manipulating particularly valuable to educators and planning is important for education as charged. When asked about appropriate network security settings. AutoConnect can be deployed It doesn’t matter whether your network is single- also as learning resources. TEDTalks and a whole. The “record of dialogue” pro- fees, most of those attendees who were in an hour, instantly relieving your Help Desk of repetitive vendor or heterogeneous — wired, wireless, VPN EDUCAUSE offer conference recordings duced through augmented, blended, willing to pay suggested between $50 and support calls. Ignition AutoConnect powered the transi- or even a combination — our NAC solutions will of their events. Educators, by relying on simultaneous-blended, and online con- $100. these recordings, can substantially im- ferences is a valuable resource for fram- Quality. Additional concerns arise from tion of over 25,000 students at a Top 10 U.S. campus to eliminate liberal access while enabling the pursuit prove the quality of their courses while ing and exploring the opportunities and the informal nature of unconferences. an 802.1X-based secure network environment. of liberal arts. reducing development costs. challenges facing educators today. Like Wikipedia, the spirit of unconfer- Access. The bounded nature of face-to- ences is found in democracy and open- face conferences can be at least partially Drawbacks of Adding Technology to ness. The inherent openness raises some Erase your client configuration support load—get a FREE trial of Ignition AutoConnect at: overcome through streaming video and Conferences and Conference Planning concerns about quality. Traditional con- www.idengines.com/ac audio of keynote presenters. Offering op- Incorporating technology into confer- ferences rely on a review process to select portunities for remote participants often ences and conference planning can also papers and presenters. Although this sys- does not substantially increase expenses produce a few drawbacks. tem is by no means completely effective, it for the conference but can help to raise Change of pace. Conferences are op- is an attempt to ensure a degree of quality awareness. MIT’s OpenCourseWare portunities for meeting new colleagues for conference proceedings. The current ® (http://ocw.mit.edu/) functions on a and enjoying a temporary reprieve from success of unconferences is due to their similar principle of exchanging access for day-to-day workplace concerns. Com- small-scale presence, in an environment
© 2008 Identity Engines Inc. All rights reserved.
26 Educause review March/April 2008 where most individuals know each other. presentations for future listening and is an important point of value for participants. As growth continues, the concern facing viewing). We are also seeing the emer- After the event, however, some type of “artifact” or summary can become valuable for citation Wikipedia—that pure openness translates gence of tools for self-expression (blogs), and review. Traditional conferences have a well- into abuse—may become a concern for “micro-dialogue” (Twitter), alternative established process of papers and proceedings. unconferences as well. reality (Second Life), networks (Ning), Even though online conference proceedings can be made available for attendees after the confer- Distractions. Educators who have in- aggregation (Pageflakes), capturing and ence, many will appreciate a synthesis. Creating a structed in classrooms where students collaborating (podcasts and wikis), and record of not only presentations but also discus- use laptops are acutely aware of the participant-driven organization (uncon- sions can be important for later review. The Online Connectivism Conference produced a conference opportunity for distractions. Certain in- ferences). These tools form the basis for book—edited and with commentary from par- structors, even schools, have gone so far a substantial shift in perspective in the ticipants. The Future of Education conference as to ban laptops (or at least block Internet area of academic dialogue and informa- produced a special journal edition with Innovate, 20 extending the focus beyond conference presenta- access). Research is required to evaluate tion exchange. Although it is too early to tions and inviting contributions from anyone with the impact of multitasking in aiding or fully understand the impact of increased a vision for education’s future. detracting from conference sessions. access, heightened dialogue, reduced 10. Linda Stone, “Thoughts on Attention and, Spe- cifically, Continuous Partial Attention,” WikiHome, costs, and greater quality of engagement, September 12, 2007,
28 Educause review March/April 2008