Innovation and Community Interaction at the ELI Annual Meeting

At the ELI Annual Meeting, session presentations are only the beginning of the learning that can take place. In conference corridors and virtual spaces, participants are encouraged to explore new technologies and seek opportunities to connect with their colleagues from across the globe. Innovation and exploration take center stage in informal spaces and hands-on Experience It sessions. In 2009, we're extending many of the learning innovations piloted in the past, but we're also adding new ways to make the most of your experience.

Creating Connections

Faculty, IT and libraries staff, instructional designers, and administrators from U.S. and international institutions will meet at ELI to share ideas and explore teaching and learning with technology. We know that some of your most valuable interactions will take place through casual conversations in the hallway or over dinner. We're using technology and social tagging to jump-start those conversations.

On Your Nametag

Ever stared across a sea of attendees and wondered about people's stories? Zero in on the interests and experiences of others through a low-tech tagging activity.

Down the hall from the registration desk at the ELI Ribbon Bar, you can "tag" your interests by customizing your nametag with phrases like "Net Gen (at heart)" or "Fan of My First Life." Select the five ribbons that best describe you and your interests or invent new tags on blank ribbons. These playful expressions can be the starting point for conversations with new colleagues or for discovering something new about colleagues you already know.

In a Virtual Community

Collaboration can begin before the opening session in Orlando. Using Ning, an online service that lets users create their own social networks, attendees can join the ELI 2009 Ning Network. Log in to customize your meeting profile, explore videos, photos, and resources uploaded by the community, or add your own questions and content. Participants can create virtual working groups on topical issues or add their voice to ongoing discussion threads. It's an opportunity to begin building virtual connections that can continue after the meeting concludes.

To learn more about Ning or how it might apply on your campus, check out ELI's recent technology brief, 7 Things You Should Know About Ning.

Through the Twitterati

Twitter is an online application that is part blog, part social networking site, and part cell phone/IM tool. It's designed to let users describe what they are doing or thinking at a given moment in 140 characters or less. See the annual meeting Twitter activity by going to http://twitter.com/ELI2009 and selecting the "With Others" tab. If you have a Twitter account, join the fun by selecting the "Follow" button (please note that your posts will be public). If you would like to set up a free Twitter account, visit http://twitter.com. You will also be able to view the ELI2009 Twitter "Camp" on monitors in the informal learning space (Curacao 5-8).

To learn more about Twitter, review ELI's technology brief, 7 Things You Should Know About Twitter.

Casting a Spotlight

Learning isn't just about hearing from others; it's about applying ideas to your campus or lending your voice to the conversation. At the ELI Annual Meeting, we're casting a spotlight on innovation and interaction this year, encouraging our community members to share their best practices and to collaborate around solutions to the big issues.

On Innovation

When it comes to cultivating participation and collaboration in the on campus, what works? How are faculty leveraging technology to create meaningful learner-centered experiences that bring students together over shared ideas? See for yourself during the Faculty Innovation Showcase, a lightning round of faculty presentations in Curacao 5-8. Organized in collaboration with ELI member institutions and Herman Miller, DEGW, HP, SMART Technologies, and Tidebreak, three different showcases will feature successful faculty innovators on Tuesday, January 20, from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. and Wednesday, January 21, from 10:00 a.m. to noon and from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.

During each session, participants are invited to hear from campus practitioners who will each deliver a quick "lightning round" introduction of their campus innovations in the areas of participatory learning in science and mathematics, collaborative learning across the disciplines, and learning space design. Learn about their process for experimentation and assessment, and find out how these faculty innovators are targeting student success.

The second hour will be an opportunity for informal interaction with the faculty to follow up, learn more, get the project details, and make connections with these faculty innovators. This unscripted hour is a chance for informal discussion and Q&A. In addition to the time for presentation and discussion, attendees will be invited to participate in an activity to stimulate reflection-on-action for each showcase.

On Teaching and Learning Challenges

ELI is embarking on a community-wide effort to surface and synthesize those challenges facing teaching and learning with IT in higher education. Through community brainstorming and an EDUCAUSE-wide vote in December, the community identified the EDUCAUSE Top Teaching and Learning Challenges, 2009. Now it's time spotlight those big issues dominating campus conversations and board meetings.

During collaborative learning circles, attendees can think out loud about the big issues and strategize solutions for the future. This group exploration also allows you to think about implications for your campus. Learning circles are scheduled from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, January 21.

Members of the ELI community will also be roving the conference space with camcorders, asking participants to share the ways they are approaching the five challenges at their institution. Watch out for these "ELIwitness" citizen journalists as they gather campus perspectives from across the spectrum.

On Informal Spaces

Learning can occur in informal as well as formal spaces. Join us in Curacao 5-8 to experience the value of model learning spaces. Walk around and explore flexible furniture configurations to seed ideas for creating more inviting spaces on your campus. When not in use for the faculty innovation showcase, you can use these spaces for your own impromptu gatherings or for reflective time to process all that you're learning. During the second hour of each Faculty Innovation Showcase (Tuesday, January 20, from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. and Wednesday, January 21, from 11:00 a.m. to noon and from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.), join learning space consultants from Herman Miller and DEGW as they share results from recent assessment projects focused on campus learning spaces. Learn more about these projects and provide feedback.

On Gaming in Education

Games and virtual worlds provide educators with an opportunity to engage learners in an immersive and interactive environment that requires knowledge, decision-making, and information management skills. Research suggests that these environments can play a significant role in facilitating learning through providing engagement, group participation, immediate feedback, and real-world contexts. During the 2009 Annual Meeting, ELI will spotlight the use of games in education through preconference workshops, in hands-on Experience It sessions, and in general and concurrent sessions, as well as by providing an opportunity for participants to learn about gaming through a conference-wide alternate reality game (ARG).

Exploring New Technologies

It can be challenging to keep a finger on the pulse of what's new in teaching and learning with technology or find time to explore promising new technologies in the classroom. As you move from session to session making note of new tools, make some time to experiment with emerging technologies during hands-on Experience It sessions or informal citizen journalism.

Through Hands-On Experimentation

Experience It sessions offer an opportunity to directly experience emerging learning technologies and related practices. Seize this chance to experiment with Google Earth, ARGs, tablet PCs, and case-based scenarios under the guidance and direction of classroom practitioners who are leveraging these technologies in the classroom. To facilitate these hands-on learning activities, space is limited to 40 participants per session. In-person registration for each session is required; stop by the registration desk to sign up.

As A Citizen Journalist

In today's rapidly evolving technology market, it's difficult to stay ahead of the next big thing, or to find the time to experiment with new online tools. The ELI Annual Meeting is an opportunity to play in a low-pressure environment. Take this opportunity to set up a Twitter account and join the "Twitterati." Become a citizen journalist and contribute your own podcasts, photos, or videos to EDUCAUSE Connect and tag your content, [ ELIAnnual09 ]. Or, set up your own blog using your EDUCAUSE profile and EDUCAUSE Connect. You can also look for opportunities to participate as presenters share technologies that successfully support effective teaching and learning at their institutions.