Professional Development

EDUCAUSE 2008, "Interaction, Ideas, Inspiration," will bring together several thousand people from across the higher education IT landscape October 28–31 in Orlando.

Ideas for Getting the Most Out of the Conference Experience

[These ideas were generated by participants in the 2008 Southeast Regional Conference pre-conference orientation session.]

Require conference attendees to write-up their conference experience. What did they gain from attending the conference? How did it help them individually and how will it help the institution?

Prepare before attending the conference. Pose questions you want answers for before you get there and then make sure you have answers before you leave.

Look for collaboration opportunities within new arenas.

Bring and exchange business cards. Write a snippet of the conversation on the card and follow-up when you return to your desk later.

Title 3 requires trip reports and demonstration of how information from the conference was shared. Ideas include scanning conference print materials, reporting at a staff meeting, poster sessions in the break/lunch room.

Go to a session on an unfamiliar topic - hear something different and broaden your learning

Last Tuesday, I was privileged to attend the WiSETI Annual Lecture, given by Prof. Christine Davies at Robinson College, Cambridge, and sponsored by Schlumberger. WiSETI, the "Women in Science, Engineering and Technology Initiative" at the University of Cambridge, aims to advance the aspirations and careers of women in science- and technology-related professions. This annual invited lecture is a highlight in the WiSETI calendar, and a great opportunity to learn about frontier research from an eminent woman professional in the field. WiSETI lectures are also notable for including a more personal element in the discussion: it is common for invitees to discuss how they have managed work/life balance, and to offer insights into their personal career histories and trajectories. This event was no exception.

Network with colleagues and grow professionally by participating in EDUCAUSE as a committee member, conference blogger, proposal reviewer, session moderator, photographer, or ad hoc volunteer. To be considered in this year's volunteer cycle, apply online by May 15.

EDUCAUSE Southwest Regional Conference Think Stop #1

In this 7 minute podcast, we feature an interview with Michael Zastrocky, Vice President and Research Director of Academic Strategies for Gartner, Incorporated. He presented a session at the EDUCAUSE 2007 Annual Conference entitled, "IT Leadership and the Role of the CIO: The Annual Gartner/EDUCAUSE Update".

In November of 2006, Brian Hawkins, EDUCAUSE President, announced his plans to retire from the presidency of EDUCAUSE at the end of the 2007•2008 academic year. At the 2007 EDUCAUSE Annual Conference, he was asked to share the important lessons he has learned in his nearly 40-year career in higher education regarding management, leadership, and professional life. In this 42-minute podcast of that address, entitled "Learning To Drive (and Other Lessons Learned Along the Way)", he discusses issues including personnel management, professional development, and how to map a course for good leadership and a successful career.

A Federal Register Notice has been published for the Department of Homeland Security's "Information Technology (IT) Security Essential Body of Knowledge (EBK): A Competency and Functional Framework for IT Security Workforce Development." The deadline for comments is December 7, 2007.

According to the Notice:

More information, including a downloadable version of the IT Security EBK, is available at http://www.us-cert.gov/ITSecurityEBK/

This year's ALT-C conference in Nottingham proved, as usual, a highly engaging conference. The theme, "Beyond Control", generated some very interesting debates around user behaviours and digital literacies, and I was lucky to be present at Dylan Wiliam's stimulating keynote on Tuesday.

Dylan's background in assessment and evidence-informed policy and practice led him to focus on raising achievement in the classroom by creating "learning power environments", drawing on a rich vein of educational research. He looked in detail at the potential afforded by increasingly sophisticated response systems, that are capable of delivering rapid, aggregated, feedback and information on whole-class performance to instructors. He calls these systems "teacher-mediated classroom aggregation technologies". Such systems can help teachers to create excellent conditions for learning, by boosting feedback loops and promoting learner engagement. Dylan emphasised throughout that students' motivation and engagement is essential: "Teachers don't create learning: learners do".

Workshop notes and resources from the session I ran on Wednesday, "Runaway Objects: Preserving Our Digital Belongings", are now available on the Runaway Objects wiki.

I've included the list of proposed research projects compiled by participants, and a bunch of references and resources. Creating an account at the wiki will enable you to edit pages and add your own comments and suggestions for relevant research techniques, "methodologically interesting" projects to check out, and further reading.

The workshop was aimed specially at new researchers. We discussed issues around the proliferation of "digital belongings" (personally meaningful digital artefacts) in our lives, looked at some relevant qualitative / quantitative methods, and brainstormed relevant issues and research approaches. Despite the 9am start-time, we had a good group (with a diverse background in HE, FE and healthcare / social care) and an excellent session. Thanks to everyone for generously contributing your thoughts and ideas!