Panel: February 2009 Archives

I will be attending and participating as a panelist at the Chronicle of Higher Eduction Technology Forum in April.  I will be part of the panel, From Eager Applicant to Generous Graduate: Managing the Student Life Cycle. From the event's page:

Technology is reshaping college admissions, course-management systems are making it possible to detect students in academic trouble before it gets too deep, and development offices are creating social networks that energize alumni giving. But not every high-tech strategy pays off for colleges. This session will highlight expensive pitfalls as well as rewarding opportunities.

I am really looking forward to being a part of this and to be simply attending the event. I am honored to be a part of the panel and for being asked to participate.

Moderator:

• Jeffrey J. Selingo, The Chronicle of Higher Education

Panelists:

• Stephanie Balmer, dean of admissions and financial aid, Dickinson College
• John Campbell, associate vice president for information technology, Purdue University
• Cole W. Camplese, director, Education Technology Services, Pennsylvania State University at University Park
• Andrew Shaindlin, executive director, Caltech Alumni Association

I have been invited to participate on a panel at the College of Information Sciences and Technology's Graduate Symposium.  I'll share time with folks from higher education and industry to discuss and debate the role of social media in teaching, learning, and research. It will be fun going back and participating in an event from my old stomping grounds! From the Symposium site:

Collaboration and community are key characteristics of Web 2.0 technologies. These social mediating services have garnered considerable usage. One new form of social communication on the Web is micro-blogging, using Web services such as Twitter, Jaiku, Facebook (status postings), Pownce, and FriendFeed. Micro-blogging is a form of communication in which users can describe things of interest and express attitudes that they are willing to share with others in short posts (i.e., micro-blogs) distributed by instant messages, mobile phones, email, or the Web. These micro-blogs are short comments usually delivered to a network of associates.

Micro-blogging is new means of communication, allowing people to share these thoughts almost anywhere (i.e., while driving, getting coffee, or sitting at their computer) to almost anyone connected (e.g., Web, cellular phone, IM, email) on a scale that has not been seen in past. While the shortness of the micro-blog (usually limited to about 140 characters) keeps people from writing long thoughts, it is precisely the micro part that makes these blogs unique from other communication mediums like blogs, Webpages, and online reviews. In short, these micro-blogs are immediate, ubiquitous, and scalable. Since they are online, they are also typically accessible by anyone with an Internet connection.

There are also archival in the sense that these micro-blogs permanently exist and are searchable via Web search engines and other services. In this panel, we will examine micro-blogs as utterances and expressions and their possible long term effect on the way we communicate.

After the event I will be sure to post thoughts and a reflection.