Which conferences do you attend (regularly)?

Which conferences do you attend (regularly)?
As I am packing to go to the American Educational Research Association (AERA), I began thinking about what conferences other “educational technologists,” “instructional technologists,” “instructional designers,” “trainers,” “instructional developers,” “elearning professionals,” and so forth attend. Please consider completing this brief survey, sharing it with others, and I’ll post the results here later.

Access the form here

Or below

AECT 2011 – What we can learn from student stories…

Here are the slides for the presentation Joni and I are doing on student stories.

Division of Distance Learning Awards

DDL Crystal Award

Purpose
To recognize innovative and outstanding multimedia-based distance learning courses (online, CD-ROM/DVD or video-based) and distance learning projects (single modules, lessons, workshops, something less than an entire course).

Deadline
August 15th 2011 midnight MDT

Evaluation
Submissions will be evaluated by a team of reviewers using the following criteria.

–Used in the last 3 years
–Innovative and creative use of the medium
–Quality  and depth of the Project Description Summary
–Clear purpose
–Quality of production
–Evidence of successful utilization and implementation
–Evidence of achievement of goals and objectives
–Grounded in scholarly, professional literature

Submission
Email a project description summary (no more than a 1000 words in .doc or .pdf format) describing the project (while addressing the evaluation criteria above when possible) with a URL and guest access to your multimedia based submission. In the email, include a statement describing why your project should be considered for a Crystal Award.  Send materials/inquires to Patrick Lowenthal Patrick.lowenthal@ucdenver.edu

Award
The award will be given during a special recognition and showcase session at the Annual AECT Convention.  A letter of recognition from DDL will be sent to the winner’s supervisor by a member of the DDL Board of Directors.

AECT has a number of other awards as well.

A complete list is available online.

The Labels We Use and Why They Matter

Brent Wilson and I wrote a paper in 2008 about AECT’s redefinition of the field. It was originally supposed to be included in the definition and terminology issue of TechTrends. However, due to a mix up, it was not included in that issue.  But it is finally published now online (at Springer) and is included in the Jan/Feb 2010 issue of TechTrends. A pre-print of the article can be accessed online.

Abstract of the article:
AECT has recently (yet again!) redefined our field, reverting back to the use of the term educational technology. We believe this recent change is problematic for a number of reasons, but primarily because of the weak rationale offered for the change. This change affects how external audiences view our profession and is likely to confuse practitioners in corporate and higher education settings in particular. We offer a review of job postings, program titles, and listserv discussions to support our case. The labels we use to define ourselves are critically important – and we hope to see a stronger case made for changes for our foundational definitions in the future.

I have a history of focusing on how language effects the things we do–from my Master’s thesis in religion that focused on how the language of the time shaped China’s reception of Buddhism to papers presented at AERA 2009 and AECT 2009 that focused on how online discourse  communities are shaped by the language we use. While a totally different focus, John W. White and I published a paper on the language used in educational reform.  This article can be accessed at the eJournal of Educational Policy. We have another article under review which focuses on academic literacy.