IACON 2008

A small group from Distance Learning attended the annual Iowa Conference on Distance Education sponsored by IDLA and IACT. So many acronyms, so little time. It is a smaller conference, but right here in downtown CR! Presentations and key notes spoke on a range of hot topics in distance education (Web 2.0, Second Life, Engaging Learners, Supporting Struggling Students, Tools for Educators, Digital Story Telling, and many more).

I'm not always the most graceful social butterfly, so conferences help me break out of my box a bit. I meet some people, I learn from them. It's a good thing. Here are some items I found interesting.

• "School is where young people go to watch old people work" -- I'm not sure who this quote is attributed to, but the speaker was making a point. Not that this is the way it should be, of course.
• MeBeam.com -- This is a crazy simple video chat site. Just type in an agreeable room name and you are connected to anyone else who typed in that name.
  
• Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson - A cute little tale about change and how we choose to cope with it.
• PSA Videos -- 30 second segments packed full of useful and important information. This idea will likely make its way into my video series for online learners.