CU Online's Spring Symposium Turns it up to 11
By David Thomas
CU Online
What can you do to improve on something that's worked well in the past?
That's the dilemma we face each year when planning the CU Online Spring Symposium. When the event started six years ago, it was easy. Most everyone was new to the idea of online learning and providing an all-day program the week after finals was as simple as dialing up a few experts and seasoned faculty and showing off a couple of new technologies.
As the years have gone by, our online faculty has grown more savvy about new technology and experienced with online instruction. Keeping the symposium fresh, interesting and relevant has evolved into a annual challenge.
Reflecting on our 10-Year Anniversary this past fall, we found our unlikely inspiration for the 2007 Spring Symposium in a classic bit of filmmaking. For anyone who has seen "This is Spinal Tap", a rock reference to 11 needs no explanation. For everyone else, just imagine a clueless rock star explaining to an interviewer why he has an amp with 11 as the top of the volume scale rather than a 10. With this feature the rocker claims you can always turn it up one more when you needed that "extra push off the cliff."
This year, we decided to take the Symposium to 11.
In addition to serving core faculty interests in technology such as the new BlackBoard release, an overview of classroom clicker programs on the health sciences and downtown campuses and information about using Breeze Web conference or Wimba voice tools in the online class, we worked hard to bring a diversity of new content to the event.
Sessions covering benchmarking of online courses, top online learning research findings, building online communities and the use of games to teach social messages helped fill out the day's agenda.
Ian Bogost, a professor in computational humanities at Georgia Tech provided a heady and entertaining keynote on the subject of "serious games" and the idea of procedural rhetoric. Bogost urged the audience to look at computers as something special that can engage people in a thoughtful dialog with material in a way that more traditional media cannot. Whether games or simulations, Bogost sees the opportunity for computers to enhance persuasion and education.
And, what would the symposium be without a little fun? Prizes, top technology trends and a Mocukmentary of our own help keep the mood lively. The video short "Going to 11: This is Mick Beckham" followed the first week on the job of a new CU Online employee who just happened to be a has been rock star. Not only did the video help set an fun tone for the rest of the conference, it showed off many of high-definition production capabilities developed in the CU Online department over the past few years. (See a lower resolution version of the video at: http://video.cudenver.edu/departments/cuonline/symposium_07/Goingto11.wmv (It's still a large file, so it take a while to load!)
With the 2007 symposium behind us, what's next for 2008? You'll just have to wait till next year to see how we try to take it to 12!
Above: Adam Swietek and Ben Garst demonstrate Guitar Hero at the CU Online spring symposium. (Photo by Anna Thai)