Bb World '08 - Part Two

I wanted to continue with some more of my thoughts about BbWorld '08. Throughout all four of the tracks, there was one key message. It is amazing how so many individuals with different experiences and backgrounds can submit presentations which all seemingly meet the theme!

Ideas into Action

"Ideas into Action", the conference byline, was a key idea throughout all of the individual presentations. Much of the BbWorld '08 left the attendee with a feeling of "Okay, I have all of these Web 2.0 tools - now what?!?" As an example, here are some of the sample presentation titles:

• Web 2.0: Learn. Connect. Share
• The Online Walking Tutorial: Using Google Maps in a Geo-Notepadding Assessment Tool
• Wikis and Blogs Demystified: A "Non-techie" Approach to Collaborative Thinking Tools
• Active Learning Using Technology
  
  

And these are just samples from the first half of day one! So how do we put our ideas into action? It turns out that almost all presenters simply felt that usage of the tools as a fundamental part of your course design, rather than a flashy addon, as well as instructor use and buy-in, is all that is required to engage your users.

BbWorld '08

In July I had the opportunity to attend the Blackboard users conference, named BbWorld '08, in Las Vegas. BbWorld is a conference where most of the sessions are designed and led by individual or teams of Blackboard users throughout the world, and from all fields: corporate, K-12, and higher ed. The conference began with an engaging presentation by Steve Wozniak, of Apple fame. Meeting him was certainly exciting! The following day, Michael Chasen, CEO of Blackboard, utilized several Web 2.0 tools throughout his keynote speech (twittering his presentation while presenting (and taking audience feedback)...very interesting!), as well as debuting Blackboard's next platform, entitled "Project NG".

I would like to share a few of the key ideas I took away from the conference and presentations I attended during the three-day conference.

1. Assess

Assessment methods encompassed an entire track of the conference (the others were Manage, Engage, and K-12). This means that over 35 of the conference's 150 sessions were dedicated exclusively on assessment. I believe that the best takeaway from these sessions was information on alternative methods of assessment. One session dealt with e-Portfolios. As an aside, check out Kadoo for an awesome take on K-12 portfolios. Another discussed small-group discussions virtually to supplement large classroom activities. Still another pre-conference session discussed in vivid detail methods of assessing role-playing in a virtual world.

These are just a few of the big ideas I left Las Vegas with in July. Looking forward to BbWorld '09!

P.S. - Here's some of my conference swag - a Kadoo Weepul!