Five Takeaways from ELI 2014 in New Orleans

An academic IT conference in New Orleans begs to be told as a story.

But those stories are mostly about good food and good company. (Beignets!)

The actual “what I learned at ELI 2014” squeezes nicely into a list––or rather, a table.

I personally found five presentations (panels, presentations, poster sessions) compelling. Happily, some of the most expert presenters generously shared their visuals–as Powerpoints or PDF’s.

Five Presentations and Some Resources
ONE
{title}	Extreme Makeover - Course Edition: Inspiring Faculty to Innovate and Collaborate in Instructional Design
{what it was}	SFSU instructional designers created a course-redesign program to efficiently support 25 faculty at a time.
{why it’s cool}	Staff used a robust and appealing instructional design process for the faculty workshop itself. It wasn’t a question of telling faculty how to teach; rather, the staff actually gave the instructors a positive learning experience and the means to transfer that experience to their own courses.
{the files}	The Workshop Process.The Faculty Takeaways.
TWO
{title}	Google Glass: Implications for Teaching and Learning in Music and Digital Storytelling
{what it was}	Two different use cases of Google Glass in higher education: one liberal arts, one for professional education (communication studies and orchestral conducting, respectively).
{why it’s cool}	The two use cases seem indicative of broad types of education (liberal arts vs. professional training), and so though the cases are specific, the implications seem broad. The liberal arts use of Google Glass involves capturing video of first-person experience and then subjecting it to critical thought and reflection through the process of editing––much as one does with prose writing. The professional education use of Google Glass involves allowing the neophyte’s POV to be captured via video and then subject to critique, analysis and supportive mentoring by an expert.
{the files}	A Liberal Arts Use Case.[As of writing, the Professional Education Use Case PPT was not posted.]
THREE
{title}	Diving Deep into Data: Motivations, Perceptions, and Learning in Minnesota MOOCs
{what it was}	Careful analysis discloses that MOOC users fall into two groups: grazers and strivers. Strivers work hard to overcome the inherent obstacles of the format. But English language skills are an important pre-requisite, and their lack is one of the biggest obstacles to learner success in a MOOC.
{why it’s cool}	Careful data collection around MOOCs can actually tell us something about who benefits––so we can make inferences about why and even plan the broad distribution of educational materials accordingly.
{the files}	The Powerpoint.
FOUR
{title}	Assessing Student Learning through the Use of Digital Video and Data Mining
{what it was}	“Real-Time Mining of Student Notes and Questions” by Perry J. Samson, a meteorology professor. Samson showed how the LectureTools application let him build assessment into his classroom presentations so he could determine what teaching students needed.
{why it’s cool}	The instructor can “assess as he goes,” and the students can review material later, including taking their own notes and sharing notes.
{the files}	As of writing, the PPT was not shared.
FIVE
{title}	Moving Math Online: Technology Solutions
{what it was}	A straightforward workflow for creating online learning materials that include handwritten equations.
{why it’s cool}	The approach supports many technologies.
{the files}	The Tool Handout.