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Why You Should Join the ITC

Posted on September 3, 2025 by barrydahl
  • IF you work at a community college or other type of 2-year school, and
  • IF your job is related to online education in any way,
  • THEN you and your organization should be members of the Instructional Technology Council.

The ITC is an affiliated council of the AACC, the American Association of Community Colleges. They are THE organization with the closest ties to online education at two-year schools.

Many of my regular readers are already members of the ITC, because that’s where you and I met. I attended my first ITC eLearning conference in February 2004 in San Diego. Now, more than 21 years later, I’m still a huge advocate for the ITC. I hear that the 2026 conference will be in Austin, Texas in February. If there’s any way that I can make it to Austin to see dozens of good friends, I’ll be there.

There is no other online education organization that is devoted to professional development of community college educators. This is THE ONE! If you work at a 2-year school and you support one of the organizations that primarily focuses on 4-year schools and grad schools, then you are doing this wrong. Very wrong. Sorry, not sorry.

Annual membership dues are only $520 for public institutions that primarily offer a two-year associate’s degree or diploma. With that institutional membership you can have an unlimited number of employees with access to ITC services such as webinars, podcasts, Tuesday Talks, member pricing for the annual conference and much more. When I was on the Board I argued unsuccessfully that the dues were too cheap. Being the lowest cost provider in a space is not often the best place to be, but 15 years later their dues are still very low. You’d pay much more for a membership to any other organization and that org would NOT be focused on two-year schools.

After that first conference in 2004, it took me a while to return. I was a presenter at the 2007 ITC conference in Albuquerque. Those were the heydays of Web 2.0 tools, and my presentation was a hit, if memory serves. That exposure led to me being elected to the Board of Directors with my first term starting in summer 2007. I attended my first board meeting that June in Annapolis.

7 ITC Board members with a few family members on a boat in Annapolis harbor
Part of the ITC Board of Directors in Annapolis, June 2007

One year later at the conference in St. Pete Beach, they asked me to do the opening keynote. I was honored to be chosen for my first time on the main stage. I forget who the other keynote speakers were, except for Myk Garn who I met at the conference. We’ve been friends and collaborators ever since.

Barry Dahl on stage for 2008 keynote at ITC e-Learning
St. Pete Beach Opening Keynote
Barry Dahl and Myk Garn reunited at D2L Fusion in 2022
Barry and Myk Garn in Boston, 2022

My presentation that year was my first offering of something that became a standard for me at other venues: “eLearning Mythbusters.” At that time clickers were all the rage, so I used them to get a couple hundred audience members engaged in deciding (kinda) whether many of the things that people were saying about eLearning were truths or myths. It was fun and led to great conversations.

one of the slides with clicker results from Mythbusters keynote. The question was whether it is a myth or reality that online faculty work harder than on-campus faculty. 60% said that was a reality, with 40% choosing myth.

One of the things that I brought to the board was an awareness of a younger crop of movers and shakers in EdTech. Starting with the 2008 conference we started bringing in more cutting edge speakers, younger speakers, think more like new school than old school. For example, here’s the list of keynoters for three of the four years I was on the board:

  • Bryan Alexander 2009
  • Brian Lamb 2009
  • Jim Groom 2010
  • Jared Stein 2010
  • Nancy White 2010
  • Alan Levine 2011
  • Maria Anderson 2011
  • Cole Camplese 2011
  • David Wiley 2011
Bryan Alexander during his keynote
Bryan Alexander Keynote
Brian Lamb taking a photo with his phone during his keynote
Brian Lamb Keynote
a collage of the 4 keynote speakers at e-Learning 2011
2011 Keynote Speakers

I was also honored to serve as a faculty member for the ITC Leadership Academy. The highlight of this experience was the 2010 Academy held in Portland, Maine. A great group of students/leaders and a faculty made up of most of my favorite board members. The ITC Leadership Academy is still going strong today and I still recommend it unequivocally for any young and inspiring eLearning leaders in the two-year schools.

Leadership Academy goes boating
2010 Leadership Academy class
Friends and Board Members

I also had the pleasure of being on the debate stage twice for the ITC Grand Debate at the conference. In Portland in 2009, I gave the con argument for the debate topic, Resolved: Second Life will be the Second Coming for Higher Education (actually it was: Virtual Worlds are the Second Life for Online Education). Second Life was all the rage, but it also seemed so fake and unnecessary (to me anyway). You can read more about it in this old post on this site. My favorite line from the debate was and still is: “Does FERPA apply to a furry?”

The second time at the Grand Debate was in 2017 in St. Pete Beach. My opponent was a delightful faculty member from St. Petersburg College and we went toe-to-toe on the topic of whether online faculty could be (or should be allowed to be?) online-only, in other words, whether it was appropriate for faculty to work remotely from the campus. Having managed several faculty members who had been doing exactly this for several years, I was happy to take the Pro side of the debate.

Resolved: online faculty should be rooted and engaged in the traditional campus experience. 

The debate moderator was my friend and ITC Board Member Michael Catchpole, which was also the case in 2009. Michael was an excellent moderator and a fixture at ITC conference debates for so many years. Inside Higher Ed wrote a piece about the Debate prior to it occurring. A highlight (in my mind) was when Michael read my bio during the introductions. The Orange Menace had just been inaugurated about a month earlier, so my intro had a definite Trump angle. It included thing such as “Barry is really, really, really, really, really smart, or at least that’s what people are saying!” and “One of his latest campus projects is to build a wall around the administration offices, and have the faculty union pay for it!” Good times, much less fashy than we find ourselves here in 2025.

I absolutely won the debate based on audience vote, but my opponent was so awesome that Michael declared it a draw (she was just stuck with the weaker position). I couldn’t argue with him and probably would have done the same thing in his shoes. Of course my position was proven as superior just a couple years later when COVID required everyone to teach remotely. The argument in the debate was that they couldn’t effectively do their jobs as faculty members. Everyone knew that was bullshit, they just didn’t want them to do this job remotely.

Fast forward to ITC eLearning 2022 in Las Vegas where I had the honor being the keynote speaker. My presentation title was “Is Online Education Dead? Or Just Dying?” You can learn much more about this session in two posts on this site: part one and part two. After starting the session reading my own obituary, we continued to examine what’s dead and what’s dying about online education and EdTech more generally. Lots of fun material to work with in this arena, IMO.

Movie poster of Barry Dahl with the D2L Moose: Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust. Is Online Education Dead?

Other eLearning conference highlights include:

  • 2012 Long Beach: some of my best friends and I did a Digital Story Slam breakout session, with each presenter using a different digital technique/tool for their story. Co-presenters included Michael Amick, Kari Frisch, Audrey Williams, Kyle Mackie, Howard Beattie, and Matt Evins. It was a blast.
Part of the panel of presenters for the Digital Story Slam in Long Beach
Howard Beattie telling his digital story in 2012 in Long Beach
  • 2010 Fort Worth: the most fun was a dinner with a bunch of friends and the “Persian Jokes” that were told by our new friend who was originally from Iran. The conference was great, but that evening spent with so many smart people was very memorable.
  • 2008 in St. Pete Beach I held a beach party for members from my North Central district, along with other friends and Board members. The best part of ITC is getting to know all the great people.
2008 Beach Party
2012 with Friends in Long Beach

2004 in San Diego north county: Quality Matters was just finishing their first year of their FIPSE grant and they held a half-day workshop where they shared version one of their course quality rubric. I took that back to Lake Superior College where we adopted a similar project and process that met our needs for peer review of online courses. That process is till in place today, called POET (Program for Online Excellence in Teaching.) That program alone has been worth much more than all the dues paid over the years to ITC.

Okay, okay, I know this is another long one, but I could go on and on about the ITC. Supporting this organization is important to the future of online education in two-years schools. It’s Barry Approved!

Filed under: Conference, Higher Ed, Online learning | Tagged: , , , , | Leave a comment »

Virtual Victory: Why Online Education Conferences Should Go Digital

Posted on August 15, 2023 by barrydahl

Introduction

Online education conferences are a great way to bring together educators, researchers, and practitioners to share ideas, learn from one another, and collaborate on projects. However, there has been a debate about whether these conferences should be held virtually or face-to-face (F2F). In this blog post, we will explore the reasons why online education conferences should be virtual rather than F2F. By “we,” I mean me and my writing assistant who’s artificially very smart!

abstract AI-generated art with the appearance of a virtual network of connections

Cost Savings

One of the main advantages of virtual conferences is the cost savings they offer. Attendees and organizers can save on travel and accommodation expenses, which can be significant for F2F events. This can make virtual conferences more affordable and accessible for a wider range of participants. Additionally, organizers can save on venue rental and other logistical costs associated with hosting a F2F event. These cost savings can be passed on to attendees in the form of lower registration fees, making virtual conferences an attractive option for budget-conscious participants. After all, money doesn’t grow on trees, and neither do PD opportunities!

Environmental Impact

Virtual conferences also have a reduced environmental impact compared to F2F events. By eliminating the need for travel, virtual conferences can significantly reduce carbon emissions. This is an important consideration for organizations and individuals who are committed to reducing their carbon footprint and promoting sustainability. In a way, virtual conferences are a form of virtue signalling; Win-Win!

Accessibility and Inclusivity

Virtual conferences can be more accessible and inclusive than F2F events. Attendees with disabilities or mobility issues may find it easier to participate in a virtual conference from the comfort of their own home. Additionally, virtual conferences can be more inclusive for those who may face financial or logistical barriers to attending a F2F event, such as the cost of travel or the need to arrange childcare. Attending a professional educators conference in your jammies just might be one of the best life hacks!

Flexibility and Scalability

Virtual conferences offer a high degree of flexibility and scalability. They can accommodate larger numbers of attendees than F2F events, and can easily adapt to changing circumstances. For example, if an in-person conference needs to be canceled or postponed due to unforeseen events, it can be relatively easy to switch to a virtual format. It logically follows then that if your virtual conference needs to be canceled, you can still say you did it anyway!

Convenience

Virtual conferences are also very convenient for attendees. Participants can join from any location with an internet connection, without the need to travel or take time off work. This can make it easier for busy professionals to fit conference attendance into their schedules. For the ultimate in convenience, sit in the parking lot of your local convenience store and leech off of their Wi-Fi during the conference!

Effectiveness

Virtual conferences can be just as effective as F2F events in achieving their goals. Attendee satisfaction and engagement can be high, with many participants reporting that they find virtual conferences to be valuable learning experiences. If your virtual conference goals aren’t met, just change the goals to match your outcomes; everybody does it!

Conclusion

There are many compelling reasons why online education conferences should be virtual rather than F2F. By embracing virtual formats, online education conferences can continue to provide valuable opportunities for learning and collaboration while overcoming many of the challenges associated with F2F events. Just for transparency, I confess that the only sentences in this post that I wrote myself are those with exclamation points at the end of each paragraph!

Yours, futuristically (courtesy of Vana.com)

Filed under: AI & Chatbots, Conference, Online learning | Leave a comment »

One Mind Opines about 20 Million Minds

Posted on January 9, 2013 by barrydahl

20 million minds foundationOn Jan 8, 2013, an organization called Twenty Million Minds Foundation held a one-day conference/ symposium/ discussion/ thingy called “re:boot California Higher Education.” Check out Audrey Watters’ Storify about the whole day.

There were several things that struck me about the conversation throughout the day. I’ll pick five of the things that were said during the day and give my own point or counterpoint.

#1: Has online learning growth been faculty-driven?

Bob Samuels is the President of the University Council (California-based) of the American Federation of Teachers. You can also read his reflections on the day’s events. I have no bone to pick with Dr. Samuels, and I agree with him that the idea that the growth to online learning has NOT been faculty-driven. He says “this is all about reducing costs and making money.” Let me clarify that I partially agree with him but that I disagree with him in total. I agree with him that at the research universities – this move to online has NOT been faculty-driven. The research universities have, for the most part, been brought into the online arms race kicking and screaming. Let’s face it. The online learning growth over the past 15 tears has mainly been fueled by community colleges that want to increase access to education while growing their enrollments and by the for-profit providers who want to increase their profits by growing enrollments. Neither of those two things are especially important on the campuses of our major research universities.

Where I disagree with Dr. Samuels is when it comes to community colleges. In my experience in Minnesota, and in many other places where I’ve travelled to connect and share with people involved with e-learning; a great deal of the growth in online learning has been faculty-driven. I know a large number of faculty members who have embraced the advantages of online learning while putting up with the disadvantages of such, without any coercion from the dreaded college administrators. The point of this is something that was brought up several times during the day; namely that we cannot paint with such a broad brush to think that there is one problem here and that there will be one solution. Higher education is NOT a single industry. Community Colleges and R1 universities are as different as night and day.

I think the following tweet sums it up nicely:

Regarding Dr. Samuel’s other point that online ed is “all about reducing costs,” I would have to agree that it seems to be coming down to that during the past year or so. For 15 years of online learning growth, I was never involved in serious conversations about how this would dramatically reduce the cost of providing higher education opportunities. The main focus was increased access to education and flexibility to meet modern lifestyles and schedules.  But now, just lately, cost reduction seems to be the major focus. I suppose we can blame the governors who seem to think that a bachelor’s degree should cost no more than $10,000, or maybe we should blame some of the for-profits who (for a while) were making huge profits (and therefore had low costs relative to revenues generated) before they started getting slapped around by Senator Harkin and the like. Whatever the many causes of this shift in the conversation, this is not a good shift. If we focus on online education as being the way to reduce costs, we will certainly lose our way as a global leader in the education market.

#2: Will the best MOOC win?

I believe the question was asked by Lillian Taiz, President of the California Faculty Association (apologies if it was someone else). Her question related to the MOOC craze, and whether the logical extension (my words, not hers) of all of this would be a single course by a single provider for each needed course title. Thus, will there eventually only be one (presumably the best) Intro to Psychology course, taught by the best instructor in the world, and all the students in the world will learn from the feet of this 21st century reincarnation of Socrates.

I’ve been thinking about this question a lot lately, ever since the MOOC craze kicked in. As you can see in the embedded tweet, I remember this same question being asked about 15 years ago. I was a faculty member in Minnesota and attended a state-wide Community College faculty meeting at Normandale CC in Bloomington, MN. There were many big fears about this unknown thing called online learning, and one of the biggest fears was that it would put everyone out of a job. “Why would they take my accounting course when they can take that course from Harvard or Yale or whoever has the best course and instructor?” Some of us thought that those concerns were overblown, but there definitely seemed to be more people who believed it would happen to them than those who didn’t believe it.

During the ensuing 15 years, there was nary a glimpse of anything close to that happening, and for lots of reasons that I won’t go into at this time. Suffice it to say that anyone who wanted to teach online was able to do so and have full or nearly full classes to teach – at least in my experience. And now all of the sudden, the MOOC thing seems to be turning that on its head. If I taught a course on Artificial Intelligence and saw that Thrun and Norvig attracted 160,000 students to their MOOC of the same flavor when first offered at Stanford, I might be just a little bit nervous about my job security.  My advice is to not progress beyond the stage of being a “little bit nervous.”

In the end, will the best MOOC win and everyone else die? NO – not even close.

#3: Is Bigger Always Better?

This one gets a lot of play. Just remember that there’s always more than one side to consider. Sure, Ng would need 250 years to “reach” as many as he did in the MOOC. The difference between “reaching” and teaching is something that definitely needs to be part of this discussion. The educational opportunity provided to the 100,000 students in the MOOC is very different from the 400 students on campus. The quote above that talks about 250 years is based on some media reports of the AI MOOC enrolling 100,000 students. Other reports say it was as much as 160,000 students – which would take 400 years of the small (400 is NOT small) classes to match.

But he also would need about 3,000 years to see as many of his students fail (not succeed or complete) his course as he did in the MOOC. BTW, 3,000 years is just a wild guess – but I feel pretty confident about it.

Okay, I’m running out of time here. Three is less than five. I’ll get around to a second post in the near future with a few more items from re:boot.

Filed under: Conference, Higher Ed, MOOC, Twitter | Comments Off on One Mind Opines about 20 Million Minds

D2L FUSION12 – Guide for First-Timers

Posted on July 9, 2012 by barrydahl

Are you a first-time D2L FUSION attendee? Hang onto your hats. It’s always a blast. But that’s not what this about.

More importantly, are you a first-time visitor to Sun Diego? That was not a typo. Just to get you in the mood, click the play button below.

I lived there for about a year when I was on a bit of a walkabout between high school and college. I’ve visited many times since and it is absolutely one of my favorite cities. San Diego probably has the most stable climate of any place I’ve ever lived or visited (okay, in the U.S., that is). Not too hot, not too cold. Want snow? Don’t go there. Want 100 degrees? Don’t go there. According to Wikipedia, San Diego gets an average 41 days per year where some precipitation falls, compared to 110 days for the rest of the United States. Sun Diego gets 267 sunny days per year on average (after the morning fog burns off), compared to 213 elsewhere. In any given year, you can expect 2 or 3 days when the temperature gets above 90 °F (32 °C), which is 36 days below the U.S. average. You can expect zero days below 32 °F (0 °C) in San Diego, while the national average is 88 days per year. Most importantly for FUSION on July 16-20, average high temperatures in July  are 76 °F (24 °C).  One week out from the start of the conference and the forecasted temps are for a high of 70 and a low of 65, with a 10% chance of rain.

The conference hotel is located right by the San Diego harbor, very close to an area known as the Embarcadero. Here’s a few things you might want to check out while you’re there.

For those of you who will be transportation-challenged (no wheels):

  1. Petco Park – Padres vs. Astros – Monday night social event for FUSION12! (.3 mile) I’m a huge Padres fan, but I’ve never watched a game from the Western Metal Supply Building in left field. That’s where you’ll find me on Monday night.
  2. Harbor Cruise – (1.4 miles) Tuesday night social event with a Sunset Cruise and dinner!
  3. Tin Fish Restaurant – (.4 mile) Very close to Petco Park and Omni Hotel. Best fish tacos ever!!Tin Fish - tacos
  4. Gaslamp Quarter – (.5 mile to the start – many blocks wide and long) Get insulted at Dick’s Last Resort, or check out House of Blues. I plan to spend some time at The Tilted Kilt just outside the right field entrance to Petco Park (map) – if you go there, you’ll know why it’s my favorite.
  5. Ferry to Coronado and see the Hotel Del. This is also one of the cleanest and most picturesque of the beaches in the area. Take the 15-minute ferry ride from landing behind  the Convention Ctr (.2 mile from hotel to ferry landing) and then in Coronado take the trolley (or a cab) from the ferry landing to the beach and hotel all the way cross town. If you have wheels it’s only 4-5 miles over the Coronado Bridge and then explore on your own.Hotel Del
  6. USS Midway Aircraft Carrier – (1.3 miles) Remember the Tar Heels vs. Spartans basketball game? This is the place. Take a tour and you have a good chance of having a docent who actually served his country on the Midway.
  7. Martime Museum and Star of India sailboat – (2 miles) I’m not a big museum guy, but this could be right up your alley.
  8. Tool box skyline – You’ll see this from the harbor cruise, or just by walking around. Flat head screwdriver, Phillips, hex-shaped Allen wrenches, maybe a chisel, maybe some Vice Grips.
  9. Kansas City Barbeque – (1 mile) This was the setting for sleazy bar scene in the movie Top Gun. Odd place, but fun. Top Gun barbeque
  10. Seaport Village and the Embarcadero – (.4 mile to 1 mile) Still there on Friday, 7/20? If so, the Peking Acrobats perform at 7:30 ($$$) at Marina Park South (Note, the hotel is located very close to the Embarcadero Marina South Park and there is also a North Park very close by (.8 mile). There’s usually interesting things happening there, and several homeless people to dodge. Seaport Village is less sketchy.)

For those with transportation – or willing to just jump in a cab, cost be damned:

  1. San Diego Zoo (3 miles) Yep, still one of the best zoos anywhere.San Diego Zoo koala
  2. Del Mar Race Track – (21 miles) Opening day is Wednesday, July 18. Races start at 2 PM. Attn: Kyle Mackie! The One and Only Truly Fabulous Hat Contest starts 11:30 AM.
  3. San Diego Wild Animal Park (37 miles) Now called the Zoo Safari Park, but I’m staying old school.
  4. La Jolla Beaches– (14 miles) For the rich and famous.
  5. Slater’s 50/50 Burgers by Design – (5 miles) I’ve never been there, but the 50% ground bacon, 50% ground beef burger has captured my attention.
  6. Black’s Beach  – (18 miles) Only for the very adventurous. If you have to ask what that means, don’t go to Black’s Beach!
  7. Balboa Park (2.5 miles) The 2012 Shakespeare Festival runs at Old Globe Theater on Sun, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri nights at 8PM with three choices: Richard III, As You Like It, Inherit the Wind (okay, that’s not by WS).
  8. Mission Beach – (8 miles) This is a very active beach. Lots of people and lots of things going on. Great people watching, too.Stone Brewery
  9. Tijuana – (16 miles) If you have a huge life insurance policy and a death wish, this is a great place to visit. Otherwise, stay away. (Not really joking about this)
  10. Stone Brewery Tour (Escondido – 37 miles) For the beer aficionados, this would be worth the trip. The home of Arrogant Bastard Ale and Ruination IPA.

That should keep you busy. Don’t forget to attend a few sessions at FUSION. Especially mine.

For my last piece of FUSION advice, take your pick from your favorite Sergeant from Hill Street Blues (yes, that was NYC, I know):

  • a) Hey, let’s be careful out there! or
  • b) Let’s do it to them before they do it to us!

NOTE: since no one leaves blog comments any more, I’ve resorted to reposting stuff from other places:

Filed under: Conference, Desire2Learn | 1 Comment »

Discussion Facilitators Wanted at #FUSION12

Posted on June 1, 2012 by barrydahl

Wanted: Discussion Table Facilitators at FUSION12

Added June 21: Thanks to all the volunteers! We are good to go. See you in San Diego.)

Going to #D2L #FUSION12 in beautiful Sun Diego this July? Got something you’d like to talk about? I have about a half dozen spots open for Birds of a Feather discussion leaders on Monday morning, the first day of the conference. The rest of the conference kicks off at 12:50 that day (see schedule here), but we’re going to have 25-minute table discussions from 10:00 to 11:30.

If you would like to host/facilitate one of those tables, we’d love to have you join us for the action. Suggest the topic that you’d like to discuss, and tell me a little about your plan for doing so – and we’ll see how good we can make this. We’re planning to have about 15 tables and up to 150 people in attendance.

It’ll go something like this:

  • 10:00-10:25  First discussion
  • 10:25-10:30  Switch tables
  • 10:30-10:55  Second discussion
  • 10:55-11:00  Switch tables
  • 11:00-11:25  Third discussion

Just to be clear, you’ll lead the same discussion topic three times, with different people each time. I’ll come up with some sort of reward for you if you volunteer to be one of the table leaders. Email me to let me know that you’re interested and also give me one or more ideas for discussion topics that you’d be willing to lead. TIA.

Filed under: Conference, Desire2Learn | Comments Off on Discussion Facilitators Wanted at #FUSION12

Student Loan Debt Triples Overnight

Posted on October 28, 2011 by barrydahl

TRIPLED!! Or so you’d be led to believe if you were in the room at #WCET11 when Josh Jarrett of the Gates Foundation was speaking about High Quality Online Institutions that Scale. Apparently he said something that led to this tweet.

http://twitter.com/#!/jkelleher/status/129648228726603776

Which was then re-tweeted. Then I saw it and tried to set the record straight (falling on deaf ears, no doubt), as follows:

http://twitter.com/#!/barrydahl/status/129661613115588609

http://twitter.com/#!/barrydahl/status/129662673997660161

I learn a great deal from my Twitter network every day. But I also see a great deal of misinformation – mostly from the twitter feed at conferences.

For the record, student loan debt hasn’t yet topped the 1 trillion dollar mark – although it is expected to do so before the end of the year. The current (10/28/11) amount is $952+ billion, according the the Student Loan Debt Clock.

“Alarming stats” indeed! Alarming because they’re just not even close to the truth.

 

Filed under: Conference, Twitter | Tagged: | Comments Off on Student Loan Debt Triples Overnight

2010 Sloan report: Say What?

Posted on August 5, 2011 by barrydahl

It started out as an innocuous tweet from #DTL2011 by @Quinnovator, as shown below:

I have no doubt that Clark Quinn heard this directly from the presenter’s mouth in a session at the conference. Everyone else in the room heard it too. Because it was retweeted many times (more times than the 6 shown above), many other people around the Twitterverse saw this stat as well. It was even retweeted by the U.S. Dept. of Ed.

Only one problem. It’s not accurate. Don’t blame Clark Quinn for spreading misinformation. Don’t even blame the session presenter, whoever that was. The blame for the misinformation goes directly to the Sloan Consortium, and the way they chose to represent and describe some of the data from their 2010 report – Class Differences: Online Education in the United States.

I’m guessing that the conference presenter got his information from page 12 of the report which includes the table shown below (except for the red graphics that I added).

This table has VERY misleading captions for the last 2 columns. The column in the middle contains the crucial data for this table. The number of students taking at least one online course. The numbers in the next two columns are based on that center column – a) the growth rate from year-to-year in the number of students taking at least ONE online course, and b) the percentage of enrolled students who are taking at least ONE online course.

The caption says: “Online Enrollment as a Percent of Total Enrollment” and for Fall 2009 that would be 29.3%.

NO!! That is totally wrong. If an educator says that online enrollments make up 30% (or even 29.3%) of the total enrollments, then they DON’T mean that 30% of the enrolled students are taking at least one online course.

It doesn’t mean that at all – but now there are hundreds of people out there who think that online learning somehow comprises about 30% of the total course enrollments in the U.S.

Great data table – NOT!!

Filed under: Conference, Online learning | Comments Off on 2010 Sloan report: Say What?

A Note about the Madison Conference

Posted on August 4, 2011 by barrydahl

As I write this, the 27th Annual Conference on Distance Teaching and Learning (#DTL2011) is kicking off with the first day of pre-conference workshops. For several years I was a regular attendee of this fine conference, and I usually was a presenter for these same pre-conf workshops. Many people I know simply refer to DTL as “the Madison conference.”

I stopped attending altogether a few years ago. As the distance learning administrator for a 2-year school in Minnesota (no longer true), I couldn’t justify the cost of the conference given that there is almost nothing there for someone trying to learn new things that apply at 2-year colleges. The conference is very much focused on input from very learned people who hail from research universities (not that there’s anything wrong with that). If you want to sit through sessions with several dozen newly minted (or nearly-minted) PhD’s telling you about their research topic – then this is the place to be. I actually find that stuff to be interesting, but rarely applicable when I would return to the 2-yr campus.

During my last year of attendance, I realized that I was having a hard time finding sessions that were being led by people from community colleges (or other forms of 2-yr schools). So I went through the entire program and took a census. As memory serves, there were 135 different sessions to choose from and SIX (yes, 6) of them had presenters from two-year schools. I’ve done similar checks of the online schedules during each of the past few years and found almost identical results.

I just did it again. Here are the results with total number of sessions followed by 2-yr sessions in paren):

  • Keynotes:  3  (0)
  • Workshops:  20  (0)
  • Demonstrations:  24  (2)
  • Discussions:  32  (1)
  • E-Poster Sessions:  12  (0)
  • Lightning Sessions:  22  (4*)
  • Information Sessions:  64  (3*)
  • VideoShare Sessions:  9  (1)

In total, there are 186 different sessions scheduled at the conference (wow, that’s a lot), and 11 of them (or 9, if I don’t include the generous scoring as mentioned below) come from people at 2-year colleges.

* The asterisks indicate that I included one session that comes from one of the Florida state colleges that are no longer 2-year schools. I included them as 2-year schools since their tradition and experience still mainly lies in that arena.

With other conference choices that are much more relevant to community college people – why would they choose to spend their shrinking budget dollars on attending DTL? 

Don’t get me wrong, someone like keynoter Clark Quinn  will have valuable information and ideas for all attendees, no matter where they’re from. But still, if you want to learn about what’s happening at 2-year campuses (clearly a great source of information about DL), you need to hear from people who work in those schools.

Before I get accused of railing against this conference, let me tell you a couple of things. 1) The people who organize and coordinate DTL each year are absolutely fabulous – I love ’em. I got to know them fairly well during the years that I attended and they are totally first-rate. 2) The DTL conference is a very well-run conference. Good production value (like for keynotes, etc.), great location, friendly people, etc. etc.

In closing, let me suggest a couple of possibilities:

1) DTL should consider a separate track for people from 2-year schools and actively recruit presenters and attendees for these sessions. There needs to be more than 11 sessions sprinkled throughout 186 offerings. I know someone who could help with that task.

2) Failing #1 above, someone should organize an early August e-Learning conference specifically focused on innovations and best practices in the 2-year schools. Again, I know someone who could make this happen (so should I?)

(NOTE: your comments are welcome. I’ll turn off moderation for a day or two to allow immediate throughput.)

Filed under: Conference, Higher Ed, Online learning | 2 Comments »

EDTECH HULK needs some love

Posted on February 22, 2011 by barrydahl

As I write this, the EDTECH HULK only has 40 followers. Come on people, where’s the love for the big green tweeter wearing the purple pants? Several of us at #ITC11 were speculating about who was the David Banner behind the HULK, and although we came up with a list of 6 or 8 possibilities, chances are good that we don’t know who it is. We may never know, which makes it all the more fun.

And it is fun. EDTECH HULK certainly smacks us right on the funny bone. Here are a couple of gems – but you really need to just start following him (her?) and go along for the ride.

(HULK USING IRONY! IN CASE THAT NOT CLEAR! IRONY HARD PULL OFF WHEN SHOUTING EVERYTHING! PEOPLE SEE BIG GREEN HULK! MISS SUBTLETIES! #ITC11)

THAT @COGDOG CLEARLY NOT GET POWERPOINT! SLIDES SUPPOSED TO MAKE SPEAKER REDUNDANT! THAT WHAT PROFS ROUND HERE DO! #ITC11

“HULK” ONE OF MOST TWEETED WORDS AT #ELI2011! WHAT SECRET TO HULK’S SUCCESS?! TWEET LOTS! AND SPEAK IN THIRD PERSON!

STUDENTS USE BOOKFACE! SO WE SHOULD USE BOOKFACE TO TEACH! HUH?! STUDENTS USE DORM ROOMS TOO! HULK NOT GOING THERE TO HAVE CLASS!

Filed under: Conference, Twitter | Comments Off on EDTECH HULK needs some love

Tweet This!

Posted on February 12, 2011 by barrydahl

Looking forward to the eLearning 2011 conference hosted by the Instructional Technology Council (ITC) on Feb. 19-22, 2011. This is always one of the best eLearning conference of the year. There’s a great lineup of keynote speakers again this year. The ITC board has done a great job over the past several years of getting some of the best speakers in the fields of educational technology and eLearning.

Full Title: Tweet This! social Networking in Higher Education

Pre-conference workshop, Feb. 19 from 12:15 to 3:00 at St. Petersburg College.

Presenters: Audrey Williams, Director of Educational Technology Services, Pellissippi State Community College and Barry Dahl, Excellence in e-Education.

Description: Do you believe in the premise that “none of us are as smart as all of us?” If so, what are you doing to take advantage of that? Are you connecting with your peers in meaningful and useful ways? Are you learning from others and are they learning from you? These are some of the questions we will explore in this session as we see how social networking is changing the way the world works, and especially how education works. Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn are some of the tools we will examine in this hands-on workshop. We will help you build your own network of educators and show you how to benefit from it. We will place particular emphasis on who is effectively using these tools in higher education and how. We will discuss uses both inside and outside of the classroom.

Filed under: Conference, Twitter | Comments Off on Tweet This!

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