It is unusual for me to dedicate a post to highlighting or promoting a particular event, but I am so happy to see the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) offer up a conference with “e-learning”* in its title that something a little out of the ordinary seems justified. The conference will take place entirely online—both synchronously and asynchronously—October 30-November 1. More information can be found below and registration is available through the ASAE Web site. (Disclaimer: I am presenting at this event. I am not, however, being financially compensated for doing so, i.e., if you decide to register, nothing goes into my pocket.)
A little history:
Several years back ASAE started holding an annual “Distance Learning and Demo Days” conference for those in the association sector interested in learning more about e-learning and how to implement it successfully. I found the event to be a little too vendor focused (and that in spite of the fact that I was and still am a “vendor”), but nonetheless very useful for bringing people together to discuss their experiences, hear from experts, and engage in meaningful learning about a topic that I continue to think has more strategic potential for this sector than its leaders seem to realize. I was disappointed, therefore, when the event was dropped a couple of years ago.
My disappointment was compounded when I learned from an ASAE staff person that an independent e-learning event was viewed as unnecessary and had therefore simply been folded into ASAE’s new technology conference. Conflation of online learning with the technology that enables it—not something that tends to warm the heart of the average learning professional. These types of decisions along with the lack of content related to online learning at ASAE’s annual meetings (which I commented on in an earlier posting) have left me less than enthusiastic about ASAE’s support for e-learning.
Kudos, therefore, to the folks at ASAE who pushed to get an e-learning conference back on the calendar. As mentioned above, the conference is entirely online (perhaps in the future we can drop the “e” and add back a face-to-face component?), and here are the sessions it has to offer:
Live Sessions
- E-Learning: What Do We Need and Can We Afford It?
Jennifer De Vries, President and Chief Solutions Architect, BlueStreak Learning - Creating a Learning Architecture Using Social Media
Lance Dublin, Chief Solutions Architect, Dublin Consulting - Tips for Teaching Synchronously
Jennifer Hofmann, Synchronous Learning Expert, In Sync Training
Pre-Recorded Sessions
- Trends in eLearning (video)
Elliott Masie, president and CEO, The Masie Center - Choosing the Right Partners: Conducting the Vendor Selection Process (audio + slides)
Tobin Conley, Senior Consultant, Technology Management, DelCor Technology Solutions - eLearning: Know What You’re Building Before You Buy a Hammer (audio + slides)
Mark Milroy, CAE, Senior Director, Learning, ASAE & The Center - ePresenting: One Person’s Experience (audio + slides)
Jeffrey Cufaude, president, Idea Architects - Learn How to Learn Online: How to Get the Most out of Your eLearning Experience (audio + slides)
Jennifer Hofmann, Synchronous Learning Expert, In Sync Training - Learning 2.0 – Incorporating Social Media Trends into Online Learning (audio + slides)
Jeff Cobb, Vice President, Business Development, Learn Something – Isoph - The Future of Association eLearning 2007-2010 (audio + slides)
Amy Smith, President & Chief Learning Officer, Amy Smith Consulting, LLC
Full descriptions and schedule: Download elearning_conference_schedule.pdf
The sessions will take place within iCohere’s online learning environment where they will be complemented with scheduled live chat sessions, discussion boards, a resource library, and a virtual exhibit hall. As noted above, I’ll be presenting and I’ll also be participating in some of the online chats and discussions. I hope to “see” you there.
*Actually “eLearning.” Won’t it be nice when the “e” finally disappears altogether and we can leave all the confusion about proper usage behind us?