Saturday, September 28, 2013

#eel13 Participant NOW WHAT? Challenge

With the Ebooks in Early Literacy event in the books, we really would like to carry the conversations beyond the conference itself. That's where our participants can help. Based on our rich discussions and dynamic presentations we want to know, what are your NOW WHAT? plans? Please consider taking some time to reflect on all you learned over our two days together. Once you've gathered your thoughts and downloaded all the new apps you discovered, we challenge you to take a few minutes to write down your plans for action post-conference. Publish them on your blog and share the link via Twitter and the #eel13 hashtag. If you're not a blogger, email them as a Word document to centerforliteracy.ua@gmail.com and we will publish them on the conference blog. Whatever your preference, please take time to complete this critical piece, so we can continue to share and grow together well past our two days together!

#eel13 Day One in Tweets

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

How to Take Advantage of the Conference Backchannel


With Ebooks in Early Literacy: Science, Design, Decision kicking off this Friday, attendees should be planning to maximize the learning potential of the event. One thing that should be part of the plan is participating in the conference’s backchannel.

Wondering what a backchannel is? In The Backchannel, Cliff Atkinson defines a backchannel as:
…a line of communication created by people in an audience to connect with others inside or outside the room, with or without the knowledge of the speaker at the front of the room. Usually facilitated by Internet technologies, it is spontaneous, self-directed, and limited in time to the duration of a live event.
Derek Bruff, assistant director at the Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching and senior lecturer in mathematics at Vanderbilt explains the importance of a backchannel in a post on The Chronicle of Higher Education,
A Twitter backchannel at a conference can provide participants a way to share ideas and resources from the sessions they attend, connect people who might not have connected otherwise, and broaden the conference discussion to include those not physically present.

Ebook Reading in Classroom Expected to Rise