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KEYNOTE: "Building an E-Learning Strategy for the Future: Ten Key Shifts to Watch"

American author Bruce Barton once noted, "When you're through changing, you're through." This is certainly true for eLearning strategy. Just when you think you've set your direction, things change. What strategic shifts in the eLearning field should we prepare for, even while we maintain our current efforts? This session will review the major characteristics of a sound and sustainable eLearning strategy and then focus on the ten key changes in the not-to-distant future.

Dr. Marc Rosenberg is a leading management consultant in training, organizational learning, e-learning, knowledge management and performance improvement.  He has written two best-selling books, E-Learning, and Beyond E-Learning.  His monthly column, “Marc My Words,” appears in the eLearning Guild’s Learning Solutions online magazine.  Marc is past president and honorary life member of the International Society for Performance Improvement, an eLearning Guild “Guild Master,” has spoken at The White House, debated e-learning’s future at Oxford University, keynoted conferences around the world, authored over 50 articles and book chapters, and is frequently quoted in major trade publications.  Learn more at www.marcrosenberg.com.

"Serious Games - What do users think?"

Serious games cloak learning in an entertainment wrapper, but how do users respond to experiences that combine fun and games with learning important subject matter? Hear what a research and Development division discovered from serious game users in a pilot project in a professional education curriculum. Findings were gathered from one-on-one sessions as well as professionally run focus groups and offered revealing insights into how people learn, problem solve and get tripped up. The presentation will recap pros and cons of serious games, offer an example, and present highlights of user behavior and lessons learned.

JC Kinnamon, Ph.D., is currently a Producer in the Research and Development Division at the Practising Law Institute in New York City, where he is responsible for improving live and online educational offerings. He has worked in learning and development for over 20 years in various capacities, including a member of senior management for a company producing e-learning products for corporate users.

“How Twitter Helps Engage, Ignite & Inspire Students”

Are you forever telling your students to put away their phones, tablets and other devices? Is your “no texting” rule falling on deaf, head-phoned ears? Working with the tide is better than against it. In this session, we’ll talk about using Twitter to help students establish their professional online presence, share class ideas and continue the conversation about their industry, gaining valuable market intelligence in the process. You’ll see examples of an undergraduate social media course’s Twitter stream and have time to ask questions and share your own experiences with the group.

Mary Beth Kurilko is known on Twitter as “girlmeetsweb” and has been teaching communication to undergrads for 11 years. As director of the Professional Communication major at Philadelphia University, Mary Beth has recently led an effort to convert the major for full online delivery, set to launch in late October. A specialist in emerging media, she helps “digital natives” get beyond status updates to become new media strategists. In past lives, she was the Director of Web Communications at Temple University, an Associate Director in Temple’s undergraduate admissions office and a marketing and sales professional in the travel industry.

"Choosing A New LMS?"

Let's face it, choosing an LMS is tough. Unfortunately, most committees only make it tougher by choosing the most difficult selection process, the path of greatest resistance, and one that often dooms them for failure. It's not really their fault either, as most have never done this before.  So lets examine the most common scenarios leading up to the selection committee, identify the prevalent pitfalls the committee faces, and discuss some of the best ways to approach the LMS selection process. 

A San Francisco Bay Area native, Mark Blosil moved to Utah for the skiing prior to joining Canvas by Instructure. Mark came from the world of structured finance and it was Mark's ability to achieve in high-risk settings that attracted Instructure to Mark, who became its 10th employee in 2010. Tasked with bringing Canvas to the northeastern US, Instructure now counts among its many valued clients the University of Maryland, Brown University, and the University of Pennsylvania. Mark earned his B.S. in Design Engineering and an M.B.A. in finance from Brigham Young University.

“Consortium approach to training: How pharma, CROs, content, and technology companies are collaborating for effective and efficient training in Asia”

Global research and development community unites to define standard training material for clinical research personnel and sites in Asia to improve and create efficiencies in clinical trial execution.

• The Pharmaceutical industry is experiencing rapid growth and expansion into Asia.
• Sponsors and Service providers are facing challenges with quality, standardization and turnover with cultural and regional barriers, creating high costs.
• Several companies in the Pharmaceutical and CRO industries came together to form the Asia Training Consortium (ATC) to address these issues.

The ATC collectively uses member company expertise and infrastructure to standardize the education of clinical research and site personnel, at a fraction of the cost and in less time than a traditional model of individual companies.

• ATC members share valuable training costs & resources.
• ATC members are provided high quality courses exceeding pharmaceutical industry standards.
• Over 1000 training days to date.

The unique strength and disruptive nature of this consortium is that competitors have come together to actively collaborate and share the burden of developing well-trained professionals in Asia for the mutual success of clinical trials across all member organizations.

John Constantine, Executive Director & Dean of the Merck Polytechnic Institute and Chair of the ATC is a veteran of 25 years in the pharmaceutical industry, first at GlaxoSmithKline prior to joining Merck as Executive Director and Dean, Merck Polytechnic Institute in 2008.  His background includes Sales, Marketing, Corporate Staffs, Information Technology, Research and Development, and 16 years in Learning & Development. John's expertise lies in the application of learning to business strategy to drive workforce effectiveness and the application of technology to learning to drive learning effectiveness and efficiency. John holds a BA in Economics (magna cum laude) from Boston College. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Society of Pharmaceutical and Biotech Trainers for 11 years, including 2 years as president. He is also a member of the American Society of Training & Development, the Society of Human Resources Management, and Chair of the Board of the Asia Training Consortium. He also serves as Senior Advisor, ChinaSourcing Committee, China Council of International Investment Promotion.

"Flip the Script to Improve Learning Measurably:  How Learning Engineered Online Courses Coupled with Learning Analytics Improves Learning Outcomes"

A future trend in higher education is the application of learning engineering to design and develop online educational platforms providing real time data on student participation and performance. This real time data, coined as learning analytics, provides immediate feedback to students; and, enables instructors to measure learning and adjust their instructional strategy during delivery to personalize learning and focus on areas where students are struggling. An intelligent educational platform COUPLED with a ‘flipped’ pedagogical strategy has resulted in measurable and substantial improvements in learning outcomes. Dr. Michaele J. Brown will discuss her work at the Open Learning Initiative (OLI) at Carnegie Mellon University involving development of an online “Introduction to Biology” course and how this collaboratively engineered course with embedded assessments and feedback, coupled with learning analytics enabled improved student performance for community college students. A future trend in higher education is increasing use intelligent educational platforms providing real time learning analytics data to measure and personalize learning, and improve student performance.

Dr. Michaele J. Brown is a project manager, instructional designer, and educational technology consultant. Dr. Brown is passionate about creative uses of technologies to design and implement goal-based learning experiences that simulate real-life situations. With extensive experience in higher education and the financial services industry, Dr. Brown has a track record of planning new learning strategies and revamping existing plans to improve performance and problem-solving capabilities using technology-based learning solutions. She has designed and managed development of learning programs for delivery face-to-face, online, and blended modes of instruction. She has taught in both higher education and corporations. Dr. Brown strives to design learning environments that foster critical thinking, problem-solving, collaboration, knowledge construction, and respect for diverse perspectives. Dr. Brown earned her Ph. D. from New York University, a MBA from Rutgers State University, and a BS from Carnegie Mellon University.

Workshop: Learning Together, Starting with Blues Clues

We're looking for innovators and creative people! This interactive session will explore the limitless potential of usinf multi-media tools to deliver learning and training of the future. What if you could work witha SAAS platform that allows you to:

• Create a multimedia experience with a drag and drop tool
• Stream instead of downloading and copying huge files
• Free up storage on your users' devices
• Ensure your users have the most current version of all your content regardless of where it's being accessed from

Carrie Strohl, VP Product Management, recently joined Viddler heading up the company's marketing and product development efforts. Prior to joining Viddler, Ms. Strohl accumulated more than 12 years experience developing educational software products for K-12, Higher Education, Professional, and International Education markets. She earned a Bachelors of Arts degree from Cornell University and is pursuing an MBA at Lehigh University.

"Becoming part of the Ecosystem"

Recently we took a look at our SharePoint training was doing from a crew perspective. We knew from our Level 1 surveys that there were huge opportunities for improvement. We had employees with varying levels of SharePoint experience and expertise in each class, which derailed the training at times. We also found that we were jamming a lot of information into the heads of our employees and sending them off into the enterprise with very little support. What support we did offer was not communicated consistently in the classroom and sometimes employees just didn't take us up on it. To make matters worse, we have of a team of three people who support all SharePoint related issues in the company, 30% of which are training related. That is three people supporting up to 2,700 SharePoint administrators and potentially 14,000 users. In the redesign of our training we knew that just in time support using social tools needed to be a large part of our strategy. The knowledge we captured through collaboration and conversation needed to be discoverable. In the end we did not redesign training, but instead created a learning ecosystem.

Brian Regan is a Communications Manager for The Vanguard Group in Malvern, PA.  He has over 13 years of experience in various roles including, Project Manager, e-Learning Developer, Manager of e-Learning Development and Technology Program Manager, Brian’s current responsibilities include creating and managing a companywide change management strategy for the adoption of collaboration across Vanguard. Brian has his BA in Communications from Neumann University (1996).

Tom Gilmartin is a senior manager in Vanguard's Information Technology Division. He currently leads the development of the Enterprise Collaboration s and Knowledge Management program at Vanguard. His responsibilities include developing a vision/strategy around Knowledge Management leveraging Enterprise 2.0 tools across the enterprise. Prior Vanguard experience includes delivering the first collaboration and knowledge management site in the Technology division and 20+ years managing the delivery of numerous software applications at Vanguard. Mr Gilmartin has his MBA from St. Joseph's University and BS from Philadelphia University.

Phil Kaiser is an IT Project Manager for The Vanguard Group in Malvern, PA.  With over 26 years experience in various roles such as Developer, Technical Lead, Software Development Process Expert, and Project Manager delivering internal business applications, Phil’s current responsibilities include managing an Enterprise Collaboration Team to promote more effective internal collaboration amongst Vanguard crew (employees).  Phil holds a BBA, with a focus in Computer Science, from Temple University (1986).

"Keep Calm and Collaborate"

A critical component of a well-designed online course is learner interaction and engagement. Common concerns from online instructors are, “How am I going to connect with my students?” and “How can I get my online students to work together?” There are several ways to foster collaboration between students, as well as increase the level of communication between students and the instructor. In this session, we will discuss several methods to effectively interact with your students in the virtual classroom, with a focus on Blackboard Collaborate. 

Chontel Delaney is an Instructional Design Specialist for Saint Joseph’s University, where she designs engaging and interactive online courses. Chontel partners with instructors to translate their traditional face-to-face course into an effective and instructionally sound online course. With over 7 years of instructional design experience and a certification in instructional technology, Chontel also trains faculty on the use of various tools within Blackboard. In addition to designing online courses and conducting training workshops, she also serves on the Universal Accessibility committee at Saint Joseph’s University. Chontel earned a B.S. in Elementary Education with a concentration in the education of the Deaf/Hard of Hearing and an M.S. in Instructional Technology, both from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania.

Sharon Felegie is the Director of Instructional Design Services at Saint Joseph's University. With over 15 years experience in the field of Instructional Design, Sharon works closely with faculty to ensure the instructional integrity of their online courses, using proven Instructional Design theory and methodology, in concert with sound pedagogical practices. She also assists faculty with the selection of academic technology best suited for their online learning environment, and spearheaded a campus-wide training initiative to introduce Blackboard Collaborate. Serving as the Quality Matters (QM) Institution Representative for Saint Joseph's University, Sharon is dedicated to supporting faculty in the design of engaging online learning experiences that yield high levels of student engagement and learning transfer. Sharon earned a B.A. in Psychology from Bloomsburg University and an M. Ed in Instructional Systems, Training Design and Development from Penn State Great Valley.

"How Educational Institutions/Organizations are Leveraging Videoconferencing for Learning"

From dedicated studios and innovative classrooms to mobile devices, videoconferencing is dramatically enhancing and redefining the way we deliver distance learning/training. Join Polycom for this session where we'll explore how organizations have taken dramatically different approaches to videoconferencing in order to enhance their learning capability. We'll also discuss how organizations might add videoconferencing connections for learning, as well as the opportunities and challenges in this rapidly changing field. Summary:

• A quick overview of videoconferencing technology and trends today: innovative approaches
• A well-rounded look at current best practices and lessons learned
• Drill down through peer sharing

Gabe Gordon, Distance Learning Program Coordinator, Recording and Distance Learning, Manhattan School of Music, has been with the program since the summer of 2012. He received his Bachelor’s from Wesleyan University, where he majored in Music and Philosophy. In addition to his studies and musical performances, Mr. Gordon took the opportunity at Wesleyan to combine his passion for music and for education, volunteering and then working at the Green Street Arts Center in Middletown. Upon graduating Mr. Gordon continued working in a full-time capacity, helping to oversee and conduct all programming. He also spent the year teaching a variety of music classes and lessons. Mr. Gordon joined Distance Learning at Manhattan School of Music, where he has coordinated a number of programs for the award-winning program, including a rapidly growing educational partnership with the state of Nebraska.

 Elaine Shuck, the Director of Education for Polycom has a background in technology, curriculum, and integration. She is a leader in collaborative learning and interactive videoconferencing. For sixteen years she has brought stimulating and engaging learning opportunities to K-20 classrooms. Her work ranges from hands-on demonstrations to educators, to reaching out to Polycom’s corporate partners, to facilitating hybrid solutions that enhance education and training. Prior to Polycom, Ms. Shuck was Director of South Dakota’s Interactive Videoconferencing Smart Centers. She also served as distance learning coordinator for South Dakota Public Schools where she consulted on distance learning programs, medical education, and corporate training segments at hundreds of sites statewide. Elaine is an expert in her field and a frequent speaker. Audiences around the world – both face-to-face and through videoconferencing – respond enthusiastically to Ms. Shuck’s lively style, technical mastery, and commitment to learning. She has designed and implemented programs that inspire faculty and students as they interact with world-class luminaries in medicine, education, or noteworthy events. Her work has garnered major awards from the International Society for Technology in Education and the US Distance Learning Association (USDLA). An authority on social and connective media, collaborative learning, and best practices in distance learning, Elaine works with a host of educational groups and serves on the USDLA Board of Directors.

“Online Discussions with Meaningful Outcomes: A conceptual framework for linking course objectives with online and hybrid discussion design” 

 A confluence of factors represents significant changes to the face of higher education. Since the student population is aging and enrollment status is increasingly part-time, the part-time, adult learner is the new majority. Additionally, accessibility of educational technology enables instructors to augment learning through incorporating online components like asynchronous discussions. As the use of technology to promote and foster learning grows, the development and application of a conceptual framework for designing asynchronous discussions that is linked to the hybrid course design may be a key resource tool for instructors. While educational technology and its applications are still in their relative infancy, their use is certainly no passing fad; there may be drawbacks, but the potentialities for student learning are profound. In an effort to continue the dialogue about the ways in which technology can enhance learning, this session will identify key elements and pedagogical considerations for the effective design of asynchronous discussions in hybrid courses, particularly in the context of course design for part-time, adult students.  As new technologies continually emerge, it is imperative for educators to examine and identify the ways in which they can be employed as a means to meet students’ shifting needs, both in terms of learning styles and accessibility.

Dr. Timothy M. Sullivan is an Associate Professor of Higher Education & Director of the Widener University Programs in Higher Education in the School of Education, Innovation and Continuing Studies.  Dr. Sullivan is engaged in research related to the design and assessment of teaching and learning in hybrid graduate courses. His most recent study with a colleague at the University of California-Berkley focused on graduate student perceptions of online discussion, and was published in April, 2013. Prior to joining Widener, Dr. Sullivan held progressive administrative leadership roles in higher education in two year, four year and graduate institutions of higher education – public and private.

Dr. Cathy M. Littlefield is an Associate Professor of Organizational Leadership and Management at Peirce College in the Graduate Studies Program.  Dr. Littlefield’s research agenda includes the areas of hybrid course design and delivery; professional development related to hybrid delivery; and impact of collaboration on graduate students.  She was recently awarded the Outstanding Continuing Educator New to the Field by UPCEA.  Prior to joining Peirce College, Dr. Littlefield spent 22 years in various leadership and management capacities within the hospitality, manufacturing, and entrepreneurial service industries.  

“Ten Most Common Communications Mistakes Made by IT Professionals”

Just because you work in Information Technology (IT), doesn’t mean your communications can’t be clear, engaging and actionable. But the reality is communications isn’t your area of expertise – technology is. However, sending out emails to employees company-wide about projects that are unclear, full of grammatical errors, complicated and laden with techie words and acronyms will hurt your credibility and impact your success. Easy to understand, clearly written, and concise messages can drive behavior, and be an instrument for change. Come to this session to find out what are the ten most common communications mistakes made by IT professionals and how to correct them.

Hedy Baker is an accomplished communications leader with 20+ years of experiences and successes at global companies in many communication areas including IT, change management, employee, account/customer, and executive communications, analyst relations and public relations. She is very effective at distilling complex information into compelling, succinct and customized deliverables such as articles, e-newsletters, e-mails, press releases, speaker presentations, case studies, blogs, webcasts and podcasts, website/portal content and print. Her career includes 11 years at Compaq (now HP), where she managed public relations for the leading computer company in the world, and five years at Unisys developing and implementing internal communications campaigns for 29,000 global employees. For the past four years, Hedy has worked as a consultant driving employee, IT, and change management communication projects for major companies in the Philadelphia region.

“Continuing the Distance Education Scholarship at WCU: An Update on Current Research"

As a university currently embracing distance education, West Chester University (WCU) has the opportunity for a deliberate, thoughtful adoption.  In spring 2012, we formed an interdisciplinary research team to investigate and inform our distance education program.  In the last PADLA conference, we reported our initial study investigating the climate for distance education in the early stage of adoption at WCU.  In this session, we will report on our continuing effort to investigate faculty and student attitudes about distance education at WCU.  Findings from two studies will be discussed: 1) student attitudes about distance education: focusing on context and effective practices; 2) reactions to and attitudes about asynchronous online discussion forums in an online faculty development program.

Dr. Esther Smidt is an Assistant Professor of TESOL in the Department of Languages and Cultures at West Chester University. Her research interests include distance education, computer-assisted language learning, immigrant identities, immigrant education, and second language teacher education.

Dr. Jennifer Bunk is an Associate Professor in the psychology department at West Chester University, where she has developed and taught online and hybrid courses. She is actively involved various in distance education professional development programs and her research focuses on distance education and workplace stress.

Dr Rui Li is the Executive Director of Distance Education and Instructional Design at West Chester University. She has taught online/blended courses both nationally and internationally and her research focuses on distance education and technology as cognitive tools.

Dr. Tanya Gatenby is an Associate Professor and Masters of Public Health Programs Director for Health Care Management at West Chester University. Her research focuses on distance education, underserved populations, women’s health issues, and health care access.

"Great Expectations - Exemplary Students Today, Excellent Employees Tomorrow"

In Education today, technology plays an integral role in the everyday lives of students, faculty and administrators. Many different technologies are used for studying, research, sports, recreation and for social networking. Are you considering how this technology can be used to differentiate your institution and provide a first class educational experience for your Students, Faculty, Researchers, and Administrators? Our presentation will show how the combination of social media and analytics can be used to engage, enhance and excite the educational experience of the student before they join the University and throughout their educational life span and beyond, as well as engaging faculty and staff as part of the university community. The right technology can help recruit and retain students and make them active alumni after graduation. We will look at how SocialStudent® can supplement tools such as Facebook and Twitter, providing an exceptional Virtual learning experience for both Students, Faculty and Staff members. In addition, we will show a real life example of the SocialStudent® environment and walk you through a demo of its exciting capability to Communicate, Collaborate, and Connect. Come learn how affordable technology is being used to recruit the best, retain them and ensure that they engage with peers and provide positive ratings about the educational experience you offer.

Jim Anderson of SocialStudent has been actively implementing Collaboration Solutions using IBM software for the past 20 years in business, banking, manufacturing, and medicine, Now, he has teamed with educators and professionals from around the world to make available a unique set of Social and Collaboration tools based on IBM technology to Higher Education.

Keith Barros has over 20 years of experience in higher education in both faculty and administration as well as in information technology and collaboration in the education and business environments.

“Collaboration Technologies”

This seminar will review current industry approaches to “Collaboration” including “Wired” table systems, wireless connectivity to displays, 2 way BYOD “Push/Pull” style collaboration and “Dual Touch” interactive display systems that can tie video conferencing, audio conferencing, electronic whiteboarding + allow “Microsoft Linc” style participants together all at the same time!

Brian D. Houser, SYMCO, Inc. Regional Sales Manager Pa & Up-State NY has been in the AV Industry for over 30 years, half of his career spent in the Video Production field and the other half in AV Sales / Design & Marketing. Production experience includes 5 years of producing Continuing Legal Education Video at the PA Bar Institute, 10 years with JPL Productions (now JPL Creative) in Harrisburg, PA, as a Live Event Director/Technical Engineer, an “Audio Specialist” for capturing field recordings/studio work via Pro-Tools and as a Non Linear Video Editor. Sales / Design experience includes working with Pierce Phelps & Visual Sound’s Harrisburg offices. Brian was responsible for system design and sales into the House of Worship, Corporate, and Government accounts… to the tune of approximately 20+ million dollars in sales! Since 2007 he has held the position of SYMCO’s Regional Sales Manager for Pa and Up-State NY. SYMCO, Inc. is a Manufacturers’ Representation / Marketing firm for leading AV and Broadcast companies in the Commercial / Professional AV sectors. Brian works directly with AV Consultants, Architects, MEP firms, and AV Integrators across both states. SYMCO is a Manufacturers' Representative firm that specializes in the Mid-Atlantic and New England states. Incorporated in 1972, in New Jersey, SYMCO's strong sales team and many years of experience - coupled with our unrivaled reseller relationships and motivation to succeed - ensure your company the greatest possible sales and customer satisfaction results.

“Wireless Collaboration Technology Comes of Age” 

This session will discuss the benefits of being a collaborative organization and its ability to impact how you can rollout ever increasing quantities of quality ideas. Featured will be the new wireless technologies that have “come of age” to design and create collaborative environments enabling organizations to develop, share and communicate ideas in a seamless and secured manner. These wireless technologies facilitate true collaboration amongst today’s fragmented platforms and devices like laptops, mobiles and tablets. Enter a wireless collaboration environment, in-person or virtually, with any wireless device and instantly share your content on the room’s display.

Bob Lobascio, Vice President, IMS Technology Services has been heavily involved with Content and Electronic Delivery systems for over 30 years. His background includes Systems Design, Implementation and Training for Burroughs/Unisys, GM and VP of Sales for Content and Delivery systems for CCH/Wolters Kluwer, Global VP of Sales for Endeavor Information Systems. In his role at Endeavor Bob personally interacted with strategic initiatives with customers including Library of Congress, London School of Economics, UCLA and Columbia U et al. Bob is currently VP of Sales for IMS Technology Services and in this role he evaluates and consults on emerging technologies that affect Strategy and Planning for Corporate and Higher Education institutions.

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