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Lynn Anderson

Online Conferences: Professional Development for a Networked Era

#improveconf

Terry Anderson

SCoPE Professional Reading Group Series

Book DiscussionApril 11, 2011

Online Conferences:Professional Development for

a Networked Era

Lynn Anderson and Terry Anderson, PhD

Motivation

The poverty and inaccessibility of the distance education student.Everyone is inaccessible to F2F in a global context.

From Anderson & Anderson, (2009) Online professional development conferencesCanadian Journal of Learning Technologies 35(2)

Carbon dioxide emissions resulting from participants travelling to London via air, expressed in metric tons (tCO2)

My One (and only) Claim to Internet Fame

• Organized 1st ever online Conference• Bangkok Conference for ICDE 1992• Ported between BitNet, UseNet FidoNet and

NetNorth and email lists• 6 Keynote speakers• Total cost 6 * $30• See Anderson, T., & Mason, R. (1993). The Bangkok

Project: New tool for professional development. American Journal of Distance Education, 7(2), 5-18 at http://tinyurl.com/5vq2fa9

The content of the book is based on:

• Literature review of continuing professional education

• Literature review of online conferences• Web research (Google and Google Scholar research)• Analysis of interviews with experienced conference

organizers– Selected approx. 20 organizers of exemplary conferences– Conducted interviews using Skype, recorded using PowerGramo– Analysed interview transcripts for emerging themes

• Our own experiences as online conference organizers, moderators, presenters, and participants.

Chapter 1: Continuing Professional Education

Most professions, in one way or another describe the goal of CPE as the establishment, maintenance, and improvement of professional knowledge, skills, and attitude resulting in improved performance.

Accessibility Barriers:

• Financial cost of registration, travel and work time lost

• Personal cost of time away from family• Inability to leave work to attend– Sole health care provider in area– Unable to attend study leave– Low staffing levels– Lack of support from management

So why are f2f conferences still popular?

• Participation may be necessary for accreditation

• Provides an opportunity for professionals with similar interests to meet and interact (networking)

• Travel provides an opportunity to escape• Often hosted in beautiful

vacation spots.

Trends in CPE

1. The Promotion of Lifelong Learning2. The Adoption of Constructivist and

Connectivist Learning Models3. Communities of Practice4. *Distance Education* (eLearning)

Chapter 2: What is an Online CPE Conference?

“A structured, time delineated, professional education event that is organized and attended on the internet by a distributed population of presenters and participants who interact synchronously and/ or asynchronously using online communication and collaboration tools.”

Evolution of Online Conferences

1. Text-based asynchronous conferencing2. Real-time (synchronous) conferencing3. Immersion into virtual worlds

Old Traditions and practices enhance and live on in the Future

• All three ‘generations’ and combinations are in active use and development

Advantages and Disadvantages of Online Conferences

Advantages:• The alleviation of the cost of travel• Alleviation of the time associated with travelling*• Accessibility• Convenience and Mobility• Greater “formal” Interaction• Decreased cost• Recordings and Archives• Sponsorship and Revenues• Communities of Practice• Environmentally Friendly

Disadvantages:• The absence of f2f informal interaction• Lack of separation from home and work

Chapter 3: Technologies

1. Platform configurations and tools.2. Technologies used to present content and

support interaction:o One-way Presentation Mediao Asynchronous Interactive Technologies,

including Web 2.0o Synchronous Interactive Technologies,

including MUVEs

The Conference PlatformHosted, proprietary conferencing platforms offer an all-in-one package (with varying number of rooms/features):• Configurable site• Home/Welcome page• Profiles, Member Directories, and Search Features• Live conference Room• Discussion Forums• Live chat rooms• Blogs• Polls and Surveys• Wiki• Document/ Resource Library• Evaluation/ Quiz Tools• Messaging System• Content Search• Help Desk

Online Conferencing PlatformsHosted, Proprietary Open Source

(Reconfigured Platforms)

Example of a centralized online conference configuration:

e.g. The IOC - International Online Conference(formerly the Illinois Online Conference)

Example of a dispersed online conference configuration:

e.g. ODR Cyberweek

One-Way Media used to Present Content

Interaction, between and amongst the facilitators, presenters, and participants is a key component of online CPE conferences (Anderson, 1996).

However, many online conferences utilize one-way media to provide a learning opportunity and as a basis for discussion.

Examples:• Text (ie. papers and published articles)• Audio webcasts• Video webcasts• Online poster sessions• Recorded online presentations

Asynchronous Technologies

• Email• Text Messaging• Bulletin Boards/ Forums• Web 2.0 Technologies– Wikis– Social Networking Sites– Tags– Blogs– Video and Slide Sharing Sites– Tags

Synchronous Technologies

• Live Text Chat (Instant Messaging)• Live Web Conferencing• Video

Multi-User Virtual Environments• Second Life

Technologies for the future?

Listings and Evaluations of Presentation Software and Online Conferencing Software

Centre for Learning and Performance Technologies

http://www.c4lpt.co.uk/Directory/

Capterra http://www.capterra.com/web-collaboration-software

e-Learning Centre http://www.e-learningcentre.co.uk/eclipse/vendors/index.html#ab

The Free Software Directory http://directory.fsf.org/

Thinkofit.com: http://www.thinkofit.com/webconf/index.htm

Chapter 4: Synchronous vs. Asynchronous Conferencing Technologies

Key points:• An understanding of the advantages and the disadvantages is

critical to understanding how and when to use these technologies to the greatest benefit.

• The most effective online conferences used a combination of synchronous and asynchronous.

Synchronous ConferencingAdvantages• Provides a sense of immediacy and spontaneity (Anderson, 1996)• Provides a higher level of social presence (Pena-Shaff, Martin & Gay, 2001)• Promotes a stronger sense of community (Schweir & Balbar, 2002)

Further Advantages of Immersive Worlds:• Create a sense of self and space that imitates real life (Cross, O’Driscoll &

Trondsen, 2007)• Foster a culture of collaborative learning (Bronack et al., 2008)• Offer life-like environments and experiences that create a sense of

authenticity and engagement • Enhances social presence (McKerlich and Anderson, 2009

Synchronous ConferencingDisadvantages:• Dispersed participants must participate at the same time (Anderson, 1996)• Presents an increased cognitive load (Hron & Friedrich, 2003; Schwier &

Balbar, 2002; Van Bruggen, Kirschner & Jochems, 2002)• Lack of non-verbal cues• Requires communication links to work properly at all sites at the same

time (Kasser, 2001; Schwier & Balbar, 2002)

Further Disadvantages of Synchronous text • requires participants to follow multiple, simultaneous threads• Lack of verbal cues• Participation is influenced by technical and typing skills (Schwier & Balbar,

2002)

Asynchronous ConferencingAdvantages• Temporal Flexibility

– Freedom to join conference at a convenient time– Not forced to choose between conference presentation running

simultaneously– Allows for more than one topic to be discussed at a time– Increased opportunity for interaction– “Equalizing effect” that benefits slow and shy participants (Ortega, 1997)– Promotes more meaningful interaction as participants have time to

reflect on postings and give careful consideration to responses (Garrison, Anderson & Archer, 1999)

• Lack of Physical Presence– May reduce the influence of prejudice, accent problems and language

skills (especially since era of Google translate)

Asynchronous ConferencingDisadvantages• Temporal Flexibility

– Lack of coherence and contextual structure due to latency in message exchange (Hron & Friedrich, 2003)

– May produce an overwhelming number of postings– Discourse lacks immediacy and spontaneity– Absence of the usual rules of social interaction (Murphy & Coleman, 2004)

• Lack of Physical Presence – Lack of visual and auditory cues– Impersonal, lacking in emotion, fraught with interpretation errors (Murphy &

Coleman, 2004)– More difficult to socialize– Pathological politeness (uniquely a Canadian problem??)

Chapter 5: Conference Components, Formats, and Design

Online conferences can offer almost any aspect of a traditional conference ( eg. workshops, social events, panel discussions, exhibition halls).

They also offer:• Participant profiles and contact information,• Introduction forums and other online ice-breakers• Discussion forums (lasting the duration of the conference or beyond),• Web 2.0 applications (ie. Conference tags, RSS, wikis, etc)• Audience feedback, polling and back channels during live presentations• Picture and recorded event galleries, and• Shared content archives.

Organizational Models for online conferences can be differentiated along two characteristics: the interaction supported by the conference and the flexibility afforded to participants.

Other Formats • Dual Mode Conferences• Dual Mode Conferences in Reverse real time

web conferencing, and WIKIs, Twitter backchannels,

Other Formats

• Unconferences

Design Considerations

Adapted from Weiman, 2001.

Chapter 6: Online Conference Evaluation

Most conference evaluations (face-to-face or online) measure reactions and perceptions of participants. • Were the speakers interesting? • Technical difficulties experienced? • Perceived worth and benefit of the conference?• Etc.

Kirkpatrick’s Four Levels for the Evaluation of Training:1. Reaction2. Learning3. Behaviour4. Results

New Evaluation Methods

Responsive Evaluation• A participant-oriented approach to program evaluation

first proposed by Stake (1975,1976, 1985).• In 1999, Spiegel, Bruning, and Giddings, 1999

experimented with using this approach to evaluating a f2f professional conference

New Learning (Chapman, 2007)• Initially developed in an attempt to facilitate

knowledge creation within professional conferences

Chapter 7: Emergence of Infrastructure and Commercial Support for Online Conferences

Many companies now offer comprehensive services for both the organization and delivery of online CPE conferences.Support for online CPE conferences falls under three categories: • administrative• technical • pedagogical

Companies Offering Comprehensive Online Conferencing Services:

Company Name URL

Consultants-e http://www.theconsultants-e.com/index.asp

Direct Learn http://www.online-conference.net/index.htm

iCohere http://www.icohere.com/

LearningTimes http://www.learningtimes.net/index.shtml

ON24 http://www.on24.com/

Unisfair http://www.unisfair.com/

Chapter 8: Organizer PerspectivesThemes that emerged from interviews with experienced online

conference organizers:

• Choosing the platform and technologies• Commercial Sponsors• Promoting the online conference• Call for papers/presentations• Flexibility afforded conference organizers• Participation: The unknown factor• Making delegates comfortable• Promoting attendance and participation during the conference• Live Presentations• Supporting Presenters• Presenter freedom to choose media• Encouraging interaction and networking (Building community)• Dealing with a global audience• Perceived benefits of online conferences

Chapter 9: Summary of Best Practices and Making Change Happen

• Choose software that is easily accessible, simple to use and configurable. Appropriate software and context.

• When promoting, take advantage of the viral affordances of the web.

• Cultivate partnerships and find sponsors that can provide content expertise, technical assistance and/or financial support to the conference.

• When soliciting presenters, make it worth their while. Incentives??

• Track registration numbers and participation in both free and paid conferences.

• Push participation by sending out daily or real time reminders via email, SMS, Twitter and/or RSS of upcoming events.

• Remind people of upcoming events at the end of live presentations.

Best practices continued:• Create a conference tag to identify and aggregate conference.• Take advantage of the knowledge possessed by participants and the

flexibility afforded by the technology in order to add to and improve the online conference.

• Provide temporal flexibility. (recording/asynch summaries/discussion of synch.)

• Employ facilitators/moderators who are experienced with the software, group processes and the content.

• Avoid participants becoming overwhelmed in asynchronous forums.• Promote social interaction and networking between participants• Include a resource area where presenters and participants can post

conference related materials such as documents, multi-media files and links.

• Allow access to the conference website for at least 12 months after the conference officially closes.

• Resist the temptation to go beyond merely participant reactions using online questionnaires immediately following the event.

Making Change Happen:• The development of online conferences presents a low-end

and disruptive innovation

W. Kruger’s (1996) iceberg model of change management illustrates the forces at work in an innovation adoption process:

Practical steps for promoting online conferences:• Promote both the ecological and the cost savings provided.

• Expose face-to-face conference delegates to distributed learning technologies by facilitating participation of external participants.

• Gather and distribute testimonials and survey data from online conference delegates.

• Ensure that online conferences or introductory seminars contain a blend of asynchronous and synchronous activities.

• Capture and record segments of the conference and obtain permission to distribute these ‘nuggets” widely to expose dispersed audiences to the power of online conferences.

• Be ready for the opportunities provided by crisis.

Questions or comments?

Questions, comments and war stories- both asynch and synch welcomed now and at:http://scope.bccampus.ca/mod/forum/view.php?id=8732

ReferencesAnderson, T. (1996). The virtual conference: Extending professional education in

cyberspace. International Journal of Educational Telecommunications, 2(2/3), 121-135.Anderson, L. & Anderson, T. ( 2009). Online professional development conferences: An

effective, economical and eco-friendly option. Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology 35(2). Available at: http://www.cjlt.ca/index.php/cjlt/article/view/521

Anderson, T. & Mason, R. (1993). The Bangkok project: New tool for professional development. American Journal of Distance Education, 7(2), 5-18.

Bronack, S., Sanders, R., Cheney, A., Riedl, R., Tashner, J. & Matzen, N. (2008). Presence pedagogy: Teaching and learning in a 3D virtual immersive world. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 20(1), 59-69.

Chapman, D., Wiessner, C., Storberg-Walker, J. & Hatcher, T. (2007). New Learning: a different way of approaching conference evaluation. Knowledge Management Research & Practice 5, pp. 261–270.

Cross, J., O’Driscoll, T., & Trondsen, E. (2007). Another Life: Virtual Worlds as Tools for Learning. eLearn Magazine. Retrieved May 28, 2009, from http://www.elearnmag.org/subpage.cfm?article=44-1&section=articles

Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (1999). Critical enquiry in a text-based environment: Computer conferencing in higher education. The Internet and Higher Education, 2(2-3), 87-105.

Hron, A. & Friedrich, H.F. (2003). A review of web-based collaborative learning: Factors beyond technology. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 19, 70-79.

References contd.

Kasser, J. (2001). Enhancing conferences and symposia using web based asynchronous techniques. The 11th International Symposium of the INCOSE, Melbourne, Australia. Retrieved September 26, 2007, from http://www.unisa.edu.au/seec/pubs/01papers/enhancing%20webconf.pdf

Kirkpatrick, D. (1977). Evaluating training programs: Evidence vs. proof. Training and Development Journal 31(11), p. 9-12.

Kruger, W. (1996). Implementation: The core task of change management. Community of European Management Schools 1, 77-96

McKerlich, R., & Anderson, T. (2007). Community of Inquiry and Learning in Immersive Environments 11(4). . Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks 11(4). Retrieved from http://www.sloan-c.org/publications/jaln/v11n4/index.asp.

Murphy, E. & Coleman, E. (2004). Graduate Students' Experiences of Challenges in Online Asynchronous Discussions. Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology, 30(2). Retrieved October 3, 2007, from http://www.cjlt.ca/content/vol30.2/cjlt30-2_art-2.html

Ortega, L. (1997). Processes and outcomes in networked classroom interaction: Defining the research agenda for L2 computer-assisted classroom discussion. Language Learning & Technology, 1(1), 82-93.

Pena-Shaff, J., Martin, W., and Gay, G. (2001). An epistemological framework for analyzing student interactions in computer-mediated communication environments. Journal of Interactive Learning Research, 12(1), 41–68.

References contd.

Schwier, R. A., & Balbar, S. (2002). The interplay of content and community in synchronous and asynchronous communication: Virtual communication in a graduate seminar. Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology, 28(2). Retrieved October 11, 2007, from http://www.cjlt.ca/content/vol28.2/schwier_balbar.html

Spiegel, A., Bruning, R. & Giddings, L. (1999). Using responsive evaluation to evaluate a professional conference. American Journal of Evaluation 20 (1), p. 57-67.

Stake, R. (Ed.). (1975). Evaluating the Arts in Education: A Responsive Approach. Columbus, OH: Charles E. Merrill Publishing Co.

Stake, R. E. (1976). A theoretical statement of responsive evaluation. Studies in Educational Evaluation 2(1), pp. 19-22.

Stake, R. E. (1983). Responsive Evaluation. In T. Husen and T. N. Postlewaite (Eds.) International Encyclopedia of Education: Research and Studies. New York: Pergamon Press.

Van Bruggen, J.M., Kirschner, P.A. & Jochems, W. (2002) External representation of argumentation in CSCL and the management of cognitive load. Learning and Instruction, 12(1), 121–138.

Wieman, A. (2001). Organising Virtual Conferences: Lessons and Guidelines. Research Report No.2, IICD. Retrieved October 3, 2009, from http://www.iicd.org/articles/IICDnews.import1852