When I got approved for funding to attend the NMC conference (thanks Alan for leaving a little money hanging around when you left!), I also agreed to somehow document my experiences as a way to give back to the institution (the Maricopa Community College District) in this instance. When attending the online 2006 Technology, Colleges, and Community conference I found a file by the Learning Times folks about how to blog about your attendance at a conference. Whereas I didn’t bring a digital camera or audio recorder (as per their suggestion), I was able to take advantage of the NMC2006 tagging system Alan suggested everyone use to find pictures in Flickr related to the event. Next time…
However, I have found blogging about the conference attendance extremely useful in helping to critically reflect on what I have experienced. By making the commitment I would do so, it has forced me to write about my experiences and ramblings (physical and mental) as well as post something as concrete as “what I learned.” Maybe requiring the use of faculty professional development blogs in this way emulates Univ of Penn’s incorporation of blogs for all students: Inside Higher Ed, 9 June 2006 (http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2006/06/09/blog).
