Some items gleaned from 10 minute lightning sessions. I like the concision these sessions enforce. I also like the mystery they seem to share. After each quick share, my mind was buzzing for more. That's a treat when attending a conference - at least some presenters have a tendency to be long-winded.
ATTITUDE CHANGE - The CDC wants their audience (doctors, nurses, the public) to change attitudes. To do this they suggest (among other things) your message is clear, and relevant and realistic. Wow, sounds like our department goal for the year! They also suggested trying to work in ah-ha moments to catch the audience by surprise and tap into some raw emotions.
VIRTUAL LAB - School in Alaska is making this happen through Second Life (with help from grant money). Still, that's cool. They met the challenges head on - found out the connectivity was less of an issue than expected. And the learning curve was overcome with hands-on training of some kind. Both tech and lab instructor are in-world during the lab.
ACADEMIC HONESTY - Want to outsource your integrity training? Here is a 4 module and survey tool that will walk students through what academic integrity means: http://www-apps.umuc.edu/vailtutor/. Then they can send you a PDF file certificate showing their mastery of the material. Or at least showing you they know how to fake a PDF and make it look like they scored 100%. I'm not so sure this will help honesty, but it would give the instructor some evidence that the student at least claimed to have read and understood the rules.
CULTURAL DIVERSITY - "It's our reality." This is true. The presenter encouraged us as teachers and designers to take into consideration the diverse population and cultural background of students. Otherwise, explanations and examples and discussions might go misunderstood or never understood. She makes a good point, but if the example works for 80% of the class it's still a good example, right? I suppose the alienated 20% won't be thrilled, but maybe 65% of the time they won't even notice. Her emphasis and main point though (I think) is that we listen to and welcome different perspectives. That's nice.
