First of all, apologies for not getting this up sooner. I was blogging from the conference, but life got in the way and took precedence. Thank you for all the prayers and support as Buffalo deals with this tragedy.
Second, the NACADA Technology Seminar was a success! For those of you who haven't had a chance to check it out the NACADATech Website has a plethora of information that was generated during the conference. The twitter feed (#nacadatech09) is still building and probably will be for some time. The most important links are located within the wiki's that were created: Karen's, Laura's and George's. Even though I am not a huge Wetpaint fan (prefer PbWiki), there is much information to be gained by collaborating and sharing information here. I would encourage everyoone to post as much information as they can here.
Third, I met some great people while down in Clearwater, FL including @callmekurt from Carnegie Mellon and @gingerotc from Ozark Technical College. They, among others, provided such great conversation and ideas that I didn't want to leave. Hopefully there will be more collaboration among us and you will see us teaming up at a conference near you soon!
My biggest learning experience at the conference came from working hands on with others who hadn't used many Web2.0 applications prior to their attendance at the conference. It is easy for me to encourage others to use these applications, but I can't say that I've ever experienced trying to build them from the ground up.. As a native (circa 2004) Facebook user, I have always had a profile and adapted with changes that took place at the site whereas new users are innundated with ways to populate their profile from the very beginning. There are also complex privacy settings and "Pages" to round out the gammett of ways to use Facebook with students. My motto was "Let's take the scary out of Facebook" because so many people think that there are no privacy controls and that its a space that students do not want us in! In reality, I think the exact opposite is true and we will see this becoming more aparent as usage increases amongst advising centers and institutions themselves.
Educators and institutions need to look at these tools are an opportunity for branding. If you do not establish your online presence someone else will and that can be dangerous.
A few projects have emerged due to the conference and the questions people posted. One of these includes the creation of some type of "Facebook Glossary" so that the disctincton between "Friend" and "Fan" or "Page" and "Profile" can be more explicit and easy to understand. This would be useful not only for advisors but for others who are new to Facebook. Additionally, my "Good" and "Bad" profile examples will be rolling out soon. This idea emerged because we know that our students are on Facebook and since we are going to be intereacting with them in this space, perhaps we should educate them about appropriate use of the medium. In no way are we dictating what they should put up there, but we are teaching them a 21st century skill that they will need as they progress through life.
Finally, I got so many ideas about future conference presentations and even a possible doctoral dissertation topic (Web 2.0 for students with disabilities). I would love to take the "Take the scary out of Facebook" presentation to the National Conference or even just to a regional since the topic is so important.
Cheers to everyone that I met during the conference and please keep in touch via this blog, twitter, Facebook, or even (gasp!) email! I am looking forward to networking with all of you now and in the future.
