Conference, CTCX, Higher Education, Professional Development, SAchat

Stopping by #SxSW

Laura Pasquini

#SxSW has attracted the interactive, film and music fans from around the world to Austin, TX every March. This year @julieclarsen decided to drop into the interactive part – #SxSWi – since we are only 3.5 hours north of the fun.

Although our road trip was short, we managed to soak in all that #SXSW was offering for the interactive time. There are loads of events and happenings for non-registered fans, and it gave us a sample of what we might attend next year – because we’re very interested in playing & engaging with some of the great panel sessions too.

Here are a few #SxSW highlights from the rogue attendees:

  • There’s an app for that! – Many new startups, apps and more begin to shine at #SxSW. We were texting beside the CEO/Founder, Mike, of Hashable & also met the developers from PunchTab who just launched their online reward program 5 days before #SxSWi.
  • FREE! is the name of the game – There are loads of fun things to do & see for the frugal-minded geek. Many happenings were found on the street or at an RSVP gathering within the 4th-6th Street limits.
  • Time to Play – Ping pong, Foursquare, Geek Games from Mashable &  frolicking is key for the #SxSWi. Loads of events happening on the street, in a parking lot and around town to enjoy. And there is tonnes of fun being tweeted & broadcasted about what is happening around town.
  • Celebrity Sighting – If you want to see a few stars, they are sure to appear in front of a camera or microphone for an interview near you (on the street). We saw Danny Devito interview for an upcoming film he’s producing, but other friends met Conan O’Brien, Dane Cook, Juno, Mike Tyson and then some.
  • Ideas, Solutions & Blue Skies – There are loads of great panels, talks and discussions about what’s to come in the techie realm.
  • Points to Ponder – This event had my mind spinning for ideas to research, develop, and create. Imagine if I attended more of the convention. Unreal.
  • BEST PART = Meet & Greet – There are loads of people in Austin on the street who are open to chatting & gathering. I recommend a local cafe or watering hole such as South Congress Cafe, Fado, Stubbs BBQ or The Gingerman. It was a great weekend to connect & meet a few #SAChat friends IRL.

Besides meeting @EdCabellon, Julie & I met up with a few #SAChat friends such as @bradpopiolek, @jeffjackson, @SueBecks, @lizgross144, @marlenabh, @reyjunco, @stephwint, @PetePereira, @lynnellison & @LauraLambeth (who took some fab photogs from the #SASxSW TweetUp because I was too chatty and less of a photographer :)) at Rudy’s BBQ. We feasted & chatted over some Texas finest BBQ. Our meeting was cut short by my scholastic obligations (who puts a test on Saturday night of Spring Break?), however I do hope to connect and visit with more local & faraway #SAChat friends in the future.

BIG kudos goes out to Brad, our Austin host with the most, and Julie, the ultimate road warrior. Here’s to more gatherings of technology and fun in the future! Learning is best when it’s crowd-sourced & IRL.

BreakDrink, CTCX, Social Media, web 2.0

Location: There’s No Place Like Home

Laura Pasquini

Why check in with location for learning? Good question. In higher education these geographically social resources connect our students on campus, share information and encourage community participation. Location-based services provide a game-like challenges for students within higher education. These location applications provide interaction, establish online identities and create a “home” feeling for many higher education institutions.

Geosocial applications create an emerging online learning environment for our students. Gowalla offers programmed trips that include highlights, challenges and items to collect. Foursquare offers incentives, discounts and fun badges to its users. A variety of student affair departments are beginning to experiment and play with the location-based apps on campus – are you one of them? If so, please share.

Earlier this year the Campus Tech Connection chatted with a few people about location-based applications and how they impact our campus communities. I am not using location based applications for learning just yet, but I am interested in exploring the possibilities. These podcasts delve into a few ideas and examples of how location-based resources are being used on campus:

Here are just a few examples of universities and colleges who are utilizing location applications on campus:

Other Location-based applications to check out…

TriOut http://trioutnc.com/
Whrrl http://whrrl.com/
Facebook Places http://www.facebook.com/places/
Google Places with Hotpot http://www.google.com/places/
BrightKite http://brightkite.com/

Networked Community, PLN

Tools to Help Grow Your PLN

Laura Pasquini

I just shared with you my thoughts about my PLN and how I have come to value this learning network. Now let me share with you some helpful tools and resources to help grow YOUR network.

Today @julieclarsen & I will be presenting to a group of advisors at the 14th Annual UTAAA Conference at University of Texas Arlington campus. This session is designed to go beyond the introduction of social media resources, and demonstrate how you can effectively incorporate them into your own professional development plan, build a learning network and support others in your professional community. Enjoy and pass it on to others seeking ideas for PD.

Do you have other ways you grow your PLN for professional development? Please share.

Collaboration, Learning Community, PhD, PLE, Professional Development, Reflections, Virtual Communities

Thoughts On My PLN

Laura Pasquini

I have been pondering the value of my Personal Learning Network (PLN) for quite sometime. I value educators, professionals and researchers in higher education who share, connect and collaborators with me online and IRL (in real life).

Not too long ago @clintlalonde interviewed me for his masters thesis research paper on learning networks. I agreed to this Skype interview, as PLN is a strong interested on my own research thread. A BIG thanks goes out to Clint for having me reflect on my PLN. After reviewing the transcripts from our interview, I thought I would highlight a few thoughts I shared about my PLN:

  • a shared space where I connect and engage with a community of peers
  • this group is a sort of a scaffold & sounding board
  • a place go to for resources and ideas
  • usually related to my interests or areas I want to expand upon
  • technology did not create my PLN, but is is now a great and easy medium to cultivate it
  • resources for personal and professional development is in the network
  • 140 characters really does have value in my own educational development
  • my network is varied and there is never a dull moment – this is why I stay engaged
  • it has different themes within different nodes & groups
  • crowd-sourcing – starts the conversation, inspires project development and collaborative initiatives
  • it can evolve and it can change  – the medium may change but the messages & info is always there
  • I never stop learning…that’s why I heart my PLN!

Here are a few great articles and resources from educators in my PLN:

Have you grown YOUR PLN lately?

BreakDrink, CTCX, Podcast

Making the List with #CTCX

Laura Pasquini

Hey there… remember me? I took a bit of a blogging hiatus for the end of semester and holiday break, but I’m back into action and plan to write more about my adventures and discoveries in the edtech, learning, social media and collaborative realm. I promise.


Photog c/o Flickr user The Bohle Company

Just to catch you up on a few things, it looks like the Campus Tech Connection (#CTCX) podcasts has been all about making a few lists of what we want, what we like and what we predict will be big for 2011.  Here’s the quick catch up list for some of the latest & greatest shows:

On my list is to keep you posted on my academic & scholarly happenings, while I talk about the tech tools for learning, training and engagement.  Stay tuned…