Reflections

Time to Unplug

Dear TechKNOW Tool Readers & Friends,

For those of you who teach, learn, research, and work with technology ALL THE TIME, you know it is always nice to take a step back to disconnect. I’ve mentioned the benefits of taking a tech-cation before, and it’s about that time of year where I will do it again. As of this post, I will be going “off the grid” and unplugging from the interwebs until next year. I hope you and yours have a lovely holiday and/or just a break from the daily grind. I am so grateful for the brilliant adventures  and opportunities 2015 has presented. I am so very fortunate to be able to team and collaborate with some amazing folks this past year. Thank you all SO MUCH!  I am looking forward to what lies ahead for 2016 after a little R n’ R. You should probably do the same. Until then… be well and happy holidays!

Much love,
Laura

p.s. This includes a pause from our #Ginvent (our the advent calendar o’ gin tastings… if you’ve been following) posts. We will continue these gin-tastic updates in the new year. Slainte!

unplugFlickr photo via nyoin 

ACPA, ACPAdigital, Conference

#ACPA16 CFP: Genius Labs and Pecha Kucha Powered By @ACPA

August brings us to a time of back-to-school fun, but it also means the deadline for the 2016 ACPA Convention (#ACPA16) program proposals is coming fast! There are plenty of program categories to choose from for your #ACPA16 proposal; however, on behalf of the Technology Programs Team, let me highlight two NEW additions to the CFP this year and how you can successfully submit your proposal(s) for Genius Labs and Pecha Kucha Powered By ACPA.

Genius Labs

The convention’s Genius Labs are 20-minute skill-building workshops highlighting a number of practical activities (primarily focused on technology, but not limited to) for participants to learn about, experiment with, and implement immediately.

InfoCourt

Genius Labs topics are up to you! We hope to provide a variety of engaging content areas with the intent of having meaningful instruction for all skill levels, offering attendees effective (and often free) new resources, and building confidence and competence in technical tools to help you work at your institution. Want to learn how to develop your proposal or ask about a potential Genius Labs topic, be sure to connect with Erica Thompson (by email or @EricaKThompson).

listofacpa16genlabs

Pecha Kucha Powered By ACPA

Pecha Kucha is an innovative presentation format during which the speaker’s 20 slides auto-advance every 20 seconds. It is the art of concise presentations. This event is guaranteed to challenge conventional presentation styles, while inspiring colleagues in 6 minutes and 40 seconds!

pecha-kucha-02Your Pecha Kucha Powered By ACPA talk can highlight issues from the field of higher education, student development, our professional competencies, and/or your own personal experiences. Want to see a few examples from past ACPA Conventions? Browse the Pecha Kucha Talks from previous years:

For more information about the origins of Pecha Kucha visit the official website, and for questions about your Pecha Kucha Powered By ACPA proposal please reach out to Laura Pasquini (by email or @laurapasquini).

For both the Genius Labs and Pecha Kucha Powered by ACPA talk proposals, we recommend sharing and showing your work. For Pecha Kucha Powered by ACPA program proposals, we want you to “audition” so we can “see” you in action to understand more about your potential talk. This proposal can include either a presentation lecture capture or screencast to showcase your talk or ideas. Here are a few free screencasting options to consider:

To help us select your Genius Labs demonstration, our team would love to see your examples, ideas, experiences, applicable resources, and concepts you will be share for either presentation. This might include the following item(s) for your Genius Labs program proposal submission: creating a screencast, posting a YouTube video, including a Google Doc tip sheet, linking to slide deck from SlideShare, or sharing a Dropbox file.

If you have a demonstration, handout, or “how to” presentation you want to share for the Genius Labs we would love to see examples of these in your proposal as well. For the Pecha Kucha program proposal sessions, we encourage you to submit a “rough draft” of your talk via a video or screencast shared on YouTube. This will video clip will give us a better idea of your content, presentation style, and we can offer suggestions/ideas if your proposal is selected for Montreal! All #ACPA16 program proposal submissions are due September 4, 2015. Have fun and good luck!

Submit your 2016 ACPA Convention program proposal today!