I have been in distance learning administration for the past 8 years. However I've never attended the Distance Learning Administration conference put on annually by West Georgia University. I'll admit that I've always been curious as to the quality of sessions. Being an administrator in this field can be incredibly frustrating, particularly when there are a lack of colleagues to gather round the water cooler to discuss topics such as course quality, technology, faculty development, Web 2.0, accreditation, substantive changes, and on and on.
So this was the year that the stars aligned and I finally made the trek to Georgia. This year's DLA was held June on Jekyll Island, a beautiful hideaway an hours drive from either Savannah or Jacksonville. Fortunately I was able to have my wife come along to enjoy the gorgeous scenery. But I digress...
The conference far exceeded my expectations. Many of the sessions were top-notch and every session provided something to take back. A conference highlight was the inclusion of the Distance Learning Administration Annual & Conference Proceedings 2008, a bound journal of conference papers for most (but not all) of the sessions presented.
To assist my educational technology admin colleagues, and to help me remember all of the information provided, I'll be summarizing highlights from each session attended. Had I access to a slick little Macbook Air like my colleague, Ed, I could have blogged this during each session using the conference-wide wifi. However suffice it to say that pen and paper were the order of the day for those on limited organizational budgets.
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