Bobby Hobgood's blog

The theme for this year’s conference is “Get Connected!”  There was great enthusiasm around this theme during our initial brainstorm.  Throughout the conference, keynote speakers and session presenters have woven the theme into their sessions. 

Prior to the start of this conference, there were many questions about what a virtual conference looks like.   “Where do I show up?”  “How will I participate?”  These and other questions lead me to the realization that while I possessed a conceptual understanding of a virtual conference, I could not assume that everyone else did.  In fact, the hours I spent researching various manifestations of a virtual conference lead me to another realization:  there is no archetype upon which we can base the definition.  Like the concept of an online course, which incidentally, is a name given far too o

Every gathering of individuals represents a diversity of learning styles, experiences, and understanding of the topic at hand.  This fact has become an essential understanding over the years as I’ve worked with learners of all ages.

I’ll be the first to admit that distance education, online learning, teleconferencing, web-conferencing - - the technologies that have brought us here to this conference, don’t satisfy the needs of all learners.  It’s like finding the tool for the right job.  You wouldn’t use a FAX machine to have a conversation.