DML2016

Virtually Connecting is a #connectedlearning community that is reshaping the ways we think about professional collegiality. In a traditional model of professional development, conferences have always been the key location to build conversations and connections. In the era of the conference hashtag and the meeting back channel, claims have been made that it is easier to keep up with conference conversations, even from afar. But despite the fact that knowledge is often shared via presentation slides and keynotes are often livestreamed online, this online sharing is still a distant second to the in-person experience. What is missing is the key opportunity to network and converse with people in between the scheduled conference events, the hallway conversations. What is difficult to experience from a distance is transformational learning that results from immersing yourself in a dialogue with co-learners who are talking about the very same things you care about.
A founding purpose of @VConnecting is to enliven virtual participation in academic conferences, widening access to a fuller conference experience by connecting onsite conference presenters with virtual participants in small groups. Using available technologies, virtual conference attendees can meet and talk with conference presenters. VC is a volunteer effort, and its ranks have grown considerably since Maha Bali & Rebecca Hogue founded/piloted VC in early 2015. Each session is recorded and live streamed, to allow additional virtual attendees to participate in the discussion by listening and asking questions via Twitter. At the heart of this effort is a commitment to building and strengthening relationships. Virtually Connecting helps people not only make new connections, but also make nascent connections stronger.
What is special about the emergence of Virtually Connecting as a new #connectedlearning community is the foundational commitment to equity and access when attempting to design new professional learning networks. Virtual Connecting is genuinely interested in lessening that gap between center and periphery, between local participant and distant observer. VC seeks to expand access to smart and dynamic conversations by including many kinds of learners. It is this kind of connecting that will make a difference by transforming our collective sense of collegiality, by opening up the entry points for new knowledge production, and by helping identify our shared purpose.
This panel will consider the current VC model as we share stories of VC programming and design. What does it mean to be collegial in the 21st century networked world? How have we designed VC conference engagement beyond a simple "report out" concept? How can we program for more integrated collaboration with colleagues offsite? What key design features of the VC model have worked thus far? What has not worked? How does online/networked virtual connecting inform actual teaching and learning practices? What work can VC do to close the gap between "the center" and "the periphery"?
This discussion will be conducted by colleagues both onsite at UC-Irvine and also off site via Virtual Connecting. Panelists include: -Mia Zamora, -Maha Bali, -Rebecca Hogue, -Alan Levine, -Andrea Rehn, -Autumn Caines, -Nadine Aboulmagd