One of the best diversions in Milwaukee from the League for Innovation conference we found was a dinner at the Safe House. Following the address to a door in an alley marked “International Exports”, we had to use all of our sites to get ourselves inside. Beyond that, I am sworn to secrecy, but see […]

Now this was a League conference highlight. Diana Oblinger knows how to deliver a compelling presentation (she speaks, she does not read) on a relevant topic. She researches and presents data, references, processes, and important ideas. And she uses PowerPoint with a bit more power and point than most.

Someone give video copies of her keynote this morning to some of the other clowns that they have put on stage here.

The title was “The Agile College” and started with a compelling true or false quiz- “The US is still the world leader in higher education”, and then presented an impressive string of facts and data that shows the many places we have lost of long held edge. From drops in completion rates, to dramatic differences in success from poorer students, the message as not about doom and gloom, but a wake up call to do something radically different in higher education.

She had our attention..

Monday morning here at the League for Innovation conference and I was asked by my Macromedia friends to make some remarks at their breakfast session- a packed room of about 50 or so.

And then I was following an awesome series of examples and ideas from Bill and Eric two faculty from Sinclair College that do some wacky (in a good way) and creative things teaching math and psychology.

Below are the notes I made up ahead of time- I did not use the notes (too many bad examples here of speakers reading canned speeches), so I cannot vouch that this was all I said…

Blogging at the League for Innovation conference got a wee more difficult as the Wi-Fi went AWOL, 404. The word is even the wired network here in the Midways Airport Convention center due to a blaster type worm banging out of a machine in the exhibit area. Last I saw, the techies were yanking machines off the net one by one to find the offender.

It could not be my computer 😉

So here, post sessions is a quick recap….