CEA Conference 2009

March 26-28, I attended the College English Association Conference, which was my first conference as a presenter. The theme of this year's conference was Design, and over 600 presenters explored this topic.  Various speakers presented their pedagogy, specific assignments and strategies, methods for optimizing classroom and online spaces, and their experiences - both negative and positive - in adopting the newest trends in education.  I presented alongside three PBCC professors on a panel addressing Design and the Community College Classroom.  We presented at 8 am on the first day of the conference, so attendance was low, but the audience was enthusiastic and interested in our topics.  My presentation focused on the English Writing Lab's use of AskOnline with Comp I and II.  I specifically focused on the college’s increased offerings of alternative methods of instruction, the need for online academic assistance, the opportunities and challenges presented by online tutoring, the necessity of extensive planning before adopting new technology, the reason for choosing the program AskOnline, PBCC’s use of the program by various SLC labs since 2005, our current usage, and our tentative plans for future use of the program.