|
Arkansas Research and Educational Optical Network
(ARE-ON) News
WCET Conference After-Action Report – 10/24/09
The WCET national conference in
Denver was both dynamic and
informative. In spite of the
challenging economic times, the
conference was very well attended.
WCET is basically the SREB
Educational technology Cooperative
of the western states; an
excellent organization to help us
grow our vision.
Although this time of year is very busy with numerous national conferences
that relate directly to ARE-ON mission and goals, WCET invited me to present
a session on a topic I call “Leveraging the Silent Stimulus”. Please see
http://www.wcet.info/2.0/ to get a
better idea as to the importance that WCET placed upon ARE-ON and our
efforts to bring advanced cyberinfrastructure and appropriate applications
together for the benefit of our students. The session was supported by
presentations by our colleagues from New Jersey and California. As soon as
the slides are posted I will forward them to the list.
Both NJ and CA have some outstanding e-applications that use their
R&E resources into the classroom. Our session was very well attended, and
was introduced by Dr. David Longenecker, President of WICHE, the parent
organization of WCET. WICHE is the SREB of the western states. David only
introduced the major plenary session of the conference, and our
presentation. This was quite an
honor and validation for the hard work of our ARE-ON team. In the end, WCET
is considering adopting the core message of our presentation as an area of
focus for WCET in the future. In short, the work you are doing is impacting
higher education nationwide.
The three day event was rich in
content. Throughout the sessions,
the main thread was the use of
innovation, the move to Open
Source tools, the nationwide push
for more bandwidth for
institutions, and the absolute
requirement for true
collaboration. I came away with a
clear sense of validation with
reference to the direction of
ARE-ON. To me, the most important
point of focus is the premier
importance of collaboration. In
short, no one has to lose for
everyone to win. Please take a
look at the WCET website to see
the whole agenda’ if you want more
detail then just let me know.
The next few months will be exciting as we turn up campuses statewide. Our
team has many challenges as we move forward, but we also have a great deal
of talent and dedicated intent to maximize the tools we are creating for the
common good of the State of Arkansas. It became very clear to me that ARE-ON
was on the radar of many states, and there was an expectation that Arkansas
was an emerging leader in the realm of maximizing both technical and human
resources. Your hard work is being appreciated far beyond our geographic
borders.
Another significant fact is that the economic downturn has impacted many,
many states to a much greater extent than we have seen this far.
In summary, the WCET conference was well worth the time and effort. Perhaps
we will consider a statewide membership in WCET in the future. In addition,
when possible, we should assemble a team of ARE-ON member institutional reps
to attend the WCET yearly event. If you are interested then please let me
know. ARE-ON has made it clear that we have arrived, and will continue to
press forward as a leader in the realm of maximizing evolving technologies
and collaborative opportunities. The fiscal limitations are real, but he
spirit and innovation we share is strong enough to weather the storm.
My experience with catastrophic events and the importance of personal
and group resolve to be successful tells me that the old saying we heard
when we were youngsters is very true “When the going gets tough, the tough
gets going!”
The best is yet to come,
Mike
Back to After Action Reports
|