Kenley Neufeld Santa Barbara City College Can “unconferences” improve online pedagogy? A case study from Santa Barbara City College Kenley Neufeld Santa Barbara City College

What is an Unconference? An unconference is an alternative to a traditional conference that foregrounds informal, collaborative, participant-generated exchanges of information. Benefits include peer-to-peer knowledge sharing, content directly relevant to participant interests, and affordability.

2. Online Education Our students Professional Development Unconference Goals

Over one million students in California Challenge However there remains an achievement gap between students enrolled in online courses versus students enrolled in face-to-face courses, with an even larger gap for minority groups. Are enrolled in online courses

The unconference model, compliments the OEI efforts. (course design rubric, mentoring models) Tip Unconferences are structured around the areas of interest of the participants rather than those of the conference organizers, with participants voting for topics in advance.

Increasing STUDENT SUCCESS and reducing the ACHIEVEMENT GAP through improved ONLINE PEDAGOGY was our broad goal. PD All educators in the California Community College system are required by the California Education Code to participate in professional development activities to improve the competence of educators.

The Unconference What Location. Funding. Planning. Pedagogy to Increase Student Success: An Unconference for Online Educators What Location. Funding. Planning. Who Participants. Facilitators. Keynote.

What. Small grant from President’s Office. Small team of three Outreach and promotion Stats Cost was $4100 88 registrations 49% adjunct Mostly SoCal

Topics. • Factors contributing to student success in online learning • OEI Course Design Rubric • Humanizing the online learning environment • Facilitating effective online group work

Topics. • Facilitating deep personal interactions • Promoting active online learning • Diversity in the online classroom • The future of online education in the CC system • Supporting student persistence in online courses

3. Feedback Survey results Unconference goal Improvements/Assessment Overall positive response from participants Survey results Unconference goal Improvements/Assessment

Let’s talk about your questions and experience.

Thank you! We hope you found this discussion useful and that you may consider offering an unconference at your campus in the future. To see our Unconference website, go to onlineducatorsunconference.wordpress.com Kenley Neufeld neufeld@sbcc.edu