Previous Want Your Vote to Count Twice? It's Possible, Professor Says |
Next (Illegal) Access Hollywood: Universities and the Movie Industry Debate Piracy |
October 21, 2008, 08:09 AM ET
Attendance Is Way Down at This Year's Community-College Technology Conference
Salt Lake City — One of the big higher-education technology conferences of the year is under way here this week, but with far lower attendance than in past years. Leaders of the event, the annual technology conference of the League for Innovation in the Community College, blame the sour economy for the drop.
About 1,200 people made the trip to the event, down from about 2,350 last year, according to the event’s leaders. In 2006, more than 2,600 people attended the conference.
“A lot of colleges are having tight budgets,” said Edward J. Leach, vice president of services and programs at the league, adding that he could not think of any other reason for the decrease. Asked whether the group saw a large number of cancellations at the last minute — after the recent spate of bad economic news — he said No. About 100 people canceled.
Several college professors and administrators here who had attended the event in the past said they had noticed the thinness of the crowds. Many sessions have plenty of empty chairs, and it’s easy to get a spot at a computer at one of the areas set up so attendees can check their e-mail — areas where lines have formed in the past. As a result, some say the event just feels a bit less lively than they remember.
Mr. Leach said the hottest topic at this year’s event was Web 2.0 — the online social tools popular with students and, more recently, with professors as well. Which means that plenty of colleagues who decided not to attend this year’s event are stuck relying on the blog items, twitter messages, and wiki writings posted by those who could come. —Jeffrey R. Young
Categories: Teaching
Add Your Comment
Commenting is closed.