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Earlier this month Susan had sent an email to Lib-L about the Duke Center for Instructional Technology showcase. I’m always interested to hear what is now and interesting in instructional technology, and it’s hard to pass up a free opportunity to see what’s going on at another local institution. It was a wonderful one-day workshop. I did the heavy duty blogging on my blog, so if you want to know more specifics, just follow the links!

I started the day in Sarah Robbin‘s Tips and Tricks for Incorporating Web 2.0 in Your Class. This session was amazing. She kept saying the things I hear myself saying all the time. It was refreshing to hear someone talking about classroom issues and potential technology enhanced solutions. The audience was fairly receptive and surprised to hear that she is not a fan of Blackboard. It was one of the most rejuvenating sessions I’ve been in for some time.

There was a timely discussion of learning space in the library in Duke’s New Teaching and Learning Spaces by Edward Gomes, Kevin Davis, and Yvonne Belanger. They are adding some really nice classroom and group study space to the library, and it sounds like it is jointly owned. They also are having a multi-service single-point-of-access desk that can help with all technology issues.

The last break-out session I attended was New Tools for Library Research and Teaching. This session discussed a library toolbar, Google Gadgets, Connotea, and embedded librarians in Blackboard.

The main keynote was just before lunch and it was a second talk by Sarah Robbins. I was really impressed with her talks and ideas, and I’m right there with her.

All in all it was a great day! It was a rejuvenating (inexpensive & local) symposium and I hope to be able to attend again!