More than 400 faculty, staff and administrators from the state’s 16 technical and community colleges gathered recently in Columbia at the SC Technical College System’s Inaugural Plugged In Conference to explore new and innovative ways to incorporate technology in community college instruction.
The two-day conference, which was held Sept. 24 and 25, highlighted the role of technology in contributing to student retention and success. Two dozen exhibitors were on hand demonstrating the latest tools and techniques for integrating technology into the classroom.
The conference included five topic strands for attendees, including mobile computing, social media, online and distance learning, leadership, management and governance and digital discovery. Session presenters were among some of the most elite individuals in their respective fields. Rob Curtin, chief applications officer at Microsoft and Jaime Casap, senior education evangelist at Google Inc. gave keen insight and applicable strategies for incorporating education technology for student success.
Hope Rivers, vice president of Academic and Student Affairs for the SC Technical College System, said it was the goal of the conference planning committee to expose attendees to practical and innovative ways to advance their local teaching and learning communities. “We assembled an impressive list of presenters for the two-day event, including leaders from Microsoft, Google, Community College Times, EDUCAUSE, Valencia College, Kentucky Community and Technical College System, Charter Oak State College and many more,” Rivers said. “It truly was the cream of the crop in Columbia for our attendees.”
“I consider our first technology conference a huge success,” said Darrel Staat, president of the SC Technical College System. “Innovation that could easily be put to work at the colleges was our goal. The ultimate benefit of a conference such as this falls with our students. Their success is our success.”
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