Domains17 Conference Proposals

I’m already anticipating the #Domains17 conference slated for June 5-6th this summer. Much of my excitement is a direct result of the folks who will attend this conference as #Domains17 will be bring together many of the minds focused on Domain of One’s Own (DoOO) projects and beyond. Individuals like Martha Burtis (headlining!), Jim Groom, Tim Owens, Adam Croom, Laura Gibbs, John Stewart, and more!

Yet, #Domains17 is centered more broadly around domains as an educational technology. Since I largely approached domains from the DoOO perspective, I’m looking forward to growing as I experience new domain projects and applications outside my DoOO mental framework.  Domains are a fantastic technology because of how versatile, how open-ended they can be, and I’m looking forward to learning more from all of you at #Domains17!

In preparation for this conference, I’ve been constructing a few proposals I’m interested in seeing at #Domains17. Here are the drafts of some of my initial ideas (and since I’m groovin’ to Silence Magnifies Sound by The Six Parts Seven as I write, I hope you’ll give it a listen as you read.):

Proposals

Domains Professional Development – Roundtable

Tweet Abstract – Deep Domain Dives: Professional Development Roundtable – Share, learn, and brainstorm about professional development around domains.

Full Proposal – This session aims to be an open discussion about supporting usage and exploration of domains through professional development. All are welcome and should plan on sharing their current/future offerings of professional development involving domains, divulge their dreams for engaging students and faculty, or listen to ideas to take back to their own campuses. The facilitators of this roundtable have content available to share to spark discussion but hope that participants bring any and all ideas related to engaging students and faculty with learning domains. A valuable brainstorming session is the goal.

Canvas Integration – Demonstration and Discussion

Tweet Abstract – Domains Inside the LMS?: Bring your course website/blog into a Canvas course to engage students. See demonstration & join open discussion.

Full Proposal – Integrating a course website/blog into your Canvas course is an opportunity to showcase and share student work within a classroom. Whether students are blogging, contributing to a research website, building a course textbook, generating a wiki, or creating some other web materials, these resources can be integrated directly into a Canvas course using a domain. (Please note, this applies beyond Canvas as other Learning Management systems include similar features like D2L’s “custom homepage.”)

This session brings together a demonstration of the setup process, highlighting the requirements to accomplish this integration, along with a discussion that seeks to brainstorm possible domain-LMS relationships with participants and answer their use case questions. Attendees will have the opportunity to engage with the reasoning behind using this strategy and what domains in the classroom can mean for their curriculum.

OU Create Onboarding – Presentation and Discussion

Tweet Abstract – Onboarding Student Domains: An “in class” presentation to demonstrate our engagement of students in Domain of One’s Own for their 1st time.

Full Proposal – One of the first steps when engaging students with their own domain is to walk them through the setup process. This presentation seeks to inform instructors, administrators, and technologist about the setup of domains in OU Create. Specifically, the demonstration will focus on Domains, cPanel, and introducing WordPress in a classroom setting. Paired with this presentation will be some discussion and the opportunity to answer questions about our steps and recommendations. Our goal is to help other institutions understand what’s involved to support the initial onboarding of students into Domain of One’s Own so they may provide the best experience for their own students.

Professional Development with Domains – Showcase

Tweet Abstract – Open Publishing with Domains: Showcasing professional development curriculum facilitated at University of Oklahoma with domains.

Full Proposal – Over the last couple years, several professional development programs at the University of Oklahoma gained websites as a point of engagement, means to document work, and as a way to share and distribute materials. This use case of domains reinforces our belief of open-sourcing materials. Yet, many questions are associated with publishing open work: Why use domains? How does one start sharing? What’s the formula? Why even publish professional development websites? Are there repercussions?

This showcase aims to engage people in open publishing with domains, the backend of professional development websites (including themes, plugins, etc.), and inspirations for how domains can be used in professional settings to further learning and access to materials. The facilitators will be available to answer questions and discuss strategies and recommendations with everyone.

Other Ideas

Faculty Using FeedWordPress – Panel

I’ve worked with several instructors over the last few years who have used the FeedWordPress plugin to syndicate student writing to a central course blog. I’d love to have a panel at #Domains17 focused around these experiences and hear the feedback these instructors could give to others.

Global Engagement Fellows – Panel

Speaking of students, I’d love to highlight some of their work on their domains and have them talk about what drives them to publish. In particular, I’d love to hear from the students involved in the Global Engagement Fellows program at the University of Oklahoma. These are students that get funding to study abroad twice during their undergraduate career. Since they blog about each of these experiences, these students possess one of the most interesting perspectives on domains, study abroad, and learning.

Creaties – Panel

Much like the Global Engagement Student Panel, I’d enjoy hearing from some of the students who were nominated for Creaties awards including best portfolio, best short story, and more. Learning what drives these students to use their domains in this way would be worthwhile testimony in support of the value of domains.

Domains Instructionally – Demonstration & Discussion

I felt this idea overlapping with some of the other proposals I wrote, so I didn’t include it. Still, I was thinking about a session with a more general approach to using domains instructionally that would include examples like the domains-LMS integration outlined above.

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I’m not sure how many more proposals I will work on at the moment. I just wanted to throw a few ideas out there as I felt compelled. Feel free to leave me any feedback you have. Did you like my recommended jams?

The featured image is provided CC0 by William Iven via Unsplash.