December 04, 2007

The E-learning Summit is one of the primary outreach activities of the Workforce ADL Co-Lab. Every two years, e-learning professionals meet on the University of Memphis campus to discuss advanced distributed learning issues and participate in workshops. Hosted by the Workforce ADL Co-Lab, the Summit takes place in the FedEx Institute of Technology complex. This event focuses on both practical and high-level discussions about the current state and future of e-learning.

The first E-Learning Summit in 2005 featured three workshops:

1) SCORM Sequencing & Navigation EDGES: Emergent Designs with Granularity past the Ends of SCORM
2) Authoring Tools for Advanced Learning Environment with Standards
3) E-Learning Solutions in Industry.

The 2005 E-Learning Summit attracted over 70 participants. The participants came from many different industries, and from various parts of the United States and beyond. Some of the papers presented were published in the IEEE Learning Technology Task Force Newsletter (http://lttf.ieee.org/).

The second E-Learning Summit was held on October 30th and 31st, 2007. The focus of this Summit was on SCORM tools and utilities. The theme of the Summit was “Tools for SCORM: What We Have and What We Need”.

The Summit was again sponsored by the University of Memphis and by the Advanced Distributed Learning Initiative. Over 120 professionals came from the United States, Europe, and Asia to the FedEx Institute of Technology. The participants represented various companies, government agencies, non-profit organizations, educational institutions, and vendors.

The participants spent two days in high-level discussions and panel presentations. Highlights of E-Learning Summit 2007 were keynote addresses from Dr. Robert Wisher, Director of the ADL Initiative, and Paul Jesukiewicz, Director of the Alexandria ADL Co-Lab Hub.

A highlight of the Summit was a full-day pre-conference training seminar about SCORM. This seminar included the history and background of SCORM, how it works, why it is important, and where the standard is headed in future technical development. The seminar accommodated 25 participants, and filled up very quickly.

The final component of the Summit was a discussion “what’s next” for e-learning standards. At the conclusion of the E-Learning Summit, the participants were surveyed. The sessions and particularly the workshops were rated as highly relevant and informative. The E-Learning Summit organizers were pleased with the event and the momentum generated as plans are being made for the 2009 E-Learning Summit.