Professional Conferences

by
Rebekah Wright
EDD 8008
Principles of Instructional Technology

Nova Southeastern University

February 15, 2016

A professional conference is a meeting, typically international, organized and hosted by a

professional association or organization. Professional conferences provide opportunities to
network with professionals in a specialized field. They can also be effective for the exploration
and advancement of professional knowledge, expertise, and occupations (Cherrstrom, 2012).
Professional conferences provide opportunities for professional development and most
importantly the opportunity to present scholarly work in a public forum. This paper will outline a
professional conference in the field of instructional technology, the World Conference on
Educational Media and Technology, hosted by the Association for the Advancement of
Computing in Education.
Location
The Word Conference on Educational Media and Technology (EdMedia) for 2016 will be
held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The conference will take place June 27, 2016
through June 30, 2016 and will be hosted at the Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre Hotel (EdMedia
2016 World Conference, 2012).
Participants and Intended Audience
The EdMedia Conference is estimated to have an attendance of more than 1500 leaders in
the field (EdMedia Final Call, 2012, para. 3). The EdMedia Conference attracts participants from
all over the globe. Participants and audience members include teachers (K-12), practitioners,
researchers, higher education leaders and professionals, professors, educational leaders, and
technology consultants (What your colleagues are saying, 2012).

Cost

Retrieved from https://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia/rates.htm

Types of Presentations
There are many types of presentations that can be submitted for the EdTech Conference.
Full papers should seek to provide description of significant work. Brief papers are condensed
works or presentations. Best Practice sessions are for presenters to discuss organizational and
multimedia strategies. Panels are designed to address views and questions about commonalities
and issues within the field. Roundtable discussions are small informal discussions on a single
topic. Poster demonstrations are designed for researchers to present current work on a problem
including recent developments.
Corporate demonstrations and showcases are for company product and service
presentation. Workshops are designed for skill enhancement and professional development in a
new area. Symposiums are a compilation of both full and brief papers designed to address a
theme set forth by the symposium leaders (EdMedia Categories, 2012). There are also virtual
presentations available for attendees who may have funding or time limitations. Virtual
presentation types include brief papers, posters, and corporate showcases (EdMedia Virtual
Presentations, 2012).

Proposal Submission
In order to submit a proposal for the EdMedia Conference, the author must submit
specified information as outlined by the Association via the URL
https://conf.aace.org/edmedia/submission/ by April 22, 2016. The required information includes
a title, submission category, primary topic, a second or third topic if applicable, abstract,
applicable keywords, equipment, contact information, and author information. Authors must
ensure they adhere to all length guidelines as applicable to the type of presentation. Authors must
then upload the proposal file in either rich text format or as a word document (EdMedia Proposal
Submission, 2012). Virtual presentations must be uploaded as a PowerPoint Presentation.
Proposal
Title: Does Quality Really Matter? Using the QM Rubric to improve course design.
Topic: Cases & Projects, Institution Specific Cases
Type: Full Paper
As distance education continues to evolve, there will be topics of concern that requires
attention from researchers and practitioners in the field. One topic that has been in the forefront
is online course quality. In 2009, the US Department of Education conducted a meta-analysis on
existing research related to online learning effectiveness (Shattuck, 2010). Due to the rise in
course sharing within online education, a greater need for ensuring course quality began to
emerge. From this need, Quality Matters was born.
Quality Matters (QM) is a nonprofit professional organization which seeks to certify the
quality of online courses through a rigorous set of standards and a peer review process (Frey &
King, 2011). The rubric set forth by the organization consists of eight general standards which
are used to determine the certification of each online course. Currently, there are approximately

900 institutions that are active in the QM certification and peer review process (Higher
Education Program, 2016). Among those is an institution of higher education, a state college,
located on the Treasure Coast who is actively utilizing the QM rubric to improve course design
for their online courses. This proposal is an institution specific case study for the implementation
of the QM rubric and peer review process for quality assurance.
The subject began the QM implementation process in 2012. In house trainings were
conducted for faculty members who would be participating in the peer review process or who
would be teaching online courses. The training, Applying the QM Rubric, is designed to
introduce the standards to faculty members so that there is a familiarity with the process of using
the rubric for course design and peer review. Each year, eight courses from the subject institution
are randomly chosen to undergo the peer review process. This process is to ensure that institution
specific online courses are designed with the highest quality. This process also ensures that
instructional designers are designing online courses with complete consistency (J. Fernandez,
personal communications, 2016).
As of 2016, 24 institution specific courses have completed the peer review process. Data
suggests that course success rates have improved 8% due to the implementation of the QM
design and review process. Instructors have become more familiar with where things are located
within the online course room. Additionally, instructional designers report that there has been a
significant decrease in the amount of time it takes for online instructors to set up their courses (J.
Fernandez, personal communication, 2016). The subject institution has plans for further research
and data collection on the utilization of the QM rubric for course design, how using the QM
rubric ensures course consistency, and future implications for instructor training.

References
Cherrstrom, C. A. (2012). Making connections: Attending professional conferences. Adult
Learning, 23(3), 148-152. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com.ezproxylocal.library.nova.edu/docview/1037907455?
accountid=6579
EdMedia 2016 World Conference on Educational Media and Technology (2012). Retrieved from
http://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia/
EdMedia Categories & Presentation Types (2012). Retrieved from
http://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia/categories.htm
EdMedia Final Call (2012). Retrieved from http://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia/call.htm
EdMedia Proposal Submission Guide and Form (2012). Retrieved from
http://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia/submitguide.htm
EdMedia Registration Rates (2012). Retrieved from
https://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia/rates.htm
EdMedia Virtual Presentations (2012). Retrieved from http://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia/vp/
Frey, B. A., & King, D. K. (2011). Quality Matters[TM] accessibility survey: Institutional
practices and policies for online courses. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com.ezproxylocal.library.nova.edu/docview/881455685?
accountid=6579
Higher Education Program (2016). Retrieved from https://www.qualitymatters.org/highereducation-program
Shattuck, K. (2010). Quality matters: A faculty-centred program to assure quality in online
course design. Collected Essays on Learning and Teaching, 3, 49-53. Retrieved from

http://search.proquest.com.ezproxylocal.library.nova.edu/docview/1697501156?
accountid=6579
What your colleagues are saying about EdMedia Conferences (2012). Retrieved from
http://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia/testimonials.htm