Earlier this week I went to a meeting that had to do with technology. Actually, when I accepted the invitation, I thought it was going to be the second in a loosely-related series of workshops on online learning. As it turned out, the meeting was longer than I anticipated, and the general technological status of the school was the focus of the first half of the meeting. The second half was about online teaching and learning. Lunch was included.

It's been a while since I was at a longish meeting that included the perk of a working lunch, a commonplace occurrence when I was an academic administrator, but very rare now that I wear the hat of adjunct college instructor-slash-shut-in. It's funny how quickly I had forgotten what such meetings are like, with an agenda set by the head, and the goal of sharing. Now I brainstorm alone, and share it with no-one, or sometimes in finished products with my students, or perhaps occasionally in my public or private journal, or maybe with Bob, when we are having dinner. Plus my role at this meeting was different from when I was an administrator. Finally, because it was not routine, it was enjoyable. This summer, when my class is not running, I have a lot of food for thought (and yes, the free lunch was delicious).

The NCES has put out a report on the subject of technology standards. Could be worth a look.