Second letter from the C2C Chair: Dennis Peirce
Greetings, Colleagues!
New! SIDLIT 2022 Watch Parties
In the future, we hope for SIDLIT to return as an in-person or hybrid event. In the meantime, the steering committee has planned watch parties at Johnson County Community College and Emporia State University and WSU South in hopes of providing some of the in-person networking opportunities which have been lost during the pandemic. Please click here to register for the watch party nearest you!
Empowering Learners Through Personal Connections
Whether learners are in the classroom or online, this year’s keynote speakers prove time and again that a learner’s personal connection with the instructor makes learning more meaningful. All of this year’s keynote speakers exemplify this theme:
- Chris Aviles’ connection with students via esports;
- Michelle Pacansky-Brock’s research on the Warm Demander Pedagogy;
- and Bryan Alexander teaching through a university simulation game in a graduate seminar.
These are a few prime examples of how they empower learners through personal connections in K-12 or Higher Ed. I discovered Chris’ work during my graduate studies and have been following him since. I’m excited for him to share how he empowers learners through gamification at SIDLIT. I have followed Michelle’s blog and YouTube channel since preparing for last year’s conference and am looking forward to her sharing how she empowers learners by humanizing learning. Over my past three years on the steering committee, Bryan Alexander has been on our wish list but wasn’t available due to scheduling conflicts. I’m thrilled that he is available this year to share not only about being a “futurist” but also how that shapes his empowerment of learners. During their keynotes, they are sure to also share strategies our community can take back to their students, faculty or staff.
The C2C Digital Magazine turns 10!
The C2C Digital Magazine turns 10 this year! What an exciting milestone! Former C2C Chair Susan Stuart has written a fitting tribute which includes a link to the very first issue, the C2C Lantern. You might also be interested in perusing our archive of past issues on ScholarSpace.
On a sadder note, the C2C community lost one of its long-time contributors, Dr. Desiree L. DePriest. Greg Rose contributed a celebration of life for her to this issue in which he shares how she affected his life both personally and professionally.
Once again, I’d like to thank the editorial team of the C2C Digital Magazine for reviewing the articles and developing each publication, and all of those who contributed articles to this issue of the C2C Digital Magazine. If you have works that might be of interest to your colleagues, I encourage you to submit them for the Fall/Winter 2023 issue.
A Year as Your Chair
This past year as C2C Chairperson has been an excellent learning experience. As you might imagine, my vision for SIDLIT has evolved over the past year. Early on, I hoped this year’s conference could be hybrid, but the uncertainty of the pandemic and dwindling travel budgets suggested otherwise. Even though the steering committee decided early on to keep SIDLIT a virtual conference, we still had our fair share of opportunities and challenges. Virtual conferences give C2C the flexibility to keep costs low to attendees and our organization; however, pandemic regulations loosened, and we received feedback that attendees and sponsors are slowly tiring of fully virtual conferences. My hope is that this year’s watch parties mark the return of SIDLIT’s face-to-face presence. I envision that the conference may be hybrid in the near future in order to provide flexibility to all members of our community. Until then, we hope you’ll join us for #SIDLIT2022 either virtually or at the watch party nearest you!
I would also like to compliment the Professional Development (PD) subcommittee for providing thought-provoking sessions to the C2C community throughout the past year. These sessions covered topics such as teaching in a post-pandemic world, data-driven teaching, and developing effective discussions. These PD sessions have been an excellent way to stay in touch with fellow colleagues while fulfilling PD goals. Be on the lookout for new PD sessions this Fall!
Enjoy the latest issue of the C2C Digital Magazine!
Dennis Peirce
C2C Chairperson
About the Chair
Dennis Peirce is an I.T. Systems Coordinator for West-Central Independent Living Solutions, a consumer-driven, non-residential, 501(c)3 nonprofit resource center that serves people with disabilities and their families at all stages of life. He provides technical support and manages projects such as software research/implementation while also designing educational resources for WILS staff, consumers, and attendants.
Prior to this, he served 18 years at the University of Central Missouri as systems coordinator, field technician, and help desk specialist. He earned his Master’s Degree in Educational Technology from UCM and has served as an adjunct instructor.
Dennis joined the Steering Committee after the SIDLIT 2019 conference in Hays and currently serves as C2C’s Chair.
He may be contacted at dpeirce@w-ils.org .
| Previous page on path | Cover, page 1 of 22 | Next page on path |
Discussion of "Second letter from the C2C Chair: Dennis Peirce"
Add your voice to this discussion.
Checking your signed in status ...