Last Wednesday, on August 17, EdSurge hosted a meetup on the ‘Future of Digital Learning’ at the NovoEd company headquarters in the SOMA neighborhood of San Francisco. The event was organized by the EdSurge HigherEd group and drew about 100 educators, learning experts, and professionals from a wide spectrum of higher education and educational institutions (check out the Twitter hashtag #dlnchat).
An Auspicious Assembly
The evening provided ample opportunity for networking time, while enjoying snacks and beverages and listening to inspiring talks. We kicked off with our host for the evening, Allison Salisbury, Director of Higher Education Strategy at EdSurge. Allison shared the four main categories through which EdSurge provides its unique value: News & Information, Concierge, Community & Events, and Jobs. She also discussed their recent beta launch of their Digital Learning Network community, a new forum to share innovations in higher ed digital learning.
Next, Jen Hu, Director of Account Management at NovoEd welcomed the group, and described the affinity between how NovoEd helps institutions, through its social, collaborative learning platform, and the passions of the group in discussing what is next for higher education. She also let the audience know about a free four-part webinar series on Learning Experience Design being offered by NovoEd, starting next month.
The event was structured with five Lightning Talks of six-minutes each by distinguished speakers, followed by breakout groups where the audience got a chance to engage in a smaller setting with the speaker of their choice. Below is a brief recap of each of the lightning talks.