CILC Symposium Corner

CILC Symposium Corner
Learn how your colleagues continue to implement what they learned at the 2007 Symposium!

Meet Cathi Swan… Cathi is the Coordinator of K-12 Distance Education for the state of Arkansas. Her responsibilities include Coordination of the installation & implementation of new equipment the co-op distance learning coordinators for the improvement of instruction over CIV resource sharing Providing information on grant funding leadership in the vision, development, evaluation, and marketing for DL programs, courses, and curricula Inter-coop scheduling support and issue resolution Evaluation of distance learning activities for grades K-12 and determination of utilization of these activities Assisting DL faculty with course development, refinement, and improvement of instruction over CIV Advocate for Distance Learning with Legislators, Schools and Cooperatives

Symposium Expectations
“Carol Woolbright, from Greenbush Service Center in Kansas, encouraged me to attend my first CILC Symposium. I expected to connect with and learn from professionals from around the United States. I also expected to learn more about the services and products that CILC offers.”

When asked if her expectations were met, her response was…
“Yes and No – but the no, was a good thing! Yes, I was able to network with other IVC professionals from across the United States and learn from their experience. No, I did not learn about the CILC services. I soon realized that CILC was not holding the Symposium to push their product. Their goal was to provide a service to IVC by facilitating an environment to exchange lessons learned, best practices, and visions for the future. Wow, I respected that.”

Biggest Take-away
“Oh, so many to choose from, but I would have to pick the realization of so many opportunities in the world for collaborations and synergy among IVC professionals across state lines.”

Implementation
After the Symposium, Cathi began to implement the following:

• Promoting educational collaborations and student-developed content in Arkansas
• Utilizing the connections that she made with other IVC professionals while at the Symposium
• Becoming more engrained in the global IVC family – expanding Arkansas’ horizons

“In Arkansas, we constantly educate our schools about the benefits of virtual field trips via IVC. With so many responsibilities and pressures of K-12 public education and funding issues, schools are sometimes slow to incorporate them into their classrooms. One underlying theme of the expertise and knowledge shared at CILC was that we just have to keep educating and giving them the resources they need. It just takes as long as it takes! So, I am more patient and just keep charging ahead.”

Learning that Affected My Responsibilities
“One of my roles in Arkansas is to promote and advocate distance learning with legislators, administrators, teachers, and the public sector. The Symposium opened my eyes to the many types of media necessary to effectively reach all stakeholders. Some people are print advocates while others are digital advocates. The importance of utilizing all media types available to us was an “Aha” moment for me. In addition to our print media campaign, we have branched out into the digital world!”

Further needs that the Symposium Community might be able to fulfill
Cathi says, “I would like to see some sessions or information made available outlining all of the innovative services that CILC offers.”

Final Comments
“I look forward to the next Symposium.”

Thank You
CILC thanks Cathi for sharing her insights with us and with you.
It is our way of helping to continue to strengthen the community of videoconferencing practitioners.

Contact Information
Cathi Swan
State Coordinator of K-12 Distance Learning
Arch Ford Education Service Cooperative
(501) 339-8056