For me, conferences like InstructureCon include lots of exciting moments and discoveries, but few close in a way that helps me make it meaningful for my colleagues when I get back home. Closing keynotes can be inspiring, but that time is spent listening to someone else's words. At the Unconference, everyone can contribute and help each other wrap up the InstructureCon experience.
The best part of InstructureCon is meeting others in person, of course, and that especially includes others active in the Community. Those connections occur throughout the conference, and getting one more chance to connect over shared interests is a way that the Unconference extends that benefit. It's also nice when Instructure employees are able to join us. The formal conference structure has ended for them too!
After attending sessions and keynotes, it is nice to be in a space with other attendees where we set the agenda and talk about what we learned and were interested in. Even when I take good notes, I like doing additional processing with others who were at the same sessions. Listening to the fresh memories of others reinforce what I learned and plan on using to support my faculty and students.
Even better memories of previous Unconferences can be found in the Instructure Community:
- What is an Unconference?
- 21. The UnConference: Outstanding!
- InstCarn Recap: Day 4 - Unconference
- Unconferencing - Community Style
- Unconference - David Tod
At InstructureCon 2019, I was lucky enough to be selected to do a short presentation as the Unconference was being set up. Putting my slide deck together helped me preserve some of my memories and wrap up the conference. I used songs from the crowdsourced California playlist and that year's "Learning Safari" theme:
I hope to see you at this year's Unconference and that it becomes a happy part of your InstructureCon impressions!
