Twas the Night Before MERLOT

The MERLOT International Conference (MIC) kicks off in earnest tomorrow with a variety of sessions. Today there was a day-long business meeting, which I attended as NMU's "project director" (MERLOT's label for a campus partner's main point of contact), and Jim Zeigler (Speech Language Hearing Science program) attended on behalf of the Council on Academic Programs in Communication Sciences and Disorders (CAPCSD). I won't go into great detail about the details of the business meeting. Some highlights:

• There has been significant growth to MERLOT's Journal of Online Teaching, both in terms of submissions and readership.
• The 2010 MERLOT International Conference will be a joint conference with two other groups, including SLOAN-C, and will take place in June.
• They have a new YouTube channel called MERLOTplace, which includes videos on how to use MERLOT.
• MERLOT has a just-announced presence in Second Life, the MERLOT Virtual Campus.
  
• Jim had his name on a PowerPoint slide recognizing the task force he is part of. Of course, they didn't spell his name quite right, or get NMU's name quite right . . . but it's the thought that counts!

By the opening reception at 7 pm, Lisa Flood (Nursing), Julie Higbie (Nursing), and Deb Pearce (Hospitality) had arrived. We enjoyed meeting other MIC attendees and snacking on some tasty hors d'oeuvres. Kenn Pitawanakwat (Native American Studies) arrived on a late flight. Diane Sautter Cole (English) should be here by now as well, but we don't have a confirmed sighting of her yet.

More tomorrow after we've attended some sessions.