There are lots of times and places to learn new facilitation skills in this field. Some can come to you watching an episode of a crazy spanish "amazing race" type show (true story!).
Others are more structured and intentional, like attending ACA Tri-State in Atlantic City. It's been a while since I attended AEE Mid-Atlantic in 2010, and this year's Mid-Atlantic conference is a long haul. Your organization might have, like mine, eliminated all professional development funding. In tight times, there are a lot of low-cost options to take learning and growth into our own hands as instructors.
(Left, a page of the AEE conference proceedings where Rick Curtis will "provide a basic understanding of the internet" and encourages us to "learn how to ride [the information superhighway]" What year was it, friends? Reply in the comments!)
- Take advantage of others during program processing. It's awesome to hear the adjunct that I work alongside share new activities, truly brilliant ones, that they use to transfer learning to our students. It's easy to want to be off at the end of a program, but leaving with new activities and ideas is always worth the extra few minutes.
- Reading 'blogs, such as Jennifer Stanchfield's Experiential Tools, Michael Cardus' brilliant Create Learning 'blog, or even old standby's like the 'blogs hosted by Rick Curtis at OutdoorEd.com . I use Google Reader to keep track of mine.
- Newsletters remind you that other things are going on in the world and make it easy to keep up with peer organizations (or competitors!) I love seeing the work going on at CityWild in Denver, CO every month.
- Watch a TED talk. I know a lot of experiential educators are afraid that technology will ruin their pristine wilderness experiences, but practitioners who leave technology behind will soon find themselves left behind. I recommend those themed The Rise of Collaboration.
- Ask questions of the community. Two of my favorite resources are the listserv [ROPES LIST] hosted by ACCT and communities like the Association for Experiential Education on LinkedIn.
- Attend or host an unconference, where the agenda and direction of the day is determined by the participants that show up. I am attending one of these Facilitator Play Days for just $18 a head down at EDGE at George Mason in Manassas, Virginia, a fraction of the cost of a conference. I am eager to do some networking, share some of the bigger questions I've been pondering as a facilitator (like, "is this really working?"), share some insight on use of technology for personal professional and organizational development, and have a good time. Too far away? Hosting one may be a cheap way to bring professional development to your staff, adjuncts, and colleagues!
What do you do to get back into the swing of things after the quiet season? Do you miss attending conferences, or is networking online with colleagues enough? What's the best bang for your buck professional development-wise?
