Chalkies Make Waves at the first ever SoftChalk User’s Conference

On October 1-2, 2014, SoftChalk hosted its first ever user’s conference in Baltimore, Maryland, in conjunction with the 6th Annual Quality Matter’s conference. Centrally located near Baltimore Harbor, the conference drew in a diverse crowd of Chalkies, both local and from across the country. The event attracted SoftChalk user’s old and new, representing nearly 140 educators from all across the country. Attendees represented a total of 32 states and about 80 institutions, all of whom shared a passion for education and technology. The conference sought to engage and excite users through presentations and networking events that showcased new and emerging trends in educational technology.

On October 1, the conference kicked off with the Best Practices in Online Course Design presentations. This included four sessions presented by educators who shared their own stories of how they were able to use SoftChalk and incorporate Quality Matter’s eight general standards to create interactive and engaging content. These presentations were the conclusion to series of webinars co-hosted by SoftChalk and Quality Matters. Webinar presenters were asked to share their stories with conference-goers and attendees were encouraged to ask questions and share their own best practices throughout the presentations. Sue Evans, SoftChalk CEO, and co-Founder, delivered an opening keynote which inspired the crowd and described the future SoftChalk and the effort put forth to be one of the leading providers in educational technology.

That evening, Chalkies were invited to eat, drink, and be merry at a welcome reception during which conference-goers could network and get to know fellow educators. Attendees could stop by the “Why I Love SoftChalk” booth to give their own video testimonials and share their own thoughts on SoftChalk.

The second day of the conference was filled with an agenda of very diverse presentations given by educators whose need for educational technology varied from creating interactive lessons for K-12 environments to developing a statewide curriculum for higher education. These presentations aimed to both inspire and educate the attendees on how other educators across the country are incorporating educational technology into their classrooms. The sessions were interspersed with breaks giving people the opportunity to network and discuss their fields and favorite conference moments. For those of you who were unable to attend the conference, or would like a more in-depth look at the presentations, slides from the sessions have been made available by the presenters and can be found on the conference website, under Program.

One of the most popular sites at the conference was the Got Questions? table, staffed by SoftChalk’s wonderful support team. Chalkies had the opportunity to ask the most daunting of questions and get one-on-one technical support on site. The support staff worked with individuals on simple lesson fixes and gave their own tips and tricks on managing SoftChalk content.

SoftChalk thanks everyone who attended the conference, and all of our loyal users who made this event possible. An overwhelming amount of love and support was received from our users and we are all looking forward to seeing everyone next year at ChalkieCon 2015! More details regarding our 2015 conference will be available soon.