As a follow up post to the December entry by Carl Weckerle and Ronda Edwards about the history of the relationship between ETOM and MCO, I come to you this month with a pitch to become a member of a small, but mighty nationwide organization dedicated to collaboration and professional development for online learning professionals and faculty. The Instructional Technology Council (ITC), while much, much smaller than Educause or OLC, is a professional development organization that offers webinar series, a journal, a Leadership Academy, an annual conference, and annual awards for support units, faculty, and innovation. While the mission of the organization is, “To convene and develop innovators who propel community colleges forward in the use of technology to help more students achieve their goals”, the organization membership is open to institutions of all classifications and individuals.
Why am I pitching the ITC? Not only am I on the ETOM Executive Board, but I am the North Central Regional Board of Directors member for the ITC. Before beginning my position at Northwestern Michigan College in late 2015, I had not heard of the ITC. Not long after starting at NMC, it was brought to my attention by one of my team members and since then I’ve found the organization invaluable for their National eLearning survey, annual conference, and member committees. At a fraction of the cost for an annual membership to some other organizations ($495), it has been an easy decision to continue supporting the ITC. Ronda Edwards was an executive committee member with ITC for many years and I like to think I’m continuing her Michigan influence (and Traverse City) on the group. If you’d like to learn more about the ITC, please contact me on Twitter, @tgustafson, or via email tgustafson@nmc.edu