The development of IDMAA over the past twenty years mirrors the evolution of digital education in many ways. We started as a rag-tag group of idealists who were often alone in our respective institutions and our respective disciplines. Most of us spent an inordinate amount of time just explaining what digital media or digital humanities or digital arts was, not only to prospective students and parents but to colleagues in our own departments. Fast forward twenty years and \u201cdigital\u201d has become so ubiquitous in society that we question to use it as a descriptor at all. We may find ourselves teaching alongside former students, who know not of a world immersed in digital media.<\/p>\n
At the same time, many of the originally interdisciplinary programs that peppered early IDMAA conferences have evolved into departments of their own, or, more commonly, have folded back into a more traditional discipline, like Communication, Art, Computer Science or English. Most of the early members have moved on, some retired, and a new generation of digital educators have taken up the mantle. This paper traces the development of digital education in higher education, using the variety of IDMAA conference themes over the years as a metaphor: from being \u201cMilitantly Marginal\u201d and \u201cWay off center\u2014Right on target\u201d at the very beginning; shifting to a more future-focused direction like \u201c@ the Digital Edge\u201d and \u201cFast Forward 2012;\u201d finding our voice as we begin \u201cBreaking Barriers\u201d and looking for \u201cInclusivity in the Digital Age;\u201d winding up in the present where we find ourselves examining \u201cBroken\u201d and \u201cWeird Media\u201d in a global pandemic.<\/p>\n
Heckman hosts a casual conversation about the development of this year’s conference, the continued development of the organization during its transition to WSU, and announces the theme for next year’s conference.\u00a0 In this session, we will be actively seeking input on how to continue to improve the conferences, workshops, and exhibitions moving forward.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Chris Blair, “From the Militantly Marginal to Weird Media: The progression of IDMAA conference themes and the evolution of digital education in the academy, 2003\u20132022” The development of IDMAA over the past twenty years mirrors the evolution of digital education in many ways. We started as a rag-tag group of idealists who were often alone … Continue reading Abstracts I<\/span>