After the general session, the NERCOMP exhibit hall opened. It was larger than I expected, filling up most of a large ballroom. All of the big names were there, including Microsoft, Apple, Adobe, and Blackboard. There were also quite a few more specialized vendors, including a couple of clicker companies. I had a nice chat with the folks at the iClicker booth. I’ve had a good experience using the iClickers in my large lecture class, and I was impressed with the new version of the software they are currently testing. They also have a “web clicker” version planned for release this fall, which would enable students to participate in click sessions over any internet-connected device. Since many students bring laptops to class, and many have web-enabled cell phones or iPods, the day may soon come where hardware clicker solutions will largely be replaced by a web-based service.
At lunch, tables were set up for informal “birds of a feather” chats. I sat at the “open source” table, as I’m particularly interested in Drupal, WordPress and Moodle. It was nice to hear from others who used open source software at their universities. I got the impresssion that open source solutions seem to be most popular at schools that value innovation and flexibility.