Annual Tech Conference Explores The Next Generation Of Teaching & Learning

Blue Bell, PA — Registration is going on now for Montgomery County Community College’s 21st Annual Technology and Learning Conference, scheduled for Friday, Oct. 2 from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. at the College’s Central Campus, 340 DeKalb Pike, in Blue Bell.

Designed for faculty and administrators from both higher education and K-12 sectors, the conference provides a forum for participants to share state-of-the-art information technologies, contribute to a vision of the future of information technology in the academic enterprise, and exchange ideas and best practices for incorporating technology, security and learning.

The theme of this year’s conference is “Reinventing the Classroom,” and sessions are organized around five threads: e-Learning; Teaching and Learning Innovation; Data and Analytics; IT Infrastructure and Cloud Computing; and Security and Identity Management.

The conference will begin with a keynote address by Dr. Diana Oblinger, president emeritus of EDUCAUSE, a non-profit association of 2,400 colleges, universities and education organizations that works to advance higher education through the use of information technology.

During her presentation, Dr. Oblinger will discuss connected learning and the ways information technology is allowing educators to create the next generation of learning, for the next generation of learners. She will explore emerging information technology models that focus on competencies, collaboration, personalization and analytics.

The cost of attending MCCC’s Technology and Learning Conference is $25, which includes all conference materials, parking, continental breakfast and lunch. For registration information, including step-by-step directions to guide you through the registration process, visit http://www.mc3.edu/techday. Questions can be emailed to techday@mc3.edu.

Montgomery County Community College is ranked second in the country for its use of technology according to the 2015 Digital Community Colleges Survey issued by e.Republic’s Center for Digital Education (CDE). The 250 data-point survey analyzes how community colleges use digital technologies to improve services to students, faculty, staff and the community at large. MCCC has ranked in the survey’s top 10 large community colleges since CDE introduced it a decade ago.

Authority: Lancaster Will Need More Parking In Several Years

The Lancaster Parking Authority is about maxed-out on parking offerings, according to its executive director.

And the authority will need to add parking in several years to meet higher anticipated demand, according to Larry Cohen. So now’s the time to start planning.

The demand will come — in part — from a 96-room hotel planned next to the Lancaster County Convention Center, more and larger conventions that are anticipated at the center and other economic development, according to a report Cohen put together.

Cohen said he thinks there’s a misperception that there’s an abundance of parking because of the number of parking garages in the city.

Read more:

http://lancasteronline.com/news/local/authority-lancaster-will-need-more-parking-in-several-years/article_12cfee22-c1b0-11e4-861e-f757a23a870a.html

Philly’s On A Roll

Kat Clark, 25, has chosen to make a home in West Philadelphia after graduating in 2012 from Swarthmore College.

“It’s just a great place to live,” she said as she sipped coffee at La Colombe in the shadow of City Hall. Though the Chicago-area native considered relocating to New York City after school, the lure of Philadelphia’s cultural offerings, combined with the city’s comparative affordability, proved too tempting.

“There are a lot of artistic people around and this great academic scene,” she said, ticking off a laundry list of attributes that drew her to move here. “It’s not too large, but you can still do everything else you would do in a big city.

“In Philly, there’s still a lot going on, but you have space to grow,” echoed her friend, 24-year-old Tayarisha Poe.

Read more:  http://www.philly.com/philly/news/Philly_is_on_a_national_roll.html

Hotels, Money, David Cohen Helped Philly Snag 2016 Democratic National Convention

WASHINGTON – Hotels, money, Comcast executive David L. Cohen, and maybe some special treatment at the Liberty Bell all helped Philadelphia get over the top to win the right to host the 2016 Democratic National Convention, city and party leaders said Thursday afternoon.

“The role of Philadelphia in shaping our nation’s history is unmatched,” said U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D., Fla.), chair of the Democratic National Committee. “But what’s also unmatched is the comprehensive proposal” the city put together.

The three finalists to host the convention — Philadelphia, New York and Columbus, Ohio — were judged on logistics, security and resources to host the gathering that Democrats hope will serve as an energizing springboard to the 2016 presidential race, Wasserman Schultz said on an afternoon conference call with reporters.

Philadelphia presented the best combination of all three – though the proximity of thousands of hotel rooms to the Wells Fargo Center and sports complex were among its biggest draws, she said.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/capitolinq/Hotels-money-David-Cohen-boosted-Philly-convention-bid.html#BvsKUxkxJvvgDLfi.99

Downtown Lancaster Marriott’s Owner Proposes 96-Room, $23M Expansion

The math is simple.

If the Lancaster County Convention Center wants to attract bigger numbers of large conventions, it needs bigger numbers of nearby, convention-quality hotel rooms.

And right now, despite 299 rooms in the adjoining Lancaster Marriott at Penn Square, plus 134 more at The Hotel Lancaster two blocks away, research studies show that downtown is coming up short.

But a new proposal by the Marriott’s owner would make the convention center more appealing to the organizers of these big events.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/news/local/downtown-marriott-s-owner-proposes–room-m-expansion/article_b1b39a1e-a8da-11e4-b47b-3bbb05f76f38.html

Dan DeLuca: Forbes Under 30 Fest A Big Sign Philly Is World-Class Cool

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Philadelphia County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Way back in the 1990s, I started going to the South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas.

Every March, I’d go back to find not only that the festival had gotten bigger and bigger – too big, it became clear this year, when four people were killed by a runaway drunken driver – but also that the city was mushrooming along with it.

In Austin, the livability factor is high – warm temperatures, live music, BBQ – and the stream of transplants so steady it doesn’t take long for new residents to start moaning about how everything was better before people who arrived after them came to town.

Which brings me to the latest indicator that everybody has figured out Philadelphia is a cool place to live. It’s the modeled-after-SXSW Forbes Under 30 Summit, the money magazine’s inaugural gathering of boldface billionaires and tech titans (and upstart entrepreneurs who wish to emulate them) that will take place in its planned-to-be permanent home from today until Wednesday.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/20141019_Dan_DeLuca__Forbes_Under_30_fest_a_big_sign_Philly_is_world-class_cool.html#L2smIJJ3RURuueoT.99

Pittsburgh Region’s Political Leaders Again Consider Hotel Next To Convention Center

It’s becoming the Lazarus of Downtown projects.

Left for dead a year ago, and several times before that, a plan to build a 500-room hotel attached to the David L. Lawrence Convention Center is being resurrected by top political leaders.

Mayor Bill Peduto said Thursday that he and Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald have asked the Sports & Exhibition Authority to gauge the interest in and to study the feasibility of the proposed hotel, which would be built in a parking lot next to the convention center.

The full-service hotel, Mr. Peduto said, always was meant to be “the final part” of the convention center and to serve as its front entrance. “The building’s never been completed,” he said. “The hotel was supposed to be done.”

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2014/10/03/Political-leaders-revive-plan-for-hotel-attached-to-convention-center/stories/201410030099

Pittsburgh To Display City’s Progress, Potential At Major Bike Conference Downtown

Pittsburgh is already America’s most livable city, and a conference here this week might help it become even more so.

The city is hosting the Pro Walk/​Pro Bike/​Pro Place conference today through Thursday, welcoming more than 1,000 planners, architects, public health professionals, real estate professionals, educators and advocates from around the globe.

The conference could benefit Pittsburgh and the visitors.

“To have them learn from us and have us learn from them and all of their years of experience changing their cities into walkable, bikeable places is really really important for Pittsburghers but also for the people visiting Pittsburgh,” said Scott Bricker, executive director of Bike Pittsburgh.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/local/2014/09/08/Pittsburgh-will-display-progress-potential-at-major-bike-conference/stories/201409080015#ixzz3CkHIYKhK

Center City Philadelphia Showing Signs Of Weakness

English: Comcast Tower, tallest building in Philadelphia (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Center City, Philadelphia’s engine for growth for the last decade or more, is showing signs of distress, according to statistics compiled by the Center City District for its annual “State of Center City” report.

From office rental rates to visits to tourist attractions and the number of major conventions on the horizon, a variety of measures of the health of the city’s core suggest it might not be quite as vibrant as hoped.

For instance, while Center City’s population inches higher, office rental rates run stubbornly below national averages, an indication of a city’s weakness in attracting new employers.

Employment in health care and education – the city’s biggest job creators – has been flattening and, in the first time in a decade, declined in 2013.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20140423_Some_concerns_as_it_regards_Center_City_s_growth.html#wfR2CIQSqRKdLfKs.99

Wyndham Grand Pittsburgh Turnaround Complete, Owner Patel Says

Kiran Patel says the days of turmoil at the Wyndham Grand Pittsburgh are finally over.

“The city and people at large want to see this property not as an eyesore,” Patel, the hotel’s owner since 2011, said this week.

Nearly $15 million in renovations were completed in January, adding three floors to the front of the building, more meeting space and a pool with a breathtaking view of the Fort Pitt Bridge and the Point.

But getting there was not easy. Patel, a Tampa physician and businessman, had to navigate the hotel out of bankruptcy, manage union unrest over a new contact, and complete the renovation project that was stalled for at least two years under the previous owners.

Read more: http://triblive.com/business/headlines/5924249-74/hotel-patel-wyndham#ixzz2yj4m6ho8
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Atlantic City’s Aging Casinos, Storm Aftermath And A Glut Of Gambling Capacity Spell Trouble

English: Picture of the Tropicana from the Boardwalk. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

ATLANTIC CITY — Can this casino resort be saved?

Over Memorial Day weekend, it was easy to see all is not well here.  Eight of the 12 casinos predate the mid-1980s — carpets are grungy, paint is chipping off the walls, and far fewer employees are working the gaming floors.

As the sun broke through after a blustery Friday and Saturday, the Sunday crowds picked up on the Boardwalk. By midafternoon, it teemed with strollers and patrons at the outdoor restaurants.

But parking was available at several casino garages, a telltale sign it was not the hoped-for blockbuster weekend.  Business volume varied among properties.

At the newer Borgata, for example, there was a waiting list in the poker room and a steady stream of traffic throughout the casino.  At the barely year-old Revel, which just emerged from bankruptcy and opened new smoking lounges Friday, the sixth-floor casino parking level was filled with cars for the first time.  At dowdy Trump Plaza, meanwhile, an older generation half-filled the intimate gaming floor, and people in their 20s and 30s packed its outdoor beach bar.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/business/news/atlantic-citys-aging-casinos-storm-aftermath-and-a-glut-of-gambling-capacity-spell-trouble-689842/#ixzz2UsvznxAo