http://dajbconf.posterous.com Random musings about conferences I've attended. posterous.com Fri, 24 Feb 2012 00:15:00 -0800 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DougsConferenceBlog/~3/gprWy0-MH8w/jisc-cetis-conference-2012 http://dajbconf.posterous.com/jisc-cetis-conference-2012 <p> <p><em>I was involved in a <a href="http://wiki.cetis.ac.uk/Are_open_badges_the_future_for_recognition_of_skills%3F">session</a> at this conference.</em></p> <p><div class='p_embed p_audio_embed'> <a href="http://dajbconf.posterous.com/jisc-cetis-conference-2012"><img alt="" src="http://posterous.com/images/filetypes/mp3.png" /></a> <div class='p_embed_description'> <span class='p_id3'>Are_Open_Badges_the_future_of_accreditation_(#cetis12).mp3</span> <a href="http://dajbconf.posterous.com/jisc-cetis-conference-2012">Listen on Posterous</a> </div> </div> </p> <div style=""><div class='p_embed p_file_embed'> <a href="http://dajbconf.posterous.com/jisc-cetis-conference-2012"><img alt="" src="http://posterous.com/images/filetypes/pdf.png" /></a> <div class='p_embed_description'> <strong>Are_Open_Badges_the_future_for_recognition_of_skills.pdf</strong> <a href="http://getfile1.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2012-02-24/hdCgxmkffpHnCavDbEpxalEerFpzpnavHHtjcBgjynDilhjtiFnklggAJJxv/Are_Open_Badges_the_future_for_recognition_of_skills.pdf">Download this file</a> </div> </div> </div> <p><em> (the audio is also at <a href="http://www.archive.org/download/AreOpenBadgesTheFutureForRecognitionOfSkills/AreOpenBadgesTheFutureOfAccreditation_cetis12.mp3">archive.org</a> and the slides can be found on <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/dajbelshaw/are-open-badges-the-future-for-recognition-of-skills">Slideshare</a>)</em></p> <p>This was my first <a href="http://wiki.cetis.ac.uk/Conference_2012_Programme">JISC CETIS Conference</a>. It had all of the elements of a great gathering: a fantastic venue (the National College in Nottingham), a well-designed programme, and informal sessions. Not to mention, of course, very committed delegates.<p />I was there having been invited to provide some input to a session being run by Phil Barker and Simon Grant (both from JISC CETIS) around the topic of Open Badges. I was delighted to be involved - you can see my slides and listen to the audio above.<p />It was good to catch up with some JISC folk and others in the sector with very much a technical bent. It did make me realise, however, just how different the mindsets of educators and developers are. The former camp want technical solutions to well-defined problems. The latter are mostly concerned with successfully-realised technical solutions - even if there's not a well-defined problem to be solved.<p />An assumption that's prevalent in all sectors is that if you're interested in learning technologies then you must be a techie. Whilst I may be slightly technically-minded, I'm actually not that interested in how to get from A to B. I kind of just want it to work - preferably using open standards.<p />I suppose the upshot of this is that I pitched my input into the Open Badges session for those interested in how they could change education. In hindsight, this was a mistake as I don't think most developers are actually that interested in the problem; they're interested in the technologies. As one person who came along to the session told me during a coffee break, "We're sick to death of hearing that X, Y or Z is going to change the world. Accept that it isn't and move on."<p />Oops.<p />It seems to me that most development and innovation in learning technologies (from the developer side) comes from neat, pragmatic solutions to existing (perceived) problems, or ways of combining data streams to get interesting mashups. And there's nothing wrong with that, of course. That's absolutely what we need. The final keynote, for example, from Prof. Mark Stubbs (Head of Learning and Research Technologies at Manchester Metropolitan University) showed how his institution had gone about a curriculum design process for over 50,000 students. I can't remember pedagogy being mentioned once.<p />I'm not being critical of the conference or the community in my comments above. What it really brought home to me, however, is the need for educators to engage more with things that are technologically possible - and for learning technologists to engage more with pedagogy. We talk about 'mainstreaming innovation' but, in all honesty, just getting techies to talk to teachers (and vice versa) seems to me to be the whole barrier.<em><br /></em></p> </p> <p><a href="http://dajbconf.posterous.com/jisc-cetis-conference-2012">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://dajbconf.posterous.com/jisc-cetis-conference-2012#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/DougsConferenceBlog/~4/gprWy0-MH8w" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/983039/doug_smiling_500px.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36zxdL2sK8rD Doug Belshaw Doug Doug Belshaw - http://dajbconf.posterous.com/jisc-cetis-conference-2012 Thu, 26 Jan 2012 13:06:00 -0800 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DougsConferenceBlog/~3/OrDEFL9QKhU/learning-without-frontiers-2012-lwf12 http://dajbconf.posterous.com/learning-without-frontiers-2012-lwf12 <p> <div><span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://getfile9.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/6RobVPMxt0UAf47PV57O8QX3gGmPDWhjKPNs2T0413Oa5iiBXejbPzOK0nfA/IMG_2851.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg"><img alt="Img_2851" height="373" src="http://getfile7.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/7Wwm6o5YIr7TWamAeUB1W0RFXeUyWTOyI1qsmQq7x1Qw7bn7Y9qVZj9Zagbm/IMG_2851.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" /></a> <a href="http://getfile6.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2012-01-26/IAIpAqFfdBkiehndGGgIkdsqsjmdjvqoEhiDpDutuoDrbxHtbuIvwehcHAgB/IMG_2839.JPG.scaled1000.jpg"><img alt="Img_2839" height="373" src="http://getfile1.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2012-01-26/IAIpAqFfdBkiehndGGgIkdsqsjmdjvqoEhiDpDutuoDrbxHtbuIvwehcHAgB/IMG_2839.JPG.scaled500.jpg" width="500" /></a> <div class='p_see_full_gallery'><a href="http://dajbconf.posterous.com/learning-without-frontiers-2012-lwf12">See the full gallery on Posterous</a></div> </div> </strong></span></div> <p /> <div><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Introduction</strong></span></div> <div><span style="font-size: 14px;">It was my second, this time successful, attempt to attend the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.learningwithoutfrontiers.com/lwf12/" style="color: #006ae3;">Learning Without Frontiers Conference</a>. Last year I had a ticket but my daughter rather tardily decided to enter the world on the same day that I was supposed to be in London. How inconsiderate. ;-)</span></div> <p /> <div><span style="font-size: 14px;">This year, however, was a different story: I was not only able to attend the conference but ran a workshop entitled&nbsp;<em><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/dajbelshaw/education-for-the-apocalypse" style="color: #006ae3;">Education for the Apocalypse?</a></em>&nbsp;with&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 14px;"><a href="http://www.esri.mmu.ac.uk/resstaff/profile.php?name=Keri&amp;%20surname=Facer" style="color: #006ae3;">Keri Facer</a></span><span style="font-size: 14px;">. Keri is Professor of Education at Manchester Metropolitan University and delivered a fantastic talk on the main stage at #LWF12.&nbsp;</span></div> <p /> <div><span style="font-size: 14px;">Learning Without Frontiers is one of those conferences that creates a real buzz both on-and-offline and, to a some extent, sets the agenda for educational technology for the year. I think it's important before going any further to deal with the issue of cost. The tickets were expensive -&nbsp;<em>extremely&nbsp;</em>expensive but did include a free iPad 2. As a workshop speaker, however, I didn't get (or need) one. </span></div> <p /> <div><span style="font-size: 14px;">The Festival that runs alongside the conference is completely free of charge, the live stream is free and the tweets coming from conference delegates is free. Graham Brown-Martin's done a fantastic job in getting people to pay that amount of money whilst providing such a great free option, but I do wonder whether he's torpedoed his own conference. Knowing Graham, I doubt it - and it certainly works out well for teachers who can get in for free!<br /></span></div> <p /> <p /> <p /> <div><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Day 1</strong></span></div> <div><span style="font-size: 14px;"><a href="http://www.chomsky.info" style="color: #006ae3;">Noam Chomsky</a>&nbsp;kicked off #LWF12 with a pre-recorded video from his office at MIT. I smiled with delight as I saw that the first thing he talked about was 'the purpose of education'. For the record he believes that it's to do with Enlightenment values. I wonder if I could convince Graham to let us use that video on the&nbsp;<a href="http://purposed.org.uk" style="color: #006ae3;">Purpos/ed website</a>? I didn't agree with everything Chomsky said ("technology is neutral"?!) and it went on about a minute too long, but it was well-shot and a high-profile start to the conference.</span></div> <p /> <div><span style="font-size: 14px;">I can't say the same about&nbsp;<a href="http://www.kurzweilai.net" style="color: #006ae3;">Ray Kurzweil</a>'s session. He spent what seemed like an eternity rambling about his career whilst displaying the first slide and then whizzed through a generic slide deck. I can only remember the word 'exponential'. Oh, and just talked to the camera the whole time. The next session by the interim CEO of&nbsp;<a href="http://appsforgood.org/" style="color: #006ae3;">Apps for Good</a>&nbsp;was very worthy but, in contrast to Kurzweil, seemed to speed by without me being able to take much in. Too much coffee?&nbsp;</span></div> <p /> <div><span style="font-size: 14px;">Thankfully, the next section of Day 1 at #LWF12 was much better. Ellen MacArthur gave an extremely slick and well-argued plea to get behind the 'circle economy' that her foundation is promoting;&nbsp;Keri Facer&nbsp;explained why we need to work together to collaborate for social change. These were the two best talks on Day 1 for me.&nbsp;<a href="http://www.jaronlanier.com/" style="color: #006ae3;">Jaron Lanier</a>&nbsp;was interesting but I didn't learn much apart from the story of his life and that he plays 10,000 year-old rather random (and awful-sounding) instruments. The guy from the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.gsma.com/" style="color: #006ae3;">GSMA</a>&nbsp;was poor: it was if he'd watched a couple of TED Talks and read the Guardian to cobble together a presentation.</span></div> <p /> <div><span style="font-size: 14px;">I skipped the afternoon session on Day 1 to catch up with people like my good friend&nbsp;<a href="http://nickdennis.com" style="color: #006ae3;">Nick Dennis</a>,&nbsp;<a href="http://daibarnes.info" style="color: #006ae3;">Dai Barnes</a>,&nbsp;<a href="http://heloukee.wordpress.com" style="color: #006ae3;">Helen Keegan</a>, and others. I used to feel a bit guilt about doing this at conferences, but it's important to maintain and sustain relationships, I think. The&nbsp;<em>Education for the Apocalypse&nbsp;</em>session Keri and I ran from 5pm to 6.30pm was standing room only and had a great atmosphere. It's definitely one we'll have to run again. The evening I spent in the fantastic company of Nick Dennis and&nbsp;<a href="http://catherinecronin.wordpress.com/" style="color: #006ae3;">Catherine Cronin</a>&nbsp;at Pizza Express.</span></div> <p /> <p /> <div><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Day 2</strong></span></div> <div><span style="font-size: 14px;">As a father to a 5 year-old boy and a 1 year-old daughter, sleep is an important commodity to me but sometimes a rare one. It surprised me, therefore, to be&nbsp;<em>more</em>&nbsp;tired despite getting a greater number of hours of sleep at my hotel. But then I never sleep that well when I'm away from home.&nbsp;</span></div> <p /> <div><span style="font-size: 14px;">Upon arriving at #LWF12 for Day 2 the queue for the cloakroom was immense. I managed to talk to the legend that is&nbsp;<a href="http://twitter.com/dansutch" style="color: #006ae3;">Dan Sutch</a> for about two minutes during this time. I really must pin that man down to a time and a place for several pints.</span></div> <p /> <div><span style="font-size: 14px;">Thankfully, I only missed the first part of Lord David Puttnam's introduction. I respect the man greatly but still don't agree with his argument that keyboards are on the way out. Until we can parse audio and video as easily as text, the latter will remain the dominant means of communication online.</span></div> <p /> <div><span style="font-size: 14px;">Lord Puttnam introduced a fantastic trio of talks:&nbsp;</span></div> <div> <ul> <li><span style="font-size: 14px;"><a href="http://www.media.mit.edu/people/mres" style="color: #006ae3;">Mitch Resnick</a>&nbsp;from MIT who talked about&nbsp;<a href="http://scratch.mit.edu/" style="color: #006ae3;">Scratch</a>&nbsp;(a visual programming language) and the 'perpetual kindergarten'.</span></li> <li><span style="font-size: 14px;"><a href="http://commonspace.wordpress.com/" style="color: #006ae3;">Mark Surman</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="http://rwxweb.wordpress.com/" style="color: #006ae3;">Michelle Levesque</a>&nbsp;from&nbsp;<a href="http://mozilla.org" style="color: #006ae3;">Mozilla</a>&nbsp;who discussed the importance of creating a generation of webmakers through things like&nbsp;<a href="http://hackasaurus.org" style="color: #006ae3;">Hackasaurus</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="http://openbadges.org" style="color: #006ae3;">Open Badges</a></span></li> <li><span style="font-size: 14px;"><a href="http://www.neuroeducational.net/" style="color: #006ae3;">Paul Howard-Jones</a>&nbsp;who talked about the neuroscience behind video games and the like. His book is available at&nbsp;<a href="http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/digital-technology-and-the-brain-a-guide-for-the-online-family/18705197" style="color: #006ae3;">Lulu</a>.</span></li> </ul> <div><span style="font-size: 14px;">I caught&nbsp;<a href="http://www.lisama.co.uk/" style="color: #006ae3;">Lisa Ma</a>'s crazy, crazy session about Cat Ladies and parasites and 'learning from the fringes'. There's some properly out there people in the world. She's one of them (in a good way!)&nbsp;</span></div> <p /> <div><span style="font-size: 14px;">Whilst I wanted to hear&nbsp;<a href="http://www.jesseschell.com/" style="color: #006ae3;">Jesse Schell</a>&nbsp;talk about gamification I had a lunch meeting with&nbsp;<a href="http://rsce-assessment.blogspot.com/" style="color: #006ae3;">Grainne Hamilton</a>&nbsp;from&nbsp;<a href="http://www.rsc-sw-scotland.ac.uk/" style="color: #006ae3;">RSC Scotland</a>&nbsp;and a couple of people from the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.sqa.org.uk" style="color: #006ae3;">Scottish Qualifications Authority</a>&nbsp;(including&nbsp;<a href="http://www.joewilsons.net/" style="color: #006ae3;">Joe Wilson</a>) to talk about Open Badges. It's looking promising.</span></div> </div> <p /> <div><span style="font-size: 14px;">In the afternoon I enjoyed, as ever,&nbsp;<a href="http://heppell.net" style="color: #006ae3;">Stephen Heppell</a>'s presentation about the wonderful potential of technologies and learners taking control and then&nbsp;<a href="http://www.francisgilbert.co.uk" style="color: #006ae3;">Francis Gilbert</a>'s polemic about the way in which the way the current UK education system is leads to problems. He discussed everything from Ofsted to the ways in which we don't learn from what works. Both were great talks which cut through some of the fluffy stuff.</span></div> <p /> <div><span style="font-size: 14px;">I'd promised&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/#!/alecpatton" style="color: #006ae3;">Alec Patton</a>&nbsp;from the&nbsp;<a href="http://innovationunit.org" style="color: #006ae3;">Innovation Unit</a>&nbsp;that I'd come to his session on&nbsp;<em>Getting Your School Engaged&nbsp;</em>but, because the main room was out of sync with the festival, arrived late. I still got to talk through some issues around project-based learning with some teachers, so all was not lost.</span></div> <p /> <div><span style="font-size: 14px;">Before leaving, I had a quick chat with Mark Surman about the&nbsp;<a href="http://dml2012.dmlcentral.net/" style="color: #006ae3;">DML Conference 2012</a>&nbsp;which we're both attending, said goodbye to a few people, and then headed for a pint to continue the conversation with Alec. From there, I successfully managed to navigate the London Underground system to catch my train home which, for anyone who knows me well, is no mean feat. ;-)</span></div> <p /> <p /> <div><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Conclusion</strong></span></div> <div><span style="font-size: 14px;">I greatly enjoyed #LWF12. Some of the well-known speakers were disappointing, yes, but the majority were informative, engaging and presenting from a solid research basis. As ever, however, it's the&nbsp;<em>people</em>&nbsp;who make a conference worth going to. It's the conversations and the networking.</span></div> <p /> <div><span style="font-size: 14px;">A note to conference organisers to finish off. It is not acceptable to use coffee and lunch breaks as buffers. If you do this, people will simply stop attending some of the blocks of sessions. Stick to timings. Be ruthless. It makes for a better experience for everyone!</span></div> </p> <p><a href="http://dajbconf.posterous.com/learning-without-frontiers-2012-lwf12">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://dajbconf.posterous.com/learning-without-frontiers-2012-lwf12#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/DougsConferenceBlog/~4/OrDEFL9QKhU" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/983039/doug_smiling_500px.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36zxdL2sK8rD Doug Belshaw Doug Doug Belshaw http://dajbconf.posterous.com/learning-without-frontiers-2012-lwf12 Thu, 17 Nov 2011 12:12:00 -0800 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DougsConferenceBlog/~3/3gUmuUUpbxQ/guardian-innovation-in-education-iie2011 http://dajbconf.posterous.com/guardian-innovation-in-education-iie2011 <p> <p><span style="font-size: medium;"><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a 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Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I spent today at the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/innovation-education">Guardian Innovation in Education</a> event at Prospero House, London. It was the first time I've chaired a session or spoken on a keynote panel (you can read about what I spoke about&nbsp;<a href="http://dougbelshaw.com/blog/2011/11/17/innovation-in-education-what-ill-be-talking-about-at-the-guardian-event-today/">here</a>&nbsp;and there's a pre-conference interview <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/innovation-education/speaker-interview-doug-belshaw">here</a>).</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It was a day of two halves, really. The <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/innovation-education/programme">programme</a>&nbsp;promised much in the morning, but it was only Mick Waters, former head of the QCDA that stirred things up and said things that had people nodding heads, sending out tweets and writing things down. The session on leadership I thought was particularly awkward as the panel had little or no experience of being in such a position. Thankfully, the session chair Russell Hobby from the National Association of Head Teachers was able to step in with some pertinent points.</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I had a similar feeling of being short-changed in the session entitled <em>Innovation in workforce development: the importance of teacher training and supported professional development to empower teachers to innovate</em>. The panel didn't have enough breadth of experience (or specific examples of good practice) to give us any meat.</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Thankfully, the conference organization, the venue and the afternoon session were all great. I chaired a session featuring an eclectic mix of speakers from games designers to academics which seemed to go down well. At least I kept everyone to time! Lord David Puttnam was fantastic in his keynote, teasing out issues in the education system. I asked him the Q&amp;A what he believed to be the <a href="http://purposed.org.uk">purpose(s) of education</a>&nbsp;He replied that he considers it to be all about helping people to optimise their talents and feel 'successful' (which gives them confidence). Puttnam recounted the story of an American journalist he knows who was in London during the August riots. He found our youth to be 'fearful' and wishing to live 'normal lives'. How sad.</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Apart from David Puttnam's keynote, the session I enjoyed most was <em>Best practice: Showcasing the benefits and challenges of adopting innovative technologies in education</em>. This featured a couple of people of whom I was already aware (Ollie Bray, Abdul Chohan) and two that I wasn't (Simon Elledge, Martin Palfrey). They shared with us their successes and failures at the 'coalface' implementing learning technologies. I think a lot of people went away with ideas from that session.</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The final session was the keynote panel discussion of which I was part. This ended up, after much shuffling over the last few weeks, comprising Ian Fordham (Education Foundation), Douglas Archibald (Whole Education) and me. I very much appreciated Douglas' suggestion to the conference organizers that people had 15 minutes to talk to one another on their tables, with a truncated Q&amp;A session at the end of the day.</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Overall, then, a success for the Guardian in attracting big names (Google was a 'knowledge partner, they got David Puttnam to keynote) and in some fantastic conference organisation. A little more thought about who they get for which sessions next time might be prudent. Thankfully, the feedback form champagne draw took place before the keynote panel session ended, meaning people (probably) didn't have a chance to rate <em>me</em>...</span></p> </p> <p><a href="http://dajbconf.posterous.com/guardian-innovation-in-education-iie2011">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://dajbconf.posterous.com/guardian-innovation-in-education-iie2011#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/DougsConferenceBlog/~4/3gUmuUUpbxQ" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/983039/doug_smiling_500px.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36zxdL2sK8rD Doug Belshaw Doug Doug Belshaw http://dajbconf.posterous.com/guardian-innovation-in-education-iie2011 Sat, 05 Nov 2011 05:21:00 -0700 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DougsConferenceBlog/~3/t0WUZf2No50/mozfest-mozilla-festival-2011 http://dajbconf.posterous.com/mozfest-mozilla-festival-2011 <p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a 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src="http://getfile7.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/IvEgfJohhjlxrEbgmmycnHgzcgzaGwuHFHGJuzgcdzaJBlcpAsvhlsHIymst/IMG_0040.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" /></a> <a href="http://getfile5.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/qiGpgdBpCBxCjazawzEFIHgfdkeGaBplanpqfbfJJbJvpwEgdnwnfCrsfIeF/IMG_0041.jpg.scaled1000.jpg"><img alt="Img_0041" height="373" src="http://getfile6.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/qiGpgdBpCBxCjazawzEFIHgfdkeGaBplanpqfbfJJbJvpwEgdnwnfCrsfIeF/IMG_0041.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" /></a> <a href="http://getfile6.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/GqyhGdlhvtypAvdxzgabFlakrFzsEtylurElClanhbHnmtDtretnvBnmEGHy/IMG_0042.jpg.scaled1000.jpg"><img alt="Img_0042" height="373" src="http://getfile0.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/GqyhGdlhvtypAvdxzgabFlakrFzsEtylurElClanhbHnmtDtretnvBnmEGHy/IMG_0042.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" /></a> <a href="http://getfile3.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/ImzmsAxnCyaJoEJuahivdmbuviGicjbEzuDwdIdckAHrcjHpjxFoaDebkfDt/IMG_0045.jpg.scaled1000.jpg"><img alt="Img_0045" height="373" src="http://getfile3.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/ImzmsAxnCyaJoEJuahivdmbuviGicjbEzuDwdIdckAHrcjHpjxFoaDebkfDt/IMG_0045.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" /></a> <a href="http://getfile7.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/tzeGDeIffitysmmHzEiJxCyznAbppJqbEsHudiigxdCypscjjrhBodpolpub/IMG_0044.jpg.scaled1000.jpg"><img alt="Img_0044" height="373" src="http://getfile0.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/tzeGDeIffitysmmHzEiJxCyznAbppJqbEsHudiigxdCypscjjrhBodpolpub/IMG_0044.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" /></a> <a href="http://getfile5.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/kCAGgCIhDblijfhkjjIAtrzxlBAhqoizavaaeDdyqwyeAlfBiaIfGuBxsGeA/IMG_0043.jpg.scaled1000.jpg"><img alt="Img_0043" height="373" src="http://getfile0.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/kCAGgCIhDblijfhkjjIAtrzxlBAhqoizavaaeDdyqwyeAlfBiaIfGuBxsGeA/IMG_0043.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" /></a> <a href="http://getfile8.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/DqsfIAbGmCazjhnjgkeJElzArdxFgbEnEsoggoHgGGBwJyxFlyapAvzajedw/IMG_0046.jpg.scaled1000.jpg"><img alt="Img_0046" height="307" src="http://getfile2.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/DqsfIAbGmCazjhnjgkeJElzArdxFgbEnEsoggoHgGGBwJyxFlyapAvzajedw/IMG_0046.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" /></a> <div class='p_see_full_gallery'><a href="http://dajbconf.posterous.com/mozfest-mozilla-festival-2011">See the full gallery on Posterous</a></div> </div> </p> <p>I spent last weekend at the <a href="http://mozillafestival.org">Mozilla Festival</a> at Ravensbourne College in Greenwich, London. The main reason I decided to give up a weekend with my family to attend yet another conference was because it <em>wasn't</em> just another conference. Although I felt slightly out of my depth on the technical front (I'm no programmer) I'm excited about Mozilla moving into the education space.</p> <p>Of course, being Mozilla, they're not perpetuating the same old paradigm and are, <a href="http://commonspace.wordpress.com/mozilla-learning-proposa/">in the words</a> of CEO Mark Surman, 'going big' on learning. If you haven't seen their Open Badges architecture (and the associated DML Competition) you haven't been paying attention. Education is driven, for better or for worse by assessment, so providing alternatives for the latter allows us to more easily change the former. I'm certainly fully signed-up for evangelising and exploring badges, as you've probably noticed if you've read my <a href="http://dougbelshaw.com/blog/">main blog</a> recently!</p> <p>But back to the Festival. It's difficult to sum up how an event makes you <em>feel</em>: it's of course possible to list and describe, as I shall below, the sessions and what happened, but portraying the well of positivity is difficult. "More hack, less yack" was the order of the day, with a distinctly Californian can-do attitude taking over that particular corner of the Greenwich Peninsula for three days. It's also tough to explain how, in what I'm increasingly realising is Mozilla's <em>modus operandi</em>, the whole event was extremely well-organised yet allowed for flexibility and spontaneity. Saturday and Sunday ostensibly started at 9am, yet didn't start until around 9.45am on Sunday. But still, everything was fine and no-one panicked. Awesome.</p> <p>Another example of the can-do yet laid-back approach of organisers and delegates was exemplified in the first session I attended on Saturday. It was on paper-based prototyping, which I'd seen briefly on Friday at The Hive session for teenagers. For whatever reason, the person who was supposed to be leading the session didn't appear. At other conferences where something similar has happened one of two things has happened: either delegates wait around for someone to come along, or they simply leave. There must have been around twenty-five people in the session and I didn't see one of them leave. Given we had a stack of paper, I suggested we start with a paper aeroplane competition. And we just made things up from there.</p> <p>I went to a couple of sessions relating to badges, one on Saturday and one on Sunday. I knew most of the stuff discussed at the first session, stepping in to help Carla Casilli (<a href="http://twitter.com/cc_open">@cc_open</a>) and Brian Brennan (<a href="http://twitter.com/brianloveswords">@brianloveswords</a>) explain the concept to those encountering it for the first time. The second was more enlightening in the sense that it was more of a case study of how one organization, the Digital Youth Network (DYN), have thought through how to introduce a badge ecosystem in their work with teenagers. There's a couple of PDFs they put up on the screen that I'll be chasing them to make available online.</p> <p>On Saturday afternoon I attended a session entitled: 'Open, Participatory and Fun: Working the Mozilla Way'. Gervase Markham (<a href="http://twitter.com/gerv">@gerv</a>) facilitated this session in a way in alignment with these principles, getting us to think through in groups what makes for successful projects. As it turned out, our group focused on a non-web idea of an 'internet-free zone' in rural France. Gerv steered us towards the following things that he suggested every project needs (and which I'll be talking with Andy Stewart for soon to check that we're on top of for <a href="http://purposed.org.uk">Purpos/ed</a>):</p> <ol> <li>Written, archived, searchable, asynchronous discussion <em>(e.g. mailing list, newsgroup or forum)</em></li> <li>Work product storage and versioning <em>(e.g. source code management system or wiki)</em></li> <li>Information and announcements <em>(e.g. website or blog)</em></li> <li>Problem/task tracker <em>(e.g. issue tracker)</em></li> </ol> <p>We were reminded that every project has a 'presumed level of knowledge' and that it is our job to <em>enable meaningful participation</em>. Amen to that.</p> <p>Two more sessions. First, I went to 'HTML5 and Other New Technologies Explained for Humans' which was an exteremely well-attended presentation by Christian Heilmann (@codepo8). He not only presented <em>using</em> HTML5 but explained it in a way I could understand and potentially use. The 'grab bag' for the session is available <a href="https://wiki.mozilla.org/Engagement/Developer_Engagement/Grab_bag">here</a>. Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for the extremely enthusiastic but ultimately-unsuccessful session on the Storify API I attended afterwards - which is a shame as I really like (and use) <a href="http://storify.com">Storify</a>.</p> <p>I still haven't mentioned the amazon barista-created coffee, the Firefox walk-around mascots, the amazingness of the venue or the people I bumped into. Oh well, this semi-braindump will have to suffice for the time being...</p> </p> <p><a href="http://dajbconf.posterous.com/mozfest-mozilla-festival-2011">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://dajbconf.posterous.com/mozfest-mozilla-festival-2011#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/DougsConferenceBlog/~4/t0WUZf2No50" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/983039/doug_smiling_500px.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36zxdL2sK8rD Doug Belshaw Doug Doug Belshaw http://dajbconf.posterous.com/mozfest-mozilla-festival-2011 Fri, 07 Oct 2011 02:12:00 -0700 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DougsConferenceBlog/~3/-urTbpf6r0Y/jisc-digital-literacy-workshop-jiscdiglit http://dajbconf.posterous.com/jisc-digital-literacy-workshop-jiscdiglit <p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/7FQVF5ra2nkXBFmlDChu07Huki6onQDHyW4xs64lbtRoI1dhm3rjd5emsmYD/IMG_1939.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg"><img alt="Img_1939" height="373" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/iuUeTYCBeYBH8Y5HROniVapQPystLRRWY3hORcYQVD2teVI7kWoHATjgWFpa/IMG_1939.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" /></a> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/roDGxo4xHIaWKShak4exiufBbH9oHP0AJ0GvC96HUwfwmVQwGKeZLQBCSNQw/IMG_1938.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg"><img alt="Img_1938" height="669" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/GWYnDhdeT7d77U7FcedHOQlZGz40QhNs6PEKvb2n9f4Ko6UCQ5Mgmicdihbe/IMG_1938.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" /></a> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/JcETlHQP9h6jlpKqlWH2vznFQxhgi6EDSBpFYaFiiLWigZRvwDCnzIN5JyJ7/IMG_1936.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg"><img alt="Img_1936" height="373" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/iAHrRwjMW9n7nOeru6Mr9nX8bopZzApJuA9kFf0EQXB1A7rZhCR2739BPyLc/IMG_1936.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" /></a> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/f90WgkXzJA5pH7XHTNwz2FnzEoRJwIZoKJdU5xNF1SN6aTeaAg7752mBiWkk/IMG_1935.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg"><img alt="Img_1935" height="669" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/VyBZJd3a4Glt1RFMQ1JWLHKIx3LWrYNVmLVchWL6pD6nWKGBW4wPRARqVAUi/IMG_1935.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" /></a> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/mkr1GgWdmWisj3tuqIoJrYy3TZsSBwSjyl8XNlRStKTy5O4smMQZXhPB4Zcc/IMG_1941.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg"><img alt="Img_1941" height="373" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/8fnHzSloNuSbSvbl1mVe1uNJ0G8ccP6SbqksVEn2af3WnZ43CvUn9uXGW7Zl/IMG_1941.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" /></a> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/UcpgLOpONlDOhyHEbJhsU4mwykhe7l72V3UmJWwqOE33s0dAldeCdjILkIn1/IMG_1943.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg"><img alt="Img_1943" height="373" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/nVDjy4lLZdF1UnhyVcNb7nvrh55RSAhqnKIuYvHmikCqlV1B9ykk37i43kXu/IMG_1943.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" /></a> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/KEFnkPKqRUA3HzPS6r58pmQP9FIAPTmVzZ3hQjVg5INhO1MlImeBBFnCluNB/IMG_1945.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg"><img alt="Img_1945" height="373" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/KxyofN2EQSlrXvlnMN5BS6y0Ykg1MMHn3eSGHFtj0A17cx0wAjpflu8AHU5S/IMG_1945.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" /></a> <div class='p_see_full_gallery'><a href="http://dajbconf.posterous.com/jisc-digital-literacy-workshop-jiscdiglit">See the full gallery on Posterous</a></div> </div> </p> <p>As part of the programme support for the new <a href="http://www.jisc.ac.uk/developingdigitalliteracies">JISC Developing Digital Literacies programme</a> (and with this being the area of my thesis) I felt I pretty much had to attend at least one of the series of workshops that have been held over the last few months. I couldn't attend previous ones due to other commitments, but the one today in Bristol fell conveniently between programme startup meetings in Birmingham and the Future of Technology in Education event (#FOTE11) in London tomorrow.</p> <p>The day was expertly led by Helen Beetham, long-time JISC consultant and well-known for her work in the digital literacies arena. She was ably supported by representatives from projects and institutions, as well as from Paul Bailey, joint Programme Manager (with Sarah Knight) for the JISC Developing Digital Literacies programme.</p> <p>Although it wasn't addressed explicitly, something that interested me was the slight difference in emphasis between 'literacy' in the workshop documentation and the discussion of literacies (plural) on the day. The latter is also the focus of the Developing Digital Literacies programme. I've had slight misgivings about JISC's work in this area (see Chapter 7 of my <a href="http://neverendingthesis.com">thesis</a>) but, thankfully, recognising literacies in their plurality whilst foregrounding their very contextual and situated nature seems to be a feature of JISC's work going forward. :-)</p> <p>I suppose that, because although I'm based in a university but not really *part* of it, the target audience for the workshop didn't really include me. I find the theoretical and conceptual side of it more interesting that the implementation, to be honest. To that end, I enjoyed seeing again Helen's developmental framework based on stages of development.</p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="Hb_digilit_framework" height="270" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-10-07/xfaviEACsFDHdbAveFGFjdqktdeokielywClcrjxzDyozpejbafCbJmAteqq/hb_digilit_framework.png.scaled500.png" width="406" /> </div> </p> <p>Helen's point is that the top of this hierarchy is bound up with identity whereas the bottom is more around ownership (Beetham &amp; Sharpe, 2009).</p> <p>Another thing I really liked was the way in which a 'ways of knowing' approach was used in the workshop. Instead of getting hung-up on endless arguments about definitions of digital literacies, focusing on how people can and do know things is much more productive. As I've argued elsewhere, there's more than is commonly recognised and/or admitted in education around habits, dispositions and attitudes.</p> <p>During the poster session towards the end an interesting picture emerged. Those posters representing projects to do with capital expenditure such as new library spaces were shown to be things that delegates' institutions had or were in the process of doing. On the other hand, those around curriculum design were avoided. There's a real need, then, for the JISC Developing Digital Literacies programme and, perhaps more importantly, disseminating the outputs effectively.</p> <p>One fantastic surprise at the workshop was when Zak Mensah arrived with a FedEx box. The wonderful Helen Keegan (@heloukee), with whom I'd been having a discussion on Twitter about the severe lack of cake at my thesis submission, sent cupcakes with my face imprinted on the icing! What a legend. :-D</p> </p> <p><a href="http://dajbconf.posterous.com/jisc-digital-literacy-workshop-jiscdiglit">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://dajbconf.posterous.com/jisc-digital-literacy-workshop-jiscdiglit#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/DougsConferenceBlog/~4/-urTbpf6r0Y" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/983039/doug_smiling_500px.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36zxdL2sK8rD Doug Belshaw Doug Doug Belshaw http://dajbconf.posterous.com/jisc-digital-literacy-workshop-jiscdiglit Wed, 28 Sep 2011 11:15:00 -0700 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DougsConferenceBlog/~3/56tTFb33TE4/mobile-learning-now-and-the-future-mobilelear http://dajbconf.posterous.com/mobile-learning-now-and-the-future-mobilelear <p> <div> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/XOx0wIMKup6REWUFl5aWJpF3Fkde4aY7prNhNjVVg9gaOgvJ6dKXHz2fGhb2/IMG_1881_2.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg"><img alt="Img_1881_2" height="373" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/jy2iWEs4b4GpntiWBmSBjR2WwCkYkCmTV8EuH29arkmtoqMnbOiiUF3JJu2b/IMG_1881_2.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" /></a> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/xATccvmf8Sm2ccvSmPSdai8yVF0H24rGAxSokmIqVpX6uVPsRS85bSRq7jOL/IMG_1883_2.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg"><img alt="Img_1883_2" height="373" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/bWjyOlOO2BVEpTawwJHXszlOP4llTTvwYOpGUqw3ktl1I0yL2MS5Ko72ZBnS/IMG_1883_2.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" /></a> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/CpPnhnDoWAifbRZlIAMU7bx4YPWena0aiikW4RtRN2pavoixJumKcTZH3zRm/IMG_1884_2.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg"><img alt="Img_1884_2" height="373" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/Fsj5rvE8v0w7pC72DGzyzOznCRkQWEZJqLM8C9it8im5dZcs1ykEKogNWABP/IMG_1884_2.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" /></a> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/Qh00cZfllufn5DoOMDwDrrTsJAXJXKeBV9NcxjiwG4961zNw0nxEY4aPpedQ/IMG_1888_2.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg"><img alt="Img_1888_2" height="373" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/kcZKwczUNVJYYfmL4PnAQPx2btanqt0RYtMTnWl7A352fTKcp3ZkwFksv9Jl/IMG_1888_2.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" /></a> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/QSLK8iIeGEe1PefoF5YWy4jhqBVHqtjKPLYfTdIuig9mamf4vKO6EXOdkmt3/IMG_1892_2.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg"><img alt="Img_1892_2" height="373" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/kd9RF2w50QWDOxNXX6s6R71vbpwundEQHTROcfeRyJXShdg8oeXmhRA5VkeQ/IMG_1892_2.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" /></a> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/jL5kfZaNA53kb8ti3jGjwW8QFAqcjsYmIvA4HXoGidmAw4x3FvsWqWkJntVt/IMG_1896_2.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg"><img alt="Img_1896_2" height="373" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/YB5FCMNOGx4UeOupXc6Y8Rcyh2QXOR1n2QEluWqoPs3oeuTrhscjlLnT5YJb/IMG_1896_2.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" /></a> <div class='p_see_full_gallery'><a href="http://dajbconf.posterous.com/mobile-learning-now-and-the-future-mobilelear">See the full gallery on Posterous</a></div> </div> </p> </div> <div>I've had a great day today at the College of North West London at an event entitled <a href="http://lanyrd.com/2011/mobilelearn2011/">Mobile Learning: Now and the Future</a>. I thought it was going to be quite a small affair, but it ended up attracting names such as John Cook and John Traxler to keynote, so was a pretty big deal in this field!</div> <p /> <div>Steve Boneham from JISC Netskills and I presented on <a href="http://lanyrd.com/2011/mobilelearn2011/shxkq/">Implementing Mobile Learning in Your Institution</a> which, due to numbers, we delivered in the main auditorium and seemed to be well-received. It was good to see familiar faces such as Geoff Stead, Nick Dennis, Julie Usher and Claire Bradley.&nbsp;</div> <p /> <div>Afterwards, I ended up going for a Turkish meal with John Moore, his PhD student Sujan, Julie Usher, Nick Dennis and Shirley (I didn't catch her surname) from the University of Greenwich. Great stuff. :-)</div> <p>&nbsp;</p> </p> <p><a href="http://dajbconf.posterous.com/mobile-learning-now-and-the-future-mobilelear">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://dajbconf.posterous.com/mobile-learning-now-and-the-future-mobilelear#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/DougsConferenceBlog/~4/56tTFb33TE4" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/983039/doug_smiling_500px.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36zxdL2sK8rD Doug Belshaw Doug Doug Belshaw http://dajbconf.posterous.com/mobile-learning-now-and-the-future-mobilelear Sat, 24 Sep 2011 00:57:00 -0700 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DougsConferenceBlog/~3/PAX3af5sN3w/scottish-learning-festival-2011-slf11 http://dajbconf.posterous.com/scottish-learning-festival-2011-slf11 <p> <div> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/D9YpQQ91o8hxqgAC6tgCBsgM8N3JxhAL7OmJ5bzmksoi6BleQI0uHRCqLjBK/slf0.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg"><img alt="Slf0" height="373" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/lstsyp2vOxshVAq5Ma9mxuEaD5haY6pcjJKOUZuMxxmeSyA6R3uzVWTBuKDh/slf0.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" /></a> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/0sbngD5DOuGMwKfbpyDsiGEbhK75bhHxkwTenk8lQHEH1d9I4kuTzJLToHMx/slf1.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg"><img alt="Slf1" height="373" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/IMPAdCasIwVFy6EGWAnnjRHo8t6XHuBwYsstWE2bhYy8Brnd3cwdm2Hol7xU/slf1.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" /></a> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/rPNO3eVOLvMNCymUKfngIsUr5Catjj57cEzXD8RP2y66gKXJM0vONFHlSkNU/slf2.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg"><img alt="Slf2" height="373" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/zeuzJeSjHpRR8MjJvfUVXQNoJS4pkDt6VijmyWvXFJvPQZ4uPsZHAlxo4KiY/slf2.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" /></a> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/Xt7dYPNPf4B3rWudZms8WxrD36SdUg1vvh3Wx5FKgTNLcDY9tHyM7DIInGzW/slf3.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg"><img alt="Slf3" height="373" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/w7lYgASazLdint6i0ulJv8E7JWulKZxVwn4VWmrnFQ51OvlMp0qFUZOp62WD/slf3.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" /></a> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/Pm0hLWRPTlHi72plVoJAhRudBPW1ygtWD6ag2mdgf9ljlQoWeftxE0XaH9tl/slf4.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg"><img alt="Slf4" height="373" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/db39GuncsF5E80UwiE1jnfKP8arredTG5fqRI9Ix7Ym4Mjyo21plLXLi0X4p/slf4.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" /></a> <div class='p_see_full_gallery'><a href="http://dajbconf.posterous.com/scottish-learning-festival-2011-slf11">See the full gallery on Posterous</a></div> </div> </p> </div> <div>For the past three years I've had the opportunity and privilege to attend the Scottish Learning Festival. At the first one I attended in 2009 I was still Director of e-Learning at a large Academy in Northumberland but, even so, I was only grudgingly allowed to go. Thankfully, my enlightened boss in my current role (not directly related to schools) has allowed me to go for the past two years. :-D</div> <p /> <div>Unlike BETT, the Scottish Learning Festival is not primarily a trade show - although it does feature the largest example of the latter in Scotland. It's first and foremost a vehicle for Education Scotland (previously three separate bodies) to showcase and share great educational practice. There are liberal helpings of both pupils and international delegates at the event, held at the SECC in Glasgow.&nbsp;</div> <p /> <div>For the past five years there's been a TeachMeet associated with the Scottish Learning Festival which, if I'm honest, has been my main reason for going. The things I've learned over the past couple of years at those TeachMeets eclipsed what I learned at the Learning Festival itself. That wasn't the case this year. Why? OK, so the TeachMeet (the slickest and best-organised and sponsored I've attended) had less actual classroom practitioners presenting, but that wasn't the reason. The reason was because of the sheer quality of the sessions I attended at the Scottish Learning Festival:</div> <p /> <p /> <div><strong>Slide to Unlock</strong></div> <div>In this session, Kate Farrell (@digitalkatie) demonstrated the revolutionary potential of the iPad for learners with disabilities. Her son has an undiagnosed condition meaning he cannot stand up or talk. The equipment that is usually used to help him communicate runs into thousands of pounds, but Kate has found apps for the iPad that improve upon that specialised system. She argued that these apps were equally good for younger learners (which interested me, having a 4 year-old and 8 month-old!)</div> <p /> <div>Kate's slides (with lots of useful ideas) can be found at <a href="http://slideshare.net/digitalkatie">http://slideshare.net/digitalkatie</a></div> <p /> <p /> <div><strong>Improving an entire school system</strong></div> <div>This keynote by Prof Ben Levin focused on the importance of not just focusing on individual schools or local authorities, but upon entire education systems. He made some persuasive arguments against giving schools more autonomy (in the sense of 'doing what they like') which he criticised England for doing with Free Schools and Academies. Central to his message was the issue of 'alignment' - of getting agreement from the public, from educators and from senior leaders on what is permissible within a given context.&nbsp;</div> <p /> <div>What was missing, I felt, was any kind of notion that what is currently being assessed in schools can be subjected to critique. As I commented to a few people (and on Twitter) I wish I had as much conviction about something that Ben Levin has about the importance of data!</div> <p /> <p /> <div><strong>The Future is not what it was</strong></div> <div>I'm not very into 'motivational' keynote speakers, but Sir John Jones (whom I'd never heard of before this week, unlike Ben Levin) moved me to my feet to join in the standing ovation after his session. OK, so some of the stories he used may have been 'borrowed' or a composite. OK, so he talked in slogans some of the time, but his core message that 'teaching cannot be separated from caring' was powerful, relevant and timely. The man had such obvious passion and enthusiasm for helping young people (he was previously a Headteacher in Liverpool) that you couldn't help be affected. Great stuff.</div> <p /> <p /> <div><strong>TeachMeet SLF (#TMSLF11)</strong></div> <div>I greatly enjoyed the format and fantastic organisation of the TeachMeet at this year's Scottish Learning Festival. It was organised by others than the usual suspects and, primarily, by Primary teachers (hence the detail!) &nbsp;I signed up to do a two-minute presentation on the new <a href="http://change.mooc.ca">Change MOOC</a>&nbsp;(Massive Open Online Course) that started last week and, because it was mentioned in a presentation prior to mine, a bit about <a href="http://purposed.org.uk">Purpos/ed</a> as well.</div> <p /> <div>This isn't a criticism as such, but there weren't many actual, real teachers talking about what they've been up to in the classroom recently at the TeachMeet. You can only work with what you've got, and those (few) that signed up to do a presentation were people like Joe Dale, John Johnston and Derek Robertson. They're all fantastic educators, but they hardly need encouraging to do a presentation! I'd like to see more work behind-the-scenes to get teachers involved rather than being in the audience.</div> <p /> <div>Another not-really-a-criticism was the <em>slickness</em>&nbsp;of the event. Sponsors were mentioned in between every presentation, the whole event was livestreamed, and the organisation was seamless. That's all great, but I doubt any teacher in attendance for the first time would feel like they could go away and run a TeachMeet. Sometimes, a bit more of a 'rustic', haphazard approach works wonders. ;-)</div> <p /> <div>After the TeachMeet there was a TeachEat where I got a chance to chat to the wonder that is Jen Deyenberg. Fresh from the Nokia Coast-to-Coast challenge (running, cycling, kayaking) she helped organise the TeachMeet and is going to organise <a href="http://unplugd.trailsoptional.com/">Unplug'd Scotland</a> next - after a successful <a href="http://www.unplugd.ca/">similar event</a> in her native Canada. Some people's energy astounds me!</div> <p /> <p /> <div><strong>Breakfast with Derek Robertson</strong></div> <div>I met Derek Robertson in the lift on the way down to breakfast. He's an internationally-renowned advocate of games-based learning (a term he told me is sometimes 'unhelpful') through his work with the <a href="http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/usingglowandict/gamesbasedlearning/consolarium.asp">Consolarium</a>. We talked about all sorts of things and I got up from breakfast with a list of books and websites to look at hastily scribbled onto a napkin.&nbsp;</div> <p /> <p /> <div><strong>Educating for the Unknown</strong></div> <div>This was probably the best session I went to at the Scottish Learning Festival this year. It was based on the <a href="http://learnweb.harvard.edu/alps/tfu/">Teaching for Understanding</a> framework which was the result of Gardner and Perkins' work on <a href="http://pzweb.harvard.edu/">Project Zero</a>. The session was introduced by someone from Education Scotland who has been working with local authorities and teachers getting them to study towards a Harvard module on the TfU framework. This was followed by teachers who have put the TfU framework into practice, going through the four key ideas of:</div> <p /> <div>1. Generative topics</div> <div>2. Understanding goals</div> <div>3. Performances of understanding</div> <div>4. Ongoing assessment</div> <p /> <div>It was obvious that the TfU framework <em>works</em> and that it's transformed those teachers' educational practice. Well worth looking at more closely.</div> <p /> <p /> <div><strong>BOULTS - Developing the potential to think and learn</strong></div> <div>Had I not been to the TfU session (see above) I would have probably thought this session was even better than 'good'. As it was, although the 'pick and mix' approach to pedagogy involved such luminaries as De Bono, Bloom and Simister it was, by their own admission, quite difficult to implement. Still, delegates were given plenty of resources to go away with and read (which is always helpful)</div> <p /> <p /> <div><strong>Conclusion</strong></div> <div>In between these sessions I wandered around the trade show, drank coffee and talked to people. The Scottish Learning Festival is *exactly* what it should be: uplifting, pedagogically-sound and free at the point of entry for educators of all stripes. It almost makes me want to move my family to Scotland given the stark contrast with the English educational system. :-/</div> </p> <p><a href="http://dajbconf.posterous.com/scottish-learning-festival-2011-slf11">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://dajbconf.posterous.com/scottish-learning-festival-2011-slf11#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/DougsConferenceBlog/~4/PAX3af5sN3w" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/983039/doug_smiling_500px.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36zxdL2sK8rD Doug Belshaw Doug Doug Belshaw http://dajbconf.posterous.com/scottish-learning-festival-2011-slf11 Thu, 08 Sep 2011 02:02:00 -0700 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DougsConferenceBlog/~3/L3Z_LajSbOw/altc2011 http://dajbconf.posterous.com/altc2011 <p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a 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src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/QYzgo4LxmeHDZVu3sMBFEkXXgKVHBMngQEezKwkiEghkVRa7lMwhvejavHQY/IMG_1728.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" /></a> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/DV9Wx6abKKokgX2tYbfmnrFWHepZy6qOmmnADEVQCOB1uNn2uNXOthThFZEG/IMG_1729.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg"><img alt="Img_1729" height="373" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/awkr9zWVz3Q4x4bWE8qt8hrTDYmxBnve7qVX6suxdLEnj0OGSy8SQnTEakXy/IMG_1729.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" /></a> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/Zuue0VKAU30DZX4dsFWhj3oxRIhBVE8M8orXg3nwyc1EudD8ILc1uNiT42mR/IMG_1736.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg"><img alt="Img_1736" height="373" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/lEm3ahJ6mhffOqXwRxK3K4TG0BIX1FwI4EQ0YZN4O8jzxOEnhnBuIlXiUTCG/IMG_1736.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" /></a> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/LFW1Y71wcrAVHdDekb4cW1PWRvEDdy3xxFS6FE19R6k2HgtJPE3rbSIU45Pe/IMG_1737.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg"><img alt="Img_1737" height="373" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/elbXxk3N2yKBY54Ta3prNjpnx3GzC2Kf9AKo2rS7WKXrHc96dqZNg7B4wxqU/IMG_1737.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" /></a> <div class='p_see_full_gallery'><a href="http://dajbconf.posterous.com/altc2011">See the full gallery on Posterous</a></div> </div> </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p class="p1">Last year, at ALT-C 2010, I attempted to go to every session possible. I was <em>exhausted </em>by the end of the four days (I also attended a pre-conference session on Digital Literacies). This year, then, at <a href="http://altc2011.alt.ac.uk/">ALT-C 2011</a> I decided to go to the other extreme. I focused on helping with manning the <a href="http://www.jisc.ac.uk">JISC</a> stand and with having interesting and useful conversations with people I only usually get to interact with online. As I write this on the train on my way back home, I can happily report that this is a much more sustainable approach!&nbsp;</p> <p class="p1">There were two things I <em>needed</em> to be at ALT-C for. The first was the launch of JISC infoNet's <a href="http://mobilelearninginfokit.pbworks.com">Mobile Learning infoKit</a> (alongside JISC's new <em><a href="http://www.jisc.ac.uk/digiemerge">Emerging Practice in a Digital Age</a></em> guide). Due to the marketing freeze, this was less a launch and more 'having conversations with people who happened to be passing by'. The second was a session John Traxler invited me to co-lead on the critical reading of case studies. This went well, I think, as more delegates (around 40) than we thought attended the session and provided some thoughtful contributions. There are <em>so</em> many issues bound up in the notion of a 'case study' that really do need to need to be teased out and explored.</p> <p class="p1">On Tuesday upon arriving at the conference I attended a session led by Frances Bell, Helen Keegan, Josie Fraser and Richard Hall. Although I couldn't stay for all of it as I needed to get back to the JISC stand, they (as you would expect) provided really thoughtful and interesting reflections on what 'being open' means in practice and some of the unexpected consequences (see her <a href="http://heloukee.wordpress.com/2011/09/04/tyranny-of-authenticity/">blog post</a>). Helen's presentation on the way we 'force' students to be open (and the unintended consequences on their digital identities) was fascinating. It's definitely something I want to think through for myself.</p> <p class="p1">After launching the Mobile Learning infoKit, I attended a session led by Sarah Knight, Clare Killen and Andy Ramsden on JISC's <em>Emerging Practice in a Digital Age</em> guide and then caught up with a range of people who I either don't see very often, or was meeting for the first time face-to-face. It was great to get to know Nicola and Frank from the <a href="http://www.jorum.ac.uk">Jorum</a> team a bit better.</p> <p class="p1">Wednesday morning at 10.50 was the time for my case studies workshop with John Traxler. The well-known and respected Andy Black was supposed to be part of this, but the Department for Education (his current employers) wouldn't let him out to play. After this, I was standing around the JISC stand commenting that "I'm sure there's somewhere I need to be right now." Sure enough, it was the much-anticipated 'Are we in Open Country?' session featuring David Kernohan, Amber Thomas, David White and Helen Beetham. I caught most of this and, as usual, the passion these people have both for Open Educational Resources and Open Practice shone through.</p> <p class="p2">The majority of the rest of the day consisted of sponsor-related sessions, so after Steve Wheeler interviewed me for ALT Live Beta, I headed back to my hotel to prepare for the 'Conference Gala Buffet Dinner'. This turned out, in the event, to be the least buffet-like buffet I've ever seen. The food and company was good, but by the time it got to 22.10 (having sat down at 20.00) I wasn't confident dessert was going to arrive before 23.00!&nbsp;</p> <p class="p2">Thursday was a half-day in which I had long conversations with Amber Thomas, John Traxler and Jackie Carter and then attended John Naughton's keynote. The former were the kind of conversations we <em>should</em> be having about education and educational technology. Unfortunately, such free-form discussions tend not to have a natural 'home' in our usual working days. The latter, the keynote, was entertaining but nothing really new. Naughton used the music industry, newspapers and Wikipedia as examples of how technology and human collaboration can 'dissolve value chains'. It was all very Clay Shirky-esque.</p> <p class="p1">The theme of ALT-C this year was 'Thriving in a colder and more challenging climate'. I certainly found the mood upbeat and people suggesting positive ways to deal with the economic situation and cultural situation in which we find ourselves. Next year's theme is 'A confrontation with reality' which, as David Kernohan pointed out, seems a bit of a capitulation. We <em>co-create</em> 'reality', after all...</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </p> <p><a href="http://dajbconf.posterous.com/altc2011">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://dajbconf.posterous.com/altc2011#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/DougsConferenceBlog/~4/L3Z_LajSbOw" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/983039/doug_smiling_500px.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36zxdL2sK8rD Doug Belshaw Doug Doug Belshaw http://dajbconf.posterous.com/altc2011 Mon, 11 Jul 2011 11:48:37 -0700 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DougsConferenceBlog/~3/j6tVVnKGQFA/academic-literacies-symposium http://dajbconf.posterous.com/academic-literacies-symposium <p> <div><div><div><div><div><div><div> <div><div>I arrived late, had to leave early, and missed the dinner and second day, but I nevertheless enjoyed my time at an Academic Literacies Symposium organised by today. There in a capacity as an 'expert' external to a proposed staff development programme, Day 1 was all about innovation, creativity and brainstorming. It was great to meet people enthusiastic about preparing students for the world will <i>actually</i> await them when they leave university, rather than the one that is often assumed.</div></div><p /><div><span>We discussed all sorts of things, from power relations within the Higher Education sector to John Davitt's <a href="http://www.newtools.org/showtxt.php?docid=737">Random Activity Generator</a> as a way of mixing things up and encouraging &nbsp;diverse and creative thinking. Far too much to summarise here, but do take a look at the images above as part of what was captured!</span></div></div> </div></div></div></div></div></div><p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> </div> </p> </p> <p><a href="http://dajbconf.posterous.com/academic-literacies-symposium">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://dajbconf.posterous.com/academic-literacies-symposium#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/DougsConferenceBlog/~4/j6tVVnKGQFA" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/983039/doug_smiling_500px.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36zxdL2sK8rD Doug Belshaw Doug Doug Belshaw http://dajbconf.posterous.com/academic-literacies-symposium Wed, 06 Jul 2011 02:00:00 -0700 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DougsConferenceBlog/~3/05igqBNtkUU/higher-education-academy-conference-2011 http://dajbconf.posterous.com/higher-education-academy-conference-2011 <p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/rabAHnsFBfmypfbIoiIexnEhgrbarqzcpsJdltAIxbduejuCqBdrojyqchnb/p779.jpg.scaled1000.jpg"><img alt="P779" height="373" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/rabAHnsFBfmypfbIoiIexnEhgrbarqzcpsJdltAIxbduejuCqBdrojyqchnb/p779.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" /></a> </div> </p> <p>I'm used to accompanying my wife, and I've accompanied colleagues presenting at events, but this year's <a href="http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/annual-conference">Higher Education Academy Conference</a> (#heaconf11) is the first time I've been in the rather strange position of accompanying a <em>poster</em> to a conference.&nbsp;</p> <p>As with many conferences, there was a poster display (with an associated competition) at #heaconf11 which featured a poster co-created by <a href="http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk">JISC infoNet</a> and <a href="http://www.northumbria.ac.uk">Northumbria University</a> (our host institution). The deal is that if you want &nbsp;your poster displayed and judged, you have to have a representative there. I was that representative.</p> <p>Still, it was a good opportunity to catch up with people I haven't seen for a while and meet new people. <a href="http://www.jisc.ac.uk/contactus/staff/lawriephipps.aspx">Lawrie Phipps</a> is always good for a lengthy conversation and it's useful to catch up with other people within JISC, the Academy and other organisations have been getting up to.</p> <p>One thing that remains woeful is the standard of presentations at conferences like this. It's simply not acceptable to read bullet points off slides, to have blatantly not practiced what you are going to say, and to run over allotted time slots. We can, and should, do better as a sector on this.</p> <p>The highlight for me, other than the conversations I had around the <a href="http://www.jisc.ac.uk">JISC</a> and <a href="http://www.jiscadvance.ac.uk">JISC Advance</a> stands, was the panel session this morning. <a href="http://www.mikebakereducation.co.uk/">Mike Baker</a>, journalist and broadcaster for the BBC and (the now defunct TeachersTV) chaired a discussion about what the new <a href="http://discuss.bis.gov.uk/hereform/">Higher Education White Paper</a> was likely to mean for the sector. Mercifully, he made short shrift of the long-winded pontifications by so-called questioners and kept the debate and ideas flowing.</p> <p>It's a strange time in Higher Education and I think a lot of people are running scared. Universities, and the people in positions of authority within them, have been used to being in the driving seat. Now, for better or worse, students are the ones who are to collectively call the shots as consumers of learning. The trouble, and this is a topic too large for me to discuss at the end of this particular post, is that the rhetoric has shifted to the detriment of the worst-off in society. It's no longer 'widening participation', it's 'social mobility'; these are not synonyms.</p> <p>So there we are: a less lavish Academy conference with, on the one hand, no change in the standard of presentations but, on the other, a chance to catch up with people who make a difference in the sector changing (often farcical) government proclamations into some kind of workable reality.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </p> <p><a href="http://dajbconf.posterous.com/higher-education-academy-conference-2011">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://dajbconf.posterous.com/higher-education-academy-conference-2011#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/DougsConferenceBlog/~4/05igqBNtkUU" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/983039/doug_smiling_500px.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36zxdL2sK8rD Doug Belshaw Doug Doug Belshaw http://dajbconf.posterous.com/higher-education-academy-conference-2011 Fri, 27 May 2011 05:38:00 -0700 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DougsConferenceBlog/~3/k9avM9lG2KU/thinking-digital-conference-2011-tdc11 http://dajbconf.posterous.com/thinking-digital-conference-2011-tdc11 <p> <p><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2628/5762340353_37557f3995_z.jpg" alt="Thinking Digital Conference 2011" /></p> <p>It would take me all weekend to write up the <strong>Thinking Digital Conference</strong> I attended on Wednesday and Thursday this week. I use the word 'awesome' a lot, which means that I'm vocabularily (is that a word?) limited when I come across something mindblowing.</p> <p>I was lost for words quite a few times during Thinking Digital. <em>It was even better than last year's conference!</em></p> <p>I've used Storify to curate tweets and photographs from others (a bit) and my own streams (mainly). <strong><a href="http://storify.com/dajbelshaw/thinking-digital-conference-2011">Check it out!</a></strong></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <script src="http://storify.com/dajbelshaw/thinking-digital-conference-2011.js"></script> <p>[<a href="http://storify.com/dajbelshaw/thinking-digital-conference-2011" target="blank">View the story "Thinking Digital Conference 2011" on Storify]</a></p> </p> <p><a href="http://dajbconf.posterous.com/thinking-digital-conference-2011-tdc11">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://dajbconf.posterous.com/thinking-digital-conference-2011-tdc11#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/DougsConferenceBlog/~4/k9avM9lG2KU" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/983039/doug_smiling_500px.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36zxdL2sK8rD Doug Belshaw Doug Doug Belshaw http://dajbconf.posterous.com/thinking-digital-conference-2011-tdc11 Mon, 16 May 2011 09:53:00 -0700 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DougsConferenceBlog/~3/4Ha3kqHeVmU/unlocking-the-hidden-curriculum-exeter-univer http://dajbconf.posterous.com/unlocking-the-hidden-curriculum-exeter-univer <p> <p class="p1"><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/8xyOZUdCrRmnQ0RvXvMDD0xjGihcnTpmqbhWBXc0zxn1Ra7gYmBKBhqgzMAa/exeter-ar.jpg"><img alt="Exeter-ar" height="213" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/sLz8OmaSK8mPzZS7532wlIMFMye4lULAXDLofmGNUsDkNTStHCIUmmCxinhk/exeter-ar.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" /></a> </div> <strong>Update:</strong> I've curated my tweets from the event using <a href="http://storify.com/dajbelshaw/unlocking-the-hidden-curriculum-ar-event-at-exeter">Storify</a></p> <p class="p2">Today I've been in the wonderful grounds and buildings of Exeter University at an <a href="http://lanyrd.com/2011/unlocking-the-hidden-curriculum/">Unlocking the Hidden Curriculum</a> event about the world of Augmented Reality (AR). Exeter received some <a href="http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/elearning/ltig/augmentedreality.aspx">JISC funding</a> to "deliver a review of available Augmented Reality packages evaluated for their potential use in educational contexts" and today's event was part of the dissemination for that project (<a href="http://blogs.exeter.ac.uk/augmentedreality/">blog</a>).</p> <p class="p2">AR is an exciting (range of) technolog(ies) that add a virtual 'layer' on top of everyday reality using a device that combines GPS, a compass and a high-quality camera. Examples of devices that can use AR applications are iPhones, the Samsung Galaxy Tab and most other Android devices. At the moment, the AR browser of choice is Layar and, indeed, that is what the Exeter team decided to develop for.</p> <p class="p2">The morning consisted of an overview of what AR was an how the idea of adding layers and multiple narratives on to of 'reality' has had a long history. From the information boards in wildlife reserves to audio tours, the goal of augmenting reality to add contextual information is something that we all value in both new and existing contexts.&nbsp;</p> <p class="p2">Exeter used a team of students to advise them and help create the data (information, photographs, videos, weblinks, and so on) required for the locations they have augmented. We were treated to an hour-long tour of the Streatham campus during which, although none of us saw them in the flesh, we could 'see' bats, badgers and cormorants!&nbsp;</p> <p class="p2">After lunch we used <a href="http://www.hoppala-agency.com/">Hoppala</a> as a tool to make entering the locations and data required for Layar a lot easier. Our group found the interface slightly unintuitive and difficult-to-use in its present iteration and so switched to another suggested application. As was explained to us, if Hoppala is like a locked noticeboard that you only allow some people to access, then <a href="http://www.skaloop.com/">Skaloop</a> is a noticeboard free-for-all. There is only one layer which makes it less flexible, but this is more than made up by its intuitive and <a href="http://site.layar.com/company/blog/tag/skaloop/">easy-to-use interface</a>.</p> <p class="p2">The Q&amp;A session at the end proved that there was a great deal of interest from those present (about 25) who wanted to back to their institutions and develop something for themselves. Exeter is consciously going down the route of being device-agnostic, not developing native apps. However, as they mentioned, the number of Blackberries owned by students is proving a stumbling block as the devices do not have the inbuilt compass that is necessary for AR apps.</p> <p class="p2">Overall, an enjoyable and useful day. I look forward to using it as a mini case study in the upcoming <a href="http://onthehorizon.pbworks.com">Mobile Learning infoKit</a>!</p> </p> <p><a href="http://dajbconf.posterous.com/unlocking-the-hidden-curriculum-exeter-univer">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://dajbconf.posterous.com/unlocking-the-hidden-curriculum-exeter-univer#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/DougsConferenceBlog/~4/4Ha3kqHeVmU" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/983039/doug_smiling_500px.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36zxdL2sK8rD Doug Belshaw Doug Doug Belshaw http://dajbconf.posterous.com/unlocking-the-hidden-curriculum-exeter-univer Thu, 12 May 2011 10:14:00 -0700 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DougsConferenceBlog/~3/r7c70y6NjDI/mobile-technologies-the-challenge-of-learner http://dajbconf.posterous.com/mobile-technologies-the-challenge-of-learner <p> <p class="p1"><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/A6DZkUkke2ZRGl10EJL6YRP4w4UYOWCZhdAxaqf52TbMXWCc1g0A7ClBNXYF/mobile.jpg"><img alt="Mobile" height="234" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/HkcpiViPTkGp979LpkIz5yCxmAdvFye79I8CrbbzBaD19usF9zBkt5l5aDZk/mobile.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" /></a> </div> </p> <p class="p1"><strong>Update:</strong> I've curated my tweets from this event using <a href="http://storify.com/dajbelshaw/mobile-technologies-the-challenge-of-learner-devic">Storify</a></p> <p class="p1">Today I've been at a <a href="http://www.ics.heacademy.ac.uk/events/displayevent.php?id=254">mobile learning event in Birmingham</a>, organised by the Higher Education Subject Centre for Information &amp; Computer Sciences. It was a curious event, ostensibly with 'Computer Science' as a starting point and held in a room patently too small for the number of delegates present. I happened to find out where it <em>really</em> was almost by accident after some unclear instructions on the website. Despite that, I met some interesting people and learned new things.&nbsp;</p> <p class="p1">The Chair was John Traxler, who's fantastic at promoting mobile learning and is truly interested at moving things forward. His presentations, I find, are in the realms of what I call in an upcoming paper 'Creative ambiguity' . In other words, those in the audience are able to make their own connections and interpretations rather than having one approach rammed down their throat. It's a refreshing approach.</p> <p class="p1">A session on infrastructure and, apparently, moving to the cloud following John's introduction was of questionable value (unfortunately) to anyone apart from the presenter. John Busch from Queen's University, Belfast was up next talking about using smartphones for lecture capture. His argument was that doing it this way has three main benefits:</p> <ol> <li>It's lecturer-controlled (and most lecturers carry smartphones)</li> <li>The angle can be better adjusted than with laptop webcams</li> <li>Slightly less 'slick' can more authenticity for students (but get the audio right!)</li> </ol> <p><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">I mentioned <a href="http://Encoding.com">Encoding.com</a> to John, who had been having problems with which codec to use to ensure cross-platform compatibility. There's also <a href="http://vid.ly">vid.ly</a>, which is kind of like <a href="http://bit.ly">bit.ly</a> for video.&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="p2">After coffee came, to my mind, the best presentation of the day. Laura Crane explained how Lancaster University have been applying work done in the last 20 years around 'context' and the mobility of learners to devise a system of notification and news feeds based on either time or location. Laura's doing her PhD on this and working closely with the Lancaster team. In echoes of <a href="http://dajbconf.posterous.com/oer11">#OER11</a> yesterday, the focus wasn't so much on the technology, more on the purpose and the pedagogy behind such services and interventions. I'm looking forward to receiving the slides from this presentation and also the paper submitted to mLearn 2011.</p> <p class="p1">My highlights from the other sessions included Gordon Eccleston showing how his students at Robert Gordon University now all achieve 'A' grades due to switching to iPhone app development, and Karsten Lundqvist's enthusiasm for mobile app development. I suggested he might want to look at Google App Inventor for Android instead of diving straight into coding with members of staff.&nbsp;</p> <p class="p1">Mark Childs was down to run a Demo session in the afternoon, but the first he knew of it was when he turned up! As a result of over-running and volunteering to do so, I spent about 10 minutes explaining my work on the <a href="http://mobilereview.jiscpress.org">JISC Mobile and Wireless Technologies Review</a> as well as what I'm doing with the <a href="http://onthehorizon.pbworks.com">Mobile Learning infoKit</a>.</p> <p class="p1">The plenary tended to descend into "I know this because of what I do and what my students tell me". I suggested a better way might be to develop some kind of evidence base, similar that which I saw at #OER11 yesterday. The mobile learning world is a very different one than the OER world.</p> </p> <p><a href="http://dajbconf.posterous.com/mobile-technologies-the-challenge-of-learner">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://dajbconf.posterous.com/mobile-technologies-the-challenge-of-learner#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/DougsConferenceBlog/~4/r7c70y6NjDI" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/983039/doug_smiling_500px.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36zxdL2sK8rD Doug Belshaw Doug Doug Belshaw http://dajbconf.posterous.com/mobile-technologies-the-challenge-of-learner Thu, 12 May 2011 00:05:00 -0700 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DougsConferenceBlog/~3/3OD7F5Hpy8o/oer11 http://dajbconf.posterous.com/oer11 <p> <p class="p1"><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/YisbktWezs2m10J7nUbbksMNHI4eS6tDorTyPGQoPBcC6HkiEfNvc9NcTjcx/oer11.jpg"><img alt="Oer11" height="234" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/oT6HnTPpRikfBhPFApYzLxyp4cXLQaRc23airNTi3GYwtGbOValxliQvz5He/oer11.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" /></a> </div> </p> <p class="p2"><strong>Update:</strong> I've curated my tweets from OER11 <a href="http://storify.com/dajbelshaw/oer11">here</a></p> <p class="p2">Yesterday I attended the first day of <a href="http://www.ucel.ac.uk/oer11/">OER11</a> (Open Educational Resources) in Manchester. The full conference lasts until Friday but today I'm in Birmingham for a mobile learning event (more on that in my next post).&nbsp;The OER community is great: really dedicated and passionate people on a mission to help the world share. They could be superheroes when described like that, couldn't they?</p> <p class="p2">The Keynote was provided by <a href="http://salford.ac.uk/vc">Martin Hall</a>, Vice Chancellor of the University of Salford. It was the second time I've heard Martin speak and, as last time, he was clear, inspirational and pragmatic. He talked of the need for the OER community to understand the new environment which all UK Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) are operating. How can we make OER (and the practices surrounding their use) sustainable for UK HEIs?</p> <p class="p2">The first session I attended was by Jeff Merriman of MIT talking about how they're creating a 'Concepts Catalog' to sit alongside the subject-focused catalogue they've got for <a href="http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm">OpenCourseWare</a>. I found this to be really interesting, but more from an institutional change rather than an OER point of view. Jeff talked about how they used <a href="http://vue.tufts.edu">http://vue.tufts.edu</a> to get people to map concepts used within their courses and how enthusiastic people were towards this. These were then published internally and members of staff found synergies. What a great way to get people talking about change and pushing things forward!</p> <p class="p2"><a href="http://www.jorum.ac.uk">Jorum</a> was the focus of the second session, a repository for OERs and something that I've been aware of through my work on the JISC infoNet <a href="http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/infokits/repositories">Digital Repositories infoKit</a> that I helped launch after a teaching and learning upgrade last year. I think it needs an Amazon-style rating system to really take off, although great strides have been made in the last year combining two major repositories.</p> <p class="p1">In terms of the rest of the sessions, I enjoyed R. John Robertson's (JISC Cetis) presentation on OER metaphors, and it was interesting to see the reaction of delegates to his various suggestions. I'm still all for OER as kittens. ;-)</p> <p class="p1">There's been some sterling work by the <a href="http://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/beyond-distance-research-alliance/projects/otter">OTTER project</a> on workflows for OERs. They're moving from a CORRE approach to a DORRE approach. I really cannot stress enough the importance of workflows and frameworks in getting things done within organisations and institutions. As I was reading recently (The Checklist Manifesto), when grassroots-produced checklists are introduced, quality and efficiency goes up.</p> <p class="p1">Although I was aware of <a href="http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/xerte/">XERTE</a> and <a href="http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/xpert/">XPERT</a> produced by Nottingham University, I hadn't really known of the context in which they were produced. Both are extremely useful, practical tools to help move forward the OER movement. XERTE is focused on creating e-Learning objects using OERs whilst XPERT helps search for resources the licenses for which have already been cleared.</p> <p class="p1">One final mention to something which I think needs input from those across the world interested in OERs. Patrick McAndrew at the Open University has started a project (<a href="http://ci.olnet.org">http://ci.olnet.org</a>) to map evidence of statements and opinions relating to OERs in a visual way. For example, if someone believes that OERs are of equal rigour and value to commercial offerings, where's the evidence? The OLNet project aims to map this evidence and provide a basis for the same kind of comparison that was carried out between Wikipedia and Encyclopedia Britannica a few years ago.</p> <p class="p1">I didn't stay around for the 'Social Mixer' as I had stuff to do, not least <a href="http://dougbelshaw.com/blog/2011/05/11/the-digital-nativeimmigrant-dichotomy/">reply</a> to Simon Bostock's posts about 'Digital Natives' (I wouldn't have been able to sleep properly if I hadn't!)</p> </p> <p><a href="http://dajbconf.posterous.com/oer11">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://dajbconf.posterous.com/oer11#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/DougsConferenceBlog/~4/3OD7F5Hpy8o" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/983039/doug_smiling_500px.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36zxdL2sK8rD Doug Belshaw Doug Doug Belshaw http://dajbconf.posterous.com/oer11 Thu, 05 May 2011 11:12:37 -0700 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DougsConferenceBlog/~3/YGX-c_OwzHA/exploring-mobile-university-of-sunderland-tel http://dajbconf.posterous.com/exploring-mobile-university-of-sunderland-tel <p> <span style="color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><i style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">I really need to find a decent way of capturing the audio at my presentations. I don&#39;t like to stay in a fixed location, which makes things difficult!</i></span> <p /><div><span style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><object height="417" width="500"> <param name="movie" value="http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=7842889&stripped_title=exploring-mobile-sunderland-university-5th-may-2011" /> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /> <embed src="http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=7842889&stripped_title=exploring-mobile-sunderland-university-5th-may-2011" allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" height="417" width="500"></embed> </object></span></div> <p /><div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;"> I presented today to an expanded Technology Enhanced Learning at the University of Sunderland today along with Steve Boneham of JISC Netskills. This was at the request of Dave Webster, Director of JISC Regional Support Centre (RSC) Northern who had seen the Plymouth e-Learning Conference session I ran with Zak Mensah of JISC Digital Media.</div> <p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;"></p><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;"> What I tried to get across in my part of the session were the following ideas:</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;"> <ol><li>Most other FE and HE institutions are just starting out with this stuff.</li><li>Strategy is important, but so is grassroots innovation.</li><li>Institutional change is usually scuppered by cultural, rather than technical, problems.</li> <li>Smartphone sales are going up, not down.</li><li>The overlap of the Radius of Interest and Radius of Opportunity is mobile territory (<i style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">pace</i>Golding)</li> </ol><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">I enjoyed the afternoon and hope that Steve and I can convince the requisite people that running future mobile learning-related workshops is worthwhile! :-)</div> </div></div></div> </p> <p><a href="http://dajbconf.posterous.com/exploring-mobile-university-of-sunderland-tel">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://dajbconf.posterous.com/exploring-mobile-university-of-sunderland-tel#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/DougsConferenceBlog/~4/YGX-c_OwzHA" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/983039/doug_smiling_500px.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36zxdL2sK8rD Doug Belshaw Doug Doug Belshaw http://dajbconf.posterous.com/exploring-mobile-university-of-sunderland-tel Wed, 13 Apr 2011 07:30:00 -0700 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DougsConferenceBlog/~3/UlQYgWCKMn4/support-northumbria-conference-2011 http://dajbconf.posterous.com/support-northumbria-conference-2011 <p> <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/thedevelopmentofbirmingham/4768838560/"><img class="posterous_download_image" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4142/4768838560_dd3c434b3d.jpg" border="0" height="333" width="500" /></a></p> <p /> <div>Yesterday's Support Northumbria Conference was excellent: upbeat and genuinely useful. I've already <a href="http://dougbelshaw.com/blog/2011/04/12/i-got-99-problems-but-a-workflow-aint-one/">blogged about the session</a> I was part of with the rest of the <a href="http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk">JISC infoNet</a> team which went swimmingly; delegates left the session smiling as a result of not only Andy Stewart's cupcakes but because (I believe) they felt empowered to go and improve things in their departments and schools.</div> <p /> <div>The highlight for me was Prof. Stephanie Marshall's keynote. Stephanie works for the <a href="http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/">Leadership Foundation</a> and headed-up a one-day course on Strategic Leadership I attended last month. The focus of her keynote was on the 'agile university' in which, after discussing the importance of positioning and pricing (including some clever stuff on university straplines - e.g. Leicester's "Elite without being elitist") moved onto a remarkable metaphor in the form of the Dave Brubeck Quartet's evolution of <em>Take Five</em>.&nbsp;</div> <p /> <div>Stephanie showed two clips: the first was from 1961, was in black and white and showed a regimented, fairly individual-focused performance. The second, from 1972 and in colour, was completely different. It was evident that the jazz metaphor worked for universities: staff need to focus less on their own 'silos' and more on how they can confidently improvise based on a shared vision. Awesome stuff.</div> <p /> <div>Over lunch we witnessed <a href="http://www.actpositive.co.uk/">Act Positive</a> play out a fraught situation relating to cuts; audience members then guided the actors who had just appeared on the video as to how they could defuse the situation. It worked really well. After that another keynote from a representative of <a href="http://www.britishtriathlon.org/">British Triathlon</a>&nbsp;inspired us, and me in particular, to wonder at the endurance of the human body. I've resolved to start training to enter a sprint triathlon in 2012.</div> <p /> <div>Finally, the session I opted for in the afternoon from IT Services was slightly scuppered by the over-run from the triathlon keynote. A session that started off with four of us in the room quickly grew to about ten times that. Nevertheless, Northumbria IT are doing some great things - and, in fact, provide a Helpdesk service to over 30 other institutions. News to me was their NU Text service (as a result of feedback from the National Student Survey), the move to Microsoft Live@Edu for student accounts from September, and the ability to use Microsoft Office Communicator via federated access with colleagues from other institutions.</div> <p /> <div>The whole conference felt a lot more positive than last year. People were more open and communicative - I wonder if that was because Andrew Wathey, Vice-Chancellor came to open proceedings this year?</div> <p /> <div style="text-align: right;"><em>Image CC BY-NC <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/thedevelopmentofbirmingham/4768838560/">The Redevelopment of Birmingham</a></em></div> </p> <p><a href="http://dajbconf.posterous.com/support-northumbria-conference-2011">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://dajbconf.posterous.com/support-northumbria-conference-2011#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/DougsConferenceBlog/~4/UlQYgWCKMn4" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/983039/doug_smiling_500px.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36zxdL2sK8rD Doug Belshaw Doug Doug Belshaw http://dajbconf.posterous.com/support-northumbria-conference-2011 Mon, 11 Apr 2011 06:27:00 -0700 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DougsConferenceBlog/~3/ufwtqWyP0Dg/plymouth-e-learning-conference-2011-pelc11 http://dajbconf.posterous.com/plymouth-e-learning-conference-2011-pelc11 <p> <div><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/pelc11/"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5172/5595779975_605d464625.jpg" alt="Doug at PELC11" /></a></div> <p>Last week I attended the <a href="http://lanyrd.com/2011/pelc11/">Plymouth e-Learning Conference</a>. It was the first event I've been to that has had an equal focus on the schools and FE/HE sectors, which was refreshing. There were keynotes from luminaries such as Stephen Heppell and John Davitt, but the best presentation I saw was by David Noble. David's working towards his Ed.D. and presented on the following paper, without slides, to a fascinated audience:</p> <div><a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/46100485/Education">http://www.scribd.com/doc/46100485/Education</a></div> <p /> <div>I presented with Zak Mensah from JISC Digital Media on mobile learning. We received some good feedback and the session was an enjoyable one to present:</div> <p /> <div><object height="417" width="500"> <param name="movie" value="http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=pelc11-110405145544-phpapp01&stripped_title=exploring-mobile-considerations-and-opportunities" /> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /> <embed src="http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=pelc11-110405145544-phpapp01&stripped_title=exploring-mobile-considerations-and-opportunities" allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" height="417" width="500"></embed> </object></div> <p /> <div>(Image CC BY-NC-SA <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/foto_mania/5595779975/in/photosof-dougbelshaw/">foto_mania</a>)</div> </p> <p><a href="http://dajbconf.posterous.com/plymouth-e-learning-conference-2011-pelc11">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://dajbconf.posterous.com/plymouth-e-learning-conference-2011-pelc11#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/DougsConferenceBlog/~4/ufwtqWyP0Dg" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/983039/doug_smiling_500px.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36zxdL2sK8rD Doug Belshaw Doug Doug Belshaw http://dajbconf.posterous.com/plymouth-e-learning-conference-2011-pelc11 Thu, 17 Mar 2011 08:31:59 -0700 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DougsConferenceBlog/~3/E_pefP4I8zM/jisc-conference-2011 http://dajbconf.posterous.com/jisc-conference-2011 <p> Last year the first conference I attended upon joining JISC infoNet was the <a href="http://lanyrd.com/2011/jisc11/">JISC Conference</a>. Now (almost) one year on, I&#39;m a lot more comfortable in the world of Further and Higher Education: I know more buzzwords, how things work and who does what in JISC.<p /> JISC Digital Media asked me to present with them on <a href="http://lanyrd.com/2011/jisc11/scyhh/">Using Digital Media to Enhance Teaching and Learning</a> - my slides are on Slideshare:<p /><iframe marginheight="0" scrolling="no" src="http://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/8833888" marginwidth="0" frameborder="0" height="417" width="500"></iframe><p /> I attended sessions on assessment and digital literacies, more by way of support than hearing stuff for the first time. These events tend to be more about catching up with people and discussing ideas than the sessions themselves, to be honest. </p> <p><a href="http://dajbconf.posterous.com/jisc-conference-2011">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://dajbconf.posterous.com/jisc-conference-2011#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/DougsConferenceBlog/~4/E_pefP4I8zM" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/983039/doug_smiling_500px.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36zxdL2sK8rD Doug Belshaw Doug Doug Belshaw http://dajbconf.posterous.com/jisc-conference-2011 Thu, 02 Dec 2010 07:55:00 -0800 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DougsConferenceBlog/~3/XcN1K0UUZqo/online-educa-berlin-2010 http://dajbconf.posterous.com/online-educa-berlin-2010 <p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/vevECxqpAFlfikwnydlJDlwAkqqsBceilodGcnmJsoJjGeCdIgaoeHqjeuBD/IMG_0137.jpg.scaled1000.jpg"><img 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src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/keicAysjFxxCnxkFIGcwvufweuIGABfpwsopfvpmlFgtluBgzGzwcfgpgJzh/IMG_0130.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" /></a> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/gaddleIdjmzElrxnlgpufiDthivDnaytweAmcxujzDJxDxwirijdfobeJEzt/IMG_0129.jpg.scaled1000.jpg"><img alt="Img_0129" height="373" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/gaddleIdjmzElrxnlgpufiDthivDnaytweAmcxujzDJxDxwirijdfobeJEzt/IMG_0129.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" /></a> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/tGeoqrezFbDalagjADozEBnwAeHdgodIkIFlixHflyaovwnBxkdjyyeJprEA/IMG_0128.jpg.scaled1000.jpg"><img alt="Img_0128" height="373" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/tGeoqrezFbDalagjADozEBnwAeHdgodIkIFlixHflyaovwnBxkdjyyeJprEA/IMG_0128.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" /></a> <div class='p_see_full_gallery'><a href="http://dajbconf.posterous.com/online-educa-berlin-2010">See the full gallery on Posterous</a></div> </div> </p> <p><em>N.B. I'm blogging this as I go along - I'll tidy things up and add links later!</em></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Tuesday 30th November/Wednesday 1st December</strong></p> <p>Calling the taxi company only for them to tell me that no cars were running wasn't the best start to my travel to #oeb10. I'd already had to arrange to stay over at a hotel next to Newcastle airport due to the early flight and the worsening conditions. Now, I had to drive the 15 miles from my house to the airport.</p> <p>It was the worst driving conditions I've ever known. Diverging even slightly from hands-locked-at-the-ten-to-two position meant skidding. Scary stuff. The hotel was functional, but for anyone who's ever seen 'Phoenix Nights' - well, you can imagine...</p> <p>Amazingly, the both my flight to Amsterdam (which, coincidentally, was the same one my colleague Andy Stewart and his wife were catching for the connection to New York) and the flight from Amsterdam to Berlin left on time. I was amazed. Unfortunately, my baggage didn't leave at the same time meaning I spent a good couple of hours going from pillar to post at Berlin airport standing in line and filling in forms.</p> <p>A quick aside. Upon arriving in Germany I had no phone or data connection as I refuse to pay the exorbitant rates that all UK carriers impose on those daring to venture out of Fortress GB. Thankfully, and rather handily, my Amazon Kindle's 3G connection is country-agnostic and - more importantly - free! I found Accessible Twitter (I've now discovered KindleTwit) and used it to send messages to my wife and Twitter network. A genuine godsend.</p> <p>Back to the story. I'd arranged to meet Zak Mensah from JISC Digital Media at the hotel and, indeed, bumped into him and Steve Wheeler in the Intercontinental's lobby soon after arrival. Zak and I went shopping with me, for the first time in my life, buying something from H&amp;M. I literally had the clothes I was standing up in and angry fat German guy hadn't inspired much confidence in me that I was going to see my baggage again anytime soon. I bought several jumpers (it's -10 degrees C here and snowing), shirts, underwear, trousers and shoes, stopped by a chemist for some essentials and then headed back to the hotel.</p> <p>The whole rigamarole meant I missed the workshop on mobile learning I'd booked myself in for, but I was pleased that I'd got myself sorted, in a foreign country (I speak no German apart from 'Ich spiele de doodlesac' - I play the bagpipes, and 'Ich habe einen kaninchen' - I have a rabbit, neither of which is true). &nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Thursday 2nd December</strong></p> <p>I was rather disappointed with the sessions I attended on Thursday. Disappointed, in fact, to the extent that if I ever submit a session proposal to a future Online Educa conference and it's rejected I'll feel rather aggrieved. Given that the conference is one of the biggest events in the e-learning calendar, the standard of research and practice discussed in the sessions was rather low. It seemed to be a vehicle for having a BETT-like plethora of commercial entities pimping their wares. Disappointing.</p> <p>The opening keynotes got progressively better with Charles Leadbeater's (whose writing I really don't like) being the best. He's a much better speaker than writer and some of the findings and conceptualisations of his findings from Cisco-funded journeys to South America, Africa and India were spot-on. The first two keynoters, however, one from the UN's education programme and one from Pearson didn't speak from experience as far as I could tell and merely rehashed talks either they'd given or had heard given elsewhere. Dressing up what you've heard as "Let me tell you what I think..." doesn't fool anyone.</p> <p>A mobile learning workshop I attended was poor. Not only did it start very late but the presenters weren't great - either in content or execution. You can't judge the success of a mobile learning programme by the fact that kids love using mobile devices. That's a given. After that session, a group of us had lunch on the top floor of the hotel which gave stunning views of the snowy Berlin urban landscape. One's relation to snow is different depending upon whether its ramifications are your or someone else's problem!&nbsp;</p> <p>In the afternoon I attended a session on digital storytelling which promised much, and indeed there was some interesting stuff I gleaned from it, but which ultimately disappointed. Perhaps I'm expecting too much, I don't know. What I do know is that I'm not the only one who thinks that 'learning and training' are not synonymous and that it's rather lazy to conceptualise what's currently going on in schools as being 'Victorian'. In fact, in a Q&amp;A session after the digital storytelling session I said as much to the session chair (who had just had a go at teachers) before I asked my question of the presenter. Academic rigour, presentational skills and a base of classroom practice. Is that too much to ask? Really?</p> <p>One thing that isn't lacking at Online Educa are the networking and social aspects. Not only did I attend a drinks reception followed by a bizarre 'party' at which chilled beats were augmented by a 3D virtual world, but a few of us ended up in the former East Berlin at a bar upon which a thrash metal band descended. They were called 'Superbutt' and were actually quite melodic at times, but very very loud.</p> <p>The last two conferences I've attended - mLearn 2010 in Malta and Online Educa Berlin 2010 in Germany - have both been in hotels. Because expensive hotels usually charge you a fortune for internet access in your room, the only place to get an internet connection is down in the lobby with the free conference wifi, or via my Kindle. The latter, obviously, is slightly limiting, but the former at least forces you to be relatively sociable in the morning. Unfortunately the wifi at both conferences hasn't been able to cope with delegates who have probably at least two mobile devices each connecting to the wifi. It slows down to a crawl during the times that sessions take place.</p> <p>I'm writing this part of the post on my Sony Vaio P11Z (don't-call-it-a) netbook in the hotel lobby after breakfast. It really is an incredible little device and a whole lot lighter and more portable than my MacBook Pro. The keyboard is almost full-size meaning I can touch-type on it and the 1600-pixel wide screen means it's actually got a higher resolution than the MacBook. Amazing.</p> <p>The best presentation other than a keynote I've seen at Online Educa Berlin 2010 was Iain McLaren talking about the future of Higher Education. He questioned the various models assumed by senior leaders and government with respect to HE, followed by a fascinating tour around the 'social imaginary', threats to collegiality by an over-focus on productivity, questioning just how 'innovative' curricular innovation actually is, and the appropriation of technology by institutions for mere information transmission. After this I made a quick detour via an 'informal ethics' session I first saw at ALT-C featuring John Traxler, Frances Bell, Geoff Stead, Steve Wheeler, Mark Childs and Andy Black. Good stuff.</p> <p>After another enjoyable lunch on the top floor of the Intercontinental talking to a couple of Finnish educators, it was back to some disappointing sessions. The handheld learning session featured only one pretty bad presentation due to cancellations. Talking about digital natives multitasking in 2010 is either lazy, misinformed or dangerous. I headed out to the ENGAGE Quality Awards. Unfortunately, this didn't live up to its billing either. It was about serious games, granted, but there was too much emphasis on the 'serious' part. :-(</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Conferences are expensive affairs and, running out of euros and having not tried the local delicacies, Zak Mensah and I decided to forgo the conference bar in favour of the German Christmas market in the centre of Berlin. We sampled currywurst and gluwein and bought some small gifts for our respective families. The cold weather, when dealt with by an organised and efficient system, isn't too much of a hinderance. I'd certainly bring my wife back to Berlin in wintertime although I didn't get the feeling it's a place I'd want to bring very young children.&nbsp;</p> <p>Will I return to Online Educa Berlin for 2011? I doubt it. Whilst there were a couple of presentations I found relevant and I enjoyed catching up with people, it wasn't worth four days away from my wife and child. Many of the presentations were amateurish, the corporate stands were almost BETT-like, and there was an element of one-upmanship that I hadn't seen at many other conferences. Overall, an expensive mistake.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </p> <p><a href="http://dajbconf.posterous.com/online-educa-berlin-2010">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://dajbconf.posterous.com/online-educa-berlin-2010#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/DougsConferenceBlog/~4/XcN1K0UUZqo" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/983039/doug_smiling_500px.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36zxdL2sK8rD Doug Belshaw Doug Doug Belshaw http://dajbconf.posterous.com/online-educa-berlin-2010 Fri, 26 Nov 2010 23:55:06 -0800 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DougsConferenceBlog/~3/ttpMDhu0UkU/jisc-innovating-e-learning-2010-online-confer http://dajbconf.posterous.com/jisc-innovating-e-learning-2010-online-confer <p> <div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/KqWVE1dWGLbZoJHFtv0YilniEJMLnYFjc1fETyCibBs7zwCfetBPfS4mMhjU/Screen_shot_2010-11-27_at_07.1.png"><img alt="Screen_shot_2010-11-27_at_07" height="193" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dajbconf/HaTlDaWWoGWxb70qcgZ1ExjLVGHjULDSVVoJOd9LbaBjNylAlHppOxtsP3kS/Screen_shot_2010-11-27_at_07.1.png.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" /></a> </div> <p>This was my first foray into the world of online conferences and, overall, I think it was facilitated well: I was able to pick and choose the sessions I was interested in and schedule my regular work around it. On the other hand, with an online conference you don&#39;t tend to get to &#39;meet&#39; new people. Or at least I didn&#39;t - I tended to pay attention to, and talk to, those I already knew.<p /> I attended the following sessions:<br /></p><ul><li><a href="http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/elearningpedagogy/elpconference10/programme/interestingtimes.aspx">Learning to live in interesting times – what are educational institutions for?</a> Keri Facer (Manchester Metropolitan University) </li> <li><a href="http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/elearningpedagogy/elpconference10/programme/developingculture.aspx">Developing a culture of blended learning innovation</a> Graham Galbraith (University of Hertfordshire) and Jon Alltree (University of Hertfordshire)</li> <li><a href="http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/elearningpedagogy/elpconference10/programme/keynotetheme2.aspx">How to get your innovations adopted (and change the world)</a> Anne Miller (The Creativity Partnership)</li> <li><a href="http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/elearningpedagogy/elpconference10/programme/futuremobile.aspx">Is the future mobile?</a> Graham Brown-Martin (Learning Without Frontiers)</li></ul>Keri Facer&#39;s opening keynote was excellent (and very well facilitated by Helen Beetham). It was thoughtful, provocative in places and participative; a really very well-chosen start to the conference. Likewise, Anne Miller&#39;s session on innovation employed techniques showing us that we only notice what we&#39;re already paying attention to, and referenced many useful studies. Her book, <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0462099296?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=dajbelshcouk-21&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1634&amp;creative=19450&amp;creativeASIN=0462099296">How to Get Your Ideas Adopted: (And change the world)</a> looks marvellous. I&#39;ve added it to my Amazon wishlist just in time for Christmas. :-)<p /> Graham Brown-Martin&#39;s session was provocative and included many, many links to go back to. He showed effectively that of <i>course</i> the future is mobile - in fact, to a great extent, the <i>present</i> is mobile! I wasn&#39;t keen, however, on Graham Galbraith and Jon Alltree&#39;s session as I didn&#39;t think it really lived up to its billing. It may be just my prejudices, but (as I posted in the discussion area afterwards) I feel you have to define - or at least probe - what you mean and others mean by &#39;innovation&#39; (as Anne Miller did). It felt like an advert for the University of Hertfordshire most of the time. Whilst I&#39;m sure they&#39;re doing great work these things need to go above and beyond.<p /> I started the following sessions but bailed out due to finding the speakers boring and/or disagreeable. That, I suppose, is one of the benefits of an online conference - the ease with which you can come and go:<br /><ul> <li><a href="http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/elearningpedagogy/elpconference10/programme/effectiveassessment.aspx">Transforming assessment for learning in a digital age</a> David Boud (University of Technology, Sydney)</li> <li><a href="http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/elearningpedagogy/elpconference10/programme/whatstudentswant.aspx">What do students really want?</a> Usman Ali (NUS) </li><li><a href="http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/elearningpedagogy/elpconference10/programme/shapingourfuture.aspx">Shaping our learning futures</a> Elliott Masie (the Masie Center) shares his thoughts on this with the conference. </li> </ul>To my mind, online conferences will never <i>replace</i> all face-to-face conferences, but they can certainly augment them. I liked the way that Elluminate made it almost expected that there would be audience participation through the text chat and the voting mechanisms. That&#39;s something that you don&#39;t usually get at offline conferences.<p /> What would I like to see next year? <br /><ul><li>Improvements in Elluminate so that messages in the text chat appear (if you want them to) on Twitter and vice-versa. </li><li>A focus on the UK - the two speakers I heard from outside the UK were poor, to my mind, and symbolically it&#39;s better to celebrate what&#39;s going on here.</li> <li>Some other software running the back end of the conference - for example the <a href="http://www.crowdvine.com/">Crowdvine</a>, used at the <a href="http://altc2010.alt.ac.uk/">ALT-C conference</a> was a lot more intuitive, open and sociable.</li> </ul>What do I think needs to stay?<br /><ul><li>The solid introductions by facilitators, showing participants how to engage using Elluminate.</li><li>Timings of the session were, by and large, spot-on for my needs at least.</li> <li>Bringing in provocateurs and people outside the establishment to mix things up a bit.<br /></li></ul> </p> <p><a href="http://dajbconf.posterous.com/jisc-innovating-e-learning-2010-online-confer">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://dajbconf.posterous.com/jisc-innovating-e-learning-2010-online-confer#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/DougsConferenceBlog/~4/ttpMDhu0UkU" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/983039/doug_smiling_500px.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36zxdL2sK8rD Doug Belshaw Doug Doug Belshaw http://dajbconf.posterous.com/jisc-innovating-e-learning-2010-online-confer