This week was the Learning Without Frontiers conference at Olympia (Jan 25/26). Below are a few pictures from the day (if it’s not mine, then credit is given below the picture where credit is due).

I also used Instagram for my photos, just to add something ‘different’ to them. I have learned, however, that it is better to use the standard phone camera for the original picture and then process that inside Instagram then to take the picture with the app, the result is slightly better quality).

Here are some picture galleries for you, from LWF delegates who’ve uploaded and shared them:

• Instagram (from Inkstagram) - ink361.com/#/tag/lwf12
• Flickr - www.flickr.com/search/?q=%23LWF12

Lego Ducks

Jacob Kragh, LEGO Education President – each of us was given a pack of 6 bricks and asked to make a duck, here are mine!

Stephen Heppell (@heloukee)

Stephen Heppell engages the audience in his usual amazing and inimitable fashion showing us students and learning spaces designed for the modern world … and a great picture of his boat too! He is championing ‘shoes off learning’ and ‘bring a browser’ (like bring your own device, but simpler) and captured the mood of the audience.

Graham Brown-Martin

Graham Brown-Martin introducing the final sessions of the day.

Martin Rees – ‘From Here to Eternity’

Stehpen Heppell / CloudLearn.net

Stephen Heppell in one of the amazing ‘pods’ (see below) showing the results of the CloudLearn.net project. I have read (and re-read) the report and hope to blog on it at some point, but I’ve a few ideas to get clear in my own head first.

Andrew Eland / Google (@heloukee)

TED Talks (@heloukee)

As someone who enjoys the TED talks it was great to hear from one of the main people responsible for them, and about it’s history.

Dame Ellen MacArthur

Dame Ellen MacArthur demonstrated a very focussed and amazingly simple view on life: go out and embrace it (my words), from her early sailing adventures to the completion of her world famous sailing exploits, to the formation of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

BBC Model B, in the BBC ‘pod’

Nostalgia in the BBC pod – I didn’t have one of these but I started out on a ZX81 and ZX Spectrum, while my friends had the BBC Model B (as did my primary school, and only the one, on a trolley … !). No, I couldn’t remember any code other than “10 Print ‘Hello!’”

Noam Chomsky on The Purpose of Education (@heloukee)

The opening keynote from Noam Chomsky (disappointingly pre-recorded) was interesting but a rather dry start to the conference. Noam said in his opening keynote “Be obedient, don’t ask too many questions, don’t cause a crisis of democracy”, as well as the “purpose of education is to teach people how to learn on their own” and (at last, just what I’ve found all my life) “a person can do magnificently on a test, and understand very little”.

• Watch Noam Chomsky’s keynote on Blip.TV here: Noam Chomsky – The Purpose of Education

Pod-tastic! (@heloukee)

Related posts:

1. Learning Without Frontiers #LWF12
2. Reflection: Learning Technologies 2009
3. Growth of a Blog (Reflection)

For all those who are as equally excited as I am, next week is the 2012 Learning Without Frontiers Conference. If you’re going and would like to meet up then please drop me a line, leave a message, tweet me, etc, etc.

I received an email this morning and have set up my LWF Profile page, which you can find here (plus links to find me on different networks, not that you needed telling):

• LWF12 Profile Page

So, what am I looking forward to:

• Sir Ken Robinson: Unfortunately Sir Ken is going to be closing the Conference via video-link, but it is something not to be missed, if his other speeches are anything to go by.
• Stephen Heppell:I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and talking with Stephen several times here at Bournemouth University – what seems a random journey through his thoughts and ideas at the time, when Stephen speaks, will end up as a carefully constructed story with which you will lose youself in. Amazing and inspirational.
• Steve Wheeler:The ‘VLE is dead’ is here again … should be good if we get the kind of debate this topic has had before … ?
• Dame Ellen MacArthur: Speaking about her foundation and it’s linking of “education and business to inspire young people to re-think and re-design their future”. Should be good.
• Conrad Wolfram: The man behind the Wolfram Alpha ‘computational knowledge engine’ … say no more!
• Keri Facer: Looking at the changes change in education that are emerging around economics, personal data and social movements.
• Jacob Kragh (Lego Education): Anything with Lego is fine by me, but what’s even better is how it can be used to educate and learn, “from renewable energy to green cities, after-school clubs to robotics from pre-school through the secondary education”
• Andrew Eland (Google UK): the “Google story, the importance of STEM education, the UK’s failure to capitalise on its record of innovation and engineering and Google’s position on this” could be interesting, and worth a little time to listen to Andrew.

… and of course meeting so many of my Twitter buddies! See you next week.

Related posts:

1. Reflection on #LWF12 (updated)
2. ‘Revolutionary Learning Spaces’, Prof Stephen Heppell @stephenheppell
3. Pedagogical Foundations For Personal Learning

Last year I was lucky enough to obtain one of the few tickets that were available for the 2010 Future of Technology in Education Conference organised by ULCC: http://www.fote-conference.com

Since the time is rapidly approaching when this year’s tickets will be made available I was interested in seeing this infographic on details and statistics from the 2009 and 2010 conferences.

Enjoy, and I hope to see you there again this year (October 7th).

(Click to view on Flickr)

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Today I confirmed the abstract of my presentation to the eAssessment Scotland Conference, hosted by the  University of Dundee, on August 25/26, 2011 – www.e-assessment-scotland.org.

Here is what I will be delivering to the distinguished delegates:

Title: “24-hour Papers: the Open-Book Alternative to Exams for Online Assessment”

Abstract: “Common unit specifications covering delivery of subject-identical units across different courses, often with different delivery methods, are increasingly being implemented. The inclusion of a ‘coursework’ element of assessment allows for flexibility. This is different when an ‘exam’ is required; with students on a fully-online course, unable to attend an exam centre, due to differences in time zones and/or locations, the concept of an open-book exam is used. The exam paper is released to students through our VLE (Blackboard) at a time that is agreed and broadcast to students in advance. Submission of their work is required within a 24-hour window via an upload of their files to the VLE (using either the standard submission tool or Turnitin).”

“This presentation will draw upon the Bournemouth University’s substantial experience of presenting ‘Time-Constrained Papers’ to students studying at a distance and will consider the issues surrounding this approach. Particular consideration will be given to the importance of question design to limit scope for academic dishonesty and the University’s plans to modify this approach in the forthcoming academic year.”

I will be following Dr. Sharon Flynn on Friday morning (Parallel session A), where I will also talk about the use of Turnitin with distant learners within the scope of Time-Constrained Papers. I hope you can join us there.

Related posts:

1. Reading: "Developing a better understanding of technology-based pedagogy"
2. Reading: "Learning from the Learners' Experience"
3. Distance Learning / Distance Education

I’m getting ready for the BETT 2010 (British Education and Training Technology) exhibition next week (January 13th – 16th).

There are two things I must (and am trying to) do, and that’s;

• figure out how best to spend my limited time on the one day I can attend, and
• see what previous years has given us.

The first is quite difficult. I hope to be there on Friday 15th, which limits the seminars that are available, but there are plenty to choose from - BETT 2010 Seminar list.

The second one is easier; here’s something I found quite quickly on YouTube;

2009 saw BETT celebrate its 25th anniversary as it buzzed as “educationalists the world over converged at London’s Olympia to touch and test the latest in educational technology.” Last year’s event was the most successful ever, with over 30,000 visitors.

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Whilst at the “Make it Personal” Conference this week at the University of Greenwich, I picked up the ‘post-conference reflections’ from the 2008 conference: “Learning from the Learners’ Experience” (PDF)

A 2 hour train journey home gave me plenty of time to read through it, and I wanted to share the following with you;

Chapter 6: Multiple Perspectives on using Blackboard

• “As the development of the use of Blackboard becomes more sophisticated, lecturers need to learn to be more flexible in the way they ‘deliver’ their courses, and be open to a wider variety of teaching methods that they may not have used before. They will need to develop their IT skills to become more familiar with the technology. They will also need to change the way they ‘interact’ with their students. Out of sight does not mean out of mind!”

Good points are made throughout Monica Or’s presentation. By moving the resources into the fully-online arena there is the expectation (from staff and students) that it will be easier. Not so, and it is this misconception that is often the stumbling block in making sure the right materials are delivered in the right way; you cannot transfer material for face-to-face delivery to online by copy-and-paste methods, you must re-evaluate and re-develop as you go.

Chapter 8: Learning from Discussion

• “Discussion boards have provided me with unexpected insights into the processes students use to complete assignments and into their needs in terms of tuition and learning opportunities. The ability to ask questions anonymously in a non-threatening environment has opened up ways of listening to the student experience that I had not foreseen. It may be that when students are under pressure, trying to complete a task, they are better able to express their views, make explicit what they think about a course, and what a lecturer can do to assist them.”

As coordinator of an LLB course, Sandra Clarke is using WebCT (Blackboard as it now is) to it’s potential; wiki, blogs, and discussion forums (DFs). Changing the settings on a DFs so posts are made anonymously increased their use, whilst she make sure her posts/replies were easily identifiable by ‘signing’ them. Using a Wiki as the assignment highlighted the differnce between the technically-capable and technically-incapable students, but appropriate and detailed instructions would help these problems, if provided at the start.

Using DFs has helped Sandra understand the opportunites open to her and the students; what they think and how they learn.

Chapter 14: Is Podcasting an Effective Component of Online Learning?

• “The two key questions asked by this study were: Do the students like learning from podcasts? and: Do they learn effectively from them? Both these questions were answered in the affirmative for this small scale study. The research was stimulated by the belief that podcasts were of limited value in learning due to their delivery supporting an outmoded, didactic approach to teaching and learning. However, this study has shown that podcasts can be used as part of a set of activities that can draw students into a dialogue about their learning, thus supporting a social constructivist pedagogical approach (Brown, Collins and Duguid 1989).”

Liz Bennett and Cheryl Reynolds used the podcasts to support delivery of a Unit on Web 2.0 technologies in Education. This is a good example of how a new technology can be incorporated into the current delivery pattern, and can actually enhance the learning experience. Outcomes from the project came in the form of ‘guidelines’ for using podcasts, namely;

1. less than 15 minutes long,
2. logically sequenced recordings,
3. incluide music/background track,
4. 143 words per minute (BBC News speed)

There are other chapters and presentations that I am like and would have liked to include here, but there are the ones most relevant to my work and my interests.

Please feel free to comment on the above, or any other aspect of the post-conference reflections.

Related posts:

1. Reading: “Self-learners creating university of online”
2. Reading: "Global Mobile Learning Research Report 2009"
3. How to turn-off your learners

I started making notes of the key points I wanted to take away from today’s Conference at the University of Greenwich. Then I gave up and just listened instead.

I was going to tweet my way through the various presentations, but with no open-access wifi available I was stuck with texting my tweets, which I decided against it simply due to the costs involved.

Instead, thanks to the amazing tweeting going on from other people present, I thought I’d just repeat some of their tweets (I did manage a couple of tweets; I found open-access wifi at the local McD’s).

Unfortunately my poster hadn’t been delivered in time to be shown on the wall (damn postal strike!), so you can view it in my other post here: Presentation: Make it Personal, The ‘I’ in Induction.

We were using the hashtag #MIP for the days content.

• Make it Personal, July 8th, 2009. University of Greenwich

ianmcnaught Intriguing observation: “Private school deal with the human desire to belong better than state schools” Jonathan Drori at #mip

artfraud completely agree education needs to acknowledge that people have desire to be entertained – pleasurable experience is accessible exp.

artfraud Can technology measure when people approach “flow state” and help us give them that final nudge

rosevibe Event checklist being unveiled to explain why compelling experiences are important in a personalisation context

artfraud the list of characteristics of compelling experiences: Defined, Fresh, Accessible, Immersive, Significant, Transformative

brckngh It would be useful for Ed Balls to hear Jonathon Drori share his views. Thought provoking

hopkinsdavid ‘Selection’ does not mean it is ‘personalised’ learning

artfraud importance of allowing students to show initiative in departing from any personal plan – avoid the “that’s not what they want” approach

rosevibe how to ‘personalise’ for 300+ students, get 2-3 things which grip large sections of the audience

rosevibe personalisation of the learning experience is more accessible for the rich or highly motivated. State establishments suffer

rosevibe how to get students to buy into personalised learning; 1st break bad habits then deploy event checklist to create compelling experiene

artfraud really great presentation about SL exploration of body representations in a diversity course

rosevibe context is everything, you need to learn to build face to face relationships to leverage full advantage

rosevibe ple/vle recurrent complaints are introductions without connections, is sn just the latest buzz trying to fill the gap?

colhawksworth session 2 – talking about ‘Punk’ Learning – individualism. Serendipity Vs Synergy

rosevibe how can synergy happen without embedding socialisation in education

colhawksworth – Is personalised learning in danger of killing-off social skills and collaboration?

colhawksworth – ‘personalised’ learning with ‘Social’ software? Have they gone mad?

artfraud Serge Ravel exploring personalisation vs individualisation: his thesis is pers’tion still controlled by institutions

SussexUni more info about how we developed Skills Clouds to help Sussex Uni students http://www.sussex.ac.uk/skillclouds/index.php

annegambles the future will see aggregated soc. Networking. What impact will google wave have on individualisation?

Good to meet you all, and look froward to next year’s event.

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Isn’t it always the case; someone asks you to keep your eyes open for eLearning Conferences, as they want to attend a few this year, and you end up in the driving seat with a poster presentation to make.

I’ve not done anything like this before so am not sure what to make or the whole process (especially the ‘presenting’ side of it) but am working towards the “Making it Personal” Conference at the University of Greenwich on July 8th, 2009;

“The personalising of learning is a journey towards full learner customization and autonomy. Fundamentally, it is as much about attitudes to and perceptions of the learner and the changing role of the teacher as it is about the policies, processes, and practices that contribute to institutional change. For many institutions, a first step towards personalisation is achieved by ‘adapting’ existing teaching, learning and assessment services. Ultimately, they will need to be prepared to work in partnership with learners to generate new forms of learning, teaching and assessment in which student-derived goals, flexibility and choice leading to greater self-regulation and the co-creation of knowledge.”

If you have any experiences you’d like to share about conferences, posters,  presentation, etc, then please let me know what I’ve let myself in for!!

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Continuing my reports on the Learning Technologies 2009 Exhibition (I know, I’ve been very slack with the writing) I wanted to say something about the Seminar given by Naomi Norman from Epic: “Achieving successful learning in a web 2.0 world“.

I’m glad I waited, as now she’s been kind enough to put her slide presentation on YouTube:

The ‘one-to-many’ or ‘push-pull’ Internet that many of us have learned to use is being replaced by the collaborative ‘many-to-many’ or ‘pull-pull’ Internet of Web 2.0. This is not news to many of us.

Naomi’s clear and directed approach to the implications of each of these ‘things’ was very welcome, in that it shows that successful eLearning will depend on the Instructor having knowledge and awareness of all delivery methods available to them:

• ‘Push’ delivery: content, induction, research, etc,
• ‘Pull’ delivery:  engaging, collaboration, customisable .. no trainer, no curriculum?

The change is coming, whether you’re ready or not, and it is no longer necessarily thought of as push or pull, but ‘formal’ and informal’:

• ‘Formal’ delivery: Curriculum-based, sequenced / structured, minimum interactions, etc,
• ‘Informal’ delivery: no curriculum, voluntary, peer inspired, shared, not organised, etc.

This figure (below, from the Transforming Your Operating Model for High Performance in the Digital World report from Strategy in Action) gives a good example of how we can view ‘current trends’ and how the Web 2.0 world is going to change the thinking behind teaching and learning.

Modern learners can be thought of as “ready to learn, but don’t want to be taught” (Winston Churchill).]

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I was not lucky enough to be able to attend the Conference at the Learning Technologies 2009 event. This six-minute video by Jay Cross, the beginning of his closingspeach at the Conference in London, was posted to YouTube earlier today.

Jay’s slides are also available on SlideShare – ‘eLearning must be Social‘.

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