issues and themes

Today, most of the keynote speakers talked about aspects of Web 2.0, touching upon what its implications are, or could be, for teaching and learning. We didn't get a chance to go into things in a great deal of depth during the rather short discussion sessions, but then the idea of this conference has always been to get that discussion happening informally in small groups over coffee, a drink in the bar or a walk on the prom.

Ray Land talked briefly about the ideas of "troublesome knowledge" and "threshold concepts" and raised the question about how these new technologies might align with (or not) these ideas. They are at the very heart of what is often held to constitute 'higher education' (indeed all levels of education, to be fair): that previously held knowledge and preconceptions need to be challenged, that students need to experience a disconnect of sorts, an uncomfortable, troublesome feeling in which they can't see quite how to reconcile this new information or new way of thinking with how they have previously, personally "understood" the subject they are studying. All academic disciplines have 'threshold concepts', fundamental ideas that must be grasped before the student can move on.

The question, then, posed by Ray and also raised again in the discussion after Michael Kerres' presentation, is how can Web 2.0 (or whatever we want to call it) technologies help in this personally transformative, intellectual journey? In the rush of 'fast time' how can students carve out space and time to think, to reflect, to face up to these conceptual challenges and to move to the next level? Surely the barrage of information, the bombardment of communication, all of these are in danger of pushing things aside? Perhaps this is an indicator of what the role of the teacher, the expert practitioner might then be in this new era: designing, shaping, guiding and focusing on the real 'learning', the processes of coming to know, to act and to "be" in the subject or discipline under study.

Bill McDaniel's enthusiastic embracing of new technologies shows that we needn't fear them, but equally we need to come to terms with this wider context in which more and more of our students are going to be inhabiting. That we need to be clear as to what constitutes learning, to focus a little more on the processes than the content is also part of the message of today.

Anyway, those are just first random thoughts at the end of a busy day. Keep up the discussion and get ready for more tomorrow.

Photos

Conference photos from the first day are now available here on our little link to flikr - thanks to Alejandra and Fiona. The recordings of the keynotes and other "vox pop" videos will appear shortly!

The trick is to keep breathing...

Too late now for any last minute changes, the momentum has built up and launch takes place at 9:30 am. But what of this blog? Well, we will keep it going after the event if there is demand for continued discussion and knowledge sharing. Recordings of the conference keynote presentations and short interviews will also be added, along with copies of papers and handouts, but only after we've had at least a couple of days to recover!

tick, tock, tick, tock

The countdown has begun. Twenty-four hours from now we'll be heading towards the first coffee break after the introductory presentations and first keynote address!

The weather is excellent here in Galway, so if you're packing don't forget your sun-block and cool shades, particularly if you plan in taking a stroll along "the prom" at Salthill in the evening - important to look your best there.

Last minute dashing around, tweaking things and wondering whether we've ordered enough biscuits for the tea break, receiving calls and emails with obscure queries from attendees, and remembering to keep smiling even in the absence of sleep - all part of the normal preparations for such an event!

Pre-Conference Presentation: Museum Fun

Here, Tony Hall (NUI Galway) gives a presentation on some of his earlier work on making visits to museums a more interesting, interactive and exploratory experience. This was carried out as part of a major European project and Tony focuses on trials of a range of technologies placed in Limerick's Hunt Museum.

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Blogs, Wikis and Social Networks

I’m delighted to announce that Lucy Keating from Netskills is returning to NUI Galway to deliver 3 workshops during the parallel sessions, on Blogs, Wikis and Social Networks. These workshops have been structured to be independent, i.e. you can attend one, two or all three sessions. Places are, however, strictly limited, and are now being offered, to registered participants, on a first come, first served basis.

If you are interested in attending one of these workshops, just sign up by sending an email to Gráinne at celtconf@nuigalway.ie. Please do not reserve a place unless you intend to be there.

The workshops are:

Thursday 7 June, 10.50 – 12.30
Blogs and Wikis – Beyond the Hype

Thursday 7 June, 14.45 – 16.25
Social Software – What’s it all about?

Friday 8 June, 10.45 – 12.30
Implementing Social Software – Practicalities and Pitfalls

Conference Proceedings

Since our conference is about two things: (a) sharing knowledge and experience, and (b) technologies in practice and not just "in theory" then why not look at a new approach to publishing the conference proceedings?

A possibility that we'd like to explore here with colleagues, is that all those who have had a paper accepted, would be welcome to submit to us both a written up version of their paper and any pertinent powerpoint slides so that we could present both on the post-conference website. In addition, using a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike-Non Commercial licence, we could ensure the maximum dissemination of such papers. These contributions could also be submitted to the National Digital Learning Repository, under the same terms and conditions.


Finally, we would then be happy to collate and edit such contributions for submission to the lulu.com "print on demand" service, enabling anyone to purchase a printed and bound hardcopy if they so wish.

The advantages of this approach are that there can be a rapid turnaround as well as maximum dissemination, whilst also doing our bit in building collegiality.

If you want to participate, please email us your completed papers (usual academic format with abstract, full references,etc.) at celtconf@nuigalway.ie

Useful tools #1

As you know, organising events can get quite complicated and involves so many different dimensions that an excellent multi-tasking brain is needed. That's why this year I'm reliant on Sharon and her gang to make everything run smoothly. But for those of us who are limited to only being able to think of about 28 items simultaneously (I counted - it's supposed to be 7, but I have multiple personalities) sometimes the odd bit of paper and packet of crayons can come in handy. Especially for scribbling out mind maps (oops, that's probably (c)Tony Buzan, perhaps I meant "concept maps" or some other name) showing various processes and their relationship with one another.

But for the die-hard geek, this "old wood" approach is looked down on. Fortunately there are many software packages out there that can help construct such diagrams, but many are quite expensive. That's where Freemind comes in. It's a basic, but effective tool for developing concept maps, written in Java. Given that it's free, we can also get students to use it too and given than so many people like the concept map approach to learning about complex topics then by all means spread the word.

Conference Programme

A draft conference programme is now available at the conference website. Looks like a fun-filled, action-packed two days!

Video Update on the Conference Preparations

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A brief update on preparations for the conference on "Learning Technologies: from Pilot to Mainstream" which is being held in Galway (Ireland) on June 7th and 8th, 2007.

what is web 2.0?

It has become a youTube classic, Mike Wesch's neat little intro to the concept of Web 2.0 is worth a look as you start to think about the conference. Enjoy.

Update

Things are progressing well for the conference. We've exceeded our target number of participants, the conference bags and pens have arrived and the refurbishment of the main venue is completed with new technologies embedded in the lecture theatre. The book of abstracts is about to go off to the printers and the parallel sessions have been arranged!

It has been a busy few weeks for the organisers, but they seem to be bearing up well! Remember, don't hesitate to get in touch if you have any queries, by emailing the conference office.