ALTernate reality

This year's Association for Learning Technologies Annual Conference alternated between highs and lows, controversy and comfort. Let me explain: One of the most controversial parts of the conference was the opening keynote, which I and many others have already reported on. I have heard just about every possible reaction to Donald Clark's speech, some mirroring the invective he unleashed, even the profanities. Enough said.

Other (slightly less) controversial aspects included a difference of opinion from delegates about the merits of the live Twitterwall in the main auditorium. Some considered it a distraction, a few thought that it was tempting subterfuge, while many more decided they liked it as an additional amplification feature - a conference back channel if you will. My own session, a panel presentation shared with John Traxler, Frances Bell, Andy Black, Karl Royle and Mark Childs (pictured), discussed issues around ethics in Web 2.0 interventions and research. While arguably less controversial than last year's VLE is Dead debate, the symposium still attracted over 100 delegates, and there was some cut and thrust from all those involved.

Many predictably complained about the poor quality of the student accommodation offered on campus. I suppose I didn't help matters by boasting to anyone within hearing distance that my bed and breakfast room was a double en suite, with wifi, satellite TV, microwave oven, refrigerator and a private car port right outside my ground floor window. And I paid less for it too. I digress.

There were also many highlights during the conference. Besides enjoying the energy generated by a gathering of over 500 passionate, inquisitive and knowledgeable learning technology professionals and academics (heat and light were generated in equal measure), there was the opportunity to meet other like minded individuals from all over the world, and to say - Yes, I have that problem too! It was the start of many friendships, and probably a lot of future collaborations and creative liaisons too. Many met for the first time people they had connected with for months or even years online. It is always a great experience when that happens. The now traditional Fringe ALT meeting of Edubloggers took place at the Nottingham Playhouse, with impromptu debates where participants names (and surprise topics) were drawn from a bucket. We all had to think on our feet that evening.

Sugata Mitra (University of Newcastle) delivered what was promised in his Day 2 keynote. A wry, inspirational and thought provoking presentation on the promise of self-organised learning mediated through 'hole in the wall' web enabled computers. I won't say any more here, as this speech has been better documented by others elsewhere, but I will say that many people left the room smiling, relieved that keynote 2 was as divorced from keynote 1 as Cheryl and Ashley.

The individual Learning Technologist of the Year was awarded jointly for the second time in as many years. Cristina Costa representing Higher Education (University of Salford) and Kevin McLoughlin, working in the compulsory education sector (St Peter's CofE Primary School in Whetstone) shared the accolades of their peers for their leading edge work in learning technology. The team award was picked up by David White and the TALL team at the University of Oxford. The full list of awards can be found here. The conference dinner was a triumph as usual, with cooking, presentation and service of a very high standard from the local catering college students.

Unfortunately, our final keynote speaker, Barbara Wasson, could not attend the conference due to illness. In her place, 6 stawarts of learning technology sat in a panel and took on all comers around the question - what would you concentrate on as the one activity that could bring in a sea-change? Gilly (1000 years of experience) Salmon, John (my middle name is Nigel) Cook and Haydn (shouts across the valleys) Blackey and their colleagues regaled us and provoked us, and the Twitterwall rolled, live on the wall, for all to see.

ALT-C 2010 is history now. All that is left is an empty suite of rooms at the East Midlands Conference Centre, littered with plastic cups, empty dishes and discarded vendor flyers. They will be cleared up by the large team of helpers, but the true detritus of the event will be whether what has been said and done in the last 3 days actually does cause any semblance of sea-change in education, through the intervention and use of learning technologies.


ALTernate reality by Steve Wheeler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.