Natural born cyborgs?

Coming through security at Ljubjana Airport yesterday, I had to remove my belt (no, my trousers stayed up) and my watch. On the other side of the all-seeing eye, having triggered no terrorist alerts or alarm klaxons, I retrieved my belt and wrist watch and put them on again. I grabbed my bag and laptop, and walked off.

It took me approximately 12 seconds to notice my watch was not on my wrist (I can't be certain of course, because my watch was not on my wrist). I retraced my steps and under the stern eyes of the security staff eventually found my forlorn watch - calling out to me from under the conveyor belt. This got me thinking. It doesn't take long for us to notice when something is missing - technology that we wear - that enhances our senses or extends our cognitive abilities. So are we becoming cyborgs?

Strolling across a bridge in Venice on Saturday, during our social event after ICL 2008, I encountered the fellow in the picture above. He was making a point. Posing as a cyborg, bedecked with wearable technology (but ironically, clutching a quill). Is this the future? Will we all walk around in 10 or 20 year's time interacting through technology. I can see the appeal, but I can also see the inherent dangers and hear the howls of protests from those who would rather see a future where we use technology sensibly, sparingly, appropriately. But in 10 or 20 years time, what will be the appropriate use of technology? Andy Clark, chair in logic and metaphysics at the University of Edinburgh believes we are all naturally akin to technology - 'Natural Born Cyborgs'. Is he right? And will cyborg living become more acceptable? Your views are appreciated...

Making a difference

As ICL comes to a close and another international e-learning conference fades into memory, one has to stop and reflect... did this conference make any difference? The answer is probably both yes .... and no. At an individual level, I have spoken to many delegates here who feel that the conference has been worthwhile, whether it is because they have been to sessions that have challenged or enlightened them, or on the other hand, perhaps they have met someone who has inspired them, or with whom they can share ideas, or collaborate with in the future. At a more general level though, it may be true that this conference has failed to do what so many of it's precursors have also failed to do. And that is to change anything of any significance. (Pictured: panel members during the final plenary discussion).

Many of the papers were advocating change, and many of the presenters admitted honestly that they didn't have a clue about how that change was going to come about. In coversations today over lunch we debated the issues and challenges facing education in this decade, and came to the pessimistic conclusion that change only happens slowly, and only when the 'powers that be' decide that change is necessary. The few lone rangers and (to use Christian Logofatu's term for me) 'lunatics', will forge on regardless, stretching the gap between their own understanding and that of their more transigent colleagues, so that pockets of innovation stand out as the exception rather than the norm.

Much coverage has been given to Web 2.0 social software tools and also Web 3.0 semantic tools, but how many of us are actaully using them day in, day out. Not many. And probably not enough. Until such time that universities and other institutions (and the governments that control them through funding and inspection) wake up to the fact that the youth we are educating view our tired systems with a jaundiced eye and then go off and 'do their own thing', there will be no significant change. Even then it may be slow in coming due to the vast amounts of money, energy and time they have invested into systems that are already 5 years out of date (and here I am being kind).

I have tried to report as honestly and fully as I can from ICL 2008, but inevitably I have missed things as even with my super-human powers and x-ray vision, I can only be in one place at a time. You can go to our Twemes conference site to view some of the images of the event, and some of the blog and tweet artefacts generated over the three days, and you can also access the official ICL 2008 conference site to view the titles and abstracts of the papers. But ultimately, it was for me, just another conference where we got together with like minded people, discussed hot and happening issues, and were inspired by each other to go back and do more of the same. It won't change anything, but it does give us just a little more energy to fight against the system and try to make some small changes where they are needed.

I would personally like to thank Michael Auer and his team from Fachhochschule Karnten for once again putting on a well organised and enjoyable event, including good scheduling, technical management and excellent food. I wish them every success for next year's event, here in the beautiful alpine town of Villach, Austria.

Clash of principals

So Edupunk is now a noun, with its own official definition (how un-punk is that?). Jim Groom's latest post on Bavatuesdays shows an image with text about Edupunk:

'Avoiding mainstream tools like PowerPoint and BlackBoard, edupunks bring the rebellious attitude and DIY ethos of '70s bands such as The Clash to the classroom'.

Seems like something the principals, heads and powers that be might be interested in avoiding at all costs. Me, I'm up for it, mate.

Moving pictures

In a session led by Thomas C. Schmidt, who is talking about mobile videoconferencing. This is a tool that has not been used extensively, due to lack of bandwidth in the past, but now perhaps the time is ripe to discover how it could be used in real learning situations. Thomas claims that most of the content received by under 25s now comes directly through mobile technology. They are not only a connected generation, but also a mobile one. Thomas is going through a number of constraints, including 'awkward use and crippled language' that plague current useage of mobile technology, distorted pictures, latency, etc.

We are going to have an extended discussion at the end of his presentation, due to the fact that the other two speakers have failed to turn up, and the chair is innovative, intuitive and accommodating enough to realise that people are attending this session because we all know a little about it and are interested in knowing more. At present, Thomas is becoming unbearably technical, with TCP, SIP, IP and other specialised terms ... such as how digital compression works, spatial redundancy, etc.. blah blah blah. We are discussing their definitions, but would prefer to talk about the pedagogical possibilities. No, really we would.

Park life

The afternoon plenary session is in full swing here at ICL 2008, and Jose Santana (left) from the Dominican Republic is speaking. He has examined the current relationships between education, technology and culture and political issues that impact upon their provision and development. He argued that a dominant political-cultural vision about development has imposed restrictions on education, citizenship and the provision of technology. Wishes to provide new and innovative learning opportunities to the population of his country and around the world. One Laptop Per Child, Hole in the Wall, Wireless Africa and other recent projects have inspired him and have shown that it is possible using innovative approaches to the use of technology, that a transformation of education can be achieved even within restrictive governmental and economic climates.

Earlier, Kun-Woo Park, (Kyung Hee Cyber University, South Korea: pictured left) presented his keynote on e-learning in South Korea. In a slick and impressive delivery, Kun-woo Park conducted us on a journey through the history of e-learning in South Korea which is now one of the world's most wired countries.

The digital culture of SK is epitomised by its reliance on IT infrastructure and trends in digitisation. 79.8 % of households now have broadband access to internet. 76.3 % above age of 6 years are Internet users. Over 45 % aged 12 and above use wireless internet. 92.2% use mobile phones - mainly elderly are non-participants. 25% are DMB television viewers. This is a great platform for the embedding and growth of e-learning. 74.3 % of HE and FE institutions offer e-learning delivered courses (an increase of 45% over the previous year).

Kyung Hee Cyber University is founded totally on online delivery of higher education programmes - which makes it a true virtual university. 17 cyber universities are in existence in SK, to meet the enormous demand for online learning. KHCU delivers 700 programmes to students in 30 countries. The university uses an interactive instructional system, which is a blend of a number of digital learning resources including video, audio podcast and web based learning objects which allows for anytime anyplace learning. SMS and e-mail are used by tutors to communicate with their students and provide announcements and updates. It does seem very much a behaviouristic approach to distance elearning, which involves a great deal of didactic structure, reinforcement and feedback systems. However, collaborative learning is encouraged and there is room for students to select their own pace of study. They use quizzes and other interactive feedback systems for students to self-assess. Learners can self-direct their own learning, selecting pace, space and place.

Use of blogs and other social web tools are encouraged and the online activities are blended face-to-face meetings, classes and project work (somewhat undermining its virtual university tag). There is nothing new here for those steeped in the practice of elearning, but the Cyber University concept shows signs of great promise and provides South Korea with a means that enables it to educate it's large population on a viable economy of scale enabling it to compete with other nations in the world economy. Kun-Woo Park believes that e-learning can improve the quality and availability of higher education, and that it can provide considerable flexibility in how, what and when they can study. They desire and need to particpate in global education. Welcome to the wonderful world of e-learning, South Korea!

Future tense

Day two of the ICL 2008 Conference in Villach has been underway now for a few hours. We have sat through three more keynotes, and a full breakout session, and now it's time for lunch. The morning plenary session was again, mixed in it's content and appeal. Nikitas Kastis (Lambrakis Foundation, Greece - pictured above in conversation with another conference delegate) was for me, the outstanding contribution of the morning. His Wordle tagcloud and link is below, showing the key components of his speech, but just as a quick summary: He asked how we can define the future of education and presented some scenarios from his recent project Foresight. Knowledge, he said, is no longer formed by one person but by communities, groups, etc. We can all be creators as well as consumers of knowledge. The current education system does not support or address these challenges, he declared. Learning now is about knowledge creation and how this can be applied in real settings.

Class quote of the day, (from a mad professor video he showed): 'Don't ask a technologist or a scientist, or even a futurologist about the future - ask a kindergarten teacher. They know what society will be like in the next generation. Things are not the future - the kids are!'

Cutting through the clouds

I have just attended an excellent, thought provoking session here at ICL 2008 this morning on tagclouds and reflective learnining. It was presented by Christian Glahn, who works at the Open University of the Netherlands. Here are my notes, which may be a little unstructured, but hey - this is blog reporting on the fly...

Christian is investigating the use of social bookmarking to promote reflective learning and says we need to give learner support in unstructured learning environments. What are they? They contain non-explicit learning objectives and/or ill-defined learning materials or topics. When people tag things online in these environments, he said, we don't know anything about their background, interests, etc. so it is difficult to support them fully.

Creating personal tag clouds can encourage people to reflect on their learning. Previous research on the use of tag clouds includes Millen and Feinburg who highlighted the social dimensions. Wordle tag clouds are mainly aesthetic and do not appear to have any pedagogical value. What is the personal benefit of tag clouds? Well, no research can be found on this topic, he said. His design study uses Rescope and is based on his own autobiographical reporting, based upon a concept not a hypothesis. What are the effects of tagclouds on reflective learning? Delicious tags used to create links using keywords. Version 1 of Rescope was applied to show frequency of use of each hyperlinked tag. Have a look at Version 2 of Rescope which uses colour as well as size of font to indicate frequency of use. He is using a combination of global tag aggregator and recent tag aggregator which feed into a visualisation tool, resulting in a merging of up to date use. Recent tagging activities can also enable reflective learning to be supported. Helps to provide better focus for searching the web and learning from content. Tag cloud monitoring can show changes in reading and searching for content on the web. http://lnx-otecexp-005v.ou.nl/rescope/ How can we measure this kind of activity? Through Twitter microblogging - to gather ongoing live data about student learning activities? Enables searching over a history of tagging activity.

There are of course several questions left unanswered, and Christian's research is ongoing, but I thought this was a refreshing change to some of the other papers I have seen here so far at ICL, which tend to focus on static, web based delivery. Christian's research looks at dynamic social bookmarking tools and he will surely come up with some interesting findings, especially as he is working with Marcus Specht and Rob Koper....

Get the meaning...?

The semantic web loomed large this afternoon at ICL 2008, here in Villach. I chaired a session late into the afternoon, starting at 6 pm and finishing at 7.30, by which time those present deserved a prize for staying with it. The three speakers were good, covering a range of issues from interoperability, machine learning, fuzzy logic and nueral networking, reusable learning objects, semantic wikis and automatic taxonometry. Have to admit the last one was a new one to me, although the audience, few hardy souls that stayed there to the bitter end, were engaged throughout, with some serious and challenging questions from the floor. (Pictured: Luis Rojas gets stuck in)

Gisela Granitzer (Know Center Graz, Austria) presented a paper entitled 'Learning with Semantic Technologies - Exploiting Latest tools'. She presented some excellent visual material which mapped the relationship between Web 2.0 (connecting people) and Web 3.0 (connecting knowledge) with the Ubiquitous Web (connecting intelligence). This she said, was at the hear of successful semantic systems, which created the intelligent links and connections for the user.

Next up was Luis Rojas, all the way from Distrital University Francisco, in Colombia. He spoke about an experiment to use semantic web tools to simulate image formation for the teaching of optical physics. He was refreshingly honest, reporting that semantic tools do not work well where visual images are concerned. He got some flack from the audience, some of who suggested that perhaps the problem did not lie in the architecture of the system, but in human error and interpretation of the images.

Finally, Reinhard Staber, from the Medical University of Graz, Austria, presented a paper entitled 'VMC 2.0: A Metamorphosis into a Web 3.0 Learning Environment.' He reported on stduies into the establishment of Graz's Virtual Medical Campus (VMC) project, where students are able to access a range of reusable learning objects which are categorised in fine granularity through the tagging of individual sentences within authored text. The system supports participatory design of learning objects, group management and full interaction between participants. Some lively debate ensued, but all too soon, our time was up.

Well, it's a start....

Well, the first day of ICL 2008 has kicked off with a quick fire series of keynotes from Erhard Busek (Former Vice-President of Austria) who spoke on education for Europe - and emphasised the need for joined up thinking and a common understanding of who Europeans are. Then we can get down to addressing how education can be taken forward. Methinks he may be barking up the wrong tree here - Europe is such as diverse and multi-cultural group of countries (there is even dispute within most European nations about their identity and ownership of land, rights, etc) that this may be a pipe dream. There was much debate about language and a few innane comments from some delegates. One American delegate (name withheld to protect him) even tried to argue that English is now owned by everyone except the British. Well ship me off to Siberia! I apologise for even breathing. I know English borrows words from almost every other language but doesn't that make it ever richer? Except for yesterday when I spoke nought but German, I have spoken English from the day I, wel... first spoke. I don't feel at all dispossessed.

Busek rode these questions well and expertly skirted around some of the more controversial issues, such as who owned a language and the difference between knowledge and information. A link to the Wordle map I have created of his speech is below, and his dominant themes shine through, I think:



He was followed by Muriel Dunbar who works for the European Training Foundation, which confusingly does not work in Europe, does not provide training and is not a foundation - go figure. She talked about the trials and tribulations of trying to support the development of education and training initiatives using ICT and e-learning in Near East and Northern African countries. She talked about culturally specific problems, and access to learning as capacity building. Here is a link to her wordle map so you can see her predominent themes...



I can't say that either keynote really floated my boat, but it's early days yet and there are sessions planned for this afternoon and evening that look interesting. More later from the conference....

Over the hills and far away

I'm sitting here watching as the sun sets over the Alps, in beautiful Villach, Austria. The peaks are glistening, and the bell in the church is tolling. So, I vill here my German practice: 'Der gipfel des Berges funkelt im Abendsonenschein'. There, that impressed the pants off you didn't it? I can tell. It's from the poem Lorelei - the only German I remember from secondary school. All the rest was learned afterwards, in conversation with chattering Teutonic chappies.

I travelled up this morning by train from Ljubljana, after a restful night, and have ensconced myself at the Holiday Inn. I'm here to attend and present at ICL 2008, the annual bash organised by Michael Auer and the Karenthia Institute here on the river Drau. It really is a sweet little town with plenty of places to eat out and countryside to explore. Not that I will be doing too much of that. It will be busy here at ICL.

The programme looks interesting, and over just three days, there is a lot to cram in. There are no less than 10 keynotes (in fact there are eleven if you count the keynote panel in the last session on Friday). There are sessions on the semantic web, knowledge management, adaptive and intuitive learning environments (work it out for yourself), e-portfolios, collaborative learning, mobile learning environments and applications, and they've thrown in the kitchen sink for good measure. And what excitement! There is a social programme extra - on Saturday they are taking us all down to Venice for the day - how many other conferences can boast such a treat, eh?

I wrote last year in this blog that there were only a few sessions that 'shone out like diamonds in the mud' and was castigated by Stephen Downes for my poetic licence. Well that's all water under the bridge now, and this is a clean sheet, so I'm putting my best foot forward and will be avoiding cliches like the plague. I'm in room 501, just in case anyone wants to send me up a free pair of Levi's or something - and here's a clue... for anyone taking part in tomorrow's little fun quiz during my pre-conference workshop on Web 2.0: (whispers) 501 also happens to be the highest first class individual cricket score record held by one Brian Lara. Don't say I didn't help you out there. (end of whispering)

Oh, and one final quirky little point - here's the picture to prove it.... The elevators here are designed by a company called Schindler - so that makes it Schindler's lift.

Unleash the anarchy

There has been fallout from my fringe presentation at ALT-C on Edupunk, and it's all very positive. Word has got out that Edupunk - the idea that self-organised learning is possible using digital tools that aren't sold by big companies such as BlackBoard - is relevant to the world of education, no matter how you package it. The assistant editor of Campus Wide Information Systems, one Simon Shurville (an old mate of mine) has got wind of the growing interest in this idea, and has invited me to guest edit a special issue for the journal on Edupunk. The journal's editorial advisory board boasts a number of other people I have rubbed shoulders with lately including Asher Rospigliosi (it was he who let the cat out of the bag - he attended my F-ALT rant, and told Simon), Steven Furnell, Mark Stiles, Scott Wilson, Rob Koper and Ken Fernstrom. Quite a galaxy, eh?

So there you have it. No going back now. I'm going to do it, but I need help from those who are interested in arguing for this thing we call Edupunk, or providing a searing counter-commentary against the idea that we can go outside the walled garden to unleash the anarchy of the web, and still remain this side of piracy.

So here is the call for papers - send your proposals and 300 word abstracts into me in the next couple of months. Don't pull any punches. No quarter given - say your piece. This is edupunk we're talking about! Summon up the blood.... and let slip the dogs of war!

Bazaar sounds again

Noises off... and now it's live. Just in case you forgot, Emerging Sounds of the Bazaar, recorded live during ALT-C last week, was a great event. More good news - it's now available for download on the Pontydysgu site. Hosted by Graham Attwell and Josie Fraser, and featuring interviews with Scott Wilson, George Siemens (pictured with Josie) and a host of others, the programme is fast paced, full of pithiness and humour, and features great contemporary music. There are even some poetry performances by George Roberts and me, so it has a little of everything, for everyone. Thanks to Joe, Graham, Cristina, Dirk and the rest of the Bazaar crowd for putting this together.

For me, it is simply a case of listening to it all over again, so that I can relive the very entertaining and thought provoking hour over a hundred of us spent beside the JISC stand at the conference in Leeds last week.

ICL Beckons...

I'm gearing up for my next jaunt away - this time back to Austria, for the third time in a year. I'm off next Monday to speak at the Interactive Computer Learning Conference (ICL 2008) which is once again sponsored by Fachhochscule Karnten and hosted by the ever genial Professor Michael E. Aeur (Carinthia Tech Institute). The conference will be held at the Holiday Inn in Villach, deep in the picturesque Austrian alpine countryside.

It's a long and convoluted journey to Villach, which ever way you try to get there. I have chosen to fly direct from Stanstead to Ljubljana, Slovenia, take the one hour bus ride from the airport into the town, and stay there the night. The next day, I will take the alpine train over the alps and direct to Villach. Last year, around 600 delegates attended the event from all over the globe, including the USA, India and Australia. I made some excellent contacts and have since worked alongside some of those who attended to complete the volume 'Connected Minds, Emerging Cultures', and also hooked up with some again at conferences elsewhere. Some of the images from last year's event are here. ICL is well connected with other international gatherings including the Interactive Mobile and Computer Aided Learning (IMCL 2009) Conference in Jordan, and the International Conference on E-Learning in the Workplace (ICELW 2009) in New York. They are both excellent events - and I have served on the programme committees of both.

I will be presenting a workshop on the first day of ICL entitled 'Learning 2.0: Using the Social Web to Promote Collaborative Learning', to which 40 delegates have already signed up. I also have a poster to display about some of the University of Plymouth's recent research into the use of wikis and blogs in teacher education. I'm looking forward to this one, and will blog from the event as time and bandwidth allow.

ALT-C 1921 Gala Dinner and Dance

Success has gone to James F. Clay's head, I am sorry to have to report. On the back of his hugely popular and now world famous Hood 2.0 workshop (well, 60.5 people attended), he has decided to throw his hat into the world of cinematography by directing his first feature film. (What next, a line in perfumery??)

The Gala Dinner and Dance for the first ever ALT-C conference, which took place at the University of Bognor Regis in 1921 has been recreated by his illustrious camera, and is shown here in glorious monochrome, complete with virtuoso piano playing by Mrs Mills. Watch out for the Learning Technologist of the Year award ceremony (won by Josie Fraser's Grandmother, the Hon. Josephine Montague-Fraser, DBE), the disgrunted Vulcan diner, the chocolate postal order for 12 shillings and 6 pence ha'penny, and of course, the cold coffee... Oh, and by the way, the picture above is of a formation ball-handling team known as the 'Slam-Dunk Virgins', who won team prize for best research paper at ALT-C 1921.



That's it. I've had enough. I'm going to sleep this off now....

The meme-ing of Edupunk

Nice to see that Jim Groom has picked up on my presentation yesterday at the Fringe event of ALT-C 2008, in Leeds. Jim has posted a version of my slide presentation up on his blog bavatuesdays and comments that he views Edupunk as more than just a meme that went awry. Jim agrees with my idea that we need to unleash the true potential - the 'anarchy' - of the web. This to challenge the restrictive structures (or should that be strictures) of institutional control so that learning can become truly student-centric.

What ever you think of the term 'edupunk', (and there was some opposition to this nomenclature at the F-ALT yesterday) there is a strong set of underlying principles that cannot be ignored - and do it yourself learning is here to stay. (Picture of Multi-me by Emma Duke-Williams)

A tough act to follow

As Paul Simon once declared: 'Gee, but it's great to be back home.' I'm glad not to have to worry about paying £5 each morning before 09.00 so my car could avoid the 'clamp', climbing 5 flights of steps to get back to my shoe box of a room in the Henry Price Building, at the University of Leeds, worrying if I have any shower water, trying to find a power socket to recharge my laptop battery, etc... But ALT-C this year, to echo the sentiments of one Thomas Franklin, was probably the best I have attended. Here are my own personal highlights:

An excellent opening keynote speech by Hans Rosling left the audience buzzing, and seemed to inspire just about everyone I talked to. His incisive wit and insightful perspectives on world economic, social and health trends, his use of eye catching software and memorable madcap antics, his masterful melding together of all these elements with e-learning to produce something that was meaningful and resonant with all delegates, was one of the highlights of the conference.

The ad hoc, disorganised, crazy and yet totally relevant and (b)leading edge debates, discussions, conversations and fiery toe-to-toe stand up arguments of the ALT Fringe (F-ALT), were unmissable. In fact I feel a little sorry for those who couldn't be there because they had to be witnessed to be believed. The F-ALT badges were much in evidence everywhere I looked, yet there were only 40 in the limited edition. Coupled with this, another highlight was taking part in the live radio podcast of Sounds of the Bazaar, hosted by Graham Attwell and Josie Fraser.

Several workshops, including James Clay's "It's a Web 2.0 World out there..." and Frances Bell et al's "Digital Divide Slam" were enjoyable on every dimension, and some very interesting and valuable artefacts were created which will serve the Educommunity for some months to come. Our own humble contribution on the digital gender divide "It's not for girls", is already a popular YouTube video and it's less than 24 hours old.

Crowdvine triumphed as the online success story of the conference, and at the close of the event, 441 members had registered and created profiles (there were a total of 700 delegates this year). Crowdvine was used prior to the conference, and during it, to enable delegates to connect, converse, share and compare. And talking of online resources - if the photos in this blog post are not enough for you there is a veritable treaure chest of images on the Twemes ALT-C Site, and also even more in the personal Flickr photstreams of James Clay, Sam Easterby-Smith, Helen Keegan, Josie Fraser, Emma Duke-Williams and Cristina Costa, and my own to name just a few.

The final highlight for me was the Gala Dinner held at Yorkshire County Cricket Ground - Headingly. The iconic surroundings, delightful and passionate company of so many delegates, and the almost immaculate presentation of the 5 course dinner by the young people from the catering colleges, were... well, unforgettable.

The organisation of the event was, as ever, superb, efficient and friendly, so our thanks must go out to Seb, Marion, Mark and the ALT team for their almost hurculean efforts to hold everything together. The programme committee must also take their share of the limelight. Here's to next year's event, which will have a tough act to follow...

Sessions, slams and serious fun

It's been an interesting and varied day here at ALT-C Day two, at the University of Leeds. A somewhat controversial keynote, and several morning papers and workshops kept us all busy. The Digital Divide web slam event was engaging, fun and jam packed full of ideas about how we are all using technologies to either bridge the digital divides (yes there are several) or to perpetuate them. Several slams were performed, including one by myself, James Clay and Joss Winn (collectively known as the Slam Virgins - don't ask). We actually received the most votes from those present, surprisingly, so we were the winners on the day. The video of our slam 'It's not for Girls!' can be viewed here on Youtube. (Picture by Helen Keegan).

I later spoke at a F-ALT fringe meeting in the middle of the dining room at 3pm, on the subject of Edupunk. There was fertile and passioned debate about whether edupunk exists or is just a fad, and whether the name actually does the concept justice. Thanks to all those who took part - it was another enjoyable and captivating session. (Picture here)

The cream on the cake, literally, was our evening ALT-C Gala Dinner, which was held this year in the executive rooms of Headingly Cricket ground - the home of Yorkshire County Cricket Club and the scene of many fascinating Test matches between England and the tourists. The turf was being dug up as we arrived, which was a disappointment, as I wanted to see the ground in it's full glory. Never mind. It was still pretty spectaculr, as was the food, brought to us by two local catering colleges.

Highlight of the night was watching Josie Fraser receive the prestigious award of Learning Technologist of the Year, and a substantial cash prize, presented by in-coming ALT president Steve Draper (London School of Economics). A splendid time was had by all. Look out tomorrow... last day, here we come.

Safe Hans

The weather here yesterday in Leeds was appalling. It poured down from the start of the day until the evening, but were our spirits dampened? No they were not, because we enjoyed an excellent first day here at ALT-C 2008. The day started with a rousing keynote speech from Professor Hans Rosling, who soared to new heights when he suddenly decided to climb a step ladder half way through his speech. Mark van Harmelen (ALT Director of Development) rushed to grab the ladded to steady the speaker, and through his white knuckle anxiety, we could all see the health and saftey risks and potential litigation flashing through his mind (photo from Helen Keegan's Flickr stream). Hans was safe however, and proceeded to wow the assembled delegates with a virtuoso performance, and opened our eyes to demographic statistics of birth and death rates, economic rises and declines and carbon emissions across the globe, using a new piece of graphic animated software he and his son had developed. Known as Gap Minder, it reveals statistics in a way never before seen, except perhaps in a more simplistic way by the likes of visual search engines such as Quintura.

In a style reminiscent of that other great Scandinavian, Victor Borge, Hans Rosling made some pithy omments that had the audience both laughing and questioning their previous take on life. Encyclopedia Brittanica, he said, is read by people who believe it to be true. Wikipedia is read by people who know it is not true, and that is its value. The main global trend now, he declared, is convergence. And still the gems kept coming - 'TV stations use graphics and animation to brand rather than to inform, he told us'. 'Ignorance is the best friend of the teacher'. And finally.... 'there is no digital divide - only a continuum'.

For those who missed this most excellent keynote, the video on demand is now available on Elluminate here. Now for day two of ALT-C....

We blog like mad

It has been an interesting and varied day here at ALT-C 2008. We culminated the day with a live radio broadcast for Sounds of the Bazaar, hosted by Graham Attwell and Josie Fraser. Mark van Harmelen and George Roberts were interviewed, as was George Siemens. I presented my Hooked poem and George also added one for the cultural corner section of the programme. We had a live in-world Second Life screen on the go as well, and there were around 100 people watching, chatting, and enjoying the wine and snacks on offer.

Several dozen of us are now assembled downstairs in the bowels of the Leeds University Student Union building for the Edubloggers meeting which is due to start imminently. There is much talk about all things social software, and the noise is drowning out the music on the speakers... and we are all blogging, Flickring and Twittering like mad things.

ALT-C underway

The first plenary session is underway for ALT-C 2008 here at the University of Leeds. We are going out live over Elluminate at this link for those interested in participating remotely. You can experience the atmosphere and the content without suffering the downpours we all had to negotiate to get to the conference hall.

Edupunk rides again

I just loaded my PowerPoint presentation entitled: 'How Edupunk can save the world' into Slideshare and linked it to the F-ALT wiki, so that people can follow it on their laptops, or make comments about it before we do the session on Wednesday, at 15.00. I'm not sure how many are going to be there, but for Steven Warburton's Fringe session today on Massively Online Courses, there were over 40. A good turn out.

The evening pre-conference buffet was a cut above average, with Morrocan style lamb and cous-cous, goats cheese, and a variety of other very palatable choices on offer. Met a few new and interesting people, and enjoyed some tangential conversations...

Earlier several of us got together for a few drinks and a chat to catch up. The old gang (it's an inside joke) included James Clay, Graham Attwell, Steven Warburton, Josie Fraser, Helen Keegan, Cristina Costa, Dai Griffiths and Scott Wilson. It's good to meet up again and spend some time with these guys, as they are all, in their own ways, pushing the boundaries of learning technology forward, and contributing significantly to the future of digital learning methods.

Pineapple flavoured Leeds

Wow, that was quite a drive - 320 miles, done in 7 hours, but I'm now here in Leeds, for the ALT-C conference, and I'm sat trying out the Ethernet connection in my student room. I have a nice view from the fifth flooor out over the campus, with plenty of greenary and the big white tower glowering from the distance. I bumped into Jane Seale who had arrived just before me, and we made our way down to try to find registration. And got a little lost. Fortunately we were intercepted by Mark van Harmelen, (ALT's Director of Development) who showed us where to go.

The conference venue, what I have so far seen of it, is spacious, with a large balcony (registration) overlooking the dining area on one side and the Conference Exhibition area on the other. Great if you don't suffer from vertigo.

The parking here is difficult. I'm about a mile, three months and a weekend away from my digs, and it took all my remaining strength to trog my case over, and up 5 flights of stairs (there is no lift in the Henry Price Building, so Henry, you should be ashamed, whoever you are). I managed to spill a carton of pineapple chunks in the bag holding my cables during my slog over from the car park, and it went everywhere. I am now the only official ALT-C delegate with pineapple flavoured computer cables (make that Leeds). It's quite warm here as well, and to cap it all, I now have sticky pineapple juice all over my cables (see my earlier blog) where my pineapple carton burst Getting ready now for the pre-conference buffet which takes place at 18.30 tonight. I think I need a shower first though....

Travelling lite

I'm travelling light today on my drive up to the University of Leeds to attend the UK's annual learning technology bash we all know as ALT-C 2008. As you can see from the image left, I'm taking a minimum of kit to be able to get the most out of the event, presenting my talks, communicating with home as well as twittering, blogging, and any other which way reporting live from the event I can think of. At least this event is in the UK so I don't need to worry about all the international power adaptors and other paraphernalia I usually take with me. No passport required either. In my electronic kit I have:

1 Acer Aspire 2920Z Wireless Laptop
2 Ethernet cable (just in case...)
3 Camera UCB cable
4 4x Gang Mains extension
5 Laptop Power cable
6 8 Gb Flashdrive
7 Apple iPhone
8 iPhone Power adapter and battery charger
9 Sony DSC-W80 Cyber-shot camera
10 Camera battery charger
11 Nintendo DS Lite
12 Nintendo DS Lite Power cable

Gone are the days when all I needed to take were my business cards a change of underwear ... ah, that reminds me....

Punk it up

I'm getting ready for the 310 mile drive up to Leeds tomorrow to participate in ALT-C 2008. I'm going to be speaking in the main conference about some of the research we have been doing in Plymouth on wikis in teacher education. I'm also speaking in the fringe event F-ALT entitled WTF Edupunk, where I will try to show how the punk rock ideology has parallels with contemporary thinking about going outside the walled garden of the institutional VLE to use free, open content, social software tools. The movement behind this idea is referred to by many as Edupunk. I make no apologies to Jim Groom or anyone else for repurposing the idea behind his poster boy image (above) because that's what punk is all about - do it yourself!

There is a growing consensus that punk philosophy can and indeed, does, have a resonance with those in universities and colleges who are considered mavericks. I have never used my university VLE for a number of reasons, preferring instead to use a variety of tools, websites and methods that in my opinion, work better. Just about anything a VLE can do, social software can do better, with the possible exceptions of surveillance and control (and even those are debatable). Joining me for the presentation at this fringe session will be Helen Keegan and Graham Attwell, and we hope that there will be some lively debate on this thing we call edupunk.... Punk it up!

Looking forward.... to ALT-C

So many things to look forward to next week at ALT-C 2008 at the University of Leeds, although I don't relish the long drive up from Plymouth. The conference promises to be the best yet, if the pre-mailed abstracts and research proceedings books are anything to go by. I'm looking forward to the workshops in particular, including the sessions on Web 2.0 - 'It's a Web 2.0 world out there' (James Clay) and 'Learning about the Digital Divide' (Frances Bell, Helen Keegan, Josie Fraser et al). From such presentations come a host of new ideas, and better still, an energising to go off and try out some new things you hadn't considered before.

There are already success stories before ALT-C has started. Take a look at the Crowdvine site the ALT team set up and you will see that there are already over 340 members (well over half of the 600 plus delegates who are booked into the event). I have already made contact with a number of people I am intending to meet, including one of the keynote speakers, Itiel Dror (Southampton University) and Mark van Harmelen (ALT Director of Operations).

Then of course, there is the Fringe ALT-C event - or F-ALT, as it is being called. There are a limited edition F-ALT badges designed by Josie Fraser that are being given away to the first 50 people who sign up to the F-ALT Wetpaint wiki site. When I looked just now there were already 36 people registered, so be quick if you want a badge! Yes, there is plenty to look forward to....

Boundary Changes

The Plymouth e-Learning Conference 2009 website has been launched today. Entitled 'Boundary Changes: Redefining Learning Spaces', the two day event aims to examine the theme of e-learning in a time of change, and will challenge notions of traditional boundaries, learning spaces and roles. We will focus on new practices, new technologies, new environments and new learning. There will be primary, secondary and tertiary education threads. We invite papers on the digital divide, e-learning methods and case studies, mobile and pervasive technologies, digital games, multi-user virtual environments, informal learning, new classroom technologies (PDAs interactive whiteboards, etc), personal learning environments, visual media (videoconference, digital photography), e-portfolios and social software (wikis, blogs, podcasting, etc).

Our two keynotes speakers are well known in the field of ICT and e-learning. Academic and author Mike Blamires (Canterbury Christ Church University) will open the conference on Day 1, which will focus mainly on compulsory education. On Day 2, Graham Attwell (Pontydysgu and the Wales Wide Web) will bring his own particular brand of critical commentary to the conference. There is also a conference dinner for the event (to be held in a venue on the historic Plymouth Barbican (pictured above), and of course, the now traditional (calorie free) Devon cream tea will be on offer!

The Lite goes on

I wrote yesterday that I had submitted a poem about the divide between the generations as a part of the workshop on the digital divide at ALT-C next week. Well isn't life interesting? My poem features the infamous Nintendo DS Lite. There is also a quip about Brain Training software. My son has a Nintendo DS. Both my daughters have one each (one is actually a lurid pink - the DS not my daughter). I even gave one to my wife for Christmas (look, stop it). But me.... I have never even touched one. Never felt the need to. Until today, that is.

This morning, sat smiling at me on top of my Faculty of Education standard issue desk, was a parcel. Contained therein was a free, spanking new, Nintendo DS Lite, complete with Brain Training software. Courtesy of HandHeld Learning 2008 - the conference that will be held in London in October. I had forgotten about it completely! Apparently if you registered as an early bird before the deadline, you were given one free to use at the conference. At the time I thought it was an excellent marketing ploy and an innovative idea. True to their promise, Handheld Learning sent me a DS Lite. Bummer. Now I will have to spend time getting to know how to use it. More time spent having to learn how to use these new fangled gadgets... I don't know. I think I'm turning into a grumpy old man.

Anyway, here's the link to the poem for you to (hopefully) enjoy.

Slamming about again

At ALT-C 2008 next week there will be several workshops, but one of those I will not miss is the one entitled 'Learning about the Digital Divide', run by Frances Bell, Josie Fraser, Helen Keegan (remember them doing the illustrious Web 2.0 slam at ALT-C Nottingham last year?) joined this year by Cristina Costa (the pocket dynamo of Web 2.0) and Frank Theissen. Out of last year's workshop came a number of interesting artefacts including the cult website Hood 2.0 - which incidently has a workshop in its own right this year! Last year was not only great fun, but also innovative and challenging. I chaired the session, and it was one of the most enjoyable workshops I have every presided over.

This year they have gone one step further and have created a Digital Divide wiki using Wetpaint in which they are inviting everyone and anyone to submit a 'Digital Divide' slam. I have sent one in already - it's a poem entitled 'Hooked' - about the digital divide between immigrants and natives. Check out the site and contribute if you have something you want to get off your chest.... oh, and see you there, I hope.

I heard it on the Crowdvine

It's immensely enjoyable, and quite addictive this Crowdvine thing. My Twittering is suffering, I can tell you. ALT-C 2008 has set up its own space on the social network tool to enable people to discuss, organise, schedule and generally get together prior to the event next week at the University of Leeds. As I write this blog entry it already has 260 members, and more are joining every hour. There are already several threaded discussions on eclectic and diverse topics, and everyone is building up their own little networks of people they want to meet, talk to, have a beer with, etc.

As James Clay commented on Crowdvine yesterday - 'How things change'. Two years ago, only 6 people participated in the ALT-C wiki, and last year saw the first surge of interest in blogging from the conference, with about 15 of us regulalry posting. This year, social networking is de riguer, and we can expect a lot more blogging, tweeting, flickring and other digital jiggerypokery going on as the conference takes off. To join in go to the ALT-C Crowdvine site here.

Podcasts a wider net

A new publication was waiting patiently for me on my desk when I finally sloped back into work yesterday. It's a review copy of 'Podcasting for Learning in Universities', edited by Gilly Salmon and Palitha Edirisingha. I will be writing a review for the journal Interactive Learning Environments for this one in the next few weeks, but here are my first impressions:

This is a slim volume, with less than 230 pages, but it contains 17 fairly heavyweight chapters, focused on various attributes, applications and outcomes of the use of podcasting techniques in higher education, from academics in the UK and Australia. It's in essence a celebration of the IMPALA project (IMPALA - Informal Mobile Podcasting and Learning Adaptation). Contributers include the Gillster herself and Pal, and a galaxy of fairly well known names including Mark JW Lee, John Traxler, Simon Bates, and of course the host of researchers who count themselves members of the Beyond Distance Research Alliance.

One neat little touch in the book is where Gilly and Palitha along with Ming Nie provide a chapter (15) entitled 'Developing Pedagogical Podcasts' in which they provide an overarching critical review of the preceding chapters, and essentially put the cream on the cake of the IMPALA project. There are very useful 'how to' sections, and large tracts covering such topics as collaborative learning and reflective learning. Most of the content is case study based, but much is also expertly theorised.

At first glance, this looks like a welcome addition for many online educators, and I suspect that in due course, and with more considered glances it will be regarded as a seminal text for those interested in developing podcasting as a serious educational tool.

Sun, sand and sangria

Well plenty of sun, but none of the other two... We were too far from the beach to care. And my medical condition precludes any alcohol, no matter how much like gnat's wee it tastes...... Y'see, I have just returned from a wonderful two-week break in Spain with my family, where I did absolutely nothing. I simply rested, ate, slept and ... rested some more. I needed it after the hospital food and all the nasty things I had injected into me, one way or another.

The villa was great (and the picture above is genuinely one I took on Day 6). But shock horror! There was no satellite TV (indeed no TV at all) for the first week of our holiday, after the Spanish authorities pulled the plugs on what turned out to be an illegal operation by some UK firm to provide satellite TV including Sky and Setanta channels (allegedly). Even worse was to come. There was no Internet access either. I tried. Believe me, I tried. After several fruitless attempts, I gave up and learned to forget work, my e-mails, the news, in fact everything I had left behind in the UK. In the end it was a blessing in disguise, I can tell you.

At first I suffered withdrawal symptoms. I went through a kind of cold-turkey rehab. I had to be locked away in a darkened, padded room where I was hosed down on a regular basis. Gradually I was weaned off the lines of poke. Painfully I learned to do without the regular (web) hits. My twittering vanished to nil. My blogging was reduced to zero. My FaceBook activities were ... nada. No telephone calls, text messages, or anything. No zapping around on the 750 sat channels. Just the sun, the pool, and total relaxation.

Well, here I am back in the UK and there are 195 e-mails, too many text messages and FaceBook messages to shake a memory stick at, and I won't even begin to talk about how many wiki page messages there are waiting for me to address. I may stop, but my digital life goes on... and on... and on... and...