Digital Learnscapes

It's that time of the year again where we are planning for the Pelecon - the Plymouth Enhanced Learning Conference - that we hold each year in April at Plymouth University. Pelecon 2012 was probably our best conference yet. Many have said that Pelecon events inspire and energise delegates and challenge perspectives on education, learning and development, and the role of technology. Others have said that Pelecon is one of the best forums for informal debate on the learning technology conference circuit. The Pelecon conference is for teachers and learning professionals in all sectors of education and training, and attracts delegates from all over the world. Pelecon 2012 was the seventh conference, and featured invited speakers including Alec Couros (Canada), Leigh Graves Wolf (USA), Helen Keegan, Simon Finch, Keri Facer, David Mitchell and Jane Hart. Pelecon 2013 will maintain the pace and dynamism of this year's event, and already several well known keynotes have been announced. Go to this link to keep up to date as we make further keynote speaker announcements over the next two weeks. The call for papers for Pelecon 13: Digital Learnscapes is now live, and is summarised below:

We live in a period of change and uncertainty. Many are bewildered by these changes and find it difficult to keep up, particularly in the education and training sectors. The ability to anticipate and prepare for change is the mark of innovative educators, as is the skill of harnessing new and emerging tools to promote good learning.

At Pelecon 13 we want to provide learning professionals with opportunities to explore, discover and discuss new approaches, new technologies and new ideas to enhance, enrich and extend their own professional practice. There will be particular emphasis this year on simulations and games, personal learning tools, new pedagogies and practices, learner and teacher voice, and digital literacies.

The deadline for submission of workshop, paper and demonstration proposals is January 25, 2013 and you can submit your abstracts here. We invite submissions from primary, secondary and tertiary education, as well as from learning and development and other training sectors. Just to whet your appetite and pique four interest, below is a teaser video made by our very own maestro Dr Jason Truscott. We hope to see you at the Pelecon in April!




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

Inspired

The Plymouth University Vice Chancellor Enterprise Awards and Gala Dinner took place in a large marquee on Plymouth Hoe this weekend. It was a grand event, with chandeliers, live music and an excellent dinner, and as you can see, it was a black tie affair (you may never see me dressed so smartly again). My colleagues Peter Yeomans, Oliver Quinlan and I were delighted to be nominated for this year's inspirational teacher award, and we attended in the hope that we might be in with a chance. However, it was a very strong field, with 4 other shortlisted nominees, all doing remarkable work with their learners, and seeing incredible results. We were very proud then, when the envelope was opened, to hear our names being read out as the winners. Making our way from the very back of the hall, meandering around the tables and onto the stage to receive our award while the spotlights played upon us, it all felt a little like the Oscar ceremony, but we didn't get to make a speech, thankfully. We were doubly proud because not only had we been nominated for the award by our university colleagues, but also by our current and past students too. Here is an excerpt from the website nomination, with endorsements from a former student and a current student:

This team has been developing a collaborative, open and meaningful social media presence in e-learning and primary pedagogy. They are developing an innovative pedagogy by working to enable trainee teachers to develop their own sustainable network of professional development and the confidence to draw the best of their contacts into lectures and seminars, to enhance their own student experience. The team has inspired students to learn beyond their course, engaging with national experts and using their own personal blogs to make meaning of the learning taking place on the course. The result is a stream of nationally significant educators, willing to spend time helping our students and seeking to take our students on placements. Some students were able to showcase their dissertations as part of the international PELeCON conference. The goal of their work is to create connected students who are "hammers, not nails", with a credible and deep understanding of their own values and the purpose of education.

The team have put Plymouth on the national and international map amongst the social media in education fraternity. Regularly the team receive complements about the quality of the @plymuni experience which shared with thousands of twitter followers.

"During my time at university they inspired not only me, but many others on my course to think in a way that challenges the norm. Through their influence a generation of trainee teachers were pushed to consider the rights and needs of the children in their care above all other influences. They encouraged us all to be passionate about our work, to think creatively and to make changes to our world. For me personally they have long been a source of support, advice and inspiration. Since leaving the University they have supported me in my new career and their way of working is still a standard I hope to reach. In this way they have empowered me, and many others they work with to continue challenging ourselves to improve." - Alumni.

"They have encouraged me to do things that I never thought I could do. Firstly, I was asked to speak at an event in front of 200 professionals. I then had the opportunity to arrange a Teach Meet conference for like-minded professionals. They have opened my eyes to the world of teaching in a way that no other lecturers have been able to do. They motivate me to get involved with all aspects of University life and because of this, I am now involved in volunteer projects, arranging Teach Meets and I had the confidence to stand for secretary of the Plymouth Education Society, which I was successful with. I know that without the support and dedication that I have been given, I would still be working my way through University without taking part in all of these projects and events that really are life-changing for me." - Student.

That is why this award means so much to Peter, Oliver and I - it is recognition that we are in some small way contributing to inspiring a generation of new teachers who are, or who will soon be, let loose to teach our children, to pass on that inspiration - that zest for learning, and curiosity to ask the what if questions for the rest of their lives. Thanks to everyone who has sent us congratulatory messages. It means a lot.

Photo by Amy Parkin


Inspired by Steve Wheeler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at steve-wheeler.blogspot.com.

We're better connected

I recently presented at a conference with my Plymouth University colleagues Peter Yeomans and Oliver Quinlan. We had planned to present a version of this paper at the annual EDEN Conference held in June in Portugal, but for one reason or another, none of us were able to make it. This is probably the first time we have presented as a team, and I hope it is the first of many future conference appearances together. The result can be found as a 20 minute YouTube video - Connected: Supporting Student Blogging and Communities of Learning - complete with audio track and slides below:



Pete, Oliver and I spoke about the work we have been doing with undergraduate teacher students in Plymouth, using a variety of social media, including blogging and Twitter to support and encourage critical and reflective learning. The important concept we wanted to talk about was communities of learning, and how students can use social media tools to participate in them. Peter talked about the power of social media to create a Personal Learning Network (PLN) and also discussed the ways students manage their online presence. Oliver presented some case studies of how students have successfully harnessed the power of social media tools to gain a foothold in the teaching profession and promote learning. The final section of the presentation, which I presented, dealt with some of the pedagogical theory and implications. I talked about connectivism, paragogy, heutagogy and other emerging theories that seek to explain how we learn in new digitally rich environments. We hope you enjoy listening to the presentation and following the slides. We look forward to reading any comments you may have on the presentation.


We're better connected by Steve Wheeler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at steve-wheeler.blogspot.com.

Making your mark

I have been inside some unique learning spaces recently. I see it as a part of my job. It's what I like to do. I explore new ideas and then report on them. The Immersive Vision Theatre on the Plymouth University campus is one example of a unique learning space. It's a converted planetarium, and what is unique about it is the way it has been refurbished into an experimental area where users can have 3D immersion experiences without any eye wear. The Theatre uses expensive Blade Network technology to provide the massive rendering power needed to create realistic and real-time visual effects. The surround-sound and the fish-eye projectors together combine to create an exciting, fascinating and at times disorienting visual panorama which totally immerses you in the experience. Experiments are being done into stress and perceptual effects to ascertain exactly how this new space can be applied in learning contexts.

Less high tech, but just as impressive for me, are the spaces I have seen in 'chill out' rooms both at the University of Queensland and just up the road at our own local University College of Marjons. The walls and doors and many other surfaces in these rooms are made of material that can be written on. Similar to whiteboard surfaces, these spaces can be used by students for creating mind-maps, flowcharts, diagrams, brainstorming lists - in fact just about anything that helps them to learn. The students love it, because they can then capture their images with a mobile phone for later use. It's a simple, cost effective idea that to my surprise has not been taken up by other institutions on a grander scale (unless you know differently).

The same concept is appearing in schools, according to Stephen Heppell. In his Pinterest collection of Good Tested Ideas, he features a school that has adopted the idea of writing surfaces for its student desktops. Back in the days when I was at school, we had wooden desktops, and I remember writing my name (and several other things too) onto my desktop in ink. Some went further and carved their names into the desks. We often got into trouble. Children seem to have an innate need to make their mark, to tag, to create graffiti - and often schools are fighting a losing battle trying to stop them from making their mark somewhere in the school - on their desks, the walls, the doors or windows. What better way to capture that energy and channel it creatively than to provide children with wipeable surfaces they can use to help them with their learning. Let us know if your school, college or university is doing similar things. Creative surfaces will mean that 'making your mark' will take on an entirely new meaning.

Image by Stephen Heppell


Making your mark by Steve Wheeler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at steve-wheeler.blogspot.com.