The Pelecon (brief)

It's all over for another year, but I really believe that this year's Plymouth Enhanced Learning Conference fully lived up to its theme - create, connect, collaborate. Many blogs, videos, photos, tweets (at the time of writing almost 20,000 in less than 3 full days - here's the complete archive) and other content has been created throughout over the course of the conference. In brief, here are a few of the artefacts created: The Instagram collection of photos itself is richly representative of the event from start to finish. The Pelecon Flickr collection curated by Jason Truscott is even more detailed, as is the Pelecon Photo Stream. My colleague Oliver Quinlan did an amazing - nay Herculean - job, liveblogging every one of our invited speakers, and then posting them very quickly onto the web complete with many of the important links to video and other content each speaker presented. The failure confessional attracted a few delegates to spill the beans of their failures, and what could be learnt from them. All too often we celebrate success at conferences, but forget that we can also learn a lot from what went wrong. You can see some of the 'confessions' on the Pelecon YouTube channel.

More than 200 delegates throughout the three days enjoyed presentations that were fast moving, varied and challenging, and plenty of time and space for networking. As usual, Pelecon has proved to be a great place for making new friends and consolidating old friendships, sharing ideas, discovering new tools and technologies, and generally increasing the digital footprint of the technology enhanced learning community. Matt Lingard and his colleagues are crowd sourcing reviews from delegates for a special ALT Newsletter report. Others too, will be busy writing their blogs as they reflect on three extraordinary days. Search for the #pelc12 hashtag and you will find them.

I made the joke in my introduction that although most people think Pelecon is an international e-learning conference, for me it is actually an excuse to have a three day party with all my friends. And yet, in a strange way, it is actually true. It felt more like a party, a celebration - than it did a conference, because everyone was having such a great time, in excellent company, in a fabulous location, exploring, learning and discovering together. For me, from my perspective as organiser, Pelecon has been the best conference in the series. We are already planning next year's event, where we will aim to do even better. The eight Plymouth Enhanced Learning Conference - Pelecon 13 will take place between 10-12 April 2013. We hope you will be able to come and join us.

Image by Jason Truscott


The Pelecon (brief) by Steve Wheeler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at steve-wheeler.blogspot.com.

PeLC is reborn!

It may have escaped your attention, but the Plymouth e-Learning Conference has been repurposed. Now in its 7th year, the event has been evolving steadily, from a one day local event for teachers in 2004 into the present 3-day international learning technology event. PeLC was long overdue for a face-lift and a new identity.

Firstly, we looked at the name. We took the decision last year that the 'e' in the name was a bit of a nonsense. It didn't mean that much anymore. There was no point in using it to represent 'electronic', which in itself is a little passe now. But there was also no point in removing it, because the 'e' was a significant part of the identity of the conference. So we decided that the 'e' actually stood for enhanced. So there you have the new identity - it is now officially the Plymouth Enhanced Learning Conference or PELeCON. There is more than a tip of the hat here in the direction of the Pelican Fringe - the PeLC Fringe Website from 2009.

In the past, the conference has attracted delegates from all over the world, from Canada to New Zealand and all points in between. We have had a prestigious list of prominent keynote speakers over the years too, including, in chronological order, Stephen Molyneaux, Gilly Salmon, Mark Stiles, Graham Attwell, Mike Blamires, Josie Fraser, David White, Stephen Heppell, John Davitt, Jane Seale and Shelly Terrell - a kind of who's who in e-Learning. I promise that the PeLC 2012 keynotes will add further to the roll of honour.

As you can see, the conference has also been rebranded. The logo above is the new graphic we will be using on all our publicity, products and events in future. PELeCON also has its own Twitter account (@pelecon), which you can follow to keep up to date with the latest news from the conference and its community. And finally, we have a completely new website at this link. Visit the site to read all about the conference themes and call for papers, submit your proposals (open on November 11), find announcements of keynotes and special events, book your attendance, submit your proposals, book exhibition space, read about the social events and find local accommodation. This blog will also carry more news in the coming weeks as the planning of the conference begins to gain momentum, culminating in the full three day international event next year, on April 18-20. I hope to see you there.


PELeCON is reborn! by Steve Wheeler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Causing ripples

There is a growing swell of movement toward informal learning through social media. It is free, connected, creative and disruptive. It happens across all sectors of education - it's for everyone. Shelly Terrell's well received keynote speech at the 6th Plymouth e-Learning Conference exemplified this kind of learning. Many who watched her speech, either from within the room, or via the livestreaming elsewhere in the world would have seen that Shelly passionately believes in what she preaches. And she also practices it. The previous evening she had dashed back from the conference dinner to present a live webinar from her hotel room in Plymouth.

Shelly talked about the butterfly effect - a mainstay example of chaos theory - and used it as an analogy to describe the incredible potential of social media. 'Blog or tweet a good idea, and minutes later, teachers may be using it for real, in a classroom somewhere' she said. The ripples caused by some content can extend onto the screens of many thousands or millions of people worldwide, she pointed out. Youtube videos go viral very quickly as the crowd gains awareness of the content and message. How can we harness this phenomenon in learning? she asked.

Yes, there is incredible power in Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Flickr and a host of other free tools. The key question and take away points from this keynote were - how do we harness this potential of social media, and how can we apply such tools in authentic learning contexts so that learners are engaged, challenged and inspired? Shelly Terrell's keynote was a fitting finale to this year's Plymouth e-Learning Conference. The theme - digital futures - was well and truly covered, and from many angles, perspectives, arguments.

Next year's PeLC will be different again, with good reason. We are not dropping the 'e' and nor should we. Instead, the 'e' no longer stands for electronic. Now it stands for enhanced. What kind of enhancements can we expect in the next year? What will we witness from the worlds of formal education and informal learning, games based learning, the mobile communities and social media tribes? Whatever emerges in the next few months, you can almost lay a bet on it, that it will be reflected in next year's Plymouth e-Learning Conference.
A number of other people are also blogging about pelc11. Check out their blog posts below:

Catherine Cronin
Matt Lingard
Simon Finch
Jason Truscott
Stephen Farmer
Doug Belshaw (podcast)
Doug Belshaw (blogpost)

Teach less, learn more

I have now had some time to reflect on this week's Plymouth e-Learning Conference. For me, No. 6 has been the best of the series so far. A growing collection of colourful images of the conference can be found at the Flickr Group Pool for sharing and download. Several people came to me after the event and said that they thought the conference had morphed, turned a corner, transformed into something entirely new. And to be honest, there did seem to be a new ambience around the conference this time that I had not previously encountered. Was it that we included children this year, on Day 1, for the student voice technology showcase? Possibly, because they certainly added a new and very welcome dimension to the event. Looking around the room as they spoke, the audience was all smiles, and many people have stated that it was one of the highlights of the conference for them to listen to groups of such articulate and confident young people showing us oldsters how they used technologies to enhance their own learning in the classroom. We will reprise this next year, that's for sure.

Was it perhaps that Day 1 was a free day, to which anyone could come, to pitch in, watch the robot show, take part in the open workshops, and generally share their ideas in a very friendly and open environment? Overall, the ethos of PeLC is that everyone is included, there are no hard and fast rules, and everyone has a voice. People are even allowed to say they don't know and to share their failures as well as their successes. Northern Grid for Learning's Simon Finch identified this as one of PeLC's unique features:

"Where Pelc differs from other conferences is in the behaviour conventions of the audience. There are, at most conferences, unwritten rules that discourage movement of any kind. Many conferences feel more like auction rooms with each delegate scared to move a hand, reach inside their bag or even shuffle in their seat to ease a creeping cramp. At Pelc I constantly took pictures with my Android and then my camera, and then tapping and reading tweets, sat on the floor and uploaded images to Flickr via my laptop, stood on the stairways and left and entered sessions at will. This freedom to take ownership of my learning is a rare experience for me and one that has ensured that I have taken far more away from this conference than any other more ‘analogue’ conferences."

Perhaps it was the presence this year of a Teachmeet, where teachers and trainee teachers were invited at random to talk for just a few minutes about their recent classroom experiences - sharing best practice with each other in an informal, fun and entertaining atmosphere. Or perhaps the presence of the Twitter screens showing #pelc11 tweets live as they happened, or possibly the live streaming of some of the key sessions (219 people were watching Teachmeet from outside the conference at one point) served to create the connections people needed to be able to enjoy the event in a new dimension.

Maybe it was the world class quality and quantity of our invited speakers. PeLC prides itself by inviting exciting, authoritative and engaging speakers each year, but this year we pushed the boat out, with four keynotes and several invited workshops. John Davitt, in his quirky, off-the-wall session: 'From Silo to Orchestra: The staccato progress of eLearning' encouraged us all to perform our teaching in a different way, using different steps, alternative tempos and creative melodies, so that learners were engaged in many new ways.

John Sheffield, a new blogger, and one of our student teachers, was present for Davitt's keynote and noted: "he said 'Teach less so they learn more'. I think this is quite profound, that in effect we as teachers can get in the way of a child's progress. Just look at what the children at Saltash.net achieved without teacher input, or the children of Sugata Mitra's Hole-in-the-Wall project. The final thing he mentioned that resonated with me is that 'It's not about computers, it's about tools, activities and risk'. This was quite inspiring, and linked nicely back to his first quote. We have a wealth of exciting things, but if we don't try them and use them effectively, then they go to waste. There should be no fear of trying something new."

Stephen Heppell also gave an inspiring speech on designing physical learning spaces, drawing on what we had already learnt from virtual spaces. He showed examples of a number of 'playful learning spaces' including rooms with no corners, 'fidget seats' that you fall off if you sit still for too long, classrooms where you remove your shoes and go barefoot, and even a classroom where they bake bread in an oven. These kind of sensory experiences, said Stephen are important for us to consider in the wholistic education of young people. "This generation of learners will astonish us", he declared, but only if we astonish them by providing stimulating and relevant learning environments.

PeLC will continue to astonish too I hope, with new ways of engaging delegates each year. Next year, the theme of PeLC12 (April 18-20, 2012) is 'Create, Connect, Collaborate: Learning in New Dimensions'. We aim to create an even more dynamic event for all who participate, and we aim to connect more than ever, thereby fostering new ways to collaborate. We certainly plan to hold more Teachmeet type open forum sessions, and how about this - a Failure Confessional. Instead of talking about our successes as educators and learners, we will encourage presenters to talk about their failures. What will we learn from this? We don't know until we try. Are you with us?

Images courtesy of Jason Truscott

Teach less, learn more by Steve Wheeler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

It's about the kids

The Plymouth e-Learning Conference (PeLC) is over for another year, but the memories and the reverberations will be there for a long time, methinks. Delegates from Ireland, Germany, Holland, Portugal, Turkey, Bulgaria, USA, Canada, Argentina, Oman, Austria, Lebanon, Italy and Australia, as well as from all over the UK, attended the event this year. I got the impression from all I talked to, that people were thrilled to be at the event, keen to engage with such a passionate and knowledgeable audience, and extremely excited to listen to our world class speakers, Stephen Heppell, John Davitt, Jane Seale and Shelly Terrell. The #pelc11 Twitter stream was alive and kicking long before the event started, with over 300 tweets before the conference started at 1pm.

The weather throughout the conference has been perfect, as we promised - clear blue skies and plenty of sunshine show the seaside city of Plymouth at its glittering finest. PeLC started with a free day, which welcomed children and their teachers from several local schools, and several more schools around the UK via technological means. One of the highlights of Day 1 was the student voice technology showcase, hosted by Dan Roberts, in which children from both the primary and secondary sector regaled the audience with their astounding and inspirational uses of digital tools in the classroom. The session prompted Matt Lingard to blog about how much the children had impressed everyone with their enthusiasm for learning. They were clearly very confident and extremely articulate, and seemed completely undaunted by their surroundings and audience. Children it seemed, were everywhere at PeLC on Day 1, playing with small humanoid machines in the Robot Show, trying their hand at Internet Radio broadcasting with the wonderfully entertaining Russell Prue, and sampling the excellent food in the main atrium of the Levinsky Building.
Another highlight of Day 1 was the evening Teachmeet where several teachers and many more student teachers were chosen at random to stand up for a few minutes to share their ideas and experiences on how to harness the power of learning technology.

Yet Day 1 really belonged to the children, and the conference reverberated with their energy. It was a joy to have them joining us at the conference, and we will certainly be planning more children focused events next year, because let's face it, our kids are not the future - they are the 'now'. (More reports from the conference later)

Images by Jason Truscott (More pictures of #pelc11 here)

 
It's about the kids by Steve Wheeler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Robot invasion!

The 6th Plymouth e-Learning Conference will kick off with a free first day on Wednesday 6th April, where we will see an invasion of humanoid robots and artifical beings. The Faculty of Science and Technology in Plymouth is well known for its Robot football team and its work into intelligent systems, and delegates will get the chance next week to see them roaming the exhibition floor, and will even get the chance to interact with them! One of the cutest robots ever - iCub - is pictured here.

There will also be an evening Teachmeet, a student voice technology showcase, a panel discussion on e-safety and a keynote speech from Professor Jane Seale (on technology and inclusion). You can reserve your place for the Day 1 free events here, but hurry, because tickets are going fast. In previous years we have seen the popularity of PeLC growing, with interest from international delegates. This year delegates are attending from as far afield as Argentina, USA, Turkey and Australia, with plenty from across Europe and from all over the UK.

This year, for the first time, PeLC will be a 3 day international event. There will also be keynote speeches from John Davitt, Professor Stephen Heppell and Shelly Terrell, as well as invited workshops from Simon Finch, Andy Black, James Clay, Mark Power, Zak Mensah and Doug Belshaw. The conference will be officially opened by University of Plymouth Deputy Vice-Chancellor and former UK Minister of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills, Bill Rammell. Together, over 50 individual events await delegates from Wednesday 6th through to Friday 8th April, all within the prestigious and futuristic Levinsky building. For those hardy souls who are immune to inertia sickness, there will be free showings of the university's stunning 3D Vision Immersion Theatre on Day 3.

And of course, there will be prizes and free gifts after the plenary on Day 3 for those keen enough to stay to the very end, including a 3G Kindle, Nintendo 3DS and numerous other gadgets and gizmos designed to please our tech savvy audience. As usual, our conference dinner will be held in the historic and picturesque area of Plymouth's Barbican quayside (pictured), and there will be a Devon cream tea. Don't say we don't spoil you. See you there, or follow on the #pelc11 hashtag and via live streaming (of selected events) on the conference website.

Image sources: University of Plymouth and Jose Luis Garcia

Robot invasion! by Steve Wheeler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Is the conference dead?

Last week we held the first Plymouth eLearning Conference committee meeting to plan the 2011 event. During the meeting some committee members expressed their anxiety about whether conferences were still viable in the current economic climate. There ensued a heated exchange about whether something like the Plymouth eLearning Conference actually had a future. My view is that it does, and in whatever form it takes, I'm determined to carry on promoting PeLC and other face to face events. Here's why I'm willing to take the risk:

Firstly, people need to meet socially. Although live streaming of events and other participatory media are being used increasingly to draw those into conferences who cannot attend physically, what they offer is still a pale imitation of the real thing, and sometimes the technology fails. Content and dialogue can be supported, but can we fully replicate the atmosphere and ambience of a live conference through a computer screen?

Secondly, although attendance at conferences is slacking off noticably (PeLC10 was down a third on the numbers for PeLC09), many conferences are still economically viable. Those present at PeLC10 were generally very positive about the event. I have seen similar events in the last year, including ALT-C, EDEN and Ulearn (pictured above: my keynote to 1800 people during the event) continue to draw numbers in and maintain their impetus. OK, you may say, what about a small conference such as PeLC? Well, another way to look at it must be the Unique Selling Point each conference offers. I can't speak for other small conferences, but I know that PeLC is popular because of at least 8 USPs: 1) it is friendly and open; 2) it is based in an idyllic location; 3) there is plenty of time for social events and networking; 4) the conference dinner is always spectacular; 5) the demonstrations (for example the Immersion Vision Cinema) are impressive and unique; 6) the Devon Cream Tea is not to be missed; 7) our keynote speakers nail it every year; and 8) PeLC is one of the best value for money eLearning events in Europe. (Want another incentive? Keep it quiet, but day 1 is free this year)....I could go on, but I think you catch the drift.

Finally, here's a question: What alternatives are there to the face to face event? OK, there are things against it - travel and accommodation costs will prevent lots of people from attending as many conferences as they would wish in the next year or two. And yes, institutions are cutting back on their conference budgets because of the economic problems. But we should not ignore the pay off in terms of the conference attendance. What would happen if there were no professional conferences? Donald Clark said recently during his ALT-C keynote that he avoided conferences because they were a waste of time. But we would be intellectually and socially poorer without them? Would we still keep up to date? To paraphrase Derek Bok: If you think conference attendance is expensive, try ignorance. What about the valuable contacts and collaborative possibilities that come from events when you least expect them, and which you might not find anywhere else? Should we ditch the conference and all meet through online media? I don't think so. I know some conferences have gone over to this format and have been reasonably successful, but personally I don't subscribe to them.

We aim to make PeLC11 one of the best events of the year. We have several great features next year, including a Teachmeet, free practical workshops and 3 excellent keynote speakers. I'm really hoping you will join us to prove that the conference is still alive and kicking.

Is the conference dead? by Steve Wheeler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

PeLC's digital footprint

I'm sat here exactly one week after the 5th Plymouth e-Learning Conference - #PeLC10 - ended, and reflecting on another great event which everyone seemed to enjoy and learn from. As part of my reflection on the event I have been looking at the digital footprint the conference has left on the Web. There are blogposts, images, videos, and a huge Twitter stream searchable through the #pelc10 hashtag.

I'm sure there will be more accounts, images and videos posted (including the official videos of the two great keynote speeches by Josie Fraser (see the Video here) and Dave White (see the Video here) links of which will also appear soon on the conference website.

Here are just a few of the blogposts and other remnants of the event for you to revisit if you were there, or get a flavour of, if you were not able to attend this year...

Privacy has gone by James Clay

Don't feed the Pelicans by James Clay (includes a podcast and interviews)

Keep calm and carry on by James Clay (Podcast of debate)

Taking a step back by Fleur Corfield

Twitter is dead... Really? by David Hopkins

Learning without limits by Malinka Ivanova

PeLC10 e-learning debate by Bex Lewis

The view from our window by Our Lesson

5th Plymouth e-Learning Conference by Zak Mensah

Mypelc10 - Day 1 by Flea Palmer

Mypecl10 - Day 2 by Flea Palmer

5th Plymouth e-Learning Conference by Mark Pannell

Busy month ahead by Pat Parslow

Make sure you see the Pelican (Part 1) by Dan Roberts

Images of PeLC10 on Flickr by Dawn Wheeler

Community, privacy and identity by Steve Wheeler

Pushing all the right buttons by Steve Wheeler

Angels in the architecture by Steve Wheeler

There is also an aggregation of #pelc10 Delicious tags, Flickr images and Tweets here. And finally, here is an interesting statistical breakown of all the tweets that were tagged #pelc10 during the conference, courtesy of Andy Powell from Eduserv. It's a clever little application you can use to compare the #pelc10 statistics against those of other recent conference tags such as #jisc10 and #mootuk10. It is interesting reading indeed. If you know of any other pelc10 artefacts that are out there on the Web, please post a link in the comments box below.

PeLC10 final plenary session photo courtesy of Dawn Wheeler (from L to R: Steve Wheeler, Thomas Fischer, Josie Fraser, Dave White). The link to the uStream video of the final plenary session is here.

PeLC's digital footprint by Steve Wheeler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Angels in the architecture

There was an interesting question from the floor during the Plymouth e-Learning Conference 2010 final plenary session. I think it took all those of us on the panel by surprise, but it was nevertheless a question well worth asking. The question went something like this: Will the panel give us their views on whether the internet constrains or liberates spirituality?

The panel gave several different answers, because let's face it, this kind of question is best answered subjectively. Everyone has a personal view on faith and spirituality. I was last to answer, and was searching for a phrase to use. It came quickly to mind in the lyrics of a song by Paul Simon. In the song 'Call me Al' he sings:

He looks around around,
He sees angels in the architecture,
Spinning in infinity,
He says Amen and Hallelujah...

The term 'angels in the architecture' apparently derives from some architectural speak: "This maintains wiggle room as projects advance toward completion, often creating 'an angel in the architecture' to serve as a countermeasure for situations in which 'the devil is in the details.'" From this I was able to form another argument... Flexibility is the designer's best friend and Web 2.0 is surely a flexible, open architecture with a lot of latitude for self-expression and creativity.

I didn't quite know at first where I was going with my angels reference, and wasn't completely aware of the above source at the time, but it seemed appropriate as a response to a question on spirituality, and it crystallised as I spoke, so it must have been subliminal. The angels are not feathered beings of light in this context - they are the affordances of the technology - the interpretations of flexiblility imagined by the user. I developed by answer by quoting from Richard Clark, who argued that all technology is essentially neutral - 'mere vehicles' - in his own words, which simply deliver learning resources to the student, wherever they are. I agree with Clark that all technologies are mere tools, which can be wielded for positively or negatively - that is, for 'good or evil'. My answer to the plenary question was therefore that any person can harness any technology for good or bad, and that includes either the promotion of good spiritually and the building of faith, or as a destructive force to undermine spirituality. A lot of content on the web does appear to be particularly soul-less, and this can be harmful to one's spirit. The angels in the architecture for me are the perceptual expectations each users approaches the tool with. These affordances are the attributes of the tool the user thinks s/he can use for his own purposes. Affordances are an important concept to grasp if we are to better understand how our students use tools such as social networks, blogs and wikis to connect, create and learn. The architecture of Web 2.0 tools is open, the devil's in the detail, but the angels are still flying around...

Image source by Thomas Hawk

Photos of the Conference can be found here and here is James Clay's podcast Don't Feed the Pelicans



'Angels in the architecture' by Steve Wheeler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.
Based on a work at steve-wheeler.blogspot.com.

Pushing the buttons

The 5th Plymouth e-Learning Conference has drawn to a close, and it's time to reflect on what I think has been another great conference success. So many new friends have been made and so much discussed over the two days it is difficult to know where to start. I have been following the very busy Twitter stream of the event, and have been impressed by the amount of traffic, and the varied commentaries flowing out of, and back into the conference venue. This conference really was participatory I think, not only because of Twitter and the blog posts that have resulted, but also because of other technology support such as the streaming video we used to cover both keynotes, and several of the breakout sessions and discussions. BECTA even picked up on #pelc10 and called it the hashtag of the day.




Dave White's keynote this morning pressed so many buttons, it's hard to summarise what was said and discussed. I will leave it to the video capture (we will post both Dave's and Josie Fraser's keynotes as soon as we can to the conference website and link to them via this blog). There have been some great images posted from the event too, which will help us all to recall a memorable gathering of learning technologists, teachers and academics in the months to come. I will ensure that the official photographs from our two photographers will also be posted up and shared through the conference website soon.


We enjoyed an excellent and hard-fought debate today in the Jill Craigie Cinema (yes, a real Cinema on campus) where Tara Alexander, Dave White and I argued the toss over Prensky's Digital Natives/Immigrants theory, against Dave's Residents and Visitors model. Many of the audience engaged with us in a very useful exploration of the ideas, and we all went away with more questions than answers, which was exactly the required outcome. I was also very proude of all my own students who presented their research in four separate papers at the conference. They were met with glowing praise, great questions, and useful feedback from delegates.


Next year we are doing it all again, and the publicity is already there, on the back of the abstract book. The date for the 6th Plymouth e-Learning Conference is 7-8 April, 2011. We hope you will be able to join us as we continue this increasingly popular and exciting conference series. I'm off now to put my feet up for a few days... Thanks to everyone who took part!


Image source (courtesy of Daniel Kennedy)



'Pushing the buttons' Steve Wheeler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.
Based on a work at steve-wheeler.blogspot.com.

PLE vs VLE

Three of my third year B.Ed Primary education students, Adam Skill, Danny Houton and James Carhart, have created a most excellent video to accompany their paper for the Plymouth e-Learning Conference next month. It gives more than a nod in the direction of the Lee LeFever Plain English videos, but it's still quite original in its own way as you will see....



The paper is titled: Integrating Personal Learning Environments into the Primary Classroom and goes beyond web tools, and even personal learning networks. It examines what happens when children are allowed to choose the ways they wish to learn and what tools they want to help support their learning. It was a bold project, and there are some interesting conclusions to be made. Here's the abstract:

The Personal Learning Environment (PLE) is a concept that describes how learners create and sustain their study through individualised tools and resources. Each PLE by its nature is unique, with each individual choosing their own preferred approaches. Moreover, there is disagreement about the concept of PLEs and controversy over the term ‘personalised’ (Johnson & Liber, 2008). Here we will argue that PLEs are not restricted to web based tools, but can include personal experiences, conversations and other resources such as newspapers, television and radio. Many traditional school environments are based on trial and error, experimentation and discussion?" all of which can be encompassed within a PLE, with computers used as a medium to connect ideas and produce quality presentations for assessment. Collaboration with other learners is also made easier through the use of personal web tools within the learners’ PLE.

In this presentation we aim to explore these ideas and enable teachers to begin thinking about how they can tap into a range of approaches to implementing PLEs in their classrooms. We will also discuss how children can be empowered to manage their own learning goals through the use of PLEs.

To explore the notion of personalisation, we went into three primary schools, where we used two contrasting teaching modes with each class. The first mode was didactic and teacher-led and the second mode was learner-centred, offering the learners their own choices of activities and resources.

From the data gathered we show how children responded to each mode of teaching and their opinions and preferences for each approach. We pay specific attention to the ability groups within each class, and discuss how preferences contrasted within each group. We discuss how individual learner preferences and personal agency can impact upon the ability of children to become more proactive in their learning. We conclude by arguing that the use of PLE approaches can support individual learners to achieve their full potential.

Reference
Johnson, M. and Liber, O. (2008) The Personal Learning Environment and the human condition: from theory to teaching practice. Interactive Learning Environments, 16 (1), 3-15.

Learning without limits

The 5th Plymouth e-Learning Conference is just around the corner, but there's still time to register at the early bird rate (until 5th March). The theme for this year's event is 'Learning without Limits' - anytime, anyplace learning. The conference will address the growing number of contexts in which learning can take place, and how technology is playing its role. PeLC10 will take place on April 8-9, 2010 in the iconic Roland Levinsky Building on the main University of Plymouth campus. We will focus on the challenges and opportunities brought by formal and informal learning, social networks and personal technologies, mobile learning and innovative on-campus education, virtual and real teaching & learning scenarios, and how teachers and learners are harnessing the power and potential of new and emerging technologies. Our two keynote speakers are Josie Fraser and Donald Clark - the conference website holds further details of costs, joining instructions etc.

I have been ploughing through the review comments over the past few days, and looking at some of the fascinating paper proposals, workshops, demonstrations and debate abstracts. Topics include: emerging learning technologies, classroom learning technology such as Interactive Whiteboards, personal learning environments, new pedagogies and practices, mobile learning, voting systems, 'Twitter is Dead' (what, surely some mistake here?? - Ed), collaborative content management, teaching in Second Life, using e-portfolios, a wide rage of Web 2.0 tools, Social Networking in education, Digital Literacy, Digital Identity, and a host of other e-learning topics. There will be about 70 papers, workshops and other presentations throughout the conference, more than enough to captivate even the most demanding of conference goers.

Our conference dinner will once again be held on Thursday evening in the National Marine Aquarium, in spectacular surroundings, with a backdrop of shark tanks in the Atlantic Reef. There are only 110 places for this event, and tickets are going fast, so book as soon as you can! As part of the evening, there will be welcome drinks, a bar open until late, goodie bag, and an all evening exclusive run of the entire aquarium - one of the largest in Europe. Other featured activities during the conference include demonstrations of the University of Plymouth's Immersive Vision Cinema and Virtual Dentistry/Medicine displays. There are also fringe events planned and as usual, the Pelican Fringe Website for you to join with live streaming from the event.

Already delegates from over a dozen countries have registered for the conference, and most will be attending for both days (above is a picture of delegates registering on day one of PeLC09). We hope to see you at the conference, which if it's anything like last year's event, will be memorable, stimulating and exciting.

The 5th Plymouth e-Learning Conference

The 5th Plymouth e-Learning Conference (8-9 April, 2010) will 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). The event will once again be held in the spectacular Roland Levinsky Building, on the University of Plymouth main campus.

At the 2009 event over 200 delegates from 17 countries participated over the two days, which saw 2 keynotes, and more than 80 demonstrations, papers, and workshops. Our keynote speakers for the 2010 event are Josie Fraser and Donald Clark.

Josie Fraser is well known in the field of social media and learning, and writes regularly about her research on her blog SocialTech. Josie spreads her time and energy across a wide variety of social media/networking spaces, where she can be found experimenting with all manner of emerging technologies. At the ALT-C 2008 Conference, she received the prestigious Learning Technologist of the Year award and continues to be at the forefront of learning technology development. At this year’s conference Josie will talk about how social media can be used to liberate learners and how we might attain learning without limits in a truly anytime, anyplace context.

Donald Clark was CEO and one of the original founders of Epic Group plc, which established itself as the leading company in the UK e-learning market, floated on the Stock Market in 1996 and sold in 2005. Describing himself as 'free from the tyranny of employment', he is now a board member of Ufi (LearnDirect), LINE Communications, Caspian Learning, Brighton Festival, and a school governor. He has produced over 40 papers, dozens of book reviews and many articles on e-learning. Donald has also won many awards for the design and implementation of e-learning, notably the 'Outstanding Achievement in e-learning Award'. He is a regular speaker at national and international conferences and has won Best Speaker awards at several conferences. Donald is also a regular (and controversial) blogger on e-learning!

On behalf of the local organising committee, I invite you to join us in April 2010 for what promises to be another excellent, enjoyable and thought provoking event.

Reflections on a great event

For me, it's time to start reflecting on this year's Plymouth e-Learning Conference. I'm incredibly tired and slept like a brick last night, but I awakened very satisfied at the level of success we achieved with this year's conference. With 218 delegates registered from 17 different countries, I think it is safe to say that PeLC has staked its claim on the international e-learning conference map. When I have trawled around a little over the next few days, I will compile a showcase of all those pictures, blogs and other web artefacts related to the conference.

The conference theme worked well I think. Crossing Boundaries certainly lived up to its promise, and clearly resonated with most of those present at the event. The choice of keynote speakers was also spot on. Mike Blamires set the scene perfectly with his Day 1 presentation on educational boundaries entitled 'Children grow to fill the spaces we create for them' and managed to engage all of his audience through interactive workshop style activities and rich feedback. Here is the link to the video of Mike Blamires keynote speech with a welcome from Michael Totterdell, Pro-vice Chancellor of the University of Plymouth.

Graham Attwell spoke on Day 2 in his normal controversial and anarchic style and challenged the audience to re-evaluate what they considered to be best practice in education. Here is the video of his keynote speech, complete with questions from the audience. Both keynote speakers promoted much debate from those present during ensuing sessions, and also evoked a storm of tweets from inside and outside the venue. At one point on Firday morning #pelc09 trended on Twitter at No 3, and some reports say it even reached as high as No. 2 for a short while at least.

The catering was praised too - the Devon Cream tea went down well as usual and the local produce buffets were very good. Only the quality of the coffee was criticised and even then only in a good humoured way. But I take these criticisms seriously and I will see what I can do about that next year at PeLC 2010, I promise.

The venue was appreciated by just about everyone - the Roland Levinsky building is a masterpiece of engineering and design, and with its contemporary art gallery attached and open to all, provided some welcome distractions just when they were needed. Technically there were some issues, but as with all conferences of a technical nature we became something of a hostage to fortune, and I know things will be better next year.

The quality of the 80 papers and workshops was high - everyone I spoke to remarked that the presentations were engaging, rooted in sound theory and offering excellent case studies and research data in support. State of the art demonstrations such as the 3D Visual Immersion Cinema were very well received prompting some delegates to discuss their experiences for hours afterwards. The crowning glory for some, experience wise at least, was the choice of the National Marine Aquarium as our conference dinner venue. A splendid spectacle it was, with stunning views of the huge aquarium tanks containing sharks, sea turtles and other aquatic life, and the food and service were most excellent too.

As conference chair I would like to thank all those who took part, either as presenters or simply attendees at the conference. I would also like to thank my admin, technical and reception support teams, and the student ambassadors who played such a key role in the success of PeLC09. The review panel who did a tremendous job sorting through and selecting the best papers from all those that were submitted deserve a vote of thanks, as do the organising committee who worked hard to ensure the event was successful. A special big up for our designer Mark Lyndon whose stunning images graced our publicity materials and website - thanks Mark. Lastly, a special mention for my co-chair Mark Townsend, who will be leaving us this year and for whom this will be his last conference. We will all miss you greatly Mark, and we wish you every success in the next chapter of your career. Here's to PeLC 2010 - Learning without Limits! See you in Plymouth on April 8-9, 2010.

My PeLC picture collection

James Clay's PeLC picture collection

Peter Micheuz's PeLC picture collection

Learning without Limits

We are gearing up to host the 4th Plymouth e-Learning Conference in a few weeks time, and with over 200 delegates already registered, and more than 80 presentations, workshops and demonstrations on offer, it promises to be a memorable event. But even before this event is put to bed, we already have the theme and title for PELC 2010. And yes, the eagle-eyed will note that I have borrowed a little from one of my heroes, Sir Arthur C. Clarke. The first call for papers for PELC 2010 will be out soon with the eye catching space motif. The full title for the 5th Conference which will be held in Plymouth on 8-9 April 2010, is 'Learning without Limits: Facing the Challenges', and here's your first sight of the conference theme:

The theme for the 5th Plymouth e-Learning Conference – Learning without Limits - will address the notion of anytime, anyplace learning. It will highlight the growing number of contexts in which learning can take place. We will focus on the challenges and opportunities brought by formal and informal learning, social networks and personal technologies, mobile learning and innovative on-campus education, virtual and real teaching & learning scenarios, and how teachers and learners are harnessing the power and potential of new and emerging technologies.

As in previous years the conference welcomes proposals for papers, workshops, symposia and demonstrations from across all sectors of education and training, focused on topic areas such as:

• Emerging Learning Technologies
• Classroom Learning Technology
• New Pedagogies and Practices
• Mobile Learning, Ambient and Pervasive Technologies
• Games for Learning
• 3D Multi User Virtual Environments
• Social Web and Social Networking
• Multi-Media
• Digital Literacy
• Digital Identity

So, if you are not able to make this year's event, we hope to see you in Plymouth for 2010. Start writing your proposal now, and .... book early!

Image Source

Once more with feeling....

Now I can take a breath and sit back (even if it's just for a few hours). The provisional programme for the 4th Plymouth e-Learning Conference is complete and has been posted onto the Conference Website. It's an exciting programme I think, and tops all the previous ones in both scope and depth. There are keynotes from Mike Blamires (Day 1) and Graham Attwell (Day 2) and an invited plenary presentation from Charles Oppenheim and Naomi Korn on Web2Rights. There are over 70 paper presentations dealing with such diverse subjects as using Web 2.0 tools in teaching (wikis, blogs, podcasting, Facebook, YouTube), papers on mobile technology, Second Life, the VLE vs the PLE debate, aggregation, transnational perspectives on e-learning, e-assessment and e-portfolios, audience response systems, collaborative content management, and even a paper on terrorism and the web! Delegates are attending from about 15 different countires as far away as Australia and New Zealand, as well as from all over Europe and the UK.

Tickets for the spectacular Conference Dinner, which will be held in the National Marine Aquarium on Plymouth's historic Barbican quayside are going fast. There will be 10 workshops presented over the two days (including ones on Twitter and mobile technologies) as well as some exciting leading edge demonstrations such as the 3D virtual immersion cinema. There will also be a full vendor exhibition across the two days. All this will take place in the amazing Roland Levinsky Building, in the heart of the university campus. Oh, and of course, there is the wonderful, non-fattening Devon Cream Tea on the afternoon of the final day. Throughout the event, delegates will be encouraged to twitter, blog and txt their thoughts, and we will aggregate all images, tweets etc, under the hashtag #pelc09. Should be fun. Looking forward to it. Come and join us. Hope you can make it.

Sea food

The whole event is going to be quite memorable. The 4th Plymouth e-Learning Conference in April is attracting delegates from all over the world and is shaping up into what will be a great two-day event. So far, delegates have registered from Australia, New Zealand, and from all over Europe, Russia, Jordan, Pakistan, Iran, Nigeria, the list goes on. The most interesting recent development is that on Friday I finally managed to negotiate the venue for the conference dinner which will be held on Thursday 23rd April. We will be enjoying our meal in the wonderful surroundings of the Atlantic Reef area in the National Marine Aquarium, located on Plymouth's Historic Barbican area. I can't think of a more spectacular indoor venue for a dinner than the Atlantic Reef. There are only 110 tickets available for the dinner, and over 60 have already been snapped up. There will be welcome drinks, a fully licenced bar, a four course dinner (fish is on the menu) and a tour of the entire National Marine Aquarium - and we will have it all to ourselves!

The venue for the two day conference is also a sight to behold. The Roland Levinsky building has to be experienced to be fully appreciated. It is a superb conference venue. We have around 80 papers scheduled for presentation during the two days, as well as a number of demonstrations such as the 3-D immersion cinema and Learning Labs facilities, and a whole host of workshops, on subjects such as Web 2.0, mobile technologies, micro-blogging and e-assessment. A large contingent of e-learning researchers and students from Germany, Poland and Ireland will also be attending the conference as representatives of the Atlantis Project. Atlantis will have its own special track at the conference. One and two day tickets for the conference are still available, so book now to avoid disappointment!

Several major exhibitors will be present at the event and there will be plenty of great opportunities for networking in and around the excellent atrium of the Levinsky building. Oh, and did I mention the three keynote speeches? I promised another Devon Cream Tea and that's what we will have, at tea time on the second day! On behalf of the Conference Organising Committee, here's your invitation.... I really hope you will be able to join us.

Shaping up

The 4th Plymouth e-Learning Conference 'Boundary Changes: Redefining Learning Spaces' is taking quickly shape. Today is the deadline for 150-300 word abstract submissions, and we have so far received almost 50 paper and workshop proposals. Scanning through the key themes and topics of the papers, I am very pleased with the diversity and scope they represent, but several people have already asked me for extensions to the deadline so they can submit their papers. So here it is: I'm extending the deadline until 12 December, so those who are struggling with time can still participate. Papers on Web 2.0, mobile technologies, e-portfolios, personal learning environments, visual media, software applications and digital pedagogy are all welcome - we are interested in papers on student and teacher experiences, societal issues, operational and institutional concerns, digital media. Check out all the themes of the conference on the call for papers site.

We only have 200 delegate places at the conference, and as I write this post 70 people have already registered. With the early bird deadline approaching, I'm anticipating a lot more over the next month, so if you are intending to come to the conference, you might need to get your skates on. Delegates from all over the UK, Germany, Poland, Ireland, Austria, Italy, Portugal and Russia have already registered as well as others from farther afield, including Pakistan, Iran and Australia. The 2009 Plymouth e-Learning Conference is shaping up to be a truly international event. So, go to the conference website and claim your place for what promises to be a very interesting and stimulating 2 days in April! I hope you will be able to join us.

Atlantis rising

There is still time to submit a 300 word abstract for the Plymouth e-Learning Conference - deadline is 30 November, but time is running out. We have had some interesting proposals so far under the theme of: 'Boundary Changes: Redefining Learning Space'. The keynote speakers are already booked, and we are working on a spectacular conference dinner too. Several attractions are already planned during the event including special sessions in the Virtual 3-D Immersion Cinema on the university campus.

There is also at least one special track planned - it will be reserved for the students of the Atlantis University Project - an Erasmus funded transnational computer project which involves students not only from my own Faculty of Education, here at the University of Plymouth, but also from the University of Applied Sciences, Darmstadt, Germany, the Institute of Technology at Tralee, Ireland, and the Warsaw Institute of Technology, Poland. The Atlantis students are doing some very interesting research and development into areas such as collaborative content management and online shared learning spaces. They will be presenting several papers showcasing their work (some of them are pictured above in February, on the beach near Dingle, Ireland). Slots for other special tracks, panels and symposia have also been reserved. All you need to do is contact us at the conference website above, and propose the session, with a title, list of speakers and a chairperson. We will do the rest.

And so, in the words of the sublime but slightly rediculous Delia Smith "C'mon - let's be 'aving you!"

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!