Great places, awesome people

I was fortunate this year to be invited to speak at major events in some of the most beautiful cities in the world. Although I hate the travel, I have to admit that when I am in such places, and while I am meeting such brilliant and inspirational people, I am in my element. Here is the first part of my end of year retrospective on the top ten (actually eleven) places I visited in 2011, and the great people I met. Today's post goes from 10 down to 6. (Continues tomorrow).

10 =. Newcastle, England. I had an absolute blast in the North East in June. Newcastle is a city I'm quite familiar with from many day excursions with my wife and family over the years (Her parents live in Washington, Tyne and Wear). On this occasion, I was delighted to be invited to keynote the Northern Grid for Learning Annual Conference, and what an event it was! For a start, I flew up in the company of Mr Chickenman himself, Dan Roberts, and when the two of us invaded the executive lounge in the hotel, they quickly ran out of pretzels (Dan's doing, not mine I hasten to add). The speaker list read like a who's who of innovative educators from across the UK. It was wonderful to meet face to face some of the people whom I have followed on Twitter for some time, including Bill Lord, Ian Usher, Steve Bunce, Martin Waller, Ian Addison, Lisa Stevens, Joe Dale, Bev Evans and Jan Webb. Conference organiser Simon Finch and his team did an excellent job putting together what turned out to be a memorable, inspirational day, and the evening social post event at a Spanish tapas bar on the banks of the Tyne was the icing on the cake. Full story here: It's grins up north.

10 =. Liverpool, England. In March I attended the JISC annual conference in Liverpool, for once purely as a delegate rather than as a speaker. It was a nice change for me, not having to worry about preparing a talk or trying desperately to find my speaking venue. I stayed in a hotel just across the road from the Liverpool Echo Arena where the conference took place, within the beautifully rebuilt and repurposed Albert Dock quayside. In the distance I could see the iconic (new) Liverpool Cathedral on the skyline. I was delighted to discover that I was staying no more than 100 yards from the famous Beatles museum, so I spent a very enjoyable afternoon wandering around looking at all the exhibits, and reliving some of my younger days listening to the Fab Four. Full story here: The next ten years.

9. Auckland, New Zealand. I was in New Zealand in November/December on my lecture tour. While in Auckland I keynoted the International Conference on e-Learning Futures at Unitec. This was my second visit to the City of Sails, but I will never tire of Skycity and the waterfronts of this great city, and in such a stunningly beautiful country. Probably my peak experience of my entire four week tour of the Antipodes was my welcome by the New Zealanders and my invitation to speak in the carved wood meeting hall of the Maori people - the Marae. It was also great to meet up again at the conference with several old friends such as Thomas Cochrane, Noeline Wright, Nigel Robertson, Derek Wenmoth and Richard Elliot, and also to make some new friends including Mandy Williams, Agnes Kukulska-Hulme, Vasi Doncheva and of course ICELF organiser Linda Keesing Styles. Full story here: Barefoot keynote.

8. Karlsruhe, Germany. I arrived on a snowy February evening in Frankfurt and took the train across the Karlsruhe - a town I had first heard of when the invitation to keynote at LearnTEC came through. I admit I had to go to Google Maps to find it. LearnTEC is one of those German Mega-conferences and expos, regularly attracting in excess of 8000 delegates each year. Karlsruhe is a sleepy little town, and in the grey overcast light of a German winter wasn't that impressive. At night however, with all the blue, yellow and red shop and hotel lights glowing and reflecting off the snow, it was magical. I had the pleasure of meeting and spending some time with Conrad Wolfram (also keynoting the event) in the huge Karlsruhe Messe Expo Hall, and also got to spent an enjoyable hour in conversation with him on the journey back from Karlsruhe to Frankfurt International airport. We talked a lot about the future of the Internet and his own research into the development of Answer Engines. He gave me some great insights into the Silicon Valley set and his friendships with the likes of Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Theodore Gray. Full story here: Interview with a Wolfram.

7. Lisbon, Portugal. It was a pleasant surprise to be invited to keynote not one, but two conferences in Portugal this year. What was even better, was that they were back to back and in the same area of beautiful Oeiras, near Lisbon (this is a picture I took of the Palace of the Marquis de Pombal, the venue we met in). I first visited Lisbon in 2008 when I attended the EDEN Annual Conference and picked up a Fellowship award. It is a beautiful city - the kind that glistens in the sun, captivating your senses wherever you go within in. I spoke at the Concede Conference and then keynoted the final day of the EFQUEL Innovation forum. Many of the great and the good from the world of European e-Learning were present, including Grainne Conole, Chahira Nouira, Deborah Arnold, Alastair Creelman, EDEN President Morten Paulsen and Ulf Daniel Ehlers. I also had the distinct pleasure of meeting up with prolific Twitter activist Paulo Simoes for the first time, and also spent some time with charismatic OER guru Wayne Mackintosh. Full story here: Grand Residence and Wayne's World.

6. Cologne, Germany. I first visited Cologne on a school trip when I was 15 years old, and don't remember too much about the city. This time, I was in town in September to keynote the Zukunft Personal HR Expo, another mega-sized German conference. Cologne is a wonderful place to spend a few days, with its soaring gothic Cathedral, many  bridges crossing the river Rhine, picturesque cosmopolitan streets and marvellous bierkellers and wateringholes. Several of the medieval city gates still stand, despite the pounding Cologne took during the Second World War, and I stayed very close to one of the most spectacular - Rudolfplatz. It is a city that oozes art and culture, and it is not difficult to see why it has become one of the premier German convention centres. The convention hall itself is massive, and it took me some time to navigate around it, before I eventually found the conference hall I was looking for (they host many events simultaneously). It was a pleasant surprise to bump into fellow speaker Laura Overton in the street outside the hotel, and later to meet up again with old friends such as Armin Hopp and Wilfred Rubens at the conference. The tram rides and practicing my German in conversation with the locals were also great fun. Full story here: Business games and Sharp practice.

More great places and awesome people next time.


Great places, awesome people by Steve Wheeler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Building the future

Like any other part of the training and skills sector, the construction industry depends upon the reliable and effective training of well qualified and competent individuals. Training is rigorous and comprehensive, because if a builder gets it wrong, the consequences can be catastrophic. At Unitec, in Auckland, New Zealand, they train construction workers in all the trades, but there seems to be a particular demand for skilled carpenters in the Land of the Long White Cloud. You see, almost every house in New Zealand is constructed predominantly of wood.

The construction training team Unitec (pictured) are particularly savvy and ahead of the field when it comes to the application of learning technology. During a break in the proceedings at the ICELF event I had the privilege of being shown around their training compound where Unitec delivers its Certificate in Applied Technology (Carpentry). What I saw impressed me.

The Smart Shed is one of the centre pieces of Unitec's technological advance. Situated at the edge of the construction zone, the smart shed looks like any other wooden shed, but inside it is bristling with digital technology. It has full wifi connectivity and web enabled desktop personal computers within. A roller blind on the outside of the shed is pulled up to reveal a multi-gesture interactive whiteboard and short-throw projector. Using these tools, on site demonstrations and interactive learning sessions can be conducted, a few footsteps away from the construction training site.

But it is the QR tag system that is perhaps the most radical departure from traditional on-site construction training. On many of the working surfaces of the houses under construction on site (every one is sold before it is started and later transported on completion to its final destination), QR tags are stapled to the walls. At the appropriate point in their training, holding up their smart phones, students capture the appropriate QR image, which takes them directly to relevant websites that explain building techniques, safety procedures or specialist tool use.

In conversation with the lecturers who instigated this scheme, I asked how long it would take for the construction industry to adopt such leading edge practices for on the job training. 'We don't think it will be long', they replied. 'As soon as these students are qualified, they will be working in the construction industry', they explained. 'It is only a matter of time before they become lead builders, and eventually business owners within the industry. Then they will introduce similar technology supported training for their employees on site'.

Application of new technology that supports learning within authentic contexts. This is situated learning at its best, but is it the future of construction training?


Building the future by Steve Wheeler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Aotearoa ... kei te aroha au ki a koe

New Zealand is simply amazing. What can I say about the many sights I have seen, people I have met and things I have experienced? Time and space are not enough, but I will try: Perhaps the crowning highlight of my three week tour was the traditional Maori Powhiri and honour that was bestowed upon me during the ICELF Conference in Auckland. I was invited to present my keynote speech in the Maori sacred meeting house - the marae. This was a barefoot keynote, because no-one should enter the marae with their shoes on. Afterwards I was presented with a greenstone gem with inlaid paua shell as a symbol of everlasting friendship with the people of New Zealand. I will treasure it always. Many photographs of the conference can be found here on the ICELF website.

The sights of New Zealand are absolutely stunning. The lakes and hillsides and the majestic mountains and volcanic outcrops are awe inspiring, as are the natural phenomena of this great island. The geothermal activity down in Rotorua can be spectacular, provided you don't mind the constant smell of sulphur in the air. Hamilton, Palmerston North and Wellington all have great places to visit. In Hamilton, the statue of Richard O'Brien as Riff-Raff is bizarre, and is streamed live on the internet through a web cam, 24/7. Palmerston North's Massey University campus is one of the most serene, arboreal places I have had the pleasure to visit. Wellington's Te Papa museum on the beautiful waterfront is a place to lose yourself for many hours, as you explore and discover the history and culture of this great country. The Lord of the Rings tours (there are several) are a must for all Tolkien fans. The guides are knowledgeable with inside gossip from the film industry (Wellywood) and the visits to iconic location shoots are exciting for film fans. A visit to the Weta Cave in Miramar is also good value. Meeting an ex Plymouth University graduate in a shop across the road from where I'm staying was strange. Bumping into Dermot Donnelly on the Lord of the Rings Movie tour bus in Wellington and finding out that we had similar research interests in online learning and wikis for education was even stranger.

I discovered that innovation is alive and well in some very rich seams of education in New Zealand. My visit to Albany Senior High School impressed me for its bold break away from the tired old silo mentality of traditional schooling. In their fabulous learning spaces they exclusively use open source software and encourage BYOD as well as integrated curriculum practices. AUT's soon to be constructed learning precinct also breaks the mould of traditional university campuses, and by the look of it as I drove past today, it is on target for completion next year. The smart shed project I visited at Unitec will provide richer situated learning experiences for construction students and will no doubt be copied by other training colleges in the future.

But it is the people of New Zealand who have left the most indellible impression on me. Kiwis are some of the most friendly, helpful and accommodating people in the world. Perhaps it is their relative isolation from the rest of the world that makes them so affable. Perhaps their location in the South Pacific and its long tradition of hospitality makes them so welcoming. It was great to catch up with Jedd Bartlett and Derek Wenmoth (Core Education) again, and to meet up once more with old friends including Nigel Robertson (Waikato University), Niki Davis (Canterbury University), Thom Cochrane (AUT) and Michael Fawcett and to meet in real life some new (but strangely familiar) Twitter friends such as Vasi Doncheva, Jonathon Hagger and Karen Melhuish. My grateful thanks go to all those who have organised my travel and accommodation here this year, and especially to Mark Brown (Massey University), Linda Keesing-Styles (Unitec), Mandy Williams (Waiariki Institute), Noeline Wright (Waikato), Mark Osborne (Albany Senior High School) and their colleagues for making my stay here so delightful.  And finally, my special thanks to my cousins Linda and Alistair Robinson (AUT), for welcoming me into their home in Auckland during my stay here. To all of you I say - Kei te aroha au ki a koe!


Image source and ICELF


Aotearoa ... kei te aroha au ki a koe by Steve Wheeler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Barefoot keynote

This week at the ICELF event at Unitec in Auckland I was given one of the highest honours I have ever received. My opening keynote at the conference was preceded by a Maori Powhiri (welcoming ceremony) in the Marae (Maori sacred meeting house) followed by the ceremonial welcome which included the pressing of noses and foreheads (Hongi) with several of the university staff and dignitaries. This was quite an amazing experience, because in effect, it made me a member of the extended family of the institution (Whanau). I have to admit it was quite a humbling and emotional experience, but what followed - an invitation to address the entire gathering of over 200 delegates inside the Marae, was just as great an honour because, I was informed, very few guests are ever allowed to do this. I imagine that now I am a member of the family, this was the reason. Everyone was required to enter the Marae barefoot, and I have to say this was the first time I delivered a keynote with no shoes on. Somehow though, it was very appropriate, in such a place rich with tradition.

The Marae on the Unitec campus in Auckland is an intricately carved structure which is used for social and sacred purposes - it's walls and pillars tell the story of the Maori people and their journey through history. The Mount Albert campus of Unitec is situated on a site that was once a part of the settlement area belonging to the Ngati Awa people. Later I had the pleasure to meet the designer and creator of the entire structure and discuss with him some of his wonderful creations. Unlike many of the more traditionally crafted Marae, the this meeting hall is a unique fusion of ancient craft and new technology. The centre post for example has been forged in metal with laser images engraved down its length. The fine carvings on each of the joists, central spine and walls of this very spacious building told a different story of the lives of the Maori people and included their first encounter with western seafarers who sailed into their harbour. Auckland is also known as the City of Sails, and this was clearly represented on the rear wall of the Marae. The front wall, in front of which I spoke, depicted a large white cloud (The Maori name for New Zealand - Aotearoa - means land of the Long White Cloud), and decending below the cloud are vast legions of people, emerging as created beings. The relevance of the cloud and the social throng was not lost on us as we discussed new forms of technology mediated learning and social media. The entire interior of the Marae is lit cleverly in a manner that enhances the spectacle, but the irony of the event was not lost on me. Here I was talking about the future, surrounded by a traditionally constructed space (not a single metal nail was used), and even with the evidence of technological influence, the stark contrasts between the past and the future somehow amplified the experience and made it even more poignant. A useful summary of my speech can be read here on this blog.

I am extremely grateful to the organisers of ICELF for inviting me to participate in such an excellent and inspirational event. Delegates travelled from more than 20 countries to attend, and they represented all sectors of education. Over the two days we heard a number of excellent presentations and attended some very engaging workshops on e-learning and technology supported learning. Outstanding sessions by Derek Wenmoth (Core Education, NZ), Thomas Cochrane (AUT, NZ), Agnes Kukulska-Hulme (OU, UK) and Judy Kay (University of Sydney, Australia) gave excellent value to the discourse. ICELF was the first event of its kind in New Zealand, but I strongly suspect that it will not be the last. As the organisers will no doubt agree, the impetus is now there for a strong movement for change in New Zealand education. The ICELF team deserves to be at the vanguard of that change.

Image source and ICELF


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