Educate the world, don't just feed it

Some of my Twitter buddies have reminded me today of the torrid picture that was taken of me jokingly emulating Edupunk Poster Boy Jim Groom. There's an image of me floating around the web with 'PUNK IT UP' on my knuckles. I guess it's timely, because I travel to Hamburg tomorrow to keynote the German Moodlemoot conference (#mootDE11n) on Thursday, and one of the key themes of my speech will be 'do it yourself' education, the ethos of edupunk. My title is 'The Road Ahead is Open', and I will cover a spectrum of open approaches, including open learning, open educational resources, and the open bricollage approach espoused by Levi Strauss. Ultimately, the entire speech will boil down to a plea for people to adopt an open scholarship approach to their learning and teaching.

Open Scholarship, as I have previously suggested, is much more than a term denoting open practices. Open Scholarship is a way of life, based on the belief that to share your ideas is much better than to hoard them. It's also about opening yourself and your ideas up for constructive criticism, so that in receiving feedback from your PLN, you will learn and grow together. Let me ask you this: What possible purpose is there to hide knowledge away from people who need it to survive and make their lives better? Stephen Heppell, in the 2011 Plymouth e-Learning Conference stunned us all by declaring that around half a billion children in the world (like the ones in the picture above) are outside of education, and don't have a hope of even seeing the inside of textbook, let alone a classroom. And yet all it would take to educate the lot of them would be 5 billion US dollars. It got me thinking. There are a few super-rich people in the world who have this kind of money, and more, in their personal fortunes. Certainly, many of the banks or corporations around the world are rich enough to have this kind of cash to spare. But how many of them would be willing to stump some up to educate our world?

Several years ago, we all gave money to a world wide appeal to feed the starving of the world. The 'Feed the World' campaign was a triumph of compassionate fund raising, but it simply solved a problem in the there and then. Poverty and starvation still exist and although we can't cure it, we can educate people who are in poverty if we simply share the wealth and knowledge about.

It doesn't take a genius to work out that if you give a man a fish you feed him for a day, but if you show him how to fish you feed him for life. In many cultures, if you educate a man, he is self sufficient. Yet if you educate a woman, you educate an entire family. How are we going to meet the challenge of this century? The challenge to educate people out of poverty? Open scholarship will go a long way to resolving that one, because if everyone shares what they know, and we don't greedily hoard that knowledge away, or capilulate to the invasion of the edubusinesses, the world will be a far more equitable place.

Educate the world, don't just feed it 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.

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.