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!"

Locked out

It's been a week of lockouts. I spent most of last week over in County Kerry, on the extreme west coast of Ireland. It's beautiful countryside over there in and around Tralee, but it was bitter cold at times. (opposite is a picture I took of the Ardfert Friary ruins, northeast of Tralee). While I was there I shared a flat with three colleagues, one of whom is a professor at the University of Applied Sciences in Darmstadt, Germany. Poor man got locked out. Not from his room, but from his ensuite bathroom, inside the room. He spent the first 24 hours of his stay unable to access his shaving kit, shower, toilet etc. Eventually, he was relieved when the local repair man turned up and fixed the lock. Actually, we were all relieved.

Later in the week, I got locked out of the flat when I went over to the shop and realised I had forgotten my pass key. Our flat was two floors up, and no amount of shouting or heaving bricks at windows helped. It was very cold. Eventually, a passing student let me in and I began to defrost.

The worst lockout is four days and counting. My e-learning website is down along with just about everything else on the WWW2 server. I have spoken to the computing services who assure me all is being done to restore it. It's very frustrating, because some of my students want to access materials and documents, and of course, all they are met with is a message saying the site is being fixed. Perhaps I should call the Irish repair man in again. At least he only took 24 hours....