Handheld Learning - learning with mobile and ubiquitous technologies

   
« Today at 01:16:10 PM »   Reply with quoteModify messageRemove message
Quote from: Spike Town on March 07, 2008, 10:17:53 AM
It amuses me that Whiteboards get attacked as the antithesis of inclusive learning at conferences by people on a stage trying to teach us what they think in front of a presentation screen (or even a whiteboard)! If talking to a large group of people with some sort of display (possibly interactive) is so rubbish for getting a message across why is every conference I've ever been to set up like that...

I agree it's always interesting how e-learning/ICT/ILT conferences rarely use the technology or the personalisation that they are promoting.

I remember at a learning technology conference, ALT-C 2005, when I ran a workshop in a workshop session. It went down really well (got mentioned in despatches) partly because it was a real workshop, in other words the participants participated and did stuff as opposed to listen and discuss at the end.

Previously a lot of workshops at ALT-C consisted of a presentation followed by a short discussion (well all the ones I went to were).

More recently at ALT-C we have seen workshops running rather than presentations.

Back to talking at the front...

However just because every conference you have been to has had people stand at the front and talk doesn't mean that this is a) effective for everybody and b) the only way to do it.

You may want to have a look at the phrase unconference (or semi-conference).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unconference

The (FE) ILT Champions are having an unconference or semi-conference on the 18th April this year and it looks like it will be very interesting and very informative and there will be no keynotes, no large presentations.

I wonder if Handheld Learning 2008 could be different this year?

   
« March 09, 2008, 02:47:47 PM »   Reply with quote
 Smiley

We're probably wandering a little off the thread topic here but I'm certainly interested in any ideas that genuinely improve delegates experience of the Handheld Learning Conferences. Every year since it started we have enjoyed a mix of "stand in front" presentations to workshops to networking sessions, last year we were twittering, sending in live questions/comments by SMS, streaming video and numerous delegates were live blogging. Following the event, all main room presentations were put online for video streaming, as were many of the slide presentations and naturally there were many lively debates in this forum following.

None of the presenters are told how to present and choices about whether to use a Powerpoint or a more interactive style of presentation is left to the presenter themselves. As can be expected some presenters were more captivating than others depending on their own style and use of available technology.

What has been interesting to date is the the unwillingness of delegates to use the more interactive facilities. Perhaps they felt uncomfortable using their mobile phone whilst demonstrating their attention to the speaker? Every delegate was made aware of the Twitter facility yet less than 50 subscribed. Less than 25 questions or comments were submitted via the SMS system. 8 delegates agreed to receive news alerts or messages during the conference from our news service via their mobile device.

I do like some of the unconference ideas but I've yet to figure out how we might do this with 800+ paying delegates who need to know some idea of what they are getting (to get budget, etc) and cover the not insignificant costs of venue, audio-visual, subsistence, delegate materials and operational. This years conference will feature some "big" presentations as well as "keynotes" from internationally respected speakers but, as always, we will certainly develop other format ideas further and look forward to those interested putting forward their proposals to run a session.

It amuses me that Whiteboards get attacked as the antithesis of inclusive learning at conferences by people on a stage trying to teach us what they think in front of a presentation screen (or even a whiteboard)! If talking to a large group of people with some sort of display (possibly interactive) is so rubbish for getting a message across why is every conference I've ever been to set up like that...

Steve Jobs said that the iPhone doesn't support Flash because it runs too slowly on the device to be useful.

In addition, a 'Practitioners room' is available for LA's, CLC's who wish to promote their work and interact with our delegates.

Andrew Grill wonders if the 3G mobile broadband dongle will kill the wifi hotspot market: http://blog.andrewgrill.com/blog/_archives/2008/1/9/3442195.html

So, to round up I think there are some gaps here and I'd say there is some work to be done on demonstrating how off the shelf consumer electronic products and software can be used in a teaching and learning context.

    It’s the best email you’ve ever seen on a handheld device. View rich HTML email with graphics and photos displayed inline, as well as PDF and Microsoft Word and Excel attachments.