Dimensions of Learning conference

Dimensions of Learning
Universities of the Future

University of Cumbria
Learning Gateway, Fusehill Street Campus, Carlisle
Thursday, 2nd April 2009

The University of Cumbria presents ‘Dimensions of learning: Universities of the future’. A conference to be held in Carlisle on 2nd April 2009. You are invited to participate in a day devoted to discussing future directions for HE and to contribute to ideas about the form and potential of the 21st century university.
 
The event will feature keynote talks from Dr. Liz Beaty, Director of Strategic Academic Practice and Partnership at the University of Cumbria and Professor Gilly Salmon, Professor of e-learning and Learning Technologies, Beyond Distance Research Alliance, University of Leicester. Guest speakers will include representatives from the Higher Education Academy’s E-learning Pathfinder programme, and the event aims to stimulate debate about three key dimensions of learning in the 21st century: Time, Space and Sustainability.
 
The conference’s keynote speeches, presentations and workshops will develop these themes to consider:
Time as a dimension of flexible learning; ways of working across time barriers; the impact of new views of time as a resource; experiences of distributed learning.
Space as a flexible resource; relationships between physical and virtual learning environments; reconfigurations of the idea of the campus; the culture and ecology of the distance learning network.
Sustainability of approaches to future learning: making the most of resources and technology for learning development; future-proofing; environmental responsibilities.

Conference information and registration: http://www.cumbria.ac.uk/Services/CDLT/Events/CDLT%20Events.aspx
Please note: a previous issue with the online booking form email address field has now been resolved.

This conference is FREE to attend.

Contact: linda.shore@cumbria.ac.uk

The e-Assessment-Question 2009 CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITION PROGRAMME

The e-Assessment-Question 2009 CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITION PROGRAMME


CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITION PROGRAMME UPDATE

The e-Assessment-Question 2009
Conference and Exhibition London, 18th/19th March 2009
Shaw Theatre and Novotel St Pancras London
www.e-assessment-question.co.uk

The e-Assessment-Question 2009 Conference and Exhibition London

CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITION ANNOUNCEMENT

The e-Assessment-Question 2009 Conference and Exhibition London,
18th/19th March 2009
Shaw Theatre and Novotel St Pancras London
www.e-assessment-question.co.uk

Assessment lies at the heart of learning and e-Assessment plays a similarly
pivotal role in e-Learning. The focus of attention of the seventh e-Assessment
Question Conference is the practical aspects of selecting, implementing and
using e-Assessment. This year it takes PEOPLE as it’s theme and includes a
second day that focuses on accessibility and inclusion.

We are delighted to announce a number of additional speakers have been
added to the programme.

---

• Professor Phillip John, Dean of Heriot Watt University and Chair of
the Scholar Forum will talk about an exciting new development in Scotland,
SCHOLARpedia
• Tom Burkand, Director of the Promethean Trust and author of Centre
for Policy Studies Report 'Ticking the Right Boxes' (www.cps.org.uk) Jan. 2009
has kindly agreed to present his findings at the conference, a copy of the
Report will be made available to delegates in their digital delegates pack.
• Martin Ripley, 21st Century Learning
• Peter Smith, School Shape
We are also pleased to announce that the first AGM of the e-Assessment
Association will be held at 17.30 in the Shaw Theatre at the end of the first
day of the conference. (www.e-assessment.com)
The conference will look at the impact of the technology of learners, providers
and examiners address issues such as:

• Are you considering using computer based testing or using e-
portfolios?
• What are the implications for learners and teachers, not to mention
examiners and managers?
• Are you thinking about the Accessibility issues of using the
technology for assessment and learning?
• Do you want to see the latest developments?
• Are you concerned about the risks and costs?
• Want to upgrade your current e-Assessment technologies?
• Are you involved with e-marking, e-Assessment or e-portfolios for
the first time?
• Do you need to understand the impact of DDA on your e-Assessment
portfolios or testing?
• What is best practice in e-Assessment?
• Do you want to discuss the issues with colleagues and fellow
practitioners?

Visit the e-Assessment Question 2009 web site: www.e-assessment-
question.co.uk to see the list of exciting exhibitors and speakers at the
conference

Jeff Ross
Conference Director
jeff@assessmenttomorrow.com
+44 (0) 7785 920392
Ofqual is pleased to support the e-Assessment Question 2009.
However the views expressed at the conference are the speakers’ own and do
not represent Ofqual policy

Conference Fees:
£250 per delegate per day plus VAT at the prevailing rate.
£475 per delegate for attendance on both days plus VAT at the prevailing rate.
Discounts for delegates from schools , colleges, registered charities and the
public sector:
£190 per delegate per day plus VAT at the prevailing rate.
£370 per delegate for attendance on both days plus VAT at the prevailing rate.

From elearningpost blog

The ‘Least Assistance’ Principle

from elearningpost

Clark Quinn writes about 'minimalist instruction'. And I subscribe to it. We're living in a day and age where the information to 'fill in the gaps' can be assembled easily. We have to focus on the essentials of the learning.

"We develop full courses to incorporate motivation, practice, all the things non-self-directed learners need. But there are times when we need to provide new information and skills to self-directed learners. When we’re talking to practitioners who are good at their job, know what they’re doing and why, and know that they need to know this information and how they’ll apply it, we can strip away a lot of the window dressing. We can just provide support to a SME so that their talk presents the relevant bits in a streamlined and effective way, and let them loose. That, to me, is the role of rapid elearning."


I think that is utopian - but an interesting idea!

Reading Lakoff and Johnson

Cover via Amazon

Philosophy in the Flesh : The Embodied Mind and Its Challenge to Western Thought
by George Lakoff, Mark Johnson
HarperCollins Publishers (Dec 1, 1999)
Paperback – 624 pages
ISBN-10: 0465056741
ISBN-13: 9780465056743

Having a break from the later book on maths to go back to the basics.

Fundamental assumptions - of the book

• The mind is inherently embodied
• Thought is mostly unconscious
• Abstract concepts are largely metaphorical

First two are immediately not problematical for me - the latter I am not sure about yet - am attached to the three processes of induction, deduction and abduction (metaphor) - so that is the challenging one for me.

Also in the introduction is a paragraph which says that - reason is evolutionary - by which they mean that abstract reasoning is based on lower processes - which I would agree with but they conclude with a statement of a continuum from animal to human - I am confused here - part of me is attracted by theories which do that - ie language development is based on learned conceptual building blocks rather than inherited via a language acquisition device - at the same time I have always been attracted by the Vygotskian notion of the natural and cultural development meaning that there is a break between animal and human through the engagement with society/culture - similar to the Lacanian concept of language as the entry into a different sort of being.

Leader in Times Higher - get serious about teaching

http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=405440&c=1

The importance of teaching for HE

4th International Inquiring Pedagogies Conference

4th International Inquiring Pedagogies Conference

iPED 2009

'Researching Beyond Boundaries',

Academic Communities without Borders

14 - 15 September 2009, Coventry, UK

 

Please find attached a poster detailing arrangements for iPED 2009. It would be most helpful if you would copy, display and/or circulate it to your colleagues. 

 

Further information is available on our conference website: http://www.coventry.ac.uk/iped2009

 

I would also like to draw your attention to the following key dates:

• The deadline for submission of Extended Abstracts and Full Papers is 5 April 2009

• The Early-Bird Rate for delegate bookings ends on 30 June 2009

 

Proposals are welcomed in a range of formats - our website provides further details:

·             interactive poster

·             30 minute paper (i.e. 15-20 minute presentation plus questions)

·             PhD  Work-in-Progress Report to form part of a Critical Friend Forum

·             60 minute interactive session (e.g. workshop, panel, dialogue or debate)

·             90 minute symposium (comprising at least four registered participants managing a series of 15 minute related presentations plus at least 15 minutes of audience interaction)

·             virtual participation.

 

I am pleased to confirm that our programme will include:

Monday 14 September 2009

o   Dr Etienne Wenger, USA                      Scene-Setting Plenary: ‘Learning in a landscape of practice: communities and boundaries’.

o   Dr Etienne Wenger, USA                                      Large Group Workshop:  ‘Communities of practice: a social discipline of learning’

Tuesday 15 September 2009

o   Student Panel                                       Breaking Boundaries and Borders in Higher Education

o   Prof Maggi Savin-Baden, UK              Keynote: 'Researching on the edge: working at the borders of ‘real’ and ‘immersive’ spaces

o   Prof David Young,  UK:                        Closing Plenary

Book now for the Festival of Learning 10-12 March 2009

Festival theme: Engaging Students in Health Sciences & Practice Education

 

The full Festival programme is now available online together with the booking and venue details at: http://www.health.heacademy.ac.uk/scevents/fol/2009

 

The Festival keynotes will be focusing on:

·         ‘healthy universities’

·         the relationship between technology and pedagogy

·         interprofessional learning and collaborative practice

 

For further details on all the workshops, keynotes, poster sessions and panel debate, please visit the website, as above.

Please forward this message to any colleagues you feel may be interested.

Is the Student Really at the Heart of Higher Education?

Is the Student Really at the Heart of Higher Education?
Critical Voices, Critical Times

The 5th Education in a Changing Environment Conference will be held
at the University of Salford, 15-16 September 2009. The conference will
focus on four main themes that are key aspects of the changes affecting
higher education:

• Giving Voice to the Student Experience: methods, approaches and evidence
• Emerging Technologies, the Curriculum and Student Engagement
• Student Diversity, Internationalisation and Managing Change
• Scholarship as Critical Pedagogy

The conference will provide a forum for colleagues involved in
research in these areas to present papers, workshops and posters and to
discuss the implications of change in relation to their findings.

http://www.ece.salford.ac.uk/

Dimensions of Learning, Universities of the Future

Dimensions of Learning
Universities of the Future

University of Cumbria
Learning Gateway, Fusehill Street Campus, Carlisle
Thursday 2nd April 2009

The University of Cumbria presents ‘Dimensions of learning: Universities of
the future’. A conference to be held in Carlisle on 2nd April 2009. You are
invited to participate in a day devoted to discussing future directions for
HE and to contribute to ideas about the form and potential of the 21st
century university.

The event will feature keynote talks from Dr. Liz Beaty, Director of
Strategic Academic Practice and Partnership at the University of Cumbria and
Professor Gilly Salmon, Professor of e-learning and Learning Technologies,
Beyond Distance Research Alliance, University of Leicester. Guest speakers
will include representatives from the Higher Education Academy’s E-learning
Pathfinder programme, and the event aims to stimulate debate about three key
dimensions of learning in the 21st century: Time, Space and Sustainability.

The conference’s keynote speeches, presentations and workshops will develop
these themes to consider:
Time as a dimension of flexible learning; ways of working across time
barriers; the impact of new views of time as a resource; experiences of
distributed learning.
Space as a flexible resource; relationships between physical and virtual
learning environments; reconfigurations of the idea of the campus; the
culture and ecology of the distance learning network.
Sustainability of approaches to future learning: making the most of
resources and technology for learning development; future-proofing;
environmental responsibilities.

Conference information and registration:
http://www.cumbria.ac.uk/Services/CDLT/Events/CDLT%20Events.aspx
This conference is FREE to attend.

iPED call for papers

iPED 2009, International Education Research Conference

Dates: 14 -15 September 2009, Location: Coventry, UK.

Submission DEADLINE: 5 APRIL 2009. See: www.coventry.ac.uk/iPED2009

The
iPED (Inquiring Pedagogies) Research Network invites you to submit a
full paper or extended abstract to the 4th iPED Conference on the theme
of 'RESEARCHING BEYOND BOUNDARIES'.

iPED
2009 offers participants the opportunity to explore the myriad of ways
in which we negotiate the (virtual, physical, perceived, political or
other) boundaries and  borders of the learning environment from the perspectives of leaders, staff and students.

This
year, in addition to our usual presentation formats, we offer a PhD
WORK-IN-PROGRESS REPORT option – see our website for more information.

You can download a detailed conference flyer from: http://www.coventry.ac.uk/researchnet/d/811

Improving student learning call for papers

17th Improving Student Learning Symposium hosted by
the Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development (OCSLD)

IMPROVING STUDENT LEARNING FOR THE 21st CENTURY LEARNER

7-9 September 2009

Imperial College, London

CALL FOR PAPERS

We
hope that the theme for this symposium -  'for the 21st Century
Learner'  - will challenge contributors to consider the rapidly
changing landscape of university education - technology, massification,
increased diversity of students and globalisation etc. 

Please submit your paper proposal online at http://www.brookes.ac.uk/services/ocsld/isl/isl2009/callforpapers.html.
The closing date for submissions is 28 February 2009, and authors will
be notified by the end of March whether their paper has been selected
for presentation.