ALT-C reflections: Day One
ALT-C 2016 is my second ALT, though I'm more likely to be able to remember this one. I was in Manchster for ALT-C 2007, and can mainly recall jet lag. I went fresh(?) from a 24-hour series of flights directly into the first session. I overcame my jet lag the day after the conference, just in time to board for my return to New Zealand. This year's one-hour drive up the A5 was so much better!
The day started with a warm welcome from the conveners, then it was straight in to Josie Fraser's keynote: "In the valley of the trolls". It was interesting and disturbing to be introduced to the tragic tale of TayTweets (overview from Wikipedia, here, here and here). Josie's keynote was an unexpected one for me, though its topic quickly became relevant and it generated a lot of debate and discussion among delegates (which is always a sign of keynote success). One interesting comment from a colleague was whether Tay's sad demise was the result of multiple trolls (herd of trolls?) or a single bot-type meddler.
The parallel sessions were of varying relevance to my own practice, as they tend to be - but all have been very well presented, and it's always great to have the opportunity to learn something new by serendipity. The first parallel consisted of the Undergraduate virtual case library, Exploring learner and employer perceptions of open badges..., Learning analytics: What do stakeholders really think?, Learning analytics: at the intersections..., and Discovering and connecting the institutional dots around learning analytics sessions. There is some wonderful research and exploration taking place across institutions at varying stages of the analytics journey. I took copious notes from most presentations.
After lunch I attended the Moodle User Association session. I'm new to the UK (though not to Moodle), so it was useful to learn more about the Association and its workings. It was interesting to reflect on my 14 year association with Moodle as a platform; I have served as a Moodle admin, course author, and online teacher across the last decade.
The next parallel session was today's standout. Mark Brown's talk on The Open Academy initiative hit the right spot for me. It was strategically-oriented (MOOCs as a long-game initiative), well-grounded (linked to an interesting article by Sharrock, Making sense of the MOOCs debate), and technologically interesting (heralding the pending launch of The Moodle Academy). Mark's presentation was followed by two OU TEL colleagues, Liz Ellis and David Vince, talking about TEL innovation in the open. It was great to see their work on Hack Days at the OU recognised, and there were several enthusiastic comments made by attendees. The final session, Towards an institutional framework to effectively support transitions to blended learning, was less relevant to me but still clearly well-conceived.
And so on to the final keynote for the day, "Education and neuroscience: issues and opportunities". This is a presentation worth watching the recording of; Lia Commissar did a wonderful job of injecting evidence-based fact into several popularist elements of education: the proportion of our brains we use, learning styles, and left/right brain myths were her first victims (see also here). It's great to see research coming to bear on how we learn. I was reminded of two books I continue to recommend, because they introduce the lessons of neuroscience so accessibly: Make it stick, and How we learn. While both cover the same basic material, they should be compulsory reading for all involved in learning design.
Chats with colleagues confirm that the various parallel streams have all had very insightful and useful sessions among them. Congratulations to the organising committee on a wonderful event thus far!
The day started with a warm welcome from the conveners, then it was straight in to Josie Fraser's keynote: "In the valley of the trolls". It was interesting and disturbing to be introduced to the tragic tale of TayTweets (overview from Wikipedia, here, here and here). Josie's keynote was an unexpected one for me, though its topic quickly became relevant and it generated a lot of debate and discussion among delegates (which is always a sign of keynote success). One interesting comment from a colleague was whether Tay's sad demise was the result of multiple trolls (herd of trolls?) or a single bot-type meddler.
The parallel sessions were of varying relevance to my own practice, as they tend to be - but all have been very well presented, and it's always great to have the opportunity to learn something new by serendipity. The first parallel consisted of the Undergraduate virtual case library, Exploring learner and employer perceptions of open badges..., Learning analytics: What do stakeholders really think?, Learning analytics: at the intersections..., and Discovering and connecting the institutional dots around learning analytics sessions. There is some wonderful research and exploration taking place across institutions at varying stages of the analytics journey. I took copious notes from most presentations.
After lunch I attended the Moodle User Association session. I'm new to the UK (though not to Moodle), so it was useful to learn more about the Association and its workings. It was interesting to reflect on my 14 year association with Moodle as a platform; I have served as a Moodle admin, course author, and online teacher across the last decade.
The next parallel session was today's standout. Mark Brown's talk on The Open Academy initiative hit the right spot for me. It was strategically-oriented (MOOCs as a long-game initiative), well-grounded (linked to an interesting article by Sharrock, Making sense of the MOOCs debate), and technologically interesting (heralding the pending launch of The Moodle Academy). Mark's presentation was followed by two OU TEL colleagues, Liz Ellis and David Vince, talking about TEL innovation in the open. It was great to see their work on Hack Days at the OU recognised, and there were several enthusiastic comments made by attendees. The final session, Towards an institutional framework to effectively support transitions to blended learning, was less relevant to me but still clearly well-conceived.
And so on to the final keynote for the day, "Education and neuroscience: issues and opportunities". This is a presentation worth watching the recording of; Lia Commissar did a wonderful job of injecting evidence-based fact into several popularist elements of education: the proportion of our brains we use, learning styles, and left/right brain myths were her first victims (see also here). It's great to see research coming to bear on how we learn. I was reminded of two books I continue to recommend, because they introduce the lessons of neuroscience so accessibly: Make it stick, and How we learn. While both cover the same basic material, they should be compulsory reading for all involved in learning design.
Chats with colleagues confirm that the various parallel streams have all had very insightful and useful sessions among them. Congratulations to the organising committee on a wonderful event thus far!
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