Dial M for Learning: mLearning ideas

Apologies for my absence for a couple of weeks. We’ve been organising and then attending the Global Summit: Technology Connected Futures.

It was a frenetic event with lots of idea exchange between Provocateurs, Thought Leaders & Delegates. I’ll pick up some of the themes over the coming weeks.

In the meantime I’ll direct you to some good thoughts from bloggers who were doing their stuff live from the Summit:

• Jude Connell’s blog
• Leigh Blackall’s blog

You can access the podcasts and other resources.

Enjoy.

The Global Summit 2006 promises to stir debate with questions such as:

• Are today’s students so overloaded with information that they are learning in a different way?
• Is our education system so antiquated that it isn’t teaching anything anymore?
• Are educational institutions government funded dictatorships?

George Siemens, a Provocateur for the Summit, and Canadian based leading theorist on the changing nature and needs of learning believes so. Siemens believes the role of ICT in education is one of support, stating “ICT and education do influence (and drive) each other. Our real challenge is one of creating a compelling vision for education, learning, and knowledge in our society today. And then to leverage the tools at our disposal in making that vision a reality.”

George Siemens will be one of the leading thinkers and educators from around the globe sharing their ideas for the development of technology connected futures at the 2006 Global Summit. Read a pre-summit interview with George Siemens.

More information & registration for the Global Summit, 17-19 October, Sydney.

The Learning Technologies conference program has been posted on the website.

8 – 10 November 2006
Mooloolaba on Queensland’s beautiful Sunshine Coast, Australia

This year’s theme explores the concept of Learning Partnerships and how these can enhance and support our teaching and learning communities.

The Conference Program runs on Thursday 9th and Friday 10th November. On Wednesday 8th we will be hosting optional extra 90-minute Workshops.
More information & online registration

You can view the following presentations online:

• Charles Jennings, Reuters: The Business Imperative to Take Learning to the Workforce
• Gordon Bull, Vodafone: Gordon highlights some of the ways mobile technology will be used in the future as part of our daily lives and explore the implications for learning
• Wolfram Spoenlein, Motorola: Intelligent Learning: Matching Technology with Real Customer Needs
• Donald Clark, Epic Co-Founder and Former CEO: Simulation Environments for Learning
• Fabrizio Cardinali, Giunti Labs: The Future is Here, It’s Just Not Equally Distributed…
• Stephen Clee, Datmedia: Technology Showcase: Datpresenter for Streaming Video to Mobile
• Jonathan Shaw, 7 City Learning: Technology Showcase: Interactive ’smart’ Email to Mobiles for Performance Support
• Jonathon Levy: The Future Isn’t What It Used To Be: Why The Next Generation of Online Learning Resets Everything to Zero!
• Dick Davies, Ambient Performance: Technology Showcase: Forterra Systems Immersive 3D Virtual World for Performance Rehearsal
• Nigel Paine, BBC: Developing for Readiness: BBC success with Wikis, Blogs & Podcasting
• Dr. Gilly Salmon, University of Leicester: Technology Showcase: Profcasting – Podcasting Research – what are students find of value?
• Expert Panel: Implementation, Implementation advice from expert practitioners
• Ron Edwards, Ambient Performance: Realizing the Performance Potential

Dates & information for Moving Learning 2007 are available.

Global Summit 2006 Online will take place before, during and after the Global Summit.

This online event began on 31 July and is set up for anyone interested in contributing to ideas about technology connected futures and the future of education and training.

Global Summit 2006 Online will be open to everyone for 5 weeks.

After 4 September 2006 only registered Delegates and ‘ Thought Leaders’ will be able to access the online event.

Initial discussion has begun around Professor James Bosco’s paper Tools, culture, and education: past – present – future.

Professor Bosco says – in part:
…Our challenge in education is to seize the opportunity….not just to do nifty things with ICT but to disenthrall ourselves from the past, to think in the new ways about education which our times call for, and to be willing to fight the good fight to make it happen. Join the discussion.

I attended the education.au seminar So what’s changed? in Sydney yesterday. As expected, there were some thought-provoking points of view from Phillip Adams and James Farmer. And it was interesting to hear about some of the projects being undertaken by Futurelab in the UK.

You can join the discussion or listen to the podcast of each speaker. If my time was limited I’d listen to James Farmer to glean ideas for immediate use followed by Phillip Adams for some thought provoking general ideas. I’d suggest a visit to Futurelab to check out their projects rather than the podcast. Those discussed by Annika were:

Savannah – a strategy-based adventure game where a virtual space is mapped directly onto a real space. Children ‘play’ at being lions in a savannah, navigating the augmented environments with a mobile handheld device.

Space Mission: Ice Moon – puts pupils in the roles of experts in an Emergency Response Team after a disaster in space. Working in teams in the classroom, up to 30 pupils use video-conferencing facilities, web chat and interactive materials to help resolve the disaster.

Racing Academy – a massively multiplayer car racing and vehicle engineering simulation which allows students to engineer and race realistic virtual models of cars. Online facilities allow teams and communities to collaborate and compete on the web.

Speaker profiles:
Phillip Adams – a controversial broadcaster, writer and film-maker. As presenter of Late Night Live, he has interviewed thousands and can boast to be ABC Radio National’s largest driver of demand for podcast downloads (50,000 downloads for May 2006).

James Farmer – a Melbourne based online communications designer. James is the founder of edublogs.org, the largest educational blogging community on the web. James has worked as a lecturer in research and education design at Deakin University and is currently the Online Community Editor at The Age.

Annika Small – CEO of Futurelab UK, responsible for developing the strategic direction, establishing partnerships and exploring new opportunities for Futurelab. Annika has focused on developing compelling interactive learning resources for those excluded from traditional education.

Global Summit 2006 Online will take place before, during and after the Global Summit. This online event will begin on 31 July.

The online event is set up for anyone interested in contributing to ideas about technology connected futures and the future of education and training.

Global Summit 2006 Online will be open to everyone for 5 weeks.

After 4 September 2006 only registered Delegates and ‘Thought Leaders’ will be able to access the online event.

Read about & access this online event

Also check the Global Summit speakers (Seymour Papert, George Siemens, Robert Cailliau and more…) and the program.

Why wouldn’t you be there!!

How do we become active participants in the information age with an ability to read, write, produce, direct, podcast, v-cast, blog… AND do it critically.

The next education.au seminar, August 4 Sydney, will be exploring what options education and training need to consider to make this possible.

Speakers at the seminar include:

• Phillip Adams – controversial broadcaster, writer and film maker. Key Issue: How can a media and communications rich world make a difference in building a better education system?
• James Farmer – Online Community Editor at The Age and online communications designer. Key Issue: Engaging and empowering teachers and learners. What does this mean for pedagogy?
• Annika Small – CEO of Futurelab UK. Key Issue: How can technology transform the way people learn?

Further information registration

This is the very last reminder on Call for Papers:

8 – 10 November 2006
Mooloolaba on Queensland’s beautiful Sunshine Coast, Australia

Reminder that both Call for Papers & Super Early Bird end on 30 June for the ninth Learning Technologies conference to investigate new & emerging learning technologies & their use.

Members of LTUG, USDLA, UKDLA & JeLA joined in cyberspace today to hear Dr. Kecia Ray, Policy and Strategic Planning at Nashville Public Schools and well-known industry author, speak on the topic of The “Virtual” School. Dr Ray reviewed some statistics related to virtual schools as well as defined different types of schools, instructional strategies and tools of VS.

She posed several questions at the end of her presentation & we’re addressing these through a discussion forum:

• Where do we go from here?
• How do university distance programs influence K-12 program models?
• Are teachers prepared to teach via distance?
• Will social skills be affected by online classroom design?
• How does US compare with others in adoption of distance technologies?

If you’d like to participate (or just lurk) please click here to join the discussion forum.

I suggest you ’subscribe’ yourself (top left-hand corner) so that you receive an email when something is posted. This saves you having to remember to come back & check for postings.