Networks, Communities & Learning: Show that you Share!

a European Conference

Organised by the Bazaar project and IVLOS, the Institute of Education of Utrecht University

Download the conference flyer here

14 December 2007, Utrecht, the Netherlands
9:30 - 16:00, Boothzaal, Utrecht University Library on the University Campus de Uithof, Heidelberglaan 3

Conference Objectives

• To provide a space for participant-driven discussion and debate
• To promote critical enquiry and discourse
• To allow for the presentation of ideas in progress
• To provide access to peer expertise and opinion

Main Themes

These five main themes are based on key and emergent issues identified by Bazaar

• Hey Dude, Where’s my Data? On data security, privacy and sustainability
• Social Software, Tools and Content Creation
• OERs and the Culture of Sharing
• Interoperability and Metadata and OERs
• PLEs, ePortfolio’s and Informal Learning

Workshops and Round Tables

Social networking services & social search – led by Josie Fraser, EdTechUK, UK
THINKing and UNDERSTANDing the internet – led by Helen Keegan, Salford University, UK
Building an infrastructure for lifelong competence development – led by Wolgang Greller, Open University, NL
Developing Open Educational Resources – led by Marco Kalz, Open University, NL
The use of wikis and open architecture spaces to promote a culture of sharing – led by Steve Wheeler, University of Plymouth, UK
Creating and sharing Open Educational resources – led by Veronika Hornung, Salzburg Research, AT
Personal Learning Environments – led by Graham Attwell, Pontydysgu, UK
How can we use IMS Learning Design? – led by Raymond Elferink, RayCom BV, NL
The future of Learning Management Systems – led by Geoge Bekiaridis, Ergon KEK, GR

Conference format

The major aim of the conference is to promote dialogue and exchange between ‘experts’, researchers, developers, practitioners and learners. We are particularly keen that learners and junior researchers are given an opportunity to discuss and exchange their ideas. We aim that the content of the sessions is driven and created by the participants rather than the traditional ‘presentation and five minutes questions’ format with content determined in advance by a single organiser, or a small group of organisers.

How will the format work?

The conference will start with a short scoping session. The main space will be for participants.
How the conference works is up to you!
To make the most out of the space available for the conference, the room will be divided into the following six areas, that can be dynamically allocated to one of the conference themes and to one of the following approaches:

1. Round table area (1) - for open discussion, meetings, project presentations, requests for comments and so on. This area is a useful space for those in the community that are already progressing with ideas and projects and research to spend face-2-face time discussing and formulating ways forward. This is your space. Feel free to use it as you wish.
2. Discourse space (2-5) - we outline here four different kinds of activities that you might like to try:
   1. The Ten Minute Slot -Ten minute presentations of work and ideas in progress, to be followed by ten minute discussion.
   2. Critical Enquiry - Present an idea for a project, a software tool etc. and be prepared for a critique from our expert panel (made up of other participants).
   3. Ask an Expert - Request that someone else introduces on a topic you wish to learn something about.
   4. Discussion Circle - Introduce a discussion in a maximum of three minutes, each participant gets two minutes to contribute.
   5. … anything else you would like to do
3. Poster time (6) - one area will be available for posters with another ten minute slot for you to explain your poster.

We will leave free spaces for ideas to be presented. If you have ideas already, it would be great if you could send us a short note suggesting the thing you would like to do or present at the conference. We will then add it to the conference web space to be launched shortly as part of the main Bazaar website www.bazaar.org.

The conference is free. Coffee and lunch will be provided for all participants. If you are interested in attending, please register in advance by sending an e-mail to Raymond Elferink - raymond@raycom.com

When registering, please provide us with the following information:

Name:
Organisation:
E-mail:
Website:

- I would like to run a Round Table / Ten Minute Slot / Critical Enquiry session
- I would like to present an idea in a Discussion Circle / Poster Session
- I would like to present a question to an Expert
- I would like to lurk at the conference and might decide to participate there and then

My topic will be:

8 comments November 2nd, 2007

Adult education and the use of social open source tools

While it is widely accepted that life experience which elderly people bring with them is very relevant in senior education, recent research indicates that this is also true for ICT and specifically to design effective learning technologies, methodologies and content for the elderly.

Taking this into account, the APADIS project has initially explored learning technologies to foster group activities instead of individual ones, and strengthen specific social relationships. Social Web 2.0 technologies can play a key role in that.

At the Ágora School of Adult People in La Verneda-St. Martí (Barcelona, Spain), which is based on participation, in fact we have built:

• A virtual gallery based on Yahoo! Flickr, an online photo sharing system, that allows the elderly students to store and browse previously downloaded pictures and to share them with their friends at the school, and with grandchildren and adult children at home, online.
• A blog based on WordPress which enables the elderly to work collaboratively with other students on the same or different projects online.

Both technologies enable old people to demonstrate their ability to use computers to their social circles (namely, their grandchildren who are a source of motivation and adult children, who can play a negative role) by using the Web, which we have found to be one of the most relevant indicators of digital literacy amongst the social networks of elderly people. These technologies also support online group-related educational activities, which are much closer to the elderly than those individually-centred activities fostered by traditional learning methodologies.

More information:

What is APADIS? APADIS is a project funded by the Spanish IMSERSO intended to design and develop an online virtual learning environment using open source technologies that meet the educational needs of elderly people in both online and traditional learning. APADIS builds upon ABE Campus, an online campus for Adult Basic Education, open source (http://www.basicampus.net/), currently being used in a broad array of courses at Âgora. The project is coordinated by CREA, http://www.pcb.ub.es/crea

The paper accepted for publication at the ACM Crossroads, Meeting some educational needs of elderly people in ICT: Two exploratory case studies. by Sergio Sayago, Patricia Santos, Maite Gonzalez, Miriam Arenas, and Laura Lopez, provides more detailed information and analysis. Contact Sergio Sayago at his e-mail address at upf dot es.

Sergio Sayago, Josep Blat and Toni Navarrete. Universitat Pompeu Fabra (Barcelona, Spain)

7 comments November 2nd, 2007