Next week – 9 and 10 November – sees the Second International Open On-line Conference on Innovation in Training Practice.

Although on-line conferences are becoming common in technology related fields, it is particularly heartening to see such practices spreading out to wider communities of research and learning. The free conference, organised by the EU funded Network to Support Trainers in Europe,  is for all those interested in the training and professional development of teachers and trainers. This includes teachers, trainers, researchers, managers and policy makers.

• Innovations in Work-based Learning for VET Teachers and Trainers
• Quality and Diversity: Innovations in training practice for socially disadvantaged group
• Technology Enhanced Learning / ICT for innovation and training practice
• Innovations in company-based training

Each theme lasts half a day, with two or three speakers from a wide range of countries per theme, with plenty of space for discussion. You can find the conference programme on the Trainers in Europe web site. The conference is open – you can find the links for the Elluminate rooms for the different sessions on the Trainers in Europe Web site but please register here so we can send you out more details.

This Thursday sees the final session in our autumn series of open on-line seminars run jointly between the Evolve network and Educamp.

The seminar, which takes place on the Elluminate platform, is on Mobile learning and Augmented Reality, with presentations from Mark Kramer and Same Easterby Smith, both of whom are leading developments in the use of this technology for learning.
Mark says: “The application of computer-generated imagery in live-video streams on mobile devices, as a way to expand the real-world, is finally available for the masses on an affordable basis. Augmented and mixed-reality scenarios are now a common fixture of our technology arsenal of methods to acquire information about our surroundings. This emergence of augmented reality (AR) also has great potential to support individual and group learning. I will share thoughts and experiences on how AR will change the way we view and experience learning in a situated context.”

The seminar takes place at 19.00 (UK time) / 20.00 (CEST) (check your local time).
Link to Venue: Elluminate

Link for more information: Seminars

Tomorrow (October 8) sees the latest n the series of open on-line seminars jointly organised by the Emerge Network and  Educamp.

Erik Duval and Ralf Klamma will guide us through an informal discussion around ‘Learning and personalization of content’, a topic that will certainly generate a lively debate. Make sure to contribute to it too. 😉 We look forward to ‘seeing’ you there.

When: October 8, 2009 / 19.00 (BST) / 20.00 (CEST) (check your local time here http://tinyurl.com/mokbjb )

Where: Elluminate (accessible via the following link: http://tinyurl.com/ybb9d3g )

Full details on the Educamp website.

It has been a busy autumn here at Pontydysgu. Conferences, project meetings and so on. At the moment we are focusing on three or four main issues.

On the research side we are continuing to develop our ideas around the WOMBLE – Work Oriented MoBile Learning Environment. In particular we are thinking about the pedagogic approaches ot learning using mobile devices – especially issues of collaboration and context. We are particularly interested in what we can learn from the work of Vygotsky on the Zone of Proximal Development and Boundary Objects in scaffolding learning and developing knowledge.

On an organisational level we have relaunched the Evolve seminar series in conjunction with Educamp. the next seminar is on Personal Learning Environments with Ralf Klamma and / Erik Duval. It takes place on October 8 at 19.00 (BST) / 20.00 (CEST) (check your local time). To join the seminar just click here: Elluminate.

And on the 9th and 10th of November, we are helping to organise the second international on-line conference on the teaching of teachers and trainers. the Conference is entitled ;Innovation in Training Practice’ and is free to attend. Click here for more details and for free enrolment.

Last but not least, earlier this week we attended the annual ECER conference which was held in Vienna. Pontydysgu worked on a project seeking to show the use of audio and video to enhance the conference and to make some of the key ideas and themes accessible to a wider audience. We are editing the videos at the moment and hope to get them on-line next week.

And on

The autumn conference season is upon us. What will be this years trends? Two years ago we were all adding friends to our Facebook accounts. Last year was the wonders of Twitter. This year I guess we will all be checking our mobile devices and swapping favourite apps (mine is Audioboo if you are interested!).

But of more importance to me is the slow progress in making face to face events accessible online. As recently as last year some conference organisers were still reluctant to allow live streaming, usually arguing lack of bandwidth although in my view more worried about what this might mean for conference attendance (and conference fees).

Many of the sessions at next weeks Alt C confernce can be accessed for free online. And many session organisers seem to be planning to use Twitter to facilitate online interaction. It is still a little tricky to find out what is available and where. The best way is to follow the has tags. Alt C is using #altC2009 and the fringe conference F-Alt can be followed on #Falt09. T help readers I have updated the Pontydysgu events page adding as many details of online links as are available at present.

Look forward to meeting up with you all in Manchester or online next week.

The results of the selection of projects for the latest round of the EU Lifelong Learning programme Transversal projects were released today. This is the strand which includes Technology Enhanced Learning and the resulst had been delayed due to the high number of applications.

We are delighted to discover we are partners in two successful applications. The first is the politics project coordinated by the Laagna Gümnaasium in Estonia.The aim is to use online story telling to “enable school students, VET trainees and adult learners, specially immigrants undertaking ‘citizenship’ programmes, to develop a better understanding of how modern society functions and at the same time develop skills in problem solving, communication and language learning and writing skills.”

The second is the “Web 2.0 Enhanced Gateway To Educational Transition” coordinated by P&W in Ingolstadt in Germany which “will develop an e-platform, which will enable learners to reflect and develop creativity potentials and transitional skills in the light of self and others’ learning experience, made visible through a variety of media sets and PLE tools, each of them designed to meet the requirements of transition envisaged, and all of which are mapped into one single pedagogy framework. CIWEB this way allows for the mapping of particular tools following students’ learning aims and activities, rather than focussing on technology.”

Many thanks to the coordinators for including Pontydysgu as a partner in the projects. We are looking forward to working with you all.

Tomorrow – Thursday 9 July – we are broadcasting four live radio shows to accompany the Jisc Institutional Innovation programme online conference on Institutional Access.

The first at 10.00 until 12.15 (all times Central European Summer Time) will feature the keynote presentation to the confernce by Professor John Cook on ‘Scaffolding the Mobile Wave’. John’s presentation is scheduled for about 1055 until 11.55.

The second programme will be from 14.00 to 14.30 and will feature interviews with programme managers from the Jisc Institutional innovation programme.

The afternoon show, from 1600 – 1630 features interviews with projects both in the UK and in Portugal.

The final broadcast from 1930 – 2030 will be informal with music and a round up from the conference plus chats with project developers from other European countries.

You can access the internet radio feed by going to http://radio.jiscemerge.org.uk:80/Emerge.m3u in your browser. This will open the stream in your MP3 programme of choice (e.g, iTunes).

Please feel free to just sit back and enjoy the show. But if you would like to come on the show live to provide your reflections and ideas about the issues being discussed then please skype or email Graham Attwell – graham10 [at] mac [dot] com or GrahamAttwell on skype.

Three weeks ago we broadcast a pilot edition of a new radio programme produced for Jisc, the elearning programme. And ia couple of days later we released the full podcasts of the interviews which we had undertaken in making the programme. The interviews were very interesting – particularly for anyone interested in research, policy and practice in work based learning, progression routes, eportfolios etc. However somehow a bug crept into the system and some listeners may have had problems accessing the recordings. Fear not, the gremlin has been eradicated from the system and you can now listen to the interviews inline or download the podcasts. Just to remind you, the interviews are with:

• Rob Ward, Centre for Recording Learning Achievement
• Sandra Winfield, Nottingham University
• Tony Toole, University of Glamorgan
• Alan Paull
• Bob Bell, Jisc Northern Regional Support Centre
• Clive Church, EdExcel.
• Derek Longhurst, Foundation Degree Forward
• Lucy Stone, Leicester College
• Lucy Warman, University of Central Lancashire.

They can be found on the following blog posts:

E-learning, work based learning, e-portfolios, mobile devices and more – the podcasts

E-learning, work based learning, e-portfolios, mobile devices and more – the podcasts (2)

Pontydysgu does a lot of work with audio. we enjoy it, particularly the live Sounds of the Bazaar internet radio show. And like the good techies we are, we have accumulated a fine collection of gadgets and devices for recording and broadcasting.

But producing good quality audio takes time. And that is why I love Audioboo, which promises to do for audio what Youtube did for video. It is a bit limited at the moment – you can only upload from an iPhone or iPod touch. But it is quick and easy. So we have set up an Audioboo channel for Sounds of the Bazaar (called, imaginatively, Sounds of the Bazaar, and will be braodcasting regular 3 minute boos (??) on that site. If you want to here our latest contribution, Dirk has installed a widget on the right hand sidebar of this page.

Thursday, 21 May sees the pilot programme of a new Jisc live internet radio programme, ‘the Elearning Show’. The programme which is to be broadcast at 1800 – 1855 UK summer time, is based on issues raised at the recent Jisc Lifelong Learning Symposium.

These issues include how university and college cultures need to change to support work based learning, who the new students are and what are their needs, how e-Portfolios can be used both for recording learning and for providing information, advice and guidance and the use of mobile technologies.

The programme considers both current and emergent practices in elearning and the development of policies to support such practice.

The programme will be presented by Graham Attwell and guests include Derek Longhurst from Foundation Degree Forward, Clive Church from Edexel, Lucy Stone from Leicester College, Tony Toole from the University of Glamorgan, Bob Bell, HE in FE consultant for the northern region, Sandra Winfield from Nottingham University and Rob Ward from the Centre for Recording Achievement

The programme will also feature a live panel. with the opportunity for listeners to skype or email their questions and comments and their will be a live chat room for listeners.

To listen to the programme go to http://radio.jiscemerge.org.uk:80/Emerge.m3u This will open the LIVE radio stream in your MP3 player of choice.

You can take part in the chat room at http://tinyurl.com/sounds08. Just add your name and press enter – no password required. And you can leave comments and questions on the Jisc elearning blog.

If you like to send us questions for the panel in advance of the programme, email Graham Attwell – graham10 [at] mac [dot] com or skype to GrahamAttwell.”

Although the programme is based on developments in the UK many of the issues to be discussed on the programme will have relevance for listeners interested in the use of technologies for learning wherever they are.