Thursday 5th June 2008, Edge Hill University,UK
Keynote Speakers
Les Watson - Freelance Educational Adviser and Interim Director of Information Services at the Royal Holloway University of London & Consultant to the Joint Information Systems Committee e-learning programme on Technology Enhanced Learning Environments. More info >>>
Keynote PowerPoint presentation View (pdf) >>>
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Abstract:
From Space to Place
Expenditure on buildings is at an at all time high in our schools, colleges and universities. Les Watson will explore what we should be thinking about in the design of new spaces for learning, what should drive our designs, and how design itself is crucial in the development of inspirational spaces.
Technological change has had significant impact on access to information and the rate of dissemination of ideas, inevitably affecting the way students learn, and to a lesser extent, the way teachers teach. The impact of the information age has also had major impact on our libraries of all types challenging their very purpose and some would argue threatening their existence as physical places. There is evidence, however, that the virtual and the physical are not either/or choices for individual learners are both/and possibilities. The existence of virtual learning does not mean that learners will migrate to virtual worlds and have no need of physical learning spaces but rather that physical spaces are enabled and strengthened by technology.
This keynote will incorporate ideas from the development and implementation of the highly acclaimed Saltire Centre at Glasgow Caledonian University which is a library, but is also a one-stop shop for student services and a place of learning. The Saltire Centre, through its wide range of study environments, aims to provide a multiplicity of different learning opportunities and engage the whole student population.
Eric Hamilton - Associate Dean and Professor of Education at Pepperdine University, USA. More info >>>
Keynote PowerPoint presentation View (pdf) >>>
Keynote video View (wmv) >>>
Abstract:
Learners, Learning Environments, and Classrooms of the Future
Despite the historically unrivalled pace of change in our world, it is fair to say that the education sector of western society has changed less than virtually any other social structure over the past century. Classrooms in 2008 look largely like classrooms of the mid-twentieth century and before. Yet the ways we learn, acquire new knowledge, communicate, and connect to society are fundamentally different from past eras. Is it realistic to think that learning environments of the future, and, in particular, our classroom structures, will do more than weakly tag along society's rapid changes? Tools for profound change are within grasp. Computationally transformed theories, tools and models are available now to help chart an internationally promising and long-term trajectory of research, development and testing for next generation learning environments. The prospects for a golden age in education, not only with high performance learning but with vastly more humane learning for more students, are powerful and their potential ripple effects to address some of the great threats and challenges of our era are tantalising. This keynote explores changes in educational settings, some of which are underway, others of which are inevitable, and still others that are not inevitable, but are lofty yet within grasp. It is in this last category that the stakes are highest.
Peter Hartley - Professor of Education Development and Head of the Teaching Quality Enhancement Group at the University of Bradford. More info >>>
Closing Notes video View (wmv) >>>