ALT Announces Key Themes for 2009 Conference

The conference takes place from 8-10 September 2009, Manchester, UK.

The key themes address learning and technology, focusing on:

• learning from history to build on past gains and avoid previous mistakes;
• spreading innovations that are of true value, rather than mere fads;
• redesigning pedagogy, the curriculum, and assessment methods to secure a substantial positive impact on learning;
• ensuring cost effectiveness by various means, from working effectively at a large scale to supporting peer-assisted learning cultures;
• developing a research culture that informs practice and a culture of practice that uses research evidence.

Seb Schmoller, Chief Executive of ALT explains, -œLearning technologies and learning technologists are now at the heart of modern learning, and yet our community still faces many challenges. To rise to these challenges, we must dream and act on our dreams, but evidence must justify the choices we make. ALT-C 2009 will provide a broad forum for practitioners, researchers, and policy-makers from all sectors to explore, reflect, and learn.-

The keynote speakers for ALT-C 2009 are:

• Martin Bean, Vice-Chancellor Designate of the Open University, formerly General Manager responsible for product management, marketing, and business development for the Worldwide Education Products Group at Microsoft.
• Michael Wesch, Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology at Kansas State University, USA and active in research in new media, particularly digital media.
• Terry Anderson, Professor and Canada Research Chair in Distance Education at Athabasca University, Canada. At the University, he teaches and advises students in the world's largest Master's of Distance Education program and is active in research in the fields of distance education and eLearning.

The conference co-chairs are Gilly Salmon, Professor of eLearning and learning technologies at the University of Leicester, UK, and Professor Tom Boyle, Director of the Learning Technology Research Institute at London Metropolitan University, UK.

Modern Learning