Leeds (UK), September 2008 - This year's ALT-C conference recently came to a close. More than 700 delegates from fifteen countries gathered in Leeds to discuss the topic of "Rethinking the Digital Divide". Simon Davis, Learning Technologist from the University of Leeds, writes about his personal insights into the conference and gives an overview of the keynote contents.
Opening the Conference, Hans Rosling, Professor of International Health at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, entertained and inspired the audience with his keynote address. The highly accomplished "TED" speaker effusively illustrated the power of visual aids, videos, and animation in communicating sophisticated subjects with examples ranging from animated statistics to simply the better use of PowerPoint.
The second keynote address came from cognitive neuroscientist Dr. Itiel Dror, who encouraged the attendees to use technology to simplify the amount of data students are expected to process. He contended that doing so will reduce the cognitive load on the students, thus increasing their capacity to learn and "use" the information.
The final keynote address of the conference came from David Cavallo, Chief Learning Architect of the One Laptop Per Child project. He spoke eloquently about tackling the digital divide head on, and while he is distributing thousands of laptops to the poorest children on Earth, he urged us to revisit T.S. Eliot's question "Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?" and to use technology to bring learning to life.
The extent of the conference's 81 sessions, mainly a mix of symposia, workshops, and seminars, meant that there was indeed "something for everyone". Highlights that reflected some of the work going on here at Leeds included sessions on mobile technology and assessment, the use of audio for feedback, and the deployment of wikis and other technologies to engage both face-to-face and remote learners.
Beyond the formal sessions, ALT-C 2008 provided excellent opportunities for networking, as well as two exhibition halls full of nearly sixty learning-technology posters and stands from the 28 exhibiting companies. Sometimes networking can be a hit-and-miss affair that often sees me trying to sidle up next to people and engage them in meaningful small talk. Fortunately I was supported at this conference by the virtual networking capabilities offered by the conference website. This allowed me to create my own networks of academics, techies, developers, researchers, and movers and shakers, as well as follow up new contacts, of which there were a few quite useful ones.
The conference gave me new perspectives on the "digital divide", whether it be the gaps between students and teachers, the haves and have nots, or face-to-face and remote learners. However, despite all the impressive work taking place at other institutions, I can't help feeling that Leeds is particularly well placed to move forward with its blended-learning agenda and that 2008-09 promises to be an exciting year with continued innovation and progress in this area.
While there may be other events throughout the year that might be more technically enlightening or more relevant to a specific project, for the sheer breadth of topics and number of learning technologists and enthusiasts per square foot, ALT-C will be firmly on my calendar for next year.
