Jisc Conference

This was a very thought provoking day, and thankfully much of the content is available from the JISC website. It really is worth spending some time listening to the podcasts and reading the summaries of the sessions.
The keynote speech from Professor Lizbeth Goodman was mind blowing, particularly in relation to the work she had down with people with disabilities, but also the sheer volume of innovative projects that she had been involved in. I felt like a sloth in comparison. I particulalry liked her attitude of focussing on what the learner/user requires/needs and forget about the money. Sheer determination and working postively seemed to have brought about profound changes for many of the people she has worked with. Check out her presentation, but you will need about 30 minutes:

http://www.jisc.ac.uk/events/2009/03/jiscconference09/programme/lizbethgoodman.aspx


I also attended the sessions 'Every Learner Counts: can technology help improve motivation and retention ?' , 'Mind the Gap... understanding the tensions between the institutions and the learner', as well as 'Web2practice - guides to emergent technologies and innovative practice.

All of these were excellent and you can read or listen to them via the JISC website. However, a major theme emerged in all the sessions relating to the difficulties of senior management not investing in the developing staff's competence in using elearning tools, primarily due to a lack of understanding of elearning, and the need to move away from institutional practices that disempower and alienate students. SMTs seem to be slow to respond to technological changes , and reluctant to give time to lecturers to develop their skills. After seeing all the amazings things we could be doing (and we are already doing some great stuff) I think we need to consider how we move forward. If there was one thing everyone agreed on - you need motivated and creative lecturers to inspire (beginning to hate that word) staff and students to use technology. Where do we go from here ?

http://www.jisc.ac.uk/events/2009/03/jiscconference09