A better conference wordle

Just taken out all the usernames from the conference wordle which results in something more informative and less self-referential (a part from the word 'twitter!). Click on it to see the original and bigger image.

Quick conference wordle

Just got back from an excellent Association for Learning Development in Higher Education conference. I'll write more of a report another time but just wanted to put up a wordle for the #ldhen10 conference hashtag (downloaded these using this Twitter tag downloader tool)

Hmmm, probably should have taken out the usernames using edit/replace as well as the hashtag! Still, another time...

Same talk different conference

Well, it's not quite the same talk but a catchy title I thought!

On 31 March I'm running a workshop at the Association for Learning Development in Higher Education conference in Nottingham with Becka Currant from the University of Bradford. The title is Engaging without invading: using social networking tools to connect with students.

The abstract that we submitted a while back says the following.

Use of social networking tools has exploded over the last few years with staff and students making more use of tools to stay in touch with each other. Both the University of Bradford and University of Leicester have used tools such as twitter, facebook and other social networks e.g. the Develop Me! ning site to keep students in touch with each other and also to promote University activities and support services.

And we've said this session will:

• provide an overview of some of these tools and how they have been used at Bradford and Leicester
• give participants an opportunity to explore how they could use the tools to support the learning of students and staff
• stimulate debate and discussion about whether or not these tools are useful in supporting the development of skills in staff and students

You can see my draft slides below - they cover the overview of stuff I've been doing in Leicester. I'd really appreciate any comments you have on them because I want to make this really clear.

Engaging Without Invading

View more presentations from Stuart Johnson.

However, these slides are just introductory - covering the what-we're-doing-at-Leicester bit. Becka will also give an overview of her work in developing http://developme.ning.com/ at Bradford. But we have the workshop punters for 90 minutes in an IT lab so the big question for me is what do we with them for the rest of the time? Any suggestions? In my experience it's very difficult to introduce people to web 2.0 tools, in particular social networking tools, in a workshop environment. So what do you suggest?

Disciplinary Action workshop at ALDinHE 2009

At the ALDinHE 2009 conference Steve Rooney and I ran a workshop entitled Disciplinary Action: Working with subjects-departments to design and deliver academic skills training and resources.

We began by introducing ourselves (we're very polite), then explained a bit about how the Student Learning Centre has evolved over the years and gave a brief overview of the workshop. We then ran our first activity - getting delegates to place their service  on a spectrum (a piece of masking tape sneakily stuck on the floor before hand) representing the location of the services that they offer - central at one end, departmental at the other. We had no idea how people would arrange themselves, but as it turned out there was a fairly even spread - including representation at the extremes. There were people who considered their services purely departmental (because they were based in a particular faculty or department) and others who considered theirs purely central. We had an interesting discussion at this point about whether being located in a department meant that the skills training offered in this context was therefore 'embedded'.

Our second activity involved introducing a second spectrum, specificity, to get delegates to think about whether the learning development interventions they offered were generic or discipline specific. At this point we revealed our one and only slide; a simple 4 box model, as shown on the right. In groups delegates placed the different types of interventions their services offered (individual consultations, resources, central teaching, skills modules, etc) into an appropriate box. This was to encourage them to think about the appropriateness of the interventions they offered.

Finally delegates looked at a case study to encourage discussions around what embedded skills training actually means and how it can be improved. I've long had the notion that  skills modules are the thing to aim for when working with departments, but preparing this workshop has got me thinking about whether or not it should be. Whilst it might be embedded from my point of view, is it embedded from the students point of view? Do students perceive skills modules as integrated or do they perceive them as silo-ed? What do you think?

ALDinHE conference 2009

I've just returned from the ALDinHE 2009 conference at Bournemouth University. I've not been to many conferences, but the ones I have been to, more often than not, have left me underwhelmed. This one, however, was different. Stimulating keynotes, a wide choice of workshops, time to network, brilliantly organised and a cracking conference dinner.

Monday's keynote was from Dr Dennis Hayes entitled From flagellation to therapy: what are students learning today? Dennis, with Kathryn Ecclestone, is the author of The Dangerous Rise of Therapeutic Education. His presentation was thought provoking and controversial (especially in this context). I must say I enjoyed his straight talking (many didn't), even though most of his assertions seemed to be based on anecdotes. He had loads of time for questions, which was just as well, because there were loads of questions. Conversations (often heated) spilled over into lunch and well beyond. It really did the job of encouraging debate.

Tuesday's keynote was from Professor Alan Mortiboys entitled Using Emotional Intelligence in Learning Development- what does it mean for the tutor to use emotional intelligence in learning development, and why is it important? Alan is the author of Teaching with Emotional Intelligence. His presentation was much less controversial, but I thought had much less content. I was struck by his comment that we should aim for emotional as well as cognitive learning outcomes. He got us to do various activities around developing our emotional intelligence as learning developers.

I also attended some very useful workshops, not least one entitled The magic resource maker. Many of the workshops I went to though weren't really workshops, but rather presentations with a few minutes for questions at the end, which was a little frustrating. Not that I mind presentations (although I can't cope with many after a keynote), I just don't like them being called workshops.

However, even though the keynotes and some workshops were very stimulating, perhaps the most useful aspect was meeting colleagues from similar services to ours from across the UK. I particularly enjoyed meeting people I'd previously met on Twitter, including Becka Currant and John Hilsdon. The image below is a wordle formed from the tweets of the conference, which might give you a flavour of what went on.