2008 Theme

ITPNZ are pleased to host eFest 2008 – Connected Learning.

The way we interact with each other in society and in the global economy has changed dramatically over the past 5 years with the influence of information and communication technologies. Most learners today take these ICT influences for granted and yet this adoption is still not reflected to the same degree in everyday formal education settings.

In our daily lives the opportunity to connect or re-connect with others is rapidly burgeoning - connect with old friends and make new ones through Facebook, MySpace, Second Life and perhaps your local online dating site :-). Interested in a specialist topic? Join a Google Group, start a blog to share your ideas, publish links to relevant sites on Del.icio.us or contribute your expertise to the global brain by editing pages on Wikipedia. How about sharing your photos, video or audio on Flickr, YouTube or Podcast Alley - and start a conversation around them? At the same time, broadband infrastructure is gradually developing to support faster and richer interaction using these and other toolsets.

So we have this explosion of new opportunities to connect with people, with content and with organisations in many ways. But how do we incorporate these tools in our teaching and learning practice, within our organisations and what new opportunities do they provide to engage with each other as learners, as teachers and as colleagues?

The education landscape is also changing in New Zealand, with tertiary providers focusing on local regions and yet seeking to collaborate to increase efficiency or open opportunities to their communities that they can't provide within their limited resources. How do corporate training requirements mesh with the need for tertiary qualifications and who should be involved - PTE's, ITO's, ITP's etc. The acronym dance continues. In the secondary education sector there is increasing pressure on finding new ways to allow for personalised learning and for engaging less able, disengaged or marginalised learners.

We need to recognise the need to provide learning services in different ways. Delivering these experiences effectively requires us to work together differently, acquire new skills, learn to use new tools and adopt new roles in educational situations.

How do we even keep up with all the new tools and opportunities that become available, let alone plan how to use them in formal learning programmes? How do we embed these connections into everyday educational practice? How do we make sensible plans for how we will teach and learn in another five years time? The focus of eFest for 2008 is to provide you opportunities to explore some of these connections, to hear of practical strategies others are developing and to connect with new ideas and colleagues to build the support network required in these challenging but exciting times.

Subthemes

1. Connected Learners: Web 2.0 and collaboration tools, Learning management systems or Personal Learning Environments, ePortfolios, tools and approaches/techniques for connecting learners
2. Connected Educators: Wiki educator and collaborative development, sharing good practice, eLearning guidelines, professional development networks for educators, the future of Intellectual Property rights in education.
3. Connected Organisations: networking and collaboration between education institutes, optimising organisation performance, technical standards, cross-sector/industry partnerships
4. Connected Content: Open Educational Resources, sharing content vs collaborative development, learner generated content/work, if content is free what is the role of the educator/institute?

Join us in Auckland in September of 2008 - as a participant or as a presenter - we're looking forward to seeing you there.

Who is eFest for?

eFest is for people exploring the use of technology in teaching and learning, including teaching staff, course designers and developers, technologists, policymakers, decision-makers and those engaged in learning and training. Although eFest 2008 is hosted by the Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics, it is expected to be a significant event for those across the tertiary, corporate and secondary education sector. eFest is increasingly attracting attendees from the universities, wānanga, PTEs, ITO's, corporate training departments and secondary schools.