Thursday 9 June 2011

Solstice conference 2011, my thoughts

Thanks for a really inspiring conference, as always. I never fail to return from solstice without a few new ideas, and this time I got two in one day. On top of that both where really well researched and presented. Here's a quick overview

Mark Childs and his exploration of second life and the importance of on line presence was useful, but I fear these types of projects might be fast disappearing from learning tech field .It's very research worthy, and pushes the boundaries, but has limited mass transference to a range of subject. The current climate unfortunately means we are far too focused on the here and now. Well done for getting the US research (very jealous).
Beck Colley hit my concerns and current focus just right. A very passionate delivery with the right balance of aspiration, practicality, doom and a little hope. The main focus being the students, their real needs and how to meet them. I shall thinking a great deal about student "belonging" in the coming year.

The two presentations I enjoyed the most were
Dr Trevor Baker using PRS to develop students understanding of marking criteria. He had a very rigorous and ingenious process that was improving grades by 6%.

Dr Andrea Gorra who was presenting research into student asking for different levels of feedback rather than tutors supply personalised feedback for all. This was a very innovative and a challenging idea that provoked debate. But I think it is very worthy of further investigation.

Posted via email from abstractrabbit (Jim Turner) posterous

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