Maren Deepwell

Tag: #altcSummit

  • Summit week (with heart) #altc #altcSummit

    Summit week (with heart) #altc #altcSummit

    It’s been a busy week at ALT HQ as we have been busy with the ALT Summer Summit and this weekend, a much-needed long weekend, has seen me mostly offline, but there is a radio show to do on a Sunday, and that’s led me to blog, too.

    I really liked this heart, that was put up on a farm fence close to the hill, and it seems like an excellent visual jumping off point for reflecting on a summit (with heart). So here are ten tweets from this week #altc #altcSummit:

    It was an awesome event, which gave me a sense of community and connecting, and a sense of hope that I am grateful for.

  • Virtual hugs and no conference chicken… #altc #altcSummit

    Virtual hugs and no conference chicken… #altc #altcSummit

    Next week is ALT’s first summer summit and the first time since 2009 that I don’t spend this weekend packing up clothes, shoes and EVERY cable and charger in my study and make a 5 day trip to Edinuburgh, Manchester, Nottingham or this year London.

    But just because I am not packing my suitcase doesn’t mean I am not preparing for what is promising to be a crazy and fun week!

    Shoes

    Conferences are serious shoe business for some of us… and one of the real upsides of virtual events is that there is really no limit to the shoe tweeting you can do, combining all your shoes or trainers… after months of not having a real reason to dress up, I for one am looking forward to the opportunity to have a bit of fun and get back into conference dressing 🙂

    Pizza

    Having pizza the night before a big event has become something of a tradition in our staff team. I take the blame for that as it’s probably me suggesting it year after year… but it’s led us to have dinners in some very fun places over the years in different cities across the country!

    So this year, we are tuning in to ALT Summer Summit Radio Show
    at 7pm UK time on Tuesday, to join our very own online radio show in partnership with The Thursday Night Show, hosted by The Thursday Night Show and ALT Members.

    I have really fallen in love with online radio during the pandemic, so I am looking forward to hearing those sets and sharing some pizza with my colleagues, no doubt tweeting along a bit as well. The night before the storm that is the opening day of a big event… good company is key 🙂

    Not walking 10 miles a day

    One characteristic of my conference trips is that I end up walking many miles each day, depending on the venue. On a normal day, it’s up to 10 miles. One of the reasons why I always wear flat shoes to events.

    But this year it’s all virtual, so I have come up with a number of ways in which I am going to keep moving throughout next week: first up, standing up whenever I can, and I have a small standing desk for just that purpose. So I expect to gear up to the keynotes, panels and parallel sessions standing up at least.

    Also, being online for 10 hours a day is tiring, so mornings and evenings are going to need some walking. Fortunately most of the evening social events such as Monday’s LTHEchat or the ALT Quiz on Wednesday I will be able to participate in from my phone, so… a bit of fresh air and movement is definitely on the cards. Er… and my excuse to not inflict my singing voice on the good folk from Reclaim Hosting as we are lucky enough to have the KaraOERke master Jim Groom host the show on Wednesday night.

    Virtual hugs, but no chicken

    One of the things I miss most about running face to face events is meeting people (and hugs, too)!. It seems distant, like another era entirely, but I miss it anyway and so I am going to make an extra effort to connect with both old and new colleagues. I am going to drop by the Summit Cafe, take part in Social Bingo… I am going to tweet along #altc #altcSummit… I am going to post word into wordclouds… say hello to participants, speakers and sponsors… I am going to revel in my community.

    A community that has been through so much and kept going so long through this year… the year we all found out what a Learning Technology emergency looks like. An emergency which is now into months of duration and for which I can sense no kind of normal.

    But despite everything (and thank you, A-level results day, for adding another layer of complexity to the chaos) and maybe particularly because of everything, I am really excited. Tired, too, but also inspired that a few hundred participants from the UK, Ireland, Canada, America, Sweden, Germany, Australia, Mexico, Uruguay… and many other countries have signed up for this ride.

    I haven’t been to many virtual events that had real heart, but if OER20 is anything to go by, then this Summit should be a very special occasion indeed. It’s a milestone moment, championing everyone in Learning Technology, against a backdrop of bleakness and burnout.

    It may be that you only get a virtual hug this year… and the dancing will have to be in your own living room. But there won’t be cold conference chicken and coffee should be excellent.

    I am heartened by reading the blog posts and browsing through the programme that there is appetite for asking the hard questions, for sharing knowledge that will help meet the challenges of the next academic year… and that there is so much of our community at the heart of this Summit.

    If you want to say hello and exchange virtual hugs, ping me @marendeepwell.

    See you at the Summit #altc #altcSummit 🙂

  • No Annual Conference, but a Summer Summit #altc #altcSummit

    Usually at this time of year I start to blog about what’s coming up at ALT’s Annual Conference in September. For over ten years this event has shaped my working life, setting the rhythm of when things go from busy to frantic. It’s not ‘just a conference’, but also a focus point around which engagement in activities that happen at other times of the year is planned (find our more).

    When ALT’s Board of Trustees took the difficult decision to not hold an Annual Conference until 2021, I felt that as an organisation we made the best decision. We put the well-being of everyone involved first as it was very clear that we couldn’t manage the risks involved in holding a large international event with over 500 people in London this autumn. Or indeed at the start of what is looking to be a very demanding academic year for everyone in Learning Technology.

    Yet the need to share knowledge, to learn from each others practice and research is more urgent now as Learning Technology has moved centre stage. Hence we are organising a virtual Summer Summit over 2 days, 26-27 August 2020 – and I am getting really excited about what’s in store.

    From the crisis drop ins, weekly webinars and Members’ feedback in recent months we have picked up topics which are most urgent such as virtual labs, digital inclusion, well being and scaling up blended and fully online provision and for each of these and more there will be practical, parallel sessions running throughout the programme.

    We have put an issue that concerns us all at the heart of the summit, and are fortunate that Angela Saini will be joining the summit for a special Q&A session #BlackLivesMatter.

    Building on the recent success of #GastaGoesGlobal, a special ‘Crisis & Care’ Gasta session features doctoral researchers from the Global OER Graduate Network (GO-GN) and will be chaired in the best #altc GASTA tradition by Dr Tom Farrelly, Institute of Technology, Tralee (ITT).

    Alongside a wonderful line up of featured speakers, we have also been thinking hard about how to translate some of what makes our events special into a new online format. We want to not look at a grid of faces for two days running, so asynchronous sessions are in the programme, too, as well as a quiz, radio and… karaOERke…! There may even be a 2020 #altc community portrait 🙂

    Registration for the Summit is open and tickets are £49 and free scholarship places are available. Register to get access to live sessions, recordings and resources and join us for what is promising to be a very special two days this August #altcSummit.