Network Learning Hotseat Seminars

The Networked Learning Community will be holding their Seventh International Conference on Networked Learning in Aalborg, Denmark 3rd & 4th May 2010.  In the run-up to the conference, there are several online hotseats using discussion boards to facilitate a week-long debate by some of the leading thinkers in the field.   The first session is due to commence on 28th September 2009, with Caroline Haythornthwaite, a specialist in e-learning  from the University of Illinois.  The schedule is as follows:

• Caroline Haythornthwaite: Learning in Social Networks and Networked Learning – starting September 28th, 2009
• George Siemens and Steve Downes: Impact on Learning of Networked Technologies - starting October 26th, 2009
• Charalambos Vrasidas: Networked Learning and International Development - starting December 7th, 2009
• Grainne Conole: Theories and Methodologies for Research in Networked Learning - starting January 18th, 2010
• Gabriel Salomon and Rupert Wegerif: Globalisation and Interculturality in Networked Learning - starting February 15th, 2010
  And finally during March and April (dates to be announced) there will be hot seats hosted by the conference key note speakers:
• Yrjo Engstrom and Etienne Wenger.

The hot seats are free to attend. All you need to do is sign up at the conference community website and join the online hot seat debates. Social networking sites are becoming increasingly popular for academic conferences.  Last Year, LILAC09 took its first steps using a wiki as I discussed last year in this blog plost, whereas ALT-C used CrowdVine and LT2008 ran a Ning site to promote online social interactions.
In this particular instance, the Network are using the Jomsocial plugin for a Joomla community site to organise pre-conference events and  online discussion.  Typically, conferences have used such sites to facilitate rather than direct discussions, which can lead to very low, or very high uptake depending on the persons registered, their interests and motivation.  The use of 'hotseats' this year gives a bit of scaffolding to organise the discussions.  The conference guidelines for running a hotseat suggest that:

• The chair will present an introduction to the main topic of the seminar and its broader context and relevance to the networked learning conference.
• The chair of the seminar will bring together 2 or more discussants (co-presenters) who will lead a certain perspective on the seminar theme based on their own work/ research.
• The chair will moderate and organise the online seminar discussions.
• The chair is also responsible to bring the various discussion threads together and summarise the findings in relation to the theme of this seminar.

 So, hopefully the online events will not only facilitate and promote discussion, but also generate interest for the actual conference itself for those who can or cannot attend.