HEA Conference 2010

Okay, so this is old news, but the summer holidays have distracted me from blogging about the Higher Education Academy's conference back in June.

You can read the conference highlights, which includes a video of 'what people thought', some photos and commentary from Calie Pistorius, Vice-Chancellor at the University of Hull who delivered the keynote address.

The posters are also available online and the EvidenceNet wiki contains materials and presentations arising from the conference.

I also managed to miss the next HEA conference from my last blog post about conference dates for 2010/11 - The Annual Conference 2011 will take place on the 5-6 July at East Midlands Conference Centre, Nottingham.

I didn't attend, but have seen some blog posts from Paul Maharg at zeugma.typepad.com recently, so here's a few snippets and links to the 2010 conference in Hertfordshire that have a legal education slant to them:

HEA conference, day one

from Zeugma by Paul Maharg

Am at the Annual HEA conference, this year being held at the U. of Hertfordshire, de Havilland campus.  On budget day.  Folk are checking the plasmas in the breakout areas, not for the football/tennis results, but to see how bad it will be for education.  Subdued atmosphere, in spite of the blistering weather.  Keynote by Calie Pistorius, on innovation -- useful comments on innovation, attractive slides.

HEA conference, day two, Panel
from Zeugma by Paul Maharg

Quality was the agenda for the Panel session.  What sort?  Quality based on diversity, of students and institutions was Aaron Porter's answer.  But, he warned, if students are going to be paying more for that experience, there needs to be a better experience.  They can't be expected to be given the same at a higher price. Phil Willis raised a similar issue; and Mike Baker, in the Chair, raised the comparison of Vice Chancellors and football managers, not least in terms of pay...  

HEA conference, day two
from Zeugma by Paul Maharg

Attended session by Sue Watling on 'Gutenberg to Google: access denied'.  Interesting points on disability and access to digital data -- she compared access to physical access, lowered kerbs, etc.  One basic point was that the shift to a Windows GUI was a setback to access because of the visual cues it introduced to the interface.  Inclusive practice, for her, should include unknown users, diversity of preference, and avoiding the MEE-model.  She gave an example: a drag & drop activity where the items were one whole graphic, and therefore not available to keystrokes.  Text as graphics was another example...

HEA conference, day two, nomadic devices
from Zeugma by Paul Maharg

The blurb for this session -- 'we will discuss how nomadic technology will utterly transform learning' -- is irresistible.  Stuart Smith (3 Sheep Ltd, in association with MIMAS), started by defining nomadic learners pretty broadly as anyone with mobile devices + travel + working & learning.  

He started with the example of a hairdressing salon -- no space for computers, but there is space for digital resources on mobile devices...

HEA conference, day two, mobile learning
from Zeugma by Paul Maharg

Linked to HEA IMPALA.  Good to see IMPALA as the basis for this work -- really good project.  Session on mobile learning by mobile devices and educational context, by Don Vinson, Simon Padley and Joanna Hardman, U. of Gloucestershire.  Physical sciences disciplinary context, but in many ways applicable to almost all disciplines.  Three examples were given, below the fold...

HEA conference, day two, Simshare session
from Zeugma by Paul Maharg

No surprise that I was at this session since I was part of the team delivering it, with Karen Barton and Patricia McKellar.  Lots of ideas re SIMPLE and other sims, Simshare and OER slides in 30 mins...  

Questions were taken, eg about the sustainability of digital resources -- good point, though it goes beyond the Simshare project.  LPs > CDs > digital files... as a society we've still to come to terms with that.  Other questions concerned the nature of the community.  Good session (though I say so myself...). 

HEA conference, roundup
from Zeugma by Paul Maharg

On the train, back to Newcastle.  Reflections on the last two days...

No surprise that I was at this session since I was part of the team delivering it, with Karen Barton and Patricia McKellar.  Lots of ideas re SIMPLE and other sims, Simshare and OER slides in 30 mins...  

Questions were taken, eg about the sustainability of digital resources -- good point, though it goes beyond the Simshare project.  LPs > CDs > digital files... as a society we've still to come to terms with that.  Other questions concerned the nature of the community.  Good session (though I say so myself...). 

HEA conference, roundup
from Zeugma by Paul Maharg

On the train, back to Newcastle.  Reflections on the last two days...