04/10 - Harrogate, UK

Pre-Conference Events

 

This year for our PCE we intend to offer a variant of an Un-Conference for our pre-conference event.

We are also intending to run a Virtual PCE (VPCE) in the six weeks that lead up to the day of the PCE that will run in Harrogate on the theme of Web 2.0. During the VPCE we will be looking at a number of topics:

  • Week 1 - Introductions
  • Week 2 - Student Publishing with Blogs and Wikis
  • Week 3 - Audio Tools
  • Week 4 - Using Images & Video
  • Week 5 - Virtual Meeting Places (including Virtual Classrooms and Virtual Worlds)
  • Week 6 - Round-up

On the day of the PCE itself, we hope that at least some people who take part in the VPCE will be able to attend the face-to-face event (but we will also ask for a virtual presence as well), we will show some of the activity we have been engaged in.

However, the main focus of the PCE day then will be to consider where we are now in the field of learning technologies and language learning and where we are going. Have we reached a time when learning technologies are a 'normalised' part of our practice, or is there still some way to go?

We have asked three people - Stephen Bax, Scott Thornbury and Mark Pegrum - to help us with short focused presentations during the day at various points to seed the debate. Stephen and Scott will be in Harrogate, Mark will be online. Group leaders will then work with conference participants to support the discussion of whatever questions get raised as part of the day; groups will then report back to the audience. Group leaders will be asked to make a record of the event and write up the ideas for a special publication.

 

LT SIG Programme

 

Our SIG programme will take place on Friday 9th April, with the following sessions:-

  • Suzanne Schumacher - Learning with mobile phones and Bluetooth administration
  • Ozge Karaoglu & Shelly Terrell - Engaging lower primary students through Web 2.0 tools
  • Sanaa Khabbar & Amal Abou-Setta - Facebook as a writing medium for students
  • Joe Pereira - Avalon to Shakespeare: Language learning and teaching in virtual worlds
  • Rachel Lindner & Vida Zorko - Computer-mediated intercultural exchanges between ESP students. Practical guidelines and insights
  • Russell Stannard - Web 2.0 tools that make a difference
  • LT SIG Open Forum