Who is the conference for?
Practitioners, e-learning co-ordinators and managers in further and higher education, researchers, staff developers and learning technologists. The conference will also be of interest to participants from countries other than the UK.
How does the online conference work?
The conference will use asynchronous discussion group software, and is backed up by a web site with additional content. Participants log in and read the messages and contributions from other participants, facilitators and presenters. All discussions within the conference will be asynchronous, meaning there will be no set time when participants have to log in. There will also be a number of live events, but these are complemented by asynchronous discussions.
Will I be able to view the conference before the opening day?
Participants will have the opportunity to have a look at the conference platform two weeks in advance of the conference to familiarise themselves with the layout of the site, try out the conference software, and, most importantly of all, download and view the papers and presentations. This is essential - the conference itself will be very busy, so preparing by reading the presentations in advance is very important.
What will happen during the conference?
Each keynote presentation will feature for two days and participants will be able to read papers and view the presentations, and have a discussion about the issues raised in which the presenters will participate. Simultaneously, there will be a number of other workshops and discussions (also lasting two days), backed up with other papers and presentations. There will also be a social area available for participants.
What are the dates and timing?
21st October: Conference opens for reading, 8.30 a.m. UK time. Discussions (other than social area) are not yet open. This week is important because it gives you the chance to view all the presentations and read the papers before the discussions actually start.
4th/5th November: Theme 1 opens 8.30 a.m. on the 4th. All the discussions in this theme last for two days.
6th/7th November: Theme 2 opens, 8.30 a.m. on the 6th. All the discussions in this theme last for two days.
8th November: Conference discussions close 8.30 a.m. However, the conference proceedings are available for a further month for reading, so that participants can catch up on what they missed.
Do I need any special equipment or software?
For the asynchronous discussions, just access to the Internet, and a browser. However, some presentations will use, Flash, video, etc., so players for these will be required, but, of course, most or all browsers will have these. The Second Life sessions will, of course, require an SL account - however, SL sessions (other than the social area) will separately be available in other formats. The conference is not necessarily guaranteed to be accessible from mobile devices.
How much time will I have to spend at the conference?
Like any conference, if you don't go into the conference room, you will miss out on information. The conference won't stop just because you are not logged in, so checking in regularly will allow you to keep up to date with what's going on. To participate fully it is very important to set some time aside to log in and read and compose postings. We would recommend that you spend at a minimum 2 – 3 hours a day at the conference, preferably a lot more. This will allow you to keep up with debates and the volume of messages coming in. You should also prepare for the conference in the pre-conference reading weeks, using that time to view presentations and read the papers for the sessions in which you are interested. The post conference month for reading will allow you to catch up on anything you miss.
What if I can’t log in every day?
Although we recommend that you log in at least once a day to read daily summaries, if you can't, please don’t get overwhelmed with the number of messages that will be posted to the conference. If you get behind, use the summaries which are posted each day to catch up. The conference environment will be available 24 hours a day.
The conference proceedings will also be available for reading only for a month after it closes for postings, to allow delegates time to catch up on sessions they have missed.
If it is online, why is there a delegate fee?
The £50 cost is far cheaper than an equivalent physical conference - not least, because there is no travel or hotel accommodation which you have to pay for (and so has a much smaller carbon footprint!). However, there are still costs - for example, the cost of the online conferencing software; presenter fees; staff time to organise this. Even though it's online, this takes a lot of organisation - in some ways, more than a physical conference. The only difference is that there is no need to hire a physical room. But other costs associated with organising a conference still apply. Even when a conference (physical or virtual) is free to delegates, there is still a significant cost - it's just that that cost is absorbed by someone else, rather than being recouped through delegate fees.
Can we share a login between more than one person?
No. Each login is for a single person, not an organisation. If you want to send two delegates to a physical conference, you book two places. This is the same for an online conference.