4 September 2008
Dear Delegates, Exhibitors and Sponsors,
We intend this to be the second and final “all attendee” email prior to ALT-C 2008 in Leeds next week. Please read it carefully as we include points below that will affect your enjoyment of the conference, and more.
1. Emergency phone numbers
Here are two ALT mobile numbers that you can use to contact the ALT
organising team in the event of an emergency.
Marion Samler – +447526941360
Hayley Willis – +447845777142
2. The ALT Conference Helpdesk phone number and hours of operation
From 12.00 noon on Monday 8 September, and during normal conference hours until 13.00 on Thursday 11 September, you should be able to contact the helpdesk by phone by ringing +44 (0)113 343 8818.
3. First Aid treatment
We have contracted with the St. John’s Ambulance Service to provide the
services of a qualified first-aider between the following times.
Tuesday – 08.30 to 20.00
Wednesday – 08.30 to 20.00
Thursday – 08.30 to 15.00
If you need to use this service, call +44 (0)113 3438818
4. Changes to the conference programme
As Mark van Harmelen indicated in our first “all delegate” email for any conference of ALT-C's size and complexity there will inevitably be some late changes to the conference programme. These will be summarised in a document we will issue you on your arrival, and all changes to date have been implemented in our CrowdVine system. We promised to summarise the main programme changes that have taken place since the publication of the Conference Introduction and Abstracts document, and these follow. The session numbers shown below shown in our printed programme guide that you will receive on arrival at the conference. (The programme guide will also be on the conference USB stick, with the Conference Introduction and Abstracts and the Research Proceedings.)
4.1. Withdrawn
Bill Johnson, 'Digital divide as an issue for Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D)', Short Paper, Tuesday 16.00 (Session 22)
Liz Thackray, 'Evaluating social networking tools to support professional and practice based learning', Short Paper, Tuesday 14.00 (Session 12), and 'Learning opportunities: personalised, web-based information, advice and guidance', Demonstration, Tuesday 16.00 (Session 29)
Graham Brown-Martin, 'Leveraging consumer electronics to bridge the digital divide', Demonstration, Wednesday 09.00 (Session 37)
Virendra Mistry, 'Shifting sands, shifting values: the challenge of embedding learning technologies', Short Paper, Wednesday 09.00 (Session 33)
UFI / learndirect Sponsored session, Thursday 09.00 (Session 71)
4.2. Rescheduled between days
Patrick McAndrew, ‘Repurposing resources as open content: studying the experiences of new providers' has been moved from Tuesday, 16.00, Session 24 to Wednesday, 15.45, Session 52 'Increasing equality etc'.
4.3. Two Wednesday Symposia swapped
‘Early adopters and institutional e-learning....’ by Gunn, Conole, Keppell, and Creanor, Wednesday 15.45 to 17.15, Symposium will now take place Wednesday 11.00 to 12.30 in Roger Stephens 17.
swapped with
‘The CAMEL moot: collaboration across the digital divide’ by Jamieson, Kay, Schmoller, Ferrell, Mayes, Ellis, and Saul, Wednesday, 11.00 to 12.30 will now take place 15.45 to 17.00 in Roger Stephens 17.
5. CrowdVine
On Monday we announced the launch of the CrowdVine site for ALT-C 2008, and since then well over 250 conference attendees have created accounts on the site. CrowdVine will enable you to find and connect with people attending ALT-C, and, most importantly, it will enable you to make yourself a personal schedule for the conference, at the same time creating, for each session, a view of who else indicates that they will be attending that session. CrowdVine will be most valuable for the 400+ delegates who will have a wireless enabled laptop with them at the conference, but even if you are not in this category, we are keen to ensure that the maximum number of delegates sign up. To create your account, go to
http://altc2008.crowdvine.com/account/login
In case of difficulty, contact Seb Schmoller <seb.schmoller@alt.ac.uk> or Mark Van Harmelen <mark.van.harmelen@alt.ac.uk>, or, from Monday, Louise Ryan louise.ryan@alt.ac.uk, who, between them, will be acting as moderators for the CrowdVine site.
6. Social events
We are proud to highlight the ALT-C 2008 Performance of “DUET for EYES II: Moving with the Sprites”, to take place in the Leeds University Theatre at 20.00 on Tuesday 9 September. This performance will be led by Katie Gilligan and James Brosnan from the SMARTlab Inter-FACES project, which aims to give a human face to new technologies – including use of an eye-gaze tool customized by the team - to empower creative people of all levels of physical ability to express themselves freely.
7. Getting involved in ALT
Over the next ten days we will be issuing open calls for expressions of
interest in:
i) membership of the 2009 ALT Conference Programme Committee;
ii) additional memberships of ALT’s four main operational committees
(Further Education, Membership Services, Publications, and Research).
You will be able to respond to these calls online. Please look out for them.
8. Sponsor and partner announcements
8.1. A "round table" session convened by Desire2Learn
Mobile Learning in Further and Higher Education
Future Scenarios and Implications
Speaker: John Traxler, Director, Learning Lab
16.30 to 18.30 Monday, September 8, 2008, in Rooms X and Y, in the
Worsley Building at Level 8.
Intended audience: institutional elearning leaders and leading practitioners
Description: the use of mobile technology has become almost ubiquitous
among the so-called ‘Net Generation’. As the gap between formal and
informal learning decreases, mobile technologies enable new types of
learning, further outreach, and constant connection. This event will
present and discuss the current application of mobile technologies, the
vision for education, and address multiple questions on the topic:
* What is current practice in the use of these tools in educational
settings, and is there real potential for learning?
* What do institutions want from these technologies?
* What are the issues, risks, advantages and hidden costs?
Seating is limited and will be on a first come first served basis.
8.2. Online access to ALT-J: Research in Learning Technology
Routledge Education, the publishers of the ALT Journal, will be giving away free time-limited online access to the entire Journal, back to Volume 1 Issue 1. You will be able to collect a postcard with a voucher code from the Routledge Education stand in the exhibition area.
8.3. EMERGE Project Reception
There will be a reception organized by the EMERGE Project at 17.10 on Tuesday 10 September adjacent to stands 1 to 4 in the exhibition area.
Finally, we wish all of you, particularly those who will be traveling long distances, a safe, smooth, and hopefully enjoyable journey.
Seb Schmoller
Chief Executive, on behalf of the whole ALT Conference Team
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Association for Learning Technology (ALT)
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email: seb.schmoller@alt.ac.uk
direct phone: +44 (0)114 2586899
fax: +44 (0)709 2208443
mobile: +44 (0)7753 324503
ALT office phone: +44 (0)1865 484125
ALT office fax: +44 (0)1865 484165
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Gipsy Lane, Headington, Oxford, OX3 0BP, UK
Registered Charity Number 1063519
http://www.alt.ac.uk/
ALT Conference, 9-11 September 2008, http://www.alt.ac.uk/altc2008/
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