"In dreams begins responsibility" - choice, evidence, and change

The 16th international conference of the Association for Learning Technology was held at the University of Manchester, UK, 8-10 September 2009

Learning technologies and learning technologists are now at the heart of modern learning, and yet our community still faces many challenges, for example:

• learning from history to build on past gains and avoid previous mistakes;
• spreading innovations that are of true value, rather than mere fads;
• redesigning pedagogy, the curriculum, and assessment methods to secure a substantial positive impact on learning;
• ensuring cost effectiveness by various means, from working effectively at a large scale, to supporting peer-assisted learning cultures;
• developing a research culture that informs practice, and a culture of practice that uses research evidence.

To rise to these challenges, we must dream and act on our dreams, but evidence must justify the choices we make.

ALT-C 2009 provided a broad forum for practitioners, researchers and policy-makers from all sectors to explore, reflect, and learn

“In dreams begins responsibility” W.B. Yeats

ALT-C 2009 Homepage

Click here to visit the full ALT-C 2009 homepage.

Conference Co-chairs

Gilly Salmon, Professor of eLearning and Learning Technologies at the University of Leicester, UK;

Professor Tom Boyle, Director of the Learning Technology Research Institute at London Metropolitan University, UK.

Keynote Speakers

Martin Bean, Vice-Chancellor Designate of the Open University

Michael Wesch, Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology at Kansas State University, USA

Terry Anderson, Professor and Canada Research Chair in Distance Education at Athabasca University, Canada - Canada's Open University

Invited Speakers

Jonathan Drori, CBE, Director, Changing Media

Heather Fry, Head of Learning and Teaching, HEFCE

Diana Laurillard, Professor of Learning with Digital Technologies at the London Knowledge Lab, Institute of Education

Matthew McFall, Learning Sciences Research Institute and School of Education, University of Nottingham

David Kennedy, Director and Associate Professor, Teaching and Learning Centre, Lingnan University, Hong Kong

Richard Noss, Co-director of the London Knowledge Lab

Vanessa Pittard, Director of Evidence and Evaluation, Becta

Aaron Porter, Vice President (Higher Education) of the National Union of Students (NUS)

David Price, Co-founder of Debategraph

To watch videos of ALT-C 2009 Keynote and Invited Speaker sessions, please visit the ALT-C YouTube site