"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 [2] 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 [3], Vice-Chancellor Designate of the Open University

Michael Wesch [4], Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology at Kansas State University, USA

Terry Anderson [5], Professor and Canada Research Chair in Distance Education at Athabasca University, Canada - Canada's Open University

Invited Speakers

Jonathan Drori [6], CBE, Director, Changing Media

Heather Fry [7], Head of Learning and Teaching, HEFCE

Diana Laurillard [8], Professor of Learning with Digital Technologies at the London Knowledge Lab, Institute of Education

Matthew McFall [9], Learning Sciences Research Institute and School of Education, University of Nottingham

David Kennedy [10], Director and Associate Professor, Teaching and Learning Centre, Lingnan University, Hong Kong

Richard Noss [11], Co-director of the London Knowledge Lab

Vanessa Pittard [12], Director of Evidence and Evaluation, Becta

Aaron Porter [13], Vice President (Higher Education) of the National Union of Students (NUS)

David Price [14], Co-founder of Debategraph

To watch videos of ALT-C 2009 Keynote and Invited Speaker sessions, please visit the ALT-C YouTube site [15]