Expanding learning space and time at #ICTEdu

At the ICT in Education Conference last Saturday, educators in Ireland and beyond joined together — in person in Thurles and virtually across the globe — to focus on learners, learning spaces and the future of education. The urgency of these issues cannot be understated. At #ICTEdu, we accepted the challenges we face, but focussed instead on what we can do. We were inspired by keynote speakers/sharers Ira Socol (@irasocol) and Pam Moran (@pammoran). Pam and Ira created whole-hearted, human-centred learning spaces with us (yes, it’s possible even in a fixed-seat, windowless lecture hall!) both modelling what is possible and inspiring us to do the same — beginning today.

I’ll write my overall reflections on the conference in a subsequent blog post, but the full tweetstream of the conference is available now. In addition, a special #edchatie Twitter chat focused on the conference theme of “Learning Spaces” takes place Monday, May 21st at 8:30 pm GMT. [Transcript of the chat – added 22nd May]

My session at the conference, “Social Media, Learning, Space and Time”, explored how social media helps us to break down the walls of the classroom. Connection and learning can extend beyond class time, beyond term time, and beyond the bounds of our classrooms and lecture halls. Students and educators communicating and sharing work using social media move beyond the artificial boundaries of formal and informal learning, and the rigid roles of “teacher” and “student”. I shared three examples of social media being used in these ways: my own experience using Twitter with students in higher education; the 100 Word Challenge, a creative writing blogging project for primary and secondary students, presented via video by Julia Skinner (@TheHeadsOffice); and the Madhouse of Ideas project, presented via video by Linda Castañeda (@lindacq, @MadhouseofIdeas). Both videos are included in the presentation above.

The social media activity at the conference certainly demonstrated this theme. Bernie Goldbach (@topgold) noted that although the activity at the conference was intense, “twice as many people were following the day’s events at a distance, using Twitter, YouTube, SlideShare, and the live video stream”.  This was true in my own session. My sincere thanks to all participants who shared their thoughts and reflections in our room (where we created our own personalised, chaotic learning environment by moving tables and chairs!) and who amplified the session on Twitter so that others could participate. These tweets provide a vivid picture of our workshop — thank you all!

[tweet https://twitter.com/catherinecronin/status/203795947854118912] [tweet https://twitter.com/Pauiss/status/203798953551077376] [tweet https://twitter.com/FunkySockzLover/status/203796122362314752] [tweet https://twitter.com/mcnamaraali/status/203798045220024321] [tweet https://twitter.com/hobnobs22/status/203801753190281216] [tweet https://twitter.com/marloft/status/203798702501007360] [tweet https://twitter.com/mcnamaraali/status/203799404610727936] [tweet https://twitter.com/FunkySockzLover/status/203802807134978048] [tweet https://twitter.com/mcnamaraali/status/203799931994112001] [tweet https://twitter.com/mcnamaraali/status/203800182431813632] [tweet https://twitter.com/hobnobs22/status/203806568364523520] [tweet https://twitter.com/marloft/status/203801462046863360] [tweet https://twitter.com/mcnamaraali/status/203800719294341121] [tweet https://twitter.com/SabineMcKenna/status/203800974878445569] [tweet https://twitter.com/mcnamaraali/status/203801310762516480] [tweet https://twitter.com/SabineMcKenna/status/203801544443953152] [tweet https://twitter.com/TheHeadsOffice/status/203802008912801792] [tweet https://twitter.com/SabineMcKenna/status/203801795758260224] [tweet https://twitter.com/TheHeadsOffice/status/203805754132668416] [tweet https://twitter.com/TheHeadsOffice/status/203802769369473024] [tweet https://twitter.com/lindacq/status/203802109303463936] [tweet https://twitter.com/lindacq/status/203807201947688961] [tweet https://twitter.com/Madhouseofideas/status/203805795392032769] [tweet https://twitter.com/SabineMcKenna/status/203803369532428288] [tweet https://twitter.com/SabineMcKenna/status/203806077375090688] [tweet https://twitter.com/SabineMcKenna/status/203806288340197376] [tweet https://twitter.com/torresk/status/203887430066118657] [tweet https://twitter.com/catherinecronin/status/203808554111598592]