Daily Archives: September 28, 2006

I've been trying really hard to keep tabs on the travelling roadshow otherwise known as the Future Learning in a Networked World unconference. Such a amazing idea - get a diverse bunch of educators from around the world with expertise in various forms of e-learning and online education, using a flat organisational structure and get them moving from one of New Zealand to the other, meeting and discussing networked learning with locals and each other. It hasn't been easy - so much content has been generated via Flickr streams, wiki, blogs, vodcasts, podcasts and so on. As I type, I'm listening to a fabulous podcast recorded by Stephan Ridgway that brings together a number of the participants and explains the goals and achievements of this ambitious venture - the mastermind of the whole event (is that a good name for it?) Leigh Blackall, Alex Hayes (his name gets bandied a lot around here), Konrad Glogowski and Sean FitzGerald. I've received a daily email from the Google Groups forum and I've tried to pick through the different emerging themes including a fascinating exchange between Stephen Downes and Teemu Leinonen on the difference between groups and networks and their impact on learning environments. I sure hope they both clarify their own thoughts more in their own blogs so that educators like myself can challenge our own practices and beliefs. So while these pioneers forecast and brainstorm possibilities for the future of learning on a global scale, I've been working on the future of learning at my local site and so grabbing bits and pieces of the FLNW feed hasn't yet painted me a full picture of the whole unconference deal. Maybe you have to be there to gain full value or more will unfold as participants return home and start the reflection process. The good thing is as the group has Flickred, wikied, bloggers, podcasted, vodcasted and posted their way around the Land Of The Long White Cloud, there is a huge stockpile of content to pick at and peruse at anyone's leisure. Thanks for allowing the networked world to be a part of this - such a great way to throw out the rulebook and push the boundaries of innovation - something I was whining about last night.