Back from Microlearning2007 in Innsbruck, Austria, an interesting, exploratory conference about microcontents, web 2.0 tools and learning. The conference really confirmed that different and new behaviours and processes with regard to learning, collaborating and communicating in the work place, schools and universities are central aspects of the overall web 2.0 discussion. Although important, it’s not only about the tools and technologies which are changing rapidly anyway.In this context, David Smith from St Paul’s School in London did a great job in pointing out how important it is that both teachers and students collaboratively learn to learn and be reflective about the ideas and limitations that lie behind web 2.0 tools
Following Teemu Leinonen’s keynote on learning and Arnaud Leene, I firmly believe that the use of social tools in an educational and organisational context will spark a much wider (theory) discussion on the multifacetted and fragmented way we learn as well as existing (e-)learning theories and processes. As Martin Lindner put it in his closing remarks, we have to collect use cases and examples of how social tools are applied in different contexts and situations to gain the wider picture
Other interesting things:- Retrievr – an image search engine based on colours by System One – A cool e-lecture prototype by the University of Augsburg; students can tag and comment on a lecture whilst listening to it live – Kaywa – mobile blogging and QR codes- Paux – still not sure what it is supposed to be exactly, but it sounds interesting- Images from the conferenc
Thanks to Martin Lindner and his team form the Research Studio Austria for organising an exemplary conference that included plenty of discussion spaces, café sessions and speedgeeking rounds that gave people the opportunity to engage with each other and the topics on micro and macro levels.