Gearing up for #ALTC 2016

End of the summer holidays means one thing in my world – ALTC, the annual conference for the Association for Learning Technology.

This will be my third visit to the conference, the second time it’s been held on my doorstep, the University of Warwick.

• You can see my previous posts about ALTC from 2014 and 2015 in the ALTC tag, or read my hopes & expectations for each here – 2014 and 2015.

So, with the theme(s) of ‘Connect, Collaborate, Create’, what can I hope to see, hear, and learn? Well I’m hoping there will be: 

• Plenty of practical application where connecting or creating or collaboration has improved or enhanced the student experience
• Practical application of the work or project or theory where there is a measured ‘success’ (or failure) and where lessons can be learned, and shared
• Learning analytics. Lots this year about this so hoping to learn about implementation, access, permissions, and how students have responded to both it’s implementation and whether they have access to them
• Blended learning. The FutureLearn MOOC(s) – Getting started and Embedding practice – for my own interest in planning and designing and running MOOCs, and also some details about the internals of the courses
• CMALT. I’m always interested in talking to people who are either planning to start their CMALT portfolio, those who are already in the middle of it, and those who are assessors (like me). There are several sessions in the conference for CMALT and i’m hoping i can use/hijack the Wednesday afternoon session for an informal CMALT chat. come along if you can.
• Play. I love the games but often participate from afar and leave the more enthusiastic players to the running around. That said, the ‘#altc #play‘ cards are good fun … here’s my first contribution ;-)

• Badges. I collect them where & when I can. Not just the physical ones but open badges too – here are my Open Badges from ALT so far (from 2015 and 2016) in my Mozilla Backpack
• People. Always the people. Meeting friends and Twitter friends, and making new connections and friends

As with previous years it’s been really tough to choose which sessions to attend, mostly because there is so much happening all at once. I’ve tried to be in the same room for the whole session, and not dip in and out and make it an even more tiring day than it already is.

I’ve used the ALTC website for my profile and to select which sessions I’m interested in, and added them to my Outlook calendar again (below) so I can be reminded of where I need to be and when.

One final thing … if you’re new to ALTC, come and say ‘hi’. I may not recognise you but i’m always happy to make new connections, or reinforce existing online connections F2F. If you’re new to Warwick the coffee shop in the Arts Centre, where most of the action is taking place, is very good, as is the small one near the break-out rooms in the Social Science building. If you prefer a Costa first thing, there’s a large Costa on campus, in shouting distance of the Arts Centre.

And this year I hope to avoid the #altcold that made me feel so ill last year. Stay healthy people!

Image source: David Hopkins