Chinese Violin

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A the FLLinNZ meeting in Wellington during eFest

interactive podcasts

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tag clouding the flnw

So here we sit, in Wellington Library enjoying free Wireless thanks to eFest sponsor cafeNet. I'm using the time to make a start on the album for the FLNW tour. First step is to go through all the captured media and reflect on the emergent issues, key topics etc.. I coined onto the idea to use del.icio.us tagging of media to discover emergent and dominant themes (see screen grab above). Bigger words represent concepts that have the most amount of media behind them, smaller words the least.

To generate this tag cloud I had to create a del.icio.us account purely for the FLNW event. Then go through all the media to do with the event and save the URLs back to this account and describe the resource with any number of tag words. Over time emergent words (or concepts) take shape as more and more media gets saved to the tag word.

I think its an interesting way to review content and begin defining themes, content and 'structure' for the print based album. The bad thing about it is it centralises the the URLs into a single service (del.icio.us), instead of aggregating individuals, but I couldn't think of another way to get a picture of the event based on key words..

here is the link to the tag cloud where the words are hyper linked to the content lists according to the words. Below is a video of me explaining the concept. This is a work in progress, which means the tag cloud is still evolving, which means the picture of the event based on words is still emerging.

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an idea to identify emergent themes from the media captured from the conference

Sept 25 - Auckland

Quite an interesting day in Auckland yesterday. We kicked off at 2pm in Auckland University of Technology.

We first had to get through some very restrictive network security, but as that was being worked out Alex grabbed a projector and set up a little photo slide show in the corner. The mingling crowd began to converge on the corner as seats where broken out of their rows and arranged around the projection. (we should have set up more projections).

About then I jumped in and introduced the FLNW group. We then asked the locals if there was anyone with similar interests or if they had issues they wanted to discuss. But there was a slight stand off still - we hadn't yet succeeded in opening up the space. Attempts at facilitating a whole group conversation were made using show of hands, and while some important issues and discussion was had, it was very much dominated by a few people.

We stopped for a coffee break, which is normally the time when smaller groups form to talk about the issues raised in the bigger group. This is about when the space starts to open in my opinion. Stephen tries to point out that breaking into smaller groups is when the space closes... I'm not sure myself... I think Stephen makes a very thought provoking observation. I recorded him explaining a white board diagram he made while the smaller groups discussed.



link to original video

At the end of the day (6pm) we summed up what each group said by Steven Parker running around with a video camera and grabbing footage of each group 'presenting' their discussions. Given that Steven jumped on a plane out of here today, I think it may take him a while to update his videos... watch that space in other words...

We finished around 7pm, still energised and inspired, and those left went to dinner together. I think the last person hit the pillow around 2am. Just another day of FLNW really :)

Now we are in Wellington, in the very impressive Museum Hotel.

eFest tomorrow - where I for one plan to try and bring all this together for a book - or more accurately, an album.

Waiheke Island, Auckland - Sept 24

We had a nice last day with Stanley and colleagues yesterday. We spent the morning talking about Northtec's Certificate in eLearning Design and Development. I hope the Northtec team didn't feel assaulted by our comments, we had very little time to get an in depth insight into the course set up, but enough to make some pretty challenging comments about the use of Moodle and the like, but more important I think was the beginning of a debate about the use and appropriateness of open online spaces, as opposed to closed or private online spaces... since then, we have all had very passionate debates about this issue, and hopefully we will be able to represent the issue in the emergent issue wiki page and book.

After breakfast we jumped on a jet boat out to Poor Knights Islands. It was a spectacular trip.

Stanley and Mandi drove us all to Auckland that afternoon to meet John Eyles for the ferry across to Waiheke Island. We arrived on the Island at about 8pm and checked into Hekerua Lodge.

We had trouble settling into the lodge, needing more space and a better Internet connection so checked out the next morning with the intention to stay in Auckland tonight.

Currently we are at John's house where we have spent the day riding his wireless, catching up on uploading media and preparing content for the book of this journey. John has invited colleagues around and we have had rich discussions once again, joining in pre arranged web conferences relating to John's projects.

It has been a wonderful day, and a relief to catch up on a few things.

Teemu leaves tomorrow, so hopefully we can make a good start on the book before he is gone and tied up back into the day to day life in Helsinki.

Sept 21 - Northland starts

So here we are at NorthTec. We had an exciting flight (though rushed) connecting Auckland to Whangarei, but Stanley's warm greetings awaited us and we were bused off to a lovely hotel and Marina dinner.

Now we are at the Northtec. We had a Maori welcome given to us by Taipari Munroe - Maori adviser to the Northtec.

We then had a round of introductions, starting with the guests, then going through local participants. To conclude the introductions we heard a Waiata (song) called Ko Te Taitokerau. It was about the importance of supporting and encouraging learners and to take on board learning tools and to persevere.

Now we are all meeting and discussing the intros and emergent themes.

I have grabbed Konrad's laptop to make this post, and create a new wiki page to capture the emergent themes from the introductions. Steven Parker is setting up to capture video of people speaking to those emergent themes and will add the videos into the wiki. Konrad is scripting up a senario with a couple of people and Teemu Leinonen and I will start creating video scenarios based on the scripts.

Sean has already demonstrated moblogging (see photo above). And others are talking and updating content online... I hear talk of copyright, intellectual property, privacy and online identity...

The plan this arvo is to bring everyone back from there initial discussions and demonstrate or describe projects already happening (such as the emergent themes videos, this blog entry, moblogging and others I'm not yet aware of...)

Significant to note the network set up Northtec had going. Here's Stanley on video telling us how it was set up:

Leigh managed to grab a few moments with AStanley Frielick to get the details on how Northtec has successfully implemented a wireless network.

Christchurch College of Ed

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Derek Chirnside takes a wonder around

Taieri Gorge - MobilEd meets the kitchen

The train ride worked perfectly! Lucky that we booked a carriage all to ourselves because if anyone had to share, they would have to had to have to endured 4 hours of educational, elearning chatter. We couldn't even hear the tain's tour guide!

So needless to say, a bunch of stuff was discussed, recorded and documented in various ways. Yet still, we don't have a central feed that is bringing all this media together. Rest assured we are working on it. Its not a big problem, just trying to find the time to do it.

Here are the photos, unfiltered, all as they are.
Here are the videos so far...

And below is an example of what happens to a teacher who joins us for a day. Tony is going to create his own video depicting this scenario.. then start developing it!!

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Tony Heptinstall and Leigh Blackall interpret MobilEd

Podcasting from Pine Hill

A group of us today visited Pine Hill School to watch 9 and 10 year old students create movies and podcasts on their Apple Macs. Their teacher, Jane Nichols told us a bit about it in this podcast.

If you want more info, visit Jane's research page.

Hutton Theatre - Sept 19

I lost my pictures and audio from the Marae stay last night :( we coudn't record anything inside, but we did a lot before and after. Never mind, other's recorded - I'll try and connect to their media as soon as possible, and provide an update on that.

Here is a little of what I grabbed in the Hutton Theatre today. We have more professionally recorded video and audio in the works. It will be available here soon.

Predictably, we had trouble getting an open space happening at first. The Internet was down when we wanted to start so we asked poor Teemu to get up and present MobilEd from his computer. Teemu delivered an almost 1 hour talk (not quite open space we know). By the end of it we had Internet. We then went back to what we originally proposed - short intros from everyone who wanted to talk about their work, then groups merging in on projects of interest to them.

From then on there was a buzz in the air. Lots of long, in depth conversations, going on past lunch time, then field trips out to local schools, departments and faculties.

I'm pretty pleased with how it has all ended up. This open space conference worked :)

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Jo's round up of her session at the Hutton theatre

Teemu brought a focus group together

WHat did a design lecturer and a visual arts lecturer get out of today?

Otakou Marae

This is a bit late but I think that our stay at the Marae was an important bonding experience. Below is an audio recording of the song that we learned and then sang as a group during the Mihiwhakatau ceremony. It was recorded at the Otago Polytechnic on Monday, September 18, shortly before the ceremony.


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Arrivals

Michael Coghlan was the first in Dunedin, arriving on Sunday morning. He was picked up by Terry where he had dinner and a bed.

Teemu Leinonen arrived safe and sound Sunday afternoon. A whopping 25 hours of travel from Helsinki! I picked Teemu up and checked him into the Kings Gate Hotel to recover. He and I went for a roast dinner at the Cob and Co where we met Rose G off the bus from Queenstown sight seeing.

After dropping Teemu back at his hotel, Rose and I went back into the airport to pick up Barbara Dieu on the 20:30 and Stephen Downes on the 21:00. We checked them into the Kings Gate as well, Rose staying the night with Sunshine and I.

This morning I picked up Konrad Glogowski from the 9:10 (I was a bit late) and dropped him at the Kings Gate also for breakfast and a shower.

This arvo I will fetch Jo Kay and Sean FitzGerald on the 14:10 from Sydney, and we meet the others at 4pm for the Marae visit.

All is going well.

Willie helps with song

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audio for E Tu Kahikatea.

"E Tu kahikatea
whakapai ururoa
A whi mai awhi atu
Tatou tatou e

E Tu kahikatea
whakapai ururoa
A whi mai awhi atu
Tatou tatou e
Tatou tatou e
Tatou tatou e"

Stand tall, like the white pines (roots systems need to interconnect)
You give to me and I give to you
And between what we have
We will be strong together
(non literal translation)

Willie helps with speech

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Audio recording for the following:

Ka tangi te titi

Ka tangi te kaka

Ka tangi hoki ahau

E Nga mate o te ra, o tenei marama

O tenei tau, moe mai Oki oki mai

Ka huri au ki te huka ora
Tihei mauri ora

To acknowlege the ancestors, the dead and those who have come before us,
I wish to extend greetings to this house
Greetings to the Marae

Greetings to the people manawhanua Kai Tahu

no reira, tena koutou, tena kai kaha, kia maia, kia manawanui

Rob Wood

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Bayfield High

Our stay at Otakou Marae - September 18th

I am also new to New Zealand, and extremely ignorant of Maori culture, let alone local Ngai Tahu culture! But I am trying, I hope you will try with me...

Being appreciative of the many forms of colonialism, sensitive to the dynamics of cultural imperialism, and respectful as transient tourists can be, we are staying at the Otakou Marae on Monday the 18th of September.

A Marae is a significant aspect in Maori culture, and it is at the Otakou Marae on the Peninsula out from Dunedin where we will be welcomed as a group.

We will take part in a Mihiwhakatau, which literally means to greet those who have landed. It is a less formalised ritual of encounter than the powhiri.

Justine Camp here at the Otago Polytechnic has prepared the following text explaining the process, as well as an audio recording of a song we will be expected to sing as part of the Mihiwhakatau.

Outline of what a Mihiwhakatau is and why we have them.

The Mihiwhakatau enables the mana whenua (the local people) to afford the welcome that is necessary for visitors off and on Marae. The idea is to remove the tapu (restrictions) from the visitor so that they can mingle amongst us freely, hence the term waewaetapu (restricted feet).

The visitors will be invited into the Wharenui (the meeting house) where we as mana whenua will be waiting; they will be gestured to sit. Doug will then provide the kōrero (speech) of welcome which will be followed by a waiata kinaki (song of support).

Then a representative of the visitors group will have the opportunity to respond using the song E Tu Kahikatea.

"E Tu kahikatea
whakapai ururoa
A whi mai awhi atu
Tatou tatou e

E Tu kahikatea
whakapai ururoa
A whi mai awhi atu
Tatou tatou e
Tatou tatou e
Tatou tatou e"

Stand tall, like the white pines (roots systems need to interconnect)
You give to me and I give to you
And between what we have
We will be strong together
(non literal translation)

After they have done this reply they will be invited for the hongi and hariru which is where we press noses - it symbolises sharing of breath and shaking of the hands.

We then share a cup of tea and a bite to eat as this is the final stage in removing tapu.

Mihihaere - Farewell

This is where we farewell our guests, this time the guests get to reflect on their stay and thank those who have hosted them. Then we as mana whenua have the last say and wish him well in their journey. Again after the korero we have a waiata kinaki, there may also be a karakia or inoi (prayer) which we usually do before traveling to ensure a safe journey.

Kittens - 11th hour mayhem

I've had "update the blog" on my to-do list the past 3 days.. with very little time to spare - here goes.

• Stephen Downes is back on the tour.
• Marg O'Connell has started up a Google Map for us to mark out locations, journey and timelines - using Community Walk.
• Sean FitzGerald has offered to tidy up the wiki and make it more user friendly
• All flights and accommodation have been confirmed. Due to extremely tight budget we have had to opt for shared rooms. We have pegged single rooms in case I snore too much or Sparker's feet stink ;)
• We are still scratching around for a further $3000 to help cover catering.
• We have wireless Internet at the Hutton Theatre for Tuesday the 19th
• We have penciled in an Access Grid (video conference on steroids) for the morning of Wednesday the 20th, making sure to mix in a normal web conference with it for international participation in that meeting. We now need NZ Access Grid nodes organised for that time (1030am on the 20th - please contact me), and to decide what web conferencing gear we'll use to bring in international participation along with it...
• We are also aiming to include another web conference to open the space wider on the afternoon of Thursday the 21st in Christchurch.
• I am attempting to find the time to update the wiki with exact details of the itinery - such as flight times, accommodation locations etc...
  

Where we may be going wrong

Imagine fronting up to your standard event coordinator and asking them to organise an open space conference? They might respond with, "I understood the conference bit..."

When you consider that everything that is traditionally involved in coordinating such an event; funding, promotions and publicity, printed fliers, participation.. it is all geared towards the standard conference - being key note speakers, sponsorship, lectures, workshops and booths.

So when a couple of deep south educational developers decide to sniff out interest and organise an open space conference in multiple locations, you might expect that along the way, actually all the way, they'd encounter difficulties in remaining true to open space conference. Those things that are necessary in coordinating and promoting the event each play their part in clawing things back into a standard conference of celebrities, lectures and mute audiences.

It was through a rather important if brief exchange I had with Derek Chirnside yesterday that I came to realise this with more clarity. Derek has instinctively understood the intent and direction of this conference, and so it was through discussing with him the difficulties of organising and promoting this event that I began to realise the shape of problem, and felt the need to reaffirm the objective of this event.

The objective of this event is to initiate and strengthen new connections and thereby changes in the New Zealand education sector. The key to meeting this objective is through open participation.

To some extent that objective is already being met. The new connections and discussions currently taking place both locally and internationally is encouraging, something a face to face meeting will help to strengthen.

We have invited several people from other regions of the world to take part. This is to bring wider perspectives and connections into the open space conference. It is important that their involvement is complimentary to local New Zealand participation, and it is here that I realise we risk affecting the open space most of all.

Due to the complexity of coordinating the international participation in this event it is easy to see how it dominates the preparations and possibly overshadows the overall event. Our guests are here to see New Zealand, some for the first time, to hear about and see our work, to show us their work, and to join in a discussion and make new connections. So in the final 2 weeks leading up to the Dunedin meeting we should follow John Eyles lead and add more New Zealand based profiles to the wiki.

I hope by doing this we can start to balance and refocus of the event, back to being an exchange of ideas and experiences in as nearer thing to open space conference as we can possibly get.

Flier - Audio - Let's start

Woah Nellie!! I'm starting to get butterflies.





So let's start.

Something for you to do before September 10.
Let's have as many people as possible make a quick audio recording of themselves telling us who you are and what you hope to do with or gain from this conference. Upload the audio and comment it's link in on the conference blog. You could also tag it FLNWaudio if you like and we could turn that tag feed into an audio podcast for the conference.

Participation confirmed!!

Phew! What an intense week it has been. We now have 10 (11 including me) participants confirmed for the tour! And what a great bunch of people too! See the list on the home page to the wiki.

The wiki is seeing plenty of action. Thanks those who are adding to it with ideas and minor edits. Basically I hope it will continue to take form and meaning right up to, throughout, and after our meeting.

We are now doing the finishing touches on flights and accommodation in Dunedin, before we move onto internal travel arrangements.

Budget is looking good. Refer to the bottom of the wiki. Don't be alarmed, some of those figures are being covered as in kind contributions... We are looking for another $4000 hard cash though, to help cover the tour going to Christchurch.

Next week we are printing the fliers and will use them to seek sponsorship from local business and government.

So all is well - I can't wait!!

publicity and the good news

The organising committee met last Thursday to discuss developments and to continue planning. Funding and use of the fast Internet Access Grid has been confirmed by theUniversity of Otago. This will require an hour to be set aside with a smaller group, and a synchronous link to be organised with possibly University of Victoria and the University of Canterbury using their nodes. Contact will be made with key people at these organisations to arrange this session.

Approval has also been given for recording of the event by audiovisual personnel, and a meeting is to be set up with them. The idea will to have the recordings broadcast on the same day.

The Monarch cruise has been tentatively booked to convey the party and followers to Wheller's rock, to start the conference with a Hui at Otakou Marae on the Otago Peninsula on 18 September. We have yet to confirm a venue for the formal open meeting on 19 September, but the Hutton Theatre at the museum is free. The difficulty may be whether we can organise wireless connection at the museum. A location on campus at Otago Polytechnic would be ideal as we have wireless. One smallish lecture theatre is free but not the flat open space in G block which would work better. The ISS manager and IT administrator will be organising connectivity for us and streaming server access.

Michael Coghlan has offered to facilitate a web cast during the conference - no date set as yet.

A draft brochure for publication has been designed by Michael Crawford at UoO, and incorporates the idea of social networking with the image of a bee plus a map of New Zealand to show where the roadshow will travel. Catering by the uiversity caterers is to be organised - their food was amazing at a recent conference at the university.

If Trade and Enterprise provide support, a web conference will need to be set up with a business focus. Discussions around technology and networking in business.

To start the proceedings of the conference in the lead up to the open space meeting, Leigh will ask our visitors to record something to stimulate discussion pre-conference. Watch this space.

Sponsorship possibilities

Sponsorship
This is a free event for all who are interested in the future of learning in a networked world and the technologies which may support it: Managers, educators, facilitators, technical staff, educational designers, programme developers, staff developers, researchers etc. As such the organisers are relying on sponsorship from organisations who have an interest in this topic in the New Zealand context, and who will have staff participating in the event.

Benefits of sponsorship: Free entry for participants, access to online activities pre- and post conference, recognition on the conference website, as well as on printed materials and audio recordings of the event, receipt of a multimedia documentary of the event, an opportunity to consult with the speakers about solutions relevant for their institutions, and an invitation to join the social activities and meet the speakers.

Options are:
Host the seven visitors at your institution: Provide accommodation, venue, catering;
Contribute a sum of money to support travel for one or more visitors from overseas e.g. $3000 per person;
Contribute money to the domestic travel fund for the group e.g. $500, 1000, 2000 and so on.

NZ synchro

Michael Coghlan from South Australia has jumped into the conference wiki with a proposal to hold a webcast early in the tour. I think this is a good plan as it will help those who don't have the time to read, watch or listen to our postings as we go along. Having a webcast gives people the opportunity to put an hour aside and quickly get an update to what has been happening. This way we avoid going over old ground when we arrive at each location.

Anyway, please feel free to join Michael on the wiki page he has set up, nominate your interest, and flesh out some ideas with him.

Babara Dieu from Brazil is preparing to link in a schools project... I'm waiting with keen interest to see what this may be.

Teemu Leinonen is also planning to link in European and South African projects in Free Libra educational resources... is that right Teemu? Also keenly awaiting what form this takes.

Please, everyone feel free to adjust or add to the conference wiki, linking out to complimentary projects, or bringing stuff in. Lets get this space looking and feeling like an Open Space.

More planning

We had a further meeting this week to continue the conference planning and it is all coming together. For a start I felt the need for more of an explanation of an Open Space conference or meeting, and found this explanation: ”a facilitator explains the process and then participants co-create the agenda and host their own discussion groups. Discussions are held in designated areas or separate rooms known as 'breakout spaces' and participants are free to move amongst the discussion groups. Each group records the conversation in notes form, and all of these notes can be combined into a full record of proceedings for the meeting” (Wikipedia). I also found out that online networking continues on following the actual face-to-face meetings so discussions can continue.

Get with the programme
The plan is that our guests will arrive on 17 or 18 September, and be whisked off to sail the harbour on the Monarch to begin the fun. There is a possibility that the group and other interested people can be part of a Hui (gathering) on the first evening and stay at the Otakou Marae on the Otago Peninsula. This has yet to be organised but it would be wonderful, and give our overseas guests a real welcome to our Maori culture. We will also organise a Maori welcome to the conference venue.

The big open space meeting will be held on the first morning or afternoon on 19 September and run for approximately 3 to 4 hours. At the moment we are looking into a venue at the University of Otago.

So far our thoughts are that our guests will introduce their areas of interest and spark off discussion with the audience. This session along with all others will be recorded, and it is hoped that staff in other venues who are hosting our visitors will access the recordings ahead of the arrival of the guests, so that they can use their time to build on what was covered in the Dunedin open space meetings, rather than the whole intro thing having to be repeated. After all an open space meeting is supposed to flow on and build on what went before.

In the second half of the day, it is hoped our guests will spend time with staff in departments working out practical solutions with them for implementing networked learning in their courses. This will be advertised prior to the event so people will have to book "consultation time" in advance.

Hopefully our visiting speakers will provide us with some pre-conference discussion around networked learning to get people interested and to introduce themselves.

On the morning of the last day, 20 September, Leigh would like to take everyone who is interested on a train ride to Taieri Gorge. Discussions can continue on the train while giving our guests a glimpse of Central Otago and middle earth-like country side.

Then our party will pile on to a bus to Christchurch. The start of the roadshow!In Christchurch we are organising a meeting with TANZ (Tertiary Accord of New Zealand) staff, possibly at Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology, and others from nearby institutions will be invited, for example, University of Canterbury and Lincoln University. The roadshow will go by air to Northland Polytechnic. After this the roadshow will fly to Wellington to visit organisations there (not confirmed) and attend eFest. Auckland has not yet been confirmed.

Possible venues: In Dunedin either of the lecture theatre complexes at either St David St or Castle St, University of Otago will be roomy enough. The surroundings are excellent for gathering together during the breaks and for chatting over food and drink. Use of the fast Internet Access Grid is still being investigated both in Dunedin and using nodes available in other locations.

If the lecture theatre complexes are not available, we will check out the availability of the Auditorium at the Dunedin College of Education. It is very likely we will get at least 100 people attending the main presentation and discussion session.

Design of Publicity Materials: On Friday we will discuss design ideas with staff at the University of Otago, Educational Media Unit and hopefully they will help us put together an advertising flyer and sponsorship information pack. A three page flyer would be ideal.

Catering and accommodation: This is to be investigated and tentatively booked once confirm the possiblity of visiting the Marae. The Executive Residence near the university is a very comfortable place to stay.

Technical requirements: Laptops, tablets, audio recorders and possibly video recording of the main session. Internet and data projectors will be available in the venues, and at least two screens would be ideal. The session will be recorded and podcasted on the same day. We are hoping to get access to wireless as well.

Next steps:

• Confirm guests who are coming
• Prepare advertising and sponsorship materials
• Book flights, venues, accommodation and catering, day trips in Dunedin - Otago Polytechnic Tourism students will do some of this
• Book Access Grid with University of Otago Computer Services
• Send out invoices to confirmed parties
• Seek further sponsorship
• Prepare a funding application for TeLRF with the conference as the springboard for laying the foundations for possible research on networked learning.
• Look into the pre-conference discussion idea

Now confirming participation and starting the conference

So a couple of weeks ago, I sent out notice that we had raised the money to pay for the flights - many thanks to those who have contributed - we will be sending out invoices shortly asking for payment into the trust fund we have set up, some may have already received this. When those are paid I will post special thanks, linking to your organisation and/or project - please email me your preference if you are sponsoring this event.

A few of the participants have contacted me to confirm their attendance. I am just waiting on a few stragglers to do the same before I can pass a list of names to the tourism department to start coordination of the tour. Please note the list of confirmed names down the right hand column of the blog. I have promised to send out letters of formal invite to those who's bosses require it - sorry for the delay on that, to speed that up it would be very helpful if you could draft me up something and I will fill in the blanks. Email me that draft off list to leighblackall[AT]gmail[DOT]com

Some keen cookies have even contacted me to propose ideas for our event. That's great! Remembering that this is an open space conference, meaning my role is to get the money and coordinate the admin - your role is to decide the formats and events that take place. So, that's what the wiki is for. If you have an idea - or something you'd like to see happen in this conference, please add a link to the wiki and describe it in there. I will watch the space and back anything up with announcements here. That includes people who we are visiting. Start a page for your leg of the journey and add the things you'd like to try and do. As a group we can bounce ideas and make it work. I've started by adding an evening cruise on the Monarch to see the Albatross and Penguin colonies and a train ride from Dunedin.

Let's go

I think its safe to say that we will have enough money for the airfares. We have set up a trust fund and are currently invoicing those who have offered support. We are not yet home and hosed however, and are now chasing funds for accommodation, food and transport. I am confident we will raise the rest of the money.

Could our invites please email me off list:

1. names as they appear on passports
2. passport numbers
3. preferred airport of departure and return
4. the dates you need to leave and return (arriving Dunedin Sept 18, departing Wellington Sept 29 - or dates within that range)
   
5. any special considerations we need to be aware of

We are kicking off on September 18 in Dunedin, and finishing September 29 in Wellington, traveling to some lovely New Zealand destinations along the way. I will pass your details on to the Tourism department who will book flights and prepare itineries.

Hope we're all still keen! Its gunna be great :)

Otago University set for support

The Otago University is set to support the conference financially and with Russell Butson, a researcher from the University with a focus on learner centered approaches to education. Russell will be a great asset to the project as he not only shares an interest in the topic but can also bring the Otago Polytechnic and University stake in this event closer and more aligned.

So far Russell has taken on the responsibility of graphically designing a paper proposal for corporate and further public sponsorship. We have also discussed the possibility of applying for research together - looking at the extra curricula features of location - such as Dunedin - and what influence or not a future of networked will have on that.

Russell will also bring other Otago University researchers to the event. Watch the wiki for aditional names of participation.

It is very encouraging to have Russell on board with us.

Set for support

So at this stage we have some modest but very helpful support from the following institutions:

• Otago University is up with some money
• Dunedin College of Education has pledged an amount
• Northland Polytechnic has pledged its intention to support the tour.
• Victoria University in Wellington is up for it also, and have pledged financial support.
• Open Polytechnic has also come to the party.
• I'm still waiting on word from Auckland University - but am quietly confdent (as quiet as this blog at least :)
• And waiting on an indication whether the Flexible Learning Leaders in New Zealand will offer financial backing.
• There is also a possibility that Dunedin City Council will help out - so long as we can get an application in for support to prepare a research application... in other words, this conference has to become a critical element in an application for research funding before DCC can help us.
  

With a confirmation from Auckland Uni and FLLinNZ we should get over over the line to pay for all airfares - yay! If not then we may have to strike some invites :(

Now, about that accomodation and food...

An open space conference in Dunedin, on The Future of Learning in a Networked World

We've been having the odd talk, and our first meeting about an open space conference inviting influencial thinkers on the topic of the future of learning in a networked world. I have made initial contact with a list of people to check their availability from September 18 - 28. Below is a list of people who could be available. Added to this are a number of people coming to Dunedin for the annual TALO swap meet, and when this list is made known to members of that group, we should expect more key people from Australia will attend.

So from our first meeting we resolved that I would draft up a blurb for the concept (see below) and from that (if we are agreeable to that blurb) we would start chasing funding...

Here's the blurb as is being developed at the tekotago wiki. To obtain a password for that wiki, please contact me on leighblackallATgmailDOTcom

An open space conference on the future of learning in a networked world

Hey! let me drop some names on you...

Stephen Downes - Canada
Will Richardson - USA
Brian Lamb - USA
David Wiley - USA
Konrad Glokowski - Canada
Teemu Leinonen - Finland
Barbara Dieu - Brazil
Josephine Fraser - UK
JD Lasica - USA
Brewster Kahle - USA


We are working on bringing these people to New Zealand on September 18 to discuss the future of learning in a networked world. They have already helped to sustain a significant online discourse on the subject, now by bringing some of them face to face for the first time, we hope to give a boost to that exchange and record and capture the discussion for distribution to audiences in New Zealand and everywhere.

As a group these significant thinkers and developers will tour participating educational organisations in the South Island of New Zealand from September 18 - 28, making their way North to Wellington for eFest - September 27. The tour will be thoroughly documented online so as to demonstrate ideas and theories and to ensure online participants can remain as engaged as possible during and beyond the tour.

If you are familiar with some of the names on our list, we are confident you know how significant this tour will be. Join your organisation to the tour by sponsoring one of the following:

Flights, travel, accomodation and per diems ~ $4000 per person.
Need NZ$20 000 minimum, currently have NZ$4000...