FAQs for Innovating e-Learning 2010
Answers to some common questions
Who is the conference for?
Practitioners, e-learning co-ordinators and managers in further and higher education, researchers, staff developers and learning technologists. The conference will also be of interest to participants from countries other than the UK.
How does the online conference work?
Many conference sessions will be presented live in Elluminate. Each session will also have an associated asynchronous discussion group. There will also be a web site with additional content. Each live session will be recorded, and available for viewing shortly after it finishes. Some sessions will not be presented live, but will be in some other format, e.g. a paper, podcast, wiki, PowerPoint with notes and/or audio, etc. These will also have their own discussion area within the conference.
What are the advantages of an online conference?
In 2008, James Clay interviewed some of the conference organisers about some of the advantages of online conferencing. You can either listen online to them, or download as a podcast. James also takes a more humorous look at the advantages:
Will I be able to view the conference before the opening day?
Participants will have the opportunity to have a look at the conference platforms (both the discussion forums and Elluminate) one week in advance of the conference to familiarise themselves with the layout of the site, try out the conference software, and, where applicable, download and view the papers and presentations. This is essential - the conference itself will be very busy, so preparing by reading the presentations in advance is very important.
What will happen during the conference?
Each theme lasts for two days and participants will be able to attend the live sessions, read papers and view the presentations, and have a discussion about the issues raised in which the presenters will participate.
What are the dates and timing?
16th November: Conference opens for reading, 8.30 a.m. UK time. Most discussions (other than social area) are not yet open; however, there will be a number of other activities during the reading week. This week is important because it gives you the chance to view all the presentations and read the papers before the discussions actually start.
23th/24th November: Theme 1 opens 8.30 a.m. on the 23rd. All the discussions in this theme last for two days.
25th/26th November: Theme 2 opens, 8.30 a.m. on the 25th. All the discussions in this theme last for two days.
27th November: Conference discussions close 8.30 a.m. However, the conference proceedings are available until 31st December 2010 for reading, so that participants can catch up on what they missed.
Do I need any special equipment or software?
For the asynchronous discussions, just access to the Internet, and a browser. Elluminate also works through your browser, but you will need to test your settings prior to the conference; instructions on how to do this will be provided. A headset will be useful, but is not essential for participants.
Some, some presentations will use, Flash, video, etc., so players for these will be required, but, of course, most or all browsers will have these. The Second Life sessions will, of course, require an SL account. The conference is not necessarily guaranteed to be accessible from mobile devices.
How much time will I have to spend at the conference?
An online conference is a real conference, and you need to be able to dedicate some time to it. Like any conference, if you don't go into the conference room, you will miss out on information. The conference won't stop just because you are not logged in, so checking in regularly will allow you to keep up to date with what's going on. To participate fully it is very important to set some time aside to log in and read and compose postings. We would recommend that you spend at a minimum 4 hours a day at the conference, preferably a lot more. This will allow you to keep up with debates and the volume of messages coming in. You should also prepare for the conference in the pre-conference reading weeks, using that time to view presentations and read the papers for the sessions in which you are interested. The post conference month for reading will allow you to catch up on anything you miss.
If you have never attended an online conference before, it might be worth a quick look at this short video, made for a previous conference:
What if I can’t log in every day?
It can be overwhelming to see the number of messages posted whilst you are away from the conference! However, because everything is recorded, even the live events, you can easily catch up, either during the conference, or after it - the conference proceedings are available for reading only for a month after it closes for postings, to allow you time to catch up on sessions you have missed.
If it is online, why is there a delegate fee?
The £50 cost is far cheaper than an equivalent physical conference - not least, because there is no travel or hotel accommodation which you have to pay for (and so has a much smaller carbon footprint, something which is increasingly important!). However, there are still significant costs - for example, presenter fees; staff time, etc. Even though it's online, this takes a lot of organisation - in some ways, more than a physical conference. The only difference is that there is no need to hire a physical room. But other costs associated with organising a conference still apply. Even when a conference (physical or virtual) is free to delegates, there is still a significant cost - it's just that that cost is absorbed by someone else, rather than being recouped through delegate fees.
Can we share a login between more than one person?
No. Each login is for a single person, not an organisation. If you want to send two delegates to a physical conference, you book two places. This is the same for an online conference.