The conference purpose is to have a wide range of discussions, discourse, and to explore topics in "edtech" amongst a community of like-minded educators so that we can build a curious classroom learner.
2017 was the 17th annual conference event hosted, as always, on a Greek Island in partnership with Solent University, University of the Aegean, and Justice Institute of British Columbia, Canada. Attendees, primarily with PhDs come from across the globe for their first time or their potentially 17th time. Some presenters work individually, and some have formed new partnerships after having met delegates over the years and inspired each other into new topics of research and application. Topics are innovations in educational technologies. This year, as at my polytechnic, a focus was on 21st century learning pedagogies. I'd like to comment on the impact the keynote, sessions, workshops, and philosopher's cafe had on me from attending ICICTE 2017.
KEYNOTE
This year's keynote was given by Alex Couros (@courosa), a Greek Canadian, from the University of Saskatchewan, Canada. A testimonial on his website (https://couros.ca) shares that Alex has "effectively informed, challenged, and inspired his audience with an intriguing and highly entertaining presentation". ICICTE was no exception for this year's keynote!
Alex walked us through some of the history of the short time we have had the internet (just the time of my elder son's life (~1997) and the impact on our lives and curriculum. The sentence about which everyone was talking during the conference was as follows:
"If you can Google it, why teach it?"
Alex challenged us to be the catalysts for students who are getting their information from sources like coursera.org, youtube and networks they have on social media. He showed us a graphic about how much richer the learning environments can be for our support of inquiry-based learning (IBL) if we tap into the collaborative opportunities the world wide web has for our burgeoning career seekers.
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He reminds us that 21st century readers and writers must
- "develop proficiency with the tools of technology
- build relationships with others to pose and solve problems collaboratively and cross culturally
- design and share information for global communities to meet a variety of purposes"
because moving forward, the students' careers will require these highlighted three skills in 2, 6, and 10 below:
Alex suggested modelling effective use of technology to our students, and ensuring they are critical thinkers by providing tools for them to analyze the wealth of information to which they are exposed. For example, a widely distributed acronym on the internet called "CRAAP" for analyzing sources. I will certainly share this simple checklist with my students moving forward:
Alex had a ton of interactive questions that involved the audience and got us connected from the very first hour and a half of the conference. Another excellent presenter was chosen to build our own communities at ICICTE.
SESSIONS and WORKSHOPS
Categories for sessions ranged from the following:
- Shifting to a digital culture
- Innovative practices and attitudes
- Using digital media with purpose (specifics available at http://www.icicte.org/ICICTE16Programme.htm).
Again, I wanted to see the cutting edge apps for creating interactive learning environments and attended the session by Ariane Skapetis, a Learning Technologist from the University of Technology in Sydney, Australia. Ariane, also of Greek origin, provided a bit.ly link to all the team and time management and collaboration as follows: bit.ly/ICICTE2017. Highlights were "Zeetings", "Padlet", "Tricider", "TRELLO", and "Slack". Others joined in this interactive workshop, and we have promised to join together and create another collaborative event next year at ICICTE 2018 in Chania, Crete!
A second workshop I attended hosted by Iain McPhee of Scotland and Maria Eugenia Witzier D'ESposito of Brazil, two conference delegates who have met here over the years and co-written a paper and given a workshop. I appreciated the discussions we had on the changes occurring in higher education instituttions (HEI) and how we are assessing 21st learning pedagogies. They reminded us of UNESCO's agenda with the "four pillars of learning":
I would like to keep reflecting on assessment of 21st century pedagogies and how I can incorporate these tenements into my technical writing courses. I am feeling challenged to incorporate these concepts in my courses since the students need to practice writing and my course is less theoretical with room for discovery. However, I can still do peer review of their writing to make their worktime collaborative, I can flip the classroom so some concepts can be reviewed before coming with time in class to analyze samples, and I can provide students with career-related networks that they can post portfolios and writing samples, presentation snipits, and career related achievements for employers internationally to find them and invite them to interviews. With creativity and innovation, I am up for the challenge to build my course with opportunities for students to graduate with the skills they need -- skills employers are looking for.
PHILOSOPHER'S CAFE
A tradition on the last day of the conference is to engage a group of interested delegates to discuss emerging trends that we've noticed or which have been shared by the keynote speaker.
One topic was about how to bring more colleagues on board with educational technologies and 21st century pedagogies. Some of the presenters I saw this week were challenged with getting technology in their institutions, never mind applying skills to innovate with media and apps! We agreed we were primarily the "early adopters" and innovators and would continue to model what we learn, know, and do with colleagues and students. We have little to "discover" in terms of teaching, but being committed to preparing our students for their careers with skills they will need and are already using is our challenge. Building connections with our students right from the classroom is crucial so they can go forth and build those connections worldwide. One presenter showed how they use dialogic feedback on assignments, and that has got me thinking of more ways to reach my students.
SOCIAL ASPECTS OF ICICTE
This conference is special because of its size. Multiple opportunities exist over the three days to get into deeper conversations with new delegates and ones that have been met before. The opening evening has all attendees socializing on a sunsetting Greek landscape.
On the final day of the conference, a sports event is always organized, and delegates attend a "Greek Night" experiencing the food and music of local dishes and performers. The conference organizer and her husband (Nancy, Giorgos and daughter Despina), build a warm welcome and environment for all who attend. Many refer to the conference as a place of "family", and much of that ambiance must come from the Greeks who are the primary hosts.
An amazing photographer and artist also make part of the conference, and Lou's (Marie Louise Kold's) work adorns the covers of our booklets and her beautiful eye behind the lens. I would like to include some of her photography again this year as I close this blog.
See you all again, friends and colleagues (habibiti!)
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