Draft slides presented in Session TTS74

1. Online Conferencing in the Era of
the 24/7 Global Digital Society
Simon Kear
Beyond Distance Research Alliance
Slides at: http://tinyurl.com/bdra-educa2011
Online Educa Berlin 2011 www.le.ac.uk/beyonddistance
Beyond Distance Learning Technologist of European Foundation for Quality
RESEARCH ALLIANCE
the Year 2009: Team Award in e-Learning UNIQUe Award

2. Online conferencing
1990s June 2003 March 2006
Email, eGen Conference JISC Innovating
Bulletin Boards E-learning
Conference

3. Online Conference
Asynchronous wrapper (VLE)
Synchronous

4. Online Conference
12
11 1
Asynchronous wrapper (VLE) 2
10
9 Synchronous 3
8 4
7 5
6

5. Why online?
• Eliminating time barriers
• Eliminating geographical barriers
• Target disadvantaged groups
• Help balancing family and work life
• Very low costs
• Reduced environmental impact

6. Why Follow the Sun?

7. 13-15 April 2011
01/12/2011 7

9. Global presentation
Leicester
UK Canada
Brighton
UK USA

11. Figures
• 48 hours non-stop
• 280 participants
• Hosted from 3 time zones
• 25 countries
• Up to 80 delegates each session

12. Japan
“I managed to participate in selected
presentations from Asia/Australia and UK.
“The 24-hour format meant I could plan
participation and fit into my work schedule.”

13. Australia
“(I was) not in either destination and thus would
not have attended had it not been via the online
community and technology”

14. USA
“I learned from the comments of the other
participants in my session. I have referred to this
session in my LinkedIn groups.”

15. Canada
“I saved travel time … (I) prefer attending online
as I can eat or fidget or do anything I like during
a session at home and still be at a conference.”

16. UK
“It has given me some new ideas and links to
people and work that potentially are very useful
for me.
“I like the chat during the session as participants
can make comments while they listen which can
be picked up at the end, in many ways more
interactive than a traditional conference.”

18. 01/12/2011 18

19. Futures for Knowledge
• Engineering
• Astronomy
• Climatology
• Music
• Geology
• Health and Medicine
… to name a few.
Unisa, September 2011 19

20. And …
http://tinyurl.com/followthesun
Unisa, September 2011 20