THE
FUTURE OF LEARNING IN A NETWORKED WORLD |
|
TRADITIONAL
OR 'NORMAL' CONFERENCE |
OPEN
(SPACE) OR UNCONFERENCE |
| short periods when you're responsible for presenting | on deck all the time 'instructing' , answering questions, and engaging in discussion |
| participants most of the time in a passive role taking information in | very little learning time in the sense of hearing/learning/listening on a specific topic in a discrete block (for presenters and participants) |
| learning is very end-point or object oriented | learning more fluid, more related to process and connections between ideas > emergent themes |
| presenters drive the agenda, set the topic, and prepare for it | others have substantial say in setting the agenda |
| presenters don't have to listen to others; participants don't expect to have input | you have to listen to others! Participants come expecting to have a say and contribute to the construction of a dynamically evolving agenda |
| participants have little time for asking questions | participants have ample time for asking questions |
| maybe suits more passive learner types | suits more proactive , more confident, spontaneous thinkers |
| presenter in control; you establish your space, set it up so it suits you, and run the show | presenter may have to go to others' locations and adjust on the spot ie no comfort zone; need to be flexible (with a vengeance!) |
| presenter does most, if not all, the talking | presenter shares the stage; it's about collaborative construction of knowledge, not presenting |
| presenter prepares everything beforehand | no pre-preparation possible as you don't know what topics will evolve |
| suits more teacher-centred methodology | totally learner-centred; may not suit field-dependent types |
| single topic | multiple concurrent topics |
| conference proceedings collated into a single volume by conference organisers | output from multiple sources; data is dispersed via many channels (blogs, wikis, podcasts, social bookmarking; photo/movie sharing); collation of resources the responsibility of individuals |