It ended here.
It began with this.
And this
Preparation IS everything.
The poster for Reed sums up my current mode - new positions, whether on my own account or employed, freelance or in a business, whether an agency or in-house. My conviction is that I have most to offer embedded in an international organisation's Learning & Development Department using the substantial external 'creation' and production experience that I have while exploiting some knowledge and insights from coaching swimming; the Open University MA in Open & Distance Education binds them; each new module is another thread that makes me a cohesive bundle. H800 opened its doors yesterday. H807 and H808 are done. Practice-based research in educational technology (H809) may follow.
Yesterday at Learning Technologies I felt like a minnow ...
Today I felt like a Manta Ray, sliding between seminars and stands seamlessly, observing, taking notes and pictures, having thoughts that I jotted down or shared with a colleague.
Paper and bumph. Would it have been different armed with an iPad? Suprisingly few were being used. It was all Smart Phones and occasional netbooks or Flip cameras.
Surely 'bumph' in a bag could be reduced to a PDF file blue-toothed wirelessly into a portable device?
We're not there yet.
I'll be dipping into a referring to this material, its content and contacting the people I met and have subsequently Linked In to for many weeks.
Freindships and professional relationships may result. Business will be done. We'll have fun.
I hope so.
ON REFLECTION
The Open University should have had a major presence here.
I began the MA ODE in 2001 as a form of business training; I recommend the MA in Open & Distance Education to anyone who will listen. It would complement the careers and interests of hundreds of the thousands attending Learning Technologies 2011, both visitors and those on stands.
Next time?
Next event?