Thomas C. Reeves, Ph.D. Plenary Session 1   Integrating Technology to Engage Student Learning: Meeting the Challenges of the Millennial Generation 27 Feb (Wed)  0910 to 1010 hrs  LT 2A

Synopsis
Interactive Games, Virtual Reality Simulations, Online Discussions, 3D Modeling, Podcasts.....these and other technologies are predicted to have enormous potential to enhance teaching and learning for the so-called Millennial Generation. This session will address the myths and realities of the 21st Century learners known variously as the Millennials, the NetGen, Generation Y, or the Digital Generation. The session will address questions such as: “How are Millennials different from and similar to previous generations of students entering higher education?” “What blends of pedagogical strategies and technological affordances are most effective for the NetGen?” “What is the role of authentic tasks in blended learning environments?”  “How can enhanced assessment strategies be used to address the often over-looked “conative” learning domain?” “How can instructors more effectively integrate their teaching and research agendas to engage NetGen learners?” Although definitive answers will not be provided for all questions, feasible solutions to meeting the challenges of the Millennials will be proposed. 

Maish Nichani Plenary Session 2 eLearning in 2008: What can we expect? 27 Feb (Wed)  1030 to 1120 hrs  LT 2A

Synopsis
eLearning has been through its ups and downs and is re-surfacing, in a more matured and focused way. The reasons for this resilience it seems, comes from that fact educators have been quick to experiment and adapt to new and changing ideas and technologies (case in point: blogs and wikis). These experiments give them the opportunity to evaluate what really works and what does not and to continue the cycle of growth. We enter 2008 with many more new ideas to experiment with and as we’ll see in this presentation, many of them have the potential to motivate and excite learners and raise the experience to a whole new level.

Prof Henk Schmidt Plenary Session 3 How People Learn 27 Feb (Wed)  1120 to 1210 hrs  LT 2A

Synopsis
The last 20 years have seen a remarkable increase in our understanding of how people learn. These ideas have matured now to an extent that they are directly applicable to the teaching and the learning in higher education. However, despite these new developments, teachers tend to prefer the lecture-book-examination “trias” over perhaps more effective methods.
This interactive lecture will outline and illustrate five principles of learning and their translation into instruction. These ideas center around concepts such as the role of prior knowledge, knowledge construction, elaboration, context specificity of learning, and organization of knowledge. All these ideas will be illustrated with examples. Participants will be invited to contribute.

John Larkin Plenary Session 4 What’s New? – Explore and Exploit Web 2.0 and beyond….. 27 Feb (Wed)  1310 to 1400 hrs  LT 2A

Synopsis
2007 was a year in which the hype surrounding Web 2.0 reached fever pitch. More and more educators hopped on board the Web 2.0 express and began exploring new tools that they could apply in their own classrooms.
Twitter, Nings, Swickis, Tumblr, Pageflakes,  and more, joined the elder statesmen of the Web 2.0 world, namely Blogs and Wikis. Web 2.0 tools were embedded in Learning Management Systems. A virtual cornucopia of tools to from which to choose! Where does one begin?
Which tool would best fit the needs of the students? Would teachers be able to satisfy the aims of the syllabus? How were teachers able to employ these tools? Did their expectations become a reality?
This presentation will consider these questions with a practical down-to-earth approach and examine the pros and cons of the Web 2.0 enhanced teaching and learning environment. How can these tools be used to support teaching and learning?
In conclusion the presentation will introduce and explore innovations such as virtual worlds, the semantic web, OpenId, mash-ups and personalisation of the web and the possible paths that one could follow.

Westley Field Plenary Session 5 To Blend or not to Blend - A Web of Learning? 28 Feb (Thu)  0900 to 0945 hrs  LT 2A

Synopsis
At MLC we have implemented a blended learning agenda in the belief that it can transform learning and increase learning outcomes for students.  In this presentation I will introduce the major elements of our journey focusing on blended learning in the context of web 2.0. I will define what web 2.0 is and introduce research that suggests what directions and trends we, as educators should be following.  This will be followed by and sample of the blended learning that occurs at MLC including student led online communities, integrated units of work, models and heuristics that make it work and future directions

Assoc Prof Chee Yam San Plenary Session 6 Gaming for learning: Is There a Place for Fun in Learning? 28 Feb (Thu)  0945 to 1030 hrs  LT 2A

Synopsis
Playing computer and video games is often associated with having fun. While some games may indeed be fun to play, most substantive games actually require hard work. In this talk, I examine the issue of fun in learning with games. I shall also share the experience of our research on learning with games based on work that we have conducted at the Learning Sciences Lab, NIE. In particular, I shall share findings and reflections on the game Space Station Leonis, a game related to National Education and the Social Studies curriculum in secondary schools, and Escape from Centauri 7, a game to foster inquiry learning in the domain of physics. It is hoped that members of the audience will leave with a more critical sense of the notion of fun in learning.