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The EduCAt Summit - 2002
Krassie Petrova
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EduCAT (Education Electronic Commerce Action Team) is an organization concerned with the facilitation of knowledge transfer, the provision of independent feedback and policy advice, and the promotion of the potential of eEducation through the creation of a network of educators, practitioners and organizations. It envisions New Zealand as a world leader in eEducation. There are three dimensions in eEducation: teaching online, learning online, and as managing the eEducation infrastructure and process.
The 2002 EduCAT Summit was held in Hamilton, 3-5 April. It was organised by WICeD (Waikato Innovation Centre for Electronic Education) and was hosted by the University of Waikato. The three-day programme featured a selection of guest speakers, invited presentations and breakout sessions and workshops. Delegates from New Zealand schools, tertiary institutions and companies involved in online training and education were given an opportunity to exchange ideas and share experiences and plans. The main theme of the summit was “Innovation in eEducation”. Three important topics were the focal points of the summit’s work:
ß What makes eEducation in New Zealand unique - is there a New Zealand advantage and style?
ß How can we use this advantage and style to generate national wealth?
ß What does the future hold for teachers and learners?
Professor John Hedberg form the University of Wollongong (Australia) presented his keynote in Day One – intriguingly entitled “Online No One Knows You’re Not Harvard: Speculations on Maximising eLearning”. Pointing out that a number of education providers and major commercial entities have invested significantly in online learning, he suggested a range of initiatives - including pedagogy and change strategies, which might be successfully employed. He further elaborated on the need to create a niche for each specific online product (often with limited resources), and the even more urgent need to differentiate oneself in the ocean of innovative eLearning offerings.
Days Two and Three was rich in highlights: keynote speakers included Nola Campbell – Senior Lecturer from the School of Education, University of Waikato, Dr Gilly Salmon form the centre of Innovation, Knowledge and Enterprise at the Open University Business School, Bill Souders – IT Director, Global E-Learning Technologies at Cisco Systems. A presentation by Dr Curtis Bonk form the Indiana University, USA was given at a breakout session.
In her keynote Nola Campbell explored the meaning of innovation for eTeachers and the role played by ICT in teaching effectively – drawing on a variety of perspectives from students, teachers and ICT developers. Gilly Salmon keynote explored key topics in enabling e-learning and introduced a five-step model for developing online courses – based on the framework of four typical eEducation scenarios. Bringing ideas from all around the world and from all sectors of teaching, Gilly emphasised the role of eModeration and the importance of having excellent eModeration skills – to be able to motivate and lead eLearners. Bill Souders presented Cisco’s model of online training in the industry and outlined a proposed strategic provision of a fast secondary network of eEducation servers as an enabling technology to support the process eEducation delivery.
Finally, the two presentations delivered by Curtis Bonk captivated the audience with the scope and seemingly unlimited boundaries of online learning in work-related settings. He deliberated on “corporate training myths” such as the perception that traditional instructional strategies do not work online, and also some “tertiary education myths” – for example the notion that there is a set of existing pedagogical tools to teach online. He provided a wealth of recommendations about tool and content development in eLearning, eLearning decision making, and organizational policies, and the specificity of online evaluation and assessment.
Accompanied by a range of social events, the Summit was successful in its objective to bring present and future eEducators together and build up a network of individuals and organization with passion and vision about eLearning in New Zealand. More details about EduCAT, the summit and the summit sponsors (and some of the presentations) can be found at http://educat.org.nz.
Auckland, 24 April 2002
Krassie.petrova@aut.ac.nz
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