Welcome and Housekeeping
January 31, 2008 by Gareth Davies
Gareth Davies, Chair, Naace Board of Management
Jump to sessions:
- 04th March (4)
- 05th March (13)
- 06th March (36)
- Keynotes (9)
- Theme session (24)
- Current Learning (8)
- Future Learning (8)
- Leading Learning (8)
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Recent comments on sessions
- Chris Smith on Ministerial Address
- Bob on New Literacy for a New Information Landscape
- Alex on ‘Harnessing Technology’ and current developments
- bruce nightingale on Our changing media ecosystem: implications for broadcasters, schools, universities and everyone else
- Ray Fleming on What will they think of next? Future technologies, opportunities and challenges
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Well, it’s been a day of contrasts and surprises with three fascinating sessions, each different in style and each engaging and challenging in different ways.
I thought I knew what the Ministerial speech at the Naace conference would be like. I’ve sat through a lot of them. I certainly wasn’t expecting Jim Knight’s avatar to provide a guided tour through areas of Second Life. I commended him for risking live technology in his BETT speech this year. His Naace session took risk several stages further.
I’ve long been a fan of John Naughton’s columns in The Observer. I was expecting his usual irreverence and insight. I wasn’t expecting a fairly scholarly lecture (his word for the session). It required concentration but it was full of interest, wit and provocation. I remain a fan.
I’ve often listened to Naace delegates grumbling about rushing their dinner in order to get back for an evening conference session. I don’t think anyone who listened to Ewan McIntosh was grumbling. Casual yet serious, easy-going yet passionate, friendly yet challenging, Ewan definitely gets his message across. And the talk he didn’t give is also available on line!
Finally, as if all this wasn’t enough, in a moving ceremony in the conference bar, Pippa Grayshon presented me with my Naace Professional Officer badge, after gently ascertaining that I don’t have a pacemaker which the badge’s magnet might send haywire. Personally I think the question would have been more appropriate before I was offered the job. Anyway, I have the badge. I have arrived!