Winterlude 3 - #LT12uk #BETT_show #OnlineInfo_expo #cloudworks
The Winterlude for 2011/2012 is taking shape. This is the time between Online Information and Learning Technology. It also takes in some holidays for reflection. As actual trade shows extend to online communities the actual timing of events becomes vague. Also some stands (known as booths in the USA) have vanished though still in background mode.
There is a cloud for the Winterlude on Cloudworks
Towards Maturity will soon release the results of a survey on current elearning practice. From an article in eLearning Age it is likley this will show that online learning is now seen as part of business agility, not just for conformance evidence etc.
In previous years this sort of survey might have been announced at Learning Technologies in January.
The Guardian toaday reports that smartphones are still a "battleground" in UK schools. There is still no clear policy from the UK government and some schools still confiscate phones.
Russell Hobby, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said the kind of learning that could take place on smartphones was "not all that exciting".
"It should remain with individual schools to determine their policy [on whether they ban the device]," he said.
There is no BECTA at BETT. Last year there was very little evidence of UK policy involvement. The Media Development Authority of Singapore is on stand D101 with a clear view on digital media industries. There will not be a BBC stand as they withdrew a few years ago after pressure from various publishers. Google UK on stand E70.
Online Information is in a smaller hall this year, but the conversations are no less interesting. It is evidence of success that the Online audience has less need of a face to face event. Highwire Press will not be attending. they did try out the Frankfurt Bookfair so digital books and journals are now part of a mainstream publishing event. The British Library will not be there though they are publishing more for mobile devices. By chance Apps World will also be at Olympia during the same week.
One of the free presentations at Online will be from David Penfold about structured documents and XML.
This will probably links back to print workflows as well as mobile devices. I am still puzzled as to how the London College of Communication is now organised. "Print and Publishing" I was used to but what is Design as distinct from Media? My guess is that the XML bit should be understood quite early on.
Adobe will not be at Online to explain what happened to Mars, a sometime project to rewrite PDF in XML. They will be at BETT and Learning Technologies, presumably to promote the Creative Cloud, Flash enabled tools for mobile devices. Most of UK education is still based on the book, text as hard copy. Adobe at BETT has some balance for print production but at Learning Technologies the stand started with Macromedia so is a bit more Flash. There could be some interesting conversations around this.
Meanwhile the same week at Olympia there is Learning Without Frontiers
Our design team are busy re-imagining the interior of Olympia’s National Hall to create a “pop-up university of the future” presenting an entirely new experience for our delegates and attendees
By the end of Winterlude 3 this might make more sense.
Online Information 29 Nov - 3rd Dec 2011
BETT 11-14 Jan 2012
Learning Technologies 25-26 Jan 2012