Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ The sudden urgency of online academic conferences

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

Conferences have had to convert to an online format out of necessity, but this taps into an already pent-up demand, writes Moira MacDonald. In one case in January, the University of Ottawa's Orad Reshef was thinking "Whatever. I'll do it and if there's 50 people on the stream, that's great." Instead, "On January 13, the day of the conference, more than 1,000 people participated in the free #POM20 (for Photonics Online Meet-up) from across the globe." So what's happening? "This conference form allows for a kind of accessibility that is unprecedented," said Dr. Muehlebach earlier this year. "People are playing with the format and running with it." That's what I think can also happen with online learning, if we just allow it.

Today: 0 Total: 6 [Direct link] [Share]


Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

Copyright 2024
Last Updated: Oct 12, 2024 8:06 p.m.

Canadian Flag Creative Commons License.

Force:yes