Everyone's at it - predicting the trends for 2007 and dissing everyone else's predictions. I'm not going to predict much - I always get it wrong anyway. But I will predict one thing - this will be the year the on/line conference really comes into its won as a serious alternative to face to face conferences. Much to be applauded - it is environmentally sensible and allows discussions with peers from all over the world.

The only downside to me is that the on-line conferences are more demanding in terms of concentration and commitment. But that may be no bad thing.

Anyway I' signed up for the following (free) conference - posting it here in case any of you lot out there might be interested.

Connectivism Online Conference

The evolution of teaching and learning is accelerated with technology. After several decades of duplicating classroom functionality with technology, new opportunities now exist to alter the spaces and structures of knowledge to align with both needs of learners today, and affordances of new tools and processes.

Yet our understanding of the impact on teaching and learning trails behind rapidly forming trends. What are critical trends? How does technology influence learning? Is learning fundamentally different today than when most prominent views of learning were first formulated (under the broad umbrellas of cognitivism, behaviourism, and constructivism)? Have the last 15 years of web, technology, and social trends altered the act of learning? How is knowledge itself, in a digital era, related to learning?

Connectivism Online Conference is an open online forum exploring how learning has been impacted by ongoing changes. The conference will run from February 2 – 9, 2007.

Key themes will include: trends in K-12 sector, trends in higher education, research and net pedagogy, technological and societal trends, and connective knowledge and connectivism.

Confirmed presenters include:

• Stephen Downes — www.downes.ca
• Will Richardson — www.weblogg-ed.com
• Terry Anderson — me2u.athabascau.ca/terrya/weblog
• George Siemens — www.elearnspace.org/blog
• Bill Kerr — learningevolves.wikispaces.com /
• Diana G. Oblinger, Ph.D. — www.educause.edu

You can find out more and register at the conference web site.