ERIC Number: EJ937671
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2011
Pages: 15
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1740-2875
EISSN: N/A
Facilitating Learning at Conferences
Ravn, Ib; Elsborg, Steen
International Journal of Learning and Change, v5 n1 p84-98 2011
The typical conference consists of a series of PowerPoint presentations that tend to render participants passive. Students of learning have long abandoned the transfer model that underlies such one-way communication. We propose an alternative theory of conferences that sees them as a forum for learning, mutual inspiration and human flourishing. We offer five design principles that specify how conferences may engage participants more and hence increase their learning. In the research-and-development effort reported here, our team collaborated with conference organisers in Denmark to introduce and facilitate a variety of simple learning techniques at 30 1- and 2-day conferences of up to 300 participants each. We present ten of these techniques and data evaluating them. We conclude that if conference organisers allocate a fraction of the total conference time to facilitated processes that engage participants in various forms of reflective conversation and knowledge sharing, they may enhance the satisfaction and learning-related outcomes experienced by their participants. (Contains 1 note.)
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Teaching Methods, Educational Philosophy, Instructional Design, Conferences (Gatherings), Change Strategies, Educational Strategies, Learning Strategies, Meetings, Participation, Learner Engagement, Design Preferences, Program Design, Educational Principles, Instructional Development
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Adult Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Denmark
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A