The Isle of Wight Conference 2008

The Isle of Wight Conference 2008 was a celebration of technology, language learning and social networking. The communal buzz created by speakers and delegates at this year's event was phenomenal as was the face to face networking. For many attendees, the conference provided the opportunity for those who had been communicating online through blogs and Twitter to meet for the first time and share ideas collaboratively and informally in a warm environment.

This was of course what we'd planned and hoped for, but the fact that it worked so spectactularly was amazing. For example, to keep our sponsors happy, we made sure the sessions had staggered starts so that there was a constant drip feed to the exhibition and delegates could congregate and take part in informal round tables over lunch.

 

Twitter was a revelation for many at the conference thanks to Drew Buddie's session on Web 2.0 tools which inspired delegates to create their own account and start tweeting throughout the event. Having John Johnston's customised Twitter presenter page on two large TV screens in the main hall meant that everyone could keep up to date with the incredible learning going on around the school.

Mark Pentleton paid the conference a flying visit and presented a very popular sessions on one stop animation the results of which will be published soon.

Another hit of the weekend was the presentation and workshop delivered by pupils from Heathfield Technology College who showed us how to create enhanced podcast with Macs (pictures and audio). A real treat.

The MFL Show and Tell on Saturday night proved to be another highlight of the weekend including 10 minute presentations from:

• myself (Triggers and drag and drop in PowerPoint)
• Isabelle Jones (Social bookmarking)
• Adam Sutcliffe (Amazing etre)
• Sam Downe (St Neots Podclub
• Jo Rhys-Jones (VoiceThread)
• José Picardo (Edmodo)
• Andy Stanford-Clark (One Laptop Per Child)
• Sarah Ferretti (LinguaRyde)
• Drew Buddie (50 ways to tell a story)

Between presentations we sang the odd foreign language song and at the end I was presented with two birthday cakes (even though it's not my birthday until next month, but nevermind) Drew twittered throughout and described the evening as unconferencing at its best in one of his tweets. Thanks Drew!

Before leaving on Sunday, some of us took part in a Flashmeeting with colleagues around the world and gave our impressions of the conference.

Here is the audio version including background noise and laughter.

Download Flashmeeting_at_IOW_Conference_2008.mp3

Leon Cych who took part in the videoconference was so impressed by how energised and engaged delegates seemed in the Flashmeeting that he interviewed Drew Buddie on his mobile phone to find out more.

You can listen to an edited version of the interview here:

Download Interview_with_Drew_Buddie_on_Twitter_and_IOW_Conference_2008.mp3

In the EdTechRoundup Flashmeeting on Sunday night I did admit to feeling a little disappointed that we had ony been able to attract 60 delegates to this year's conference considering the quality of the programme and the amount it had been promoted. Preaching to the converted is great for those 'in the goldfish bowl', but we need to spread the word further a field and encourage those who are curious to find out more. Have a listen to the thoughts of a very tired language teacher by clicking on the link below.

Download Reflections_on_the_IOW_Conference_2008.mp3

I'm delighted to see that attendees have already started by blogging about the conference and you can check out their posts here:

• MFL in Isle of Wight
• Podclub at the Isle of Wight Conference!
• Free Your Mind and Your Class Will Follow
• @digitalmaverick Drew a crowd
• Recovering from IOW Conference
• Why we came to The Isle of Wight Conference
• Digital voice recording in MFL
• Interactive Whiteboards, The Isle of Wight Conference, Organising ICT CPD
• Podcasting with a Mac
• From Pod to Vod tutorial
• Funky Flipcharts and Interesting Interactivity
• IOW Conference 08 - delegate podcasts
• Why you should use Twitter - interview with the amazing Drew Buddie
• Impressions of The Isle of Wight Conference
• Isle of Wight Conference
• Isle of Wight Conference
• Mark Pentleton - Two years of podcasting
• IOW Conference Show and Tell: Let's Not Preach To The Converted
• Coffee Break Podcasting
• IOW Conference 08
• Teaching the world through podcasting
• Creating digital exercises and integration within the school's VLE
• The new curriculm: Making it work for languages
• Free your mind and your class will follow
• Using digital voice recorders in the classroom
• Moodle by Drew Buddie
• Thinking outside the classroom box
• Flashmeeting with John Warwick
• Creating digital exercises and integration within the school's VLE with Steve Whittle
• Get Animated! with Mark Pentleton
• Giving students wings by building content in a VLE
• Progression and Fun in Primary Languages
• Videoconferencing with Flashmeeting
• Sharon Balch - AfL in Practice
• Funky Flipcharts and Interesting Interactivity
• The Aftermath of the IOW Conference 08
• The Isle of Wight Conference
• Interview with the amazing Drew Buddie
• Event materials 

Thank you to everyone who came to the Isle of Wight last weekend and made the event what it was. Let's keep spreading the word and encourage more colleagues to open their minds too and embrace the power of new technologies in the 21st century. It's all about community.

Comments

[Adam]

Hi Joe
Here's a new link to the vox pop film with better audio:
http://thegordonschools.typepad.co.uk/asu/2008/10/why-we-came-to-iowconference08.html

And a tutorial version of that session:
http://thegordonschools.typepad.co.uk/asu/2008/10/from-vod-to-pod---the-tutorial.html

[Jen Sutton]

Hey Joe, I hope you will finally manage to get a rest before the weekend.Thanks to your session on blogging and to your follow on notes, I have manged to revamp our school blog an to lnk it to another blog just for the kids' work in Spanish and the French one is to follow this afternoon when Sophie and I get together.Thanks again for a great week end - there was so much more....

[Joe Dale]

Adam - Cheers for the links. I've updated the post.

Jen - Delighted you're going to publish more of your pupils' work in French and Spanish. That's great news.

May see you at The Language Show this weekend?

[Aurelie]

Had a great time at the IOW conference. Now I just need to pass on all my newly acquired knowledge to my colleagues.

[Isabelle Jones]

Hi Joe
Thanks for all these links about the conference. I am sure there will be even more to come!!

Isabelle
http://isabellejones.blogspot.com

[asalt]

Joe, I cannot recommend the IOW conference highly enough! I had such an amazing time (as evidenced by the hysteria in the flashmeeting!) and learnt so much. Virtual friends became real and new friends were made too. Thank you so much!

[Joe Dale]

Thanks for all your kind comments. I'm delighted you found the conference useful. What we need to do now is spread the word and encourage more to attend next year.

:)

[Kathleen Holton]

Hello Joe,
I would like to add my thanks for being able to attend such a fantastic and positive weekend; I am busy continuing to add more to my edmodo site thanks to José, and I am still in contact with new friends.
thank you!!! Kath