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Toward Successful Learning: NLII's Annual Meeting

02/27/05

Toward Successful Learning: NLII's Annual Meeting

leaders in teaching & learning

The intimate, late January conference drew movers and shakers of education technology. Above, opening plenary speaker John Bransford, professor of education at the University of Washington (left), exchanges ideas with The TLT Group’s Steve Ehrmann (right).Branford delivered “The Learning Sciences, Education, and Technology: Issues and Opportunities.”

a renewed emphasis

National Learning Infrastructure Initiative (NLII) executive director and Educause VP Diana Oblinger shared the NLII annual meeting podium with University of Central Florida CIO J'el Hartman. The two addressed how the organization will refocus its efforts on leveraging IT innovation across the learning enterprise. With a greater-than-ever concentration on the learner, NLII will likely undergo a name change in the very near future. The name garnering the most enthusiastic reaction was Educause Learning Initiative (ELI)—pronounced “Ellie.”

special interests on the menu

Nicolas S. Noakes, of The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and Colleen Carmean from Arizona State University West, enjoys the conversation during a special interest-group-focused luncheon.

prepare to podcast

NLII Fellow Cyprien Lomas, of the University of British Columbia, interviewed University of Tennessee-Knoxville’s Kathleen Bennett, using a video format in preparation for the constant blogging and podcasting of events at the conference.

Macworld: Consumer-Focused or Culture-Changing?

keynote delivers new products

Weighing in at just 2.9 pounds (2 inches tall and 6.5 inches square) and starting at $499 ($479 education price), the new Mac Mini got plenty of o-o-ohs and a-a-ahs as Apple CEO Steve Jobs displayed his new baby. It has many of the same capabilities as its larger siblings.

higher ed takes in the show

UC Berkeley Director of Education Technology Services Victor Edmonds arrived at San Francisco’s Moscone Center, eager to investigate Apple’s newest announcements at January’s Macworld conference and expo. His remarks make us think that the emphasis on small, affordable devices—like the newly announced Mac mini and iPod Shuffle—may be more profound than just an Apple bid for fresh consumer dollars. “It’s another big step toward invisible computing. The focus is not on the machines, but on making it easy and affordable to communicate, work, and enjoy life in media-rich ways. If you think ahead, computing is becoming more human; more about color, movement, and sound, than about dry data. The Mac mini invites you to integrate multimedia everywhere.”

what’s smaller than an iPod?

The first iPod under $100 and smaller and lighter than a pack of gum, the iPod Shuffle was the big (or should we say small?) attention-getter of the show. If you’re an education user, you can get the 1GB model for $149.

just ask somebody in a green shirt

An army of lime-green-clad Apple employees were needed to greet the throngs of visitors constantly filing by several computer stations like this one sporting the company's latest technology offerings.