Toward Successful Learning: NLII's Annual Meeting

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.

Featured

  • young man in a denim jacket scans his phone at a card reader outside a modern glass building

    Colleges Roll Out Mobile Credential Technology

    Allegion US has announced a partnership with Florida Institute of Technology (FIT) and Denison College, in conjunction with Transact + CBORD, to install mobile credential technologies campuswide. Implementing Mobile Student ID into Apple Wallet and Google Wallet will allow students access to campus facilities, amenities, and residence halls using just their phones.

  • glowing blue AI sphere connected by fine light lines, positioned next to a red-orange shield with a checkmark

    Cloud Security Alliance Offers Playbook for Red Teaming Agentic AI Systems

    The Cloud Security Alliance has introduced a guide for red teaming Agentic AI systems, targeting the security and testing challenges posed by increasingly autonomous artificial intelligence.

  • Stylized illustration of an AI microchip connected to a laptop, server rack, and monitor with a chart

    HPE and Nvidia Announce Expanded AI Infrastructure Partnership

    Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Nvidia have expanded their partnership to accelerate enterprise artificial intelligence adoption through new modular infrastructure and turnkey AI platform offerings.

  • cloud and circuit patterns with AI stamp

    Cloud Management Startup Launches Infrastructure Intelligence Tool

    A new AI-powered infrastructure intelligence tool from cloud management startup env0 aims to turn the fog of sprawling, enterprise-scale deployments into crisp, queryable insight, minus the spreadsheets, scripts, and late-night Slack threads.