Category: Conferences

e-Social Science


I’m pleased to announce that my submission to the 4th
International Conference on e-Social Science has been accepted for
presentation as a short paper.  In line with the concerns of the conference, this paper will focus on the new-media methods I’m using for my PhD, these include screen and audio capture during local and remote interviews as well as emergent results.  I’ve already had positive and constructive comments from reviewers which have been really helpful.  Hopefully the conference itself will play out in the same vein. 

For those of you interested in this area the Conference will be held at the University of
Manchester, UK, from 18 – 20 June 2008.  I’m looking forward to visiting some of the sites from my youth – and in a new context!  The website states that ‘a wine reception will be held on the first evening in the
Power Hall at the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry’. I haven’t been to the Power Hall since I was 12!  Should delegates really be allowed alcohol with all that machinery around? 

Nottingham Research Network (SEN) Report


Earlier this month I presented at the 2nd annual Nottingham Research Network (SEN) "Special Educational Needs, Social and Educational Inclusion, Health and Disabilities".  I’ve had some queries about the conference and it’s focus.  I think one of the key aims of the conference is literally in sustaining the network itself.  This yearly gathering is a great opportunity for those working in the field to meet with researchers and share practice, knowledge and forge collaboration.  Without these connections, academic research is all to often at best undiscovered, at worst, fatuous and irrelevant.  Certainly in the Social Sciences, where the PhD is traditionally a lonely and introverted road, opportunities to benefit from collegiate and professional connections are vital.

The conference also provides a place for disparate researchers and city practitioners to meet those in their own fields.  Nottingham University has disability researchers scattered throughout various disciplines, and for those working in inclusion, health and supporting access to education in the City, opportunities to meet other professionals outside their immediate contacts can be difficult. 

If you are located in the Nottinghamshire area and are interested in joining the network, go to http://www.nottmlg.org.uk/ to sign up and access the group’s online portal.

SEN Collaborative Research Network


This is local news for local people!  The second annual Nottingham Research Network conference has been scheduled for Tuesday 8th January, 2008 from 9am-4pm at the School of Education (Dearing Building) on Jubilee Campus, Nottingham University.  I found last years conference really useful.  It is a great place to meet people working in every area of Special Educational Needs in the City of Nottingham and to get a better understanding of what’s actually happening in the different fields associated with SEN. In the words of the organisers: The main purpose of the Nottingham Research Network is to enhance the well being of people with additional support needs and the skills and confidence of their carers and other professionals through:

  • Promoting collaborative research in this area
  • Connecting people with shared research interests in children, young people and adults with additional support needs
  • Optimising the use of existing resources
  • Attracting resources and enhancing networks and collaboration
  • Identifying areas for development and sharing insights in order to assess the impact and effectiveness of activities
  • Ensuring greater harmony and mutual benefit between research agendas and local needs/priorities
  • Changing practice through theory and theory through practice

If you want to register – please note the deadline is pressing – click on this link: http://www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/sitemap/services/education_and_learning/nttm-research-network.htm

If you are unable to attend, but want to join the network, you can also apply for access to the networks website and submit your own areas of interest through this link.

32 Amongst Many


As the Association of Learning Technology (ALT) Conference approaches, blogging delegates have been approached for their RSS feeds.  The ALT will then be aggregating these into the ‘mother of all feeds’.  They will publish the URL of the aggregated feed on  ALT-C 2007 web site at http://www.alt.ac.uk/altc2007/ .  To ensure you receive a holistic perspective on the event, I’ll add the feed-squared on the right-hand column of your screen for the duration of September, below the BBC Technology news.  Watch that space!

Custom PC


I’m going to be covering the ALT-C conference in early September for Custom PC magazine.  There will be a fairly quick turn around on this work so expect a sign-post from here in mid-september.

Learning Technology for the Social Network Generation


The Association for Learning Technology are holding their 14th International Conference ‘Beyond Control: Technology for the Social Network Generation’ here in Nottingham at the East Midlands Conference Centre (EMCC) from the 4-6 September 2007.

Registration closes on the 10th of August. Research presentations, symposia, workshops and demonstrations are grouped according to strands of interest including Designing Learning Spaces, Large Scale Implementation, Learning and Internationalism and Learning Technology for the Social Network Generation.  Keynote speeches will be delivered by representatives from Cisco, Futurelab and Dr Peter Norvig, Director of Research at Google.

NNDR Poster Competition


I’ve just returned from the Nordic Network on Disability Research biannual conference in Gothenburg, Sweden, where my poster won the Studentlitteratur poster competition (hurray!).  I’ve uploaded two versions here, a PDF copy of the poster and a Word text version.  Photos of the poster in-situ to follow…

NNDR Poster PDF version: Download nndr.pdf

NNDR Poster Word file (text only): Download nndr.doc

NNDR Poster Abstract


I will be presenting a poster entitled ‘Mapping the experiences of disabled students who use Computer-Mediated-Communication in Higher Education’ to the Nordic Network on Disability Research conference "Participation for all – the front line of disability research" (May 10 – 12, 2007) in Göteborg, Sweden.  This poster is based on MA research completed last year. If you are interested in the topic and would like a copy of my research please email me at: ttxsem@nottingham.ac.uk.  I will post the poster file in accessible formats here, online, after the conference.

Mapping the experiences of disabled students who use Computer-Mediated-Communication in Higher Education.

Participation in UK Higher Education is increasing. Universities are embedding blended-learning across departments. Consequently the drivers for accessible e-learning tools and materials are paramount. However, the implied social dynamics of online text-based constructivist tools also need consideration.

Are forums, discussion groups, Listservs and other Computer-Mediated-Communication (CMC) tools transforming or perpetuating traditional (dis)ability difference?

This qualitative study is based on phenomenographic interviews with 3 Undergraduate and Postgraduate students who considered their own CMC experiences. Activity theory was used to guide contextual questioning.

Results indicate that disabled students experience CMC in ways different to those described by frameworks established according to perceived ‘norms’ of online behaviour and embodiment. For some, the notion of controlled or conscious disclosure facilitates Social Presence and cognitive engagement meaning a purely functional experience of CMC is routinely blurred with higher social usage. This has potentially beneficial educative outcomes. However, results also show that access barriers persist for all participants. Furthermore, CMC has the capacity to actively disable students with print-impairments, who withdraw from participation. In conclusion, CMC is both transforming and perpetuating disability.

Continued research must ensure that the assumptions of research based solely on the actions of enabled student groups are challenged by disabled experience.

SEN, Social and Educational Inclusion, Health and Disabilities


4th January 2007

Nottingham Collaborative Research Network Seminar: Special Educational Needs, Social and Educational Inclusion, Health and Disabilities. 

Nottingham Trent University, UK.

The Future of e-Learning has Arrived!


28th – 30th November 2006
Universitas 21 E-Learning Conference: The Future of e-Learning has Arrived!
Tecnologico De Monterray, Guadalajara Campus, Guadalajara, Mexico.

A report on the conference and related links, documents and images are available here: http://www.universitas21.com/elearning.html