{"id":9595,"date":"2021-08-09T08:24:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-09T07:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/?p=9595"},"modified":"2021-08-06T08:26:37","modified_gmt":"2021-08-06T07:26:37","slug":"guest-post-10-things-i-love-about-the-alt-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/2021\/08\/guest-post-10-things-i-love-about-the-alt-conference\/","title":{"rendered":"Guest Post: 10 Things I Love about the ALT Conference"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dr Elaine Pang, Lancaster University, UK <\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Scholarship places<\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    The ALT conference committee always work with sponsors to provide scholarship places to support unfunded individuals to attend or present their work at the annual conference. I was very fortunate to receive a partial scholarship from ALT in 2015 and 2016 when I was a PhD student to present my work at both conferences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. Meeting new people<\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      Delegates from various higher education institutions, organisations and the industry from many countries attend the annual ALT conference. Most of the people I\u2019ve met at the ALT conference in previous years were from the learning technology community and educators in higher education. Although I\u2019m an early career researcher from a different field (language learning and transnational education), I found it a very welcoming experience to meet new people and discuss about new trends and development in learning technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      1. Meeting old friends<\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

        When I attended previous ALT conferences held at the University of Manchester and the University of Warwick, I was pleasantly surprised to meet up with fellow PhD researchers whom I had met earlier at other conferences such as the ESRC DTP Midlands Conferences. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        1. New Techniques<\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

          Based on work presented by delegates at the ALT conferences, I\u2019ve learnt more about different techniques to improve the teaching and learning experience for students. Some of these include incorporating students\u2019 choices of apps in one\u2019s practice, using Facebook groups to facilitate peer learning among students and developing flexible MOOCs such as \u2018cMOOCs\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          1. New Tools<\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

            While attending ALT conferences, I\u2019ve been introduced to new tools such as the Brightspace learning platform, creating videos with mobile devices and using e-portfolios as a sharing tool for students. Prior to that, I\u2019ve only been using different learning platforms such as Moodle, a VLE developed by Brightside while teaching for The Brilliant Club as well as developed a blended learning course using Canvas. I\u2019m looking forward to this year\u2019s conference to learn more about new tools which I can try out and integrate into my practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            1. Novel Research<\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

              Coming to the ALT conferences from a non-specialist background, I feel very fortunate to listen to talented experts sharing about their work and novel research in the area of learning technology. Some of these which were new to me in previous ALT conferences and provided new insights included topics on using learning analytics to shape students learning, an approach to evaluate evaluation and fostering collaboration in MOOCs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

              1. Free Souvenirs<\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

                Apart from meeting experts in the field of learning technology and gaining new knowledge and skills, I\u2019ve been really happy to get a few freebies each year such as pens and soft toys which I passed on to friends who couldn\u2019t attend the conference. These little gifts have brought smiles and joy to many people. 😊 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

                \"ALT
                ALT Annual Conference Pass for Elaine Ling<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
                1. Green name tags<\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

                  The green name tags I\u2019ve been given at ALT conferences are special. It helps me to remember names of new people I\u2019ve met at the conference. Additionally, it\u2019s always great to see everyone wearing a green name tag and to feel a sense of belonging to the ALT community. Although we are having a virtual conference this year, there will be more opportunities in the future to register for the conference and get a pretty green name tag again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

                  \"\"<\/a>
                  ALT Badges<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
                  1. Electronic badges<\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

                    As a newbie to the ALT community, I\u2019ve been grateful to receive a few open badges for my role as a participant and speaker at ALT conferences as well as a member and conference committee member this year. I\u2019ve never received electronic badges in my other roles or from other organisations and this makes it unique and special to be appreciated by the ALT community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                    1. Learning with the ALT community<\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

                      Since I came to know about and joined the ALT community in 2015 as a PhD student, I\u2019ve learnt a lot by participating, presenting and chairing sessions at the ALT conferences. In addition, after volunteering to be in the conference committee and working with very experienced and senior committee members, I\u2019ve gained additional skills which will help me in organising other events in the future. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Scholarship places The ALT conference committee always work with sponsors to provide scholarship places to support unfunded individuals to attend or present their work at the annual conference. I was very fortunate to receive a partial scholarship from ALT in 2015 and 2016 when I was a PhD student to present my work at both […]","protected":false},"author":1970,"featured_media":9368,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1410,1409],"tags":[1258,1413,1415],"class_list":["post-9595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-altc21","category-events","tag-altc-2","tag-altc21","tag-events-2"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2021\/06\/Screenshot-2021-06-28-11.42.16.png?fit=658%2C364&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9273,"url":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/2021\/06\/applications-for-scholarship-places-are-now-open\/","url_meta":{"origin":9595,"position":0},"title":"Applications for scholarship places are now open!","author":"Christina Vines","date":"10 June 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Join us from\u00a0 7-9 September 2021 virtually, at the ALT Annual Conference for a three day programme featuring speakers from across sectors, bringing us all together to reflect on the shared experience from our different perspectives. 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