conferences | Frances Bell

Frances Bell

home at last – for all the mes

Keep Calm and Carry On – but carefully and differently #OER20

So it has happened – OER20 in London in April has been cancelled. This comes as no surprise but it’s still disappointing not to be meeting up with friends, hearing their ideas and, in my case, meeting some of the people whose beautiful textile art work has arrived at my house in Macclesfield, to be…

Questionably open and not always by choice

In preparing my ALT format piece for OER19, I thought about these questions in the context of my work as a volunteer IT Buddy at my local library in the town of Macclesfield in the North West of England. Why open? Open for whom? Whose interests are served? In what ways has the open agenda…

#ALTC Preconference Walking Tour details and contact

Are you in Manchester for ALTC 2018, and free on the afternoon of Monday 10 September? Then please consider joining me for a walking tour, taking in the Whitworth Art Gallery, and back to the Conference Venue in time to register. You will be free to go around the Gallery on your own or with…

Resistance as a Digital Capability #udicap

Kerry Pinner invited me to give a presentation at the UCISA Spotlight on Digital Capability Conference at University of Warwick. My presentation was based on some work I have being doing on Digital Trespass and Resistance as a Digital Literacy. I approached the UCISA event (my first contact with the organisation) with a slight sense…

The Paradise (hopefully not lost) of #OER17

Last week I was lucky enough to attend OER17 an Open Education conference, The Politics of Open. When I heard at the close of OER16 that was the theme and that Josie Fraser and Alek Tarkowski were the Chairs, I was thrilled. I did wonder if that ‘politics’ aspect might be be off-putting for some….

Opening up Wikimedia Content and Communities #OER17 Keynote

Lucy Crompton-Reid, the Chief Executive of Wikimedia UK, and Karaoke Queen, introduced herself to us, revealing her broad experience, and enthusiasm for Wikipedia. Lucy was very happy when Jim Groom made this statement at OER16 She is passionate about the use of Wikipedia and associated projects in education, formal and informal. Education is a natural…

Reaching Other Audiences #OER17 Keynote

Diana Arce @visualosmosis, Director of Artists Without a Cause @ArtistsWAC, gave the second keynote at OER17. She is an artist and activist who works with other artists to critique and make change with positivity. She told the story of the Charging Bull, and the Fearless Girl, supported as an advertisement by Hedge Fund – rather…

Hiding in the Open #OER17 Keynote

Maha Bali describes herself as “open and connected educator, learnaholic and writeaholic” and you can find her on Twitter and at her blog. Maha has modelled openness in the development of her keynote by blogging for ideas, sharing her slides in advance and adopting an inclusive approach through the process. Josie Fraser introduced Maha as…

Still time to register for OER17

I am a newbie to OER conferences, and #OER16 was the first I attended. It was fun, informative and helped me move forward my ideas about Open Education. I loved it, and live blogged and blogged quite a few keynotes and sessions. If Open Education is something you do or plan to do, why not…