Reflecting on our BECTA TEN meeting, this week (May 13th & 14th) at Novotel St Pancras, London – Hosted by our Exemplar lead, BL Hairdressing – also in our mini-network are Academy of Training, Asphaleia, and Haddon Training.
The meeting was a great chance to catch-up and discuss what we’ve been up to since our last meeting in Darlington, for partners to give a presentation about their own ePortfolios and to look at how we’re all tackling similar issues and academic needs etc.
We also had an interesting guest presenter, Bernard Aghedo, e-Learning Advisor at JISC RSC London. Bernard ran through the many ways that JISC RSCs can advise and assist with video conferencing using the many free webtools available and the services JISC RSCs can offer in your area. He gave us a live demo of Wimba, which the London RSC use – Top guy! Fun & enthusiastic 
At our college, we don’t use an ePortfolio system in the sense that our WBL colleagues do – it is something we will have to develop, most probably it will be an in-house job for my software developer, though I do like the look of Mahara. Anyway - I gave a presentation of our Moodle and described the various components (plug-ins, etc.) that we’ve been utilizing – and probably bored the pants off everyone for an hour 
The hotel was really nice – although a little pricey (ours was at a reduced rate, I guess because we were using the conference facilities) Dinner was very tasty and a good veggie option then we had a few drinks and a good chance to chat a bit more informally about our tech and how we’re all looking at using technology to enhance what we’re doing with learners.
DAY 2: Col has a bad throat… it was either all that waffling about VLEs on Day 1, or the London air.
More showcasing of ePortfolios and a great demo of things that the guys from Asphaleia have been up to. I presented a ‘quick’ 40 mins session based loosely around Macs and what you get ‘out-of-the-box’ – typically a demo of the seamless integration between applications, using FrontRow etc.
Colleagues on our mini-network are a really great bunch of people to work – we’re all getting on so well and most importantly (for me), we’re all sharing really effective practice and helping each other out – which I think, is really what it’s all about.
How could I forget…
How do I get to Reception?
Source: fdecomite
The elevators weren’t working on day 2, so getting down to breakfast was an experience. I was escorted down in the staff elevator by a guy from the office… then I tried to walk back up the stairs to my room – but the stairs didn’t seem to go past the 4th floor (16 floors!), I eventually found a way to the 5th floor, got my bag and tried to come back down to check-out. The elevators were still not working and I couldn’t find my way back to the stairs… I got talking to a German couple who were also looking how to get out… none of the chamber maids seemed to understand our German/Scouse English but we were eventually pointed in the direction of the staff elevator again… it wasn’t working either. We found a set of stairs, which didn’t go down to the reception floor… and somehow ended up getting lead through the kitchens by a porter and back through the dining rooms to reception.
It kind of made me think that there are many ways to achieve an end point or outcome. Whether it be trying to get from your hotel room to reception, or trying to find ways that technology can enhance what you’re doing. In our BECTA TEN mini-network, we’re all working towards solving very similar business and academic problems but using different techniques, models and software solutions.
References (things I mentioned):
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