Pass the SoLT

This year's ascilite conference finished yesterday in Hobart and was attended by over 380 delegates. I'm pleased to report that next year's ascilite 2012 conference will take place in Wellington and I'll be leading a team from Massey University as the host institution to ensure we maintain the high standard set in 2011 and we have an exceptional event. Part of the 2012 conference team from Massey attended this year's conference in Hobart to promote the Wellington conference and here is a photo of our booth:

The conference theme for 2012 is: Future Challenges | Sustainable Futures

The theme recognizes that Education is facing a number of significant challenges. Recent waves of global uncertainty coupled with local crisis and government reforms are reshaping the tertiary education landscape. In the backdrop of these challenges new digital technology is enabling new models of teaching and learning. Yet, serious questions remain over the sustainability of these new models and the claims about the potential of new technology, especially in the face of deeper challenges.

The aim of the 2012 ascilite conference is to explore some of these challenges and to better understand the complexity of sustainability—in its widest sense. The basic premise is that what happened in the past is no longer a reliable guide to the future. There are three future-focused sub-themes:

• Learning for the future
• Teachers as future makers
• Leading in a climate of change

Ascilite 2012 will be held on the Wellington waterfront at the iconic Te Papa Tongarewa – National Museum of New Zealand. Enjoy the spectator views of Wellington Habour and take time to discover some of the rich history of Aotearoa/New Zealand. Wellington is an excellent conference venue with lots on offer including a lively nightlife and many tourist attractions within walking distance. Here is a brief and rather amusing video clip of why you need to come to Wellington in November 2012...

I’m pleased to let people know that Massey University has joined DEHub as a foundation member. DEHub was launched at the University of New England in the last week of February has was established through a Diversity and Structural Adjustment Fund provided by the Australian Department of Education, Employment, and Workplace Relations (DEEWR).

In brief, 'the Hub' is a research consortium of major distance education providers on the East Coast of Australia with the addition of Massey University from New Zealand. More information is available on the DEHub website, including the aims and list of foundation members:

http://www.dehub.edu.au/

DEHub has funding to support a major international conference in Feb 2011 in collaboration with the Open and Distance Learning Association of Australian (ODLAA). Several other research opportunities appear in the pipeline. A list of current research projects along with additional information about DEHub is available on a dedicated Wikieducator page.