Plenary Speakers

Mr Eric Baber - Cambridge University Press, UK

Abstract:

Wikication: How Mass Collaboration Changes Learning

The talk of this title is based on Tapscott & Williams' book "Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything". In their book Tapscott and Williams look at how global businesses are having to fundamentally change they way in which they do business because of the way people are collaborating nowadays. In my talk I will look at how educational institutions will need to re-define themselves based on how learners are interacting with and learning from each other in the 21st century. It is no longer enough to change what we ask our students to do; in addition, we will have to adapt the entire structure of the educational framework in which we operate. This part-philosophical, part-practical talk aims to prepare educators and administrators for the learning landscape of the digital learner.

Mr Eric Baber is an educational technologist with a range of interests related to the use of technology in education and educational publishing. Since September 2008 he is with Cambridge University Press as Content Innovations Director in the New Directions Group. Pre-September 2008 he was Associate Lecturer for the Open University', Online tutor for The Consultants-E's courses, Key author for the Cambridge University Press Professional English Online website, Consultant on issues related to the implementation of ICT in educational environments, Online Course Designer for Royal Holloway University of London (2002 - 2006), Co-founder and Director of NetLearn Languages, an online-only language school which has been teaching around 10 languages live online since 1998. He has a range of publications to his credit, which include a number of books and articles. His main areas of interest are researching new technologies, assessing them for usability for educational and publishing purposes, developing suitable methodologies and course content and training educationalists in their uses.