Contribution to the Round Table on "Conferences In The Context Of Academic Performance, Informal Learning And Alternative Designs - Between Theory And Practice" in Network 6, 06 SES 04, at the ECER 2016 Conference in Dublin (2016-08-24).

1. Conference Designs revisited – Concepts, Practices, and Perspectives
Conference Designs revisited –
Concepts, Practices, and Perspectives
Theo Hug & Nelson Gonçalves ECER 2016 Leading Education in Dublin August 23'26, 2016 1
Theo Hug & Nelson Gonçalves
Network 6, 06 SES 04, Round Table
Conferences In The Context Of Academic Performance, Informal Learning And
Alternative Designs $ Between Theory And Practice
Wednesday, 2016'08'24, 09:00'10:30, Room: NM'F102, Chair: Petra Grell

2. Conference Designs revisited – Concepts, Practices, and Perspectives
Overview
Prelude in rembrance of the emergence of the theme
Old traditions and new developments
Theo Hug & Nelson Gonçalves ECER 2016 Leading Education in Dublin August 23'26, 2016 2
Old traditions and new developments
Examples for innovative concepts and alternative practices
Perspectives for enhancements and innovation
Conclusion

3. Conference Designs revisited – Concepts, Practices, and Perspectives
… in remembrance
beyond MOOCs
COFFEE
https://whyleadnow.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/mooc.png
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MOOC_poster_mathplourde.jpg
Theo Hug & Nelson Gonçalves ECER 2016 Leading Education in Dublin August 23'26, 2016 3
TEA
BEER
COLA
MOJITO
PISCO
BAIJIU
By Julius Schorzman ' Own work, CC BY'SA 2.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=107645
By David J. Fred ' Self'created, Nikon D70,
uploaded by creator of image,
CC BY'SA 2.5, https://commons.
wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1932677
By dana robinson from los angeles, ca, usa ' what diet,
part 2Uploaded by Fæ, CC BY'SA 2.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=23294597
Von Ralf Roletschek – E
igenes Werk, FAL,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/
index.php?curid=43692381
By Ralf Roletschek ' Own work, FAL,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/
index.php?curid=43685867
By Dtarazona ' Own work, CC BY'SA 3.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?
curid=3205145
von Shwangtianyuan (Eigenes Werk) [CC BY'SA 4.0
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by'sa/4.0)],
via Wikimedia Commons https://upload.wikimedia.org/
wikipedia/commons/6/63/Chinese_Baijiu'99_Ranch_Market.JPG

4. Conference Designs revisited – Concepts, Practices, and Perspectives
Prelude
… beyond Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)
COFFEE stands for Creative, Open and Free, Fruitful, Educational, Experience
TEA stands for Trans'cultural, Experiential, Activist
BEER stands for Basic Enriching Educational Retreat
COLA stands for Critical Organizational Leadership Amendments
Theo Hug & Nelson Gonçalves ECER 2016 Leading Education in Dublin August 23'26, 2016 4
COLA stands for Critical Organizational Leadership Amendments
MOJITO stands for Mobile Open Joyful Inclusive Transformation Observatory
PISCO stands for Passionate Informal Scholarship Collaboration On'/offline
BAIJIU stands for Blended Apps Informal Jester Intelligence United
tbc.
Also considering alternative options for this round table, such as a Delphi study, an
experimental study, a decent media activist intervention, etc.
But …

5. Conference Designs revisited – Concepts, Practices, and Perspectives
Prelude continued
Theo Hug & Nelson Gonçalves ECER 2016 Leading Education in Dublin August 23'26, 2016 5
von Anant ' Ramakrishnan, CC BY'SA 2.5,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=755589
von Harald Wehner ' Self made picture, Gemeinfrei,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=906295
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/
en/4/40/Duerr's_Dreamtime.jpg

6. Conference Designs revisited – Concepts, Practices, and Perspectives
Old traditions …
Theo Hug & Nelson Gonçalves ECER 2016 Leading Education in Dublin August 23'26, 2016 6

7. Conference Designs revisited – Concepts, Practices, and Perspectives
… and new developments
special attention to emerging researchers
open access policies, dynamics of open innovation
conferences and “unconferences” (BarCamps, Foo Camps, etc.)
new formats like lightening talks, ignite talks,
Theo Hug & Nelson Gonçalves ECER 2016 Leading Education in Dublin August 23'26, 2016 7
new formats like lightening talks, ignite talks,
PekaKucha, speed geeking, etc. ….
role of digital media technologies for
researching, documenting, presenting,
networking, collaborating, archiving, etc.
Basic question:
How can academic conferences be designed as learning environments
fostering fruitful learning experiences?
By Hyfen (talk) ' I created this work entirely by myself., CC BY 3.0,
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21680662

8. Conference Designs revisited – Concepts, Practices, and Perspectives
Perspectives for enhancements and innovation
options for enhancement of traditional
conference designs
options for rethinking routines of designing
or composing conferences
learning from fields like art, design (theory),
Theo Hug & Nelson Gonçalves ECER 2016 Leading Education in Dublin August 23'26, 2016 8
learning from fields like art, design (theory),
architecture and media activism
being aware of limitations
ethical aspects
time and established modes of recognition
innovative spirit, capacities and capabilities
ongoing rhetoric of innovation
“new wine in old wineskins”
http://www.storydealer.de/
abwicklung.html

9. Conference Designs revisited – Concepts, Practices, and Perspectives
Conclusion
Bringing together creative thinking, living learning, and research that
matters remains ambivalent. However we deal with conferences in
terms of designing, structuring, arranging, organizing, shaping,
forming, framing, moulding, enabling, etc., playing by established or
Theo Hug & Nelson Gonçalves ECER 2016 Leading Education in Dublin August 23'26, 2016 9
forming, framing, moulding, enabling, etc., playing by established or
innovative academic rules, there is always a tension between acting
in a lively way or bringing something to live deliberately and letting
something come alive.

10. Conference Designs revisited – Concepts, Practices, and Perspectives
References
Bernhardt, Thomas; Büffel, Steffen & Kirchner, Marcel (2011): Bildung am „Lagerfeuer“. EduCamps als partizipatives
Konferenzformat im Web'2.0'Stil. In: Dürnberger, Hannah; Hofhues, Sandra & Sporer, Thomas (Hrsg.): Offene Bildungs'
initiativen. Fallbeispiele, Erfahrungen und Zukunftsszenarien. Münster; New York; München; Berlin: Waxmann, pp. 25'39.
URN: urn:nbn:de:0111'pedocs'118020
Blasco, Maribel et al. (eds.) (2015): Research in Management Learning and Education (RMLE). Unconference
Proceedings. Lima / Peru. http://www.rmle.org/images/RMLE2015.pdf.
Budd, Aidan; Dinkel, Holger; Corpas, Manuel; Fuller, Jonathan C.; Rubinat, Laura; Devos, Damien P.; et al. (2015): Ten
Simple Rules for Organizing a Unconference. In: PLoS Comput Biol 11(1): e1003905. doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1003905.
Theo Hug & Nelson Gonçalves ECER 2016 Leading Education in Dublin August 23'26, 2016 10
Carpenter, Jeffrey P. (2016): Unconference professional development: Edcamp participant perceptions and motovations for
attendance. In: Professional Development in Education, 42(1), pp. 78'99, DOI:10.1080/19415257.2015.1036303.
Duerr, Hans Peter (1985): Dreamtime: Concerning the Boundary between Wilderness and Civilization. Felicitas Goodman
(translator). Oxford and New York: Blackwell (first published in 1978:Traumzeit. Über die Grenzen zwischen Wildnis und
Zivilisation. Frankfurt am Main: Syndikat)
Hale, Enoch & Bessette, Lee Skallerup (2016): New Frontiers: Exploring the Power and Possibilities of the Unconference
as a Transformative Approach to Faculty Development. In: The Journal of Faculty Development, 30(2), pp. 9'15.
Hohl, Michael & Sweeting, Ben (eds.) (2015): Composing Conferences. Constructivist Foundations, Special Issue, 11(1),
available at http://www.univie.ac.at/constructivism/journal/11/1
Pask, Gordon (1979): Against conferences: The poverty of reduction in SOP'science and POP'systems. In: Proceedings of
the Silver Anniversary International Meeting of Society for General Systems Research, London, August 1979. SGSR,
Washington: xii–xxv. Available at http://tinyurl.com/cf'cfp'composing/pask1979.pdf