Learning 2.0 Conference (Future of Learning?)

URL: http://www.learning2.net.cn/

When, Where, What, Who, Why, How?

Missing Act?
I am perplexed (puzzled) that Stephen Downes is not one of the presenters or participants. He is probably busy with some research or other conferences. Well, I suppose I am still learning!

Any Juice?
Check out the reflections by the Learning Gurus (Wesley Fryer, Jamie McKenzie, Will Richardson, etc.) on what learning 2.0 means to them and how they believe education will evolve in the coming years. Also, if you explore a bit deeper, you will probably discover a few podcasts (and presentation slides soon I suppose) on the homepage. Here is a bit of juice from Wesley Fryer's reflections:

• "...While learning 1.0 was PASSIVE for the student, learning 2.0 is ACTIVE.
• While learning 1.0 was coercive and rigid, learning 2.0 is largely student-directed, optional, and filled with choices.
• While learning 1.0 was relatively monolithic and consistent in its form and roles for teachers and students, learning 2.0 is diverse and multi-faceted.

Our present conversation about “learning 2.0,” “school 2.0,” and “web 2.0″ is largely inspired by fundamental shifts in the way information is published and shared on our planet. In every previous era of human history, access to the means of publication for a national or international audience was sharply controlled by a limited number of wealthy elites. The “common person” rarely had the opportunity to publish ideas for a large audience without the assistance of those elites who controlled the means of publication. The invention of moveable type and the printing press in the mid-1400s ushered in dramatic changes in the access which everyday people had to texts and ideas, but it did not democratize the means of publication in the same way the read/write web or web 2.0 has done in the early 21st century...more" :)