Periodically, we like to make our readers aware of various events and conferences that those in the eLearning and education communities would find interesting or useful. In just a few weeks, the British Council will be hosting an international education conference, Going Global. This conference series has been offering a discussion forum for professionals in the field of education for the past eight years. The Going Global conference is beneficial to any eLearning education professional (especially those working in international education), government representatives, heads of institutions, policy and strategy makers, and many others. Each year, Going Global attracts over 1,000 attendees from all over the world.
According to the conference website, Going Global offers the following benefits: provides a unique platform for knowledge sharing; connects local, national, regional and global agendas; provides a global network for policy makers and practitioners working in the field of international education; supports evidence led policy decisions deriving from research an regional policy dialogues; and supports global thought leadership. This year’s conference, Going Global 2012, will be held in London at the QEII Conference Centre from March 13 to March 15.
The themes Going Global 2012, The Future World and The Connected World, have a decidedly technological slant. This year’s conference aims to address the idea that education can change the world with its ability to shape and connect the lives of the world’s citizens. Included in the more than fifty sessions at the conference, presentations address a broad range of international education topics including Reshaping Education in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, India’s Excellence Initiative, The Future of China’s Education Market, The Rise of Latin American Economies and many others.
Still other sessions at Going Global 2012 focus specifically on education and technology. One of the plenary sessions, Education: Connecting the Future World, focuses on the role of social media and the dissemination of information in the technologically advanced world we are currently living in. This session will pose questions for future debate such as, “Does the immediacy and ubiquity of ‘new’ technologies of communication result in a deeper, and more empathic, understanding of cultural differences on a global scale? How do we negotiate an ‘ethic’ of educational and cultural collaboration in a world that is increasingly hard-wired for global security and surveillance, and deals in the soft-power of cultural stereotypes and racial anxieties?” Other sessions that address the topic of education and technology include: Bridging the Divide: Visions of Education Futures Through Technology, Institutions of the Future – A Technology World Café. With the aforementioned conference themes, undoubtedly many more sessions will touch on the topics of technology in education as well.
Registration for Going Global 2012 closes on February 24, 2012, so there is still a few days left to register if you are interested in attending this conference. Detailed information about all of the conference sessions as well as information on how to register for the conference, accommodations, and travel are all available at the British Council website at http://ihe.britishcouncil.org/going-global .
Tags: eLearning Conferences