Must see: John Willinsky @ UBC, September 18

.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }
.flickr-yourcomment { }
.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }
.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; }



John Willinsky, originally uploaded by D’Arcy Norman.


I’ve blogged a couple of John Willinsky’s talks before, and hopefully made my admiration unmistakably clear. So it is with genuine excitement that I plug his presentation here at UBC next week, September 18 at 10 AM.

It is something of an extra-special treat to have Dr. Willinsky here, as he has just begun his new gig at Stanford University (though he is maintaining a part-time appointment at UBC).

It is with considerably less enthusiasm I note that I will be speaking as well. Sharing a bill with Dr. Willinsky is the very definition of a tough gig. But anticipation is stronger than trepidation for once. Here’s the blurb:

“Teaching for a World of Increasing Access to Knowledge”

This session will review the opportunities and initiatives resulting from the emergence of open source, free culture, open access and open educational resources. Discussion will focus on how weblogs support knowledge reviews and foster communities, how wikis can be used to build knowledge resources while providing a platform for authentic learning experiences, and how open access research is equipping students for life-long learning even as they build expectations of a “right to know.” Special emphasis will be placed on describing the opportunities represented by prominent open education projects, and the challenges to developing an open educational culture.

This would be an apt moment to point to a bravura session Dr. Willinsky delivered at the most recent Northern Voice, concerning wikis and public education (and the notion of “intellectual properties”), using this project as a launching point. Audio was recorded – (28 minutes Download MP3 (23.3 MB) This was one of the very best received sessions of the conference.

Non-UBCers are more than welcome. Free registration is appreciated for planning of catering, etc…

About Brian

I am a Strategist and Discoordinator with UBC's Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology. My main blogging space is Abject Learning, and I sporadically update a short bio with publications and presentations over there as well...
This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged . Bookmark the permalink.

5 Responses to Must see: John Willinsky @ UBC, September 18

  1. i tried to register but it said registration is full, can i come anyway?

  2. Brian says:

    That can’t be right! Come one, come all — we shall find a way to accommodate.

  3. Chris L says:

    I’m jealous– this looks like it would be great to watch! Willinski’s NV session really influenced my thinking.

    Surely this will be available as a podcast or something later?

  4. I’ve managed to register just now, so I guess that spaces are still available.

    As I was adding this event to my calendar, I realised that “Willinsky & Lamb” is a great name for a cop show. You’d play good cop and Willinsky (can’t you picture the police chief yelling “Will-IN-sky-y-y!”) would play the cop who’s always getting in to trouble (hence the yelling chief). Just a thought.

  5. Jim says:

    What a masterful presenter, and his talk with Udell about working class cafe learning communities just makes me further jealous I won’t be there tomorrow. Why does everything cool happen in Van Rock city?

Comments are closed.