Learning Technologies Barcamp 2020

We are delighted to announce our eighth Learning Technologies fringe event which will be running at the end of day one of this year's Learning Technologies conference and exhibition.

We call these events barcamps because we aim to carry on the conversations from day one of the conference and exhibition in a local pub. This year our theme for the event is inclusion. We were inspired by a discussion on the topic at last year’s Charity Learning Consortium conference in London.

We asked for speakers who would like to speak on this topic and are delighted with the response. We have a couple still to confirm which means we can announce the first three. We will announce the final two speakers shortly.

The format is simple, each speaker will have between 10 and 15 minutes to host a conversation based on their areas of expertise. Once the the time is up, speakers will be asked to move to the next table to talk about their topic to the next group. The event will come to an end when all groups have had a conversation with each of the speakers.

The aim of the event is to have an informal, end of the day conversation, and drink, with some really interesting people. The bar is around five minutes from the conference venue so you won't have to walk far!

Learning Technologies Barcamp 2020 is open to anyone - whether you have been to the conference or not.

So, to the speakers. We are delighted to have speakers who will be sharing their thoughts, experiences and expertise on very different areas of inclusion. This is what they will be discussing:

Christine Locher, Learning Consultant with NIIT where she is also in the global Diversity and Inclusion committee.

Christine identifies as non-binary. Her angle for the barcamp is to unblock either/or thinking by using a very simple framework (“Tetralemma”).

A versus B makes the world look nice and clear, and we like that. It is also, for the most part, reductive or not true. People and topics that don’t neatly fit into A or B tend to become invisible or get excluded. This is true for gender conversations, but also applicable in other spaces.

Broadening the range helps to get unstuck and brings up different conversations. Things might not immediately make sense to you or be comfortable. But it is worth creating space for topics and people that would otherwise fall through the cracks. The way the world is going, we need this more than ever.

Susi Miller, eLearning accessibility consultant and director at eLaHub

Susi is passionate about digital inclusion and making accessible eLearning the default for everyone.

She explores the many reasons why accessibility is so vital to successful digital learning and looks at the ethical, business and legal arguments for making eLearning accessible. She encourages people to reframe the way they think about disability and impairments in order to tackle some common eLearning myths and explain why accessible eLearning really is better for everyone. Susi also discusses the new UK Public Sector Accessibility Regulations and explores how the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines can be the ‘friend’ rather than the ‘foe’ of content authors.

Her talks also often focus on her own accessibility journey. Susi describes the difficulties she faced as an Instructional Designer trying to make eLearning resources accessible and how this experience prompted her to start her own business and website to support other eLearning professionals.

Caroline Marsh, Director of Behavioural Science & Research, The Honeycomb Works 

Caroline is a founding member and the Director of Behavioural Science & Research for The Honeycomb Works, who help organisations build inclusive and innovative cultures, transforming teams’ habit by habit, person by person, so that individuals thrive, and organisations succeed.

Caroline leads on researching and applying the latest thinking to The Honeycomb Works’ products to create practical, data driven, targeted solutions for organisations.

As well as using the latest academic research The Honeycomb Works conducts a lot of their own, led by Caroline. Current research includes how organisations can develop diversity and inclusion allies to be able to challenge bias and step forward to create change for those around them; how perceptions of personal impact influence promotion decisions; the importance of specificity in minimising bias in feedback and how organisational structures can be changed to minimise rather than perpetuate inequality.

Doug Shaw, artist and consultant

The Art of Inclusion: Explore what inclusion and representation means to you and your colleagues in this creative conversation facilitated by artist and consultant, Doug Shaw. As we talk - you will have the opportunity to turn your thoughts and words into part of a cocreated artwork which we will make together, on the night.

Hannah Christian, head of learning, MediaZoo

Hannah leads a growing creative team at Media Zoo. She is passionate about building a collaborative and inclusive work environment and has recently led an award-winning global diversity & inclusion project.

At the heart of inclusion is the sense of belonging. Do you feel valued? Is your voice being heard? Do your insights matter? It’s only when people feel they belong to a company that they can share ideas, confidently speak up, and fully contribute.

Although there’s no checklist for creating a ‘belonging culture’, Hannah will discuss how Media Zoo has tried and tested different rituals and used Shine Theory to build a thriving and high performing team.

Tracy Shah, Senior Commercial Director, Venture Marketing Group Limited

Tracy is responsible for a running a number of events for Venture Marketing Group Limited, including the World of Learning. Tracy will be exploring how to make events more inclusive and how your speakers can be representative of the society we live in. Tracy will also look at how to present learning within organisations in a more inclusive way.

Our sponsor

We are also delighted to announce that we have a sponsor. A huge thankyou to 5App for supporting the barcamp again. That means we can now offer attendees a free drink or two. Hurrah!

The 5App digital hub drives better business performance through employee engagement, learning and communication.

The platform is designed to reach a few hundred or a few hundred thousand users fast and effectively. The 5App hub is currently used by over 200,000 people across the world. Over 50 companies, from central banks to multinational corporations and membership organisations.