Reflections

My visit to London for the Summer Academy 2003 was full of a variety of positive experiences. The group discussions and afternoon teas we shared with a fantastic assortment of guests, engaged participants in a range of relevant topics. Those topics tended to fall into either of two general areas of interest. One category covered topics of education and technology in the United Kingdom. The other general category comprised a variety of perspectives on using specific technologies for communication, teaching and learning.

The presentations by (and discussions with) Richard Noss, Stephen Pickles, Christina Preston, Magdalena Jara, Harvey Mellar, Sara de Freitas, Norbert Pachler, and Andrew Brown gave us insight into the focus of their particular disciplines at the University of London, how those foci fit into the educational system, and some of the challenges they face, as well as some of the approaches they use to meet those challenges. Andrew Brown helped us to coalesce and reflect on what we were learning about similarities and differences in systems and approaches in the United Kingdom and the United States.

Whether any specific topics covered revealed only slight differences in challenges or approaches, or whether the challenges were very different, or similar – but within a different context, or the approaches were divergent, this group broadened my insight into a variety of contexts and approaches to using technology in education,

Jose Luis Rodriguez, Elsebeth Sorensen, Sara Kajder, Glen Bull, Andrew Burn, and Gunter Kress all covered different approaches to using communication technologies. I found them all to be directly relevant to my strongest area of interest. Again I found their participation in the Summer Academy to broaden my perspective regarding using technology for communication, teaching and learning. The exhibit, practically right next door at the British Museum (www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk), called “The Museum of the Mind, Art and memory in world cultures” brought a deeper cultural context to these presentations. In all cases, there was a common thread of communication and “presentation of self” through the creation and sharing of relevant artifacts.

We also took advantage of the opportunity to attend the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (Becta) research conference. In addition to the keynotes addresses, the conference offered a wide variety of presentations of current ICT research from which to choose. Even more than any particular presentation, I found the breaks between presentations, when we could meet people and chat in small informal groups to be particularly engaging.

We were invited not only to attend, but also to present at the Institute of Education Doctoral School Summer Conference 2003. This was really a great experience. Natalie Johnson and I teamed up to give a presentation on e-portfolios, which went fairly well, except for the fact that we were not able to cover all that we wanted due to technical difficulties with the computer/projector, which cut our time short. I found the other student presentations to be very good. I wish that there were more time allowed for the conference, because there were so many interesting topics that were presented concurrently that I found it difficult to choose which to attend.

The organization of the Summer Academy was brilliant. I certainly did not expected to have the opportunity to meet and talk with so many very knowledgeable people in the brief time we were there. I learned a lot, and thoroughly enjoyed my time in London. I was disappointed only that several of my classmates at ISU who would have liked to participate, were unable to do so due to current restrictions on travel by foreign students.

The staff at the Study Abroad Center at Iowa State were very helpful and provided me with some information I found to be quite useful. I would also like to thank everybody who participated in the Summer Academy 2003 for his or her contributions; and particularly acknowledge Dr. Niki Davis for her leadership.