DAVID SHIPLEY
Telegraph-Journal
Published Monday March 10th, 2008
Appeared on page B1
The organizers of New Brunswick's third-annual advanced learning technology symposium are hoping to broaden its scope and increase its size.
"We were sold out last year," says Kathy Watt, who is president of LearnNB, the provincial e-learning industry association and one of the organizers of the 2008 symposium.
"The feedback that we're hearing from all over Canada and into the States is that the interest is just as high this year," says Watt.
More than 450 people attended the symposium last spring.
This year, organizers are hoping for 500 participants and have moved it from Canadian Forces Base Gagetown to a larger venue.
The 2008 Symposium on Advanced Learning Technology will be held on April 8 and 9 at the Aitken Centre at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton.
Watt says advanced e-learning initiatives at CFB Gagetown have attracted international attention and helped drive interest in the conference.
The past two symposiums have been hosted at the base and were largely focused on the Canadian army's efforts to integrate technology such as advanced simulators and off-the-shelf video games in its training efforts.
"This year's symposium will help build private-sector support for those efforts as well as expanding the use of advanced learning technologies in other areas," says Watt.
"I also think [the increased interest] is also largely due to the collaboration between CFB Gagetown, LearnNB, government and private sector as well," she says. "The innovation and information sharing is coming together to be quite a little nexus of activity."
Tim Workman, vice-president for strategic initiatives with Acron Capability Engineering, is also helping organize the symposium.
Workman says that, while the list of exhibitors has yet to be finalized, there will be a number of large companies, as well as local firms, setting up on the symposium trade show floor.
Canadian Forces members, private company executives, post-secondary educators and government officials are among the 500 delegates expected at this year's conference.
The conference is being backed by CFB Gagetown and LearnNB. Business New Brunswick has provided financial support.
Among the keynote speakers at this year's gathering is David Gibson, an expert from the University of Vermont.
"He's written a number of books on how to prepare educators to use new technologies in classrooms," says Workman.
Gibson's work has examined how to use immersive environments such as simulations to help in training.
"He's also going to talk about an organization that he's championing called Global Challenge, which is focused on supporting new initiatives in K to 12 sectors for science, technology, engineering and math and showing how in the United States they're trying to increase the engagement of kids."
Workman says a key part of the symposium is broadening the scope from military and public safety to advanced training opportunities using technology and broader applications, including new ways to help K-12 education.
"One way advanced learning could help is by creating new, interactive language tools that could be used to teach French to New Brunswick students," says Workman.
Early talks have begun with a private sector language vendor, LearnNB and the province, about the potential of such technology.
The symposium will also be used to shape the province's goal of creating an advanced training technology centre of excellence, says Workman.
"We're actually going to have the first of a series of provincial roundtables with industry and others to actually figure out how we're going to do that, who wants to participate in it," he says.
Captain Jeremy MacDonald, section head of capability development at the Combat Training Centre at CFB Gagetown, is also one of the organizers for this year's symposium.
MacDonald says the military is pleased that the symposium has grown. This year's event will include a day strictly for the military and hosted at the base on April 7, followed by the two public days of the symposium held at the Aitken Centre.
The military will provide an update to its Canadian Forces: Direct Action video game, which is now being used not only by the army, but by police forces across Canada and the United States.
The Canadian Forces will also be making some of its e-learning tools publicly available as part of this year's symposium, he says.
"We've got some interesting tools that we're going to let other people use for rapid development of courseware and online learning," says MacDonald.
The provincial government is happy to support the symposium, says Ryan Donaghy, spokesman for Business New Brunswick.
"These events help to promote the creation of the centre of excellence in advanced learning technologies that the government is certainly behind," he said. http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/business/article/235353 |
