Professor Stephen Heppell: Learning and technology Part 2

My second lot of quick notes from Stephens parallel session at the Museums Australia 2010 conference. Note these have been cut and pasted from Twitter so are very brief.

Professor Stephen Heppell: Learning and technology Part 2 Museums Australia 2010 conference

Future - not learning from professionals but learning with professionals

• need agile, small & flexible institutions otherwise someone else will takeover
• power wheel has turned - death of education and birth of learning. Tear up word education on your business card
• in future crowd sourcing will be the norm
• 'What I'm taking away...' video : what a great way to do an evaluation. Some quotes from it:"don’t have to wait for everyone to be onboard before you start" "stop telling, start asking" "just to it" "be brave and curious”
• Next ten years is the most fun we'll have in our careers
• don’t believe anyone who is interested in learning could not be part of the new digital learning revolution
• playfulness - playful learning matters (and therefore museums need more playful & whimsical spaces??)
• most students disappointed by museums. We need to be less directive and more surprising coz that's what life is
• Heppell says people visit museums as a child, then as parent, then as grandparent. V&A study found students visited to keep warm
• spaces for learning - promote collaboration and sharing, plenty of power sockets and wireless, comfortable & fun
• Heppell says museums and galleries furniture design not good for learning (and most schools, universities too)
• 'Lose a wall for learning' project - kids voted on which wall to lose and opened up their space
• We shouldn’t be worried about the idea of short attention spans – kids are engaged and deep and immersed learners!
• It is about trust and autonomy
• Third millennium spaces have a rule of 3 – no more than three walls (always an open space), no fewer than three points of focus, able to accommodate at least three teachers, three classes
• In response to question about how museums can build communities and sense of belonging in their spaces: he suggested using Facebook!
• 'Shoes-off' spaces are becoming popular for learning - changes completely the tone of the space

Again, an inspiring and a great learning session - thanks @stephenheppell