Formats

The formats chosen for ONLINE EDUCA BERLIN 2008 are designed to ensure we have the most dynamic agenda possible driven by experts and practitioners willing to share their experiences with you. The watchword for this year’s ONLINE EDUCA BERLIN will be INTERACTION and no matter what format you choose for your submission, make sure you stress the way in which you plan to engage other participants in a real conversation about your work, interests or experience.

You are invited to put forward proposals for each of the following types of sessions:

• Pre-Conference Workshops
  These workshops, that participants have to register for separately, will take place on Tuesday, December 2nd and Wednesday, December 3rd prior to the main conference, offering participants the opportunity to gain practical knowledge and insight from leading experts in a variety of specialised fields. These can be either half- or full-day workshops. Preference will be given to workshops which are clearly in line with current interests in the field of e-learning and where very practical and interactive activities are proposed. As the emphasis is on activity and interaction, the number of participants is limited and workshops selected normally target a maximum of 30 participants.
• Pre-Conference Seminars
  These seminars, that participants have to register for separately, will take place on Tuesday, December 2nd and Wednesday, December 3rd prior to the main conference and are typically knowledge sharing sessions focused on a specific topic. They provide in-depth insight into a particular project or set of projects, an initiative or development in the field of e-learning or an emerging issue being faced by the e-learning community. The emphasis is on the exchange of information and knowledge dissemination; the number of participants can vary from 20 to 150 depending on the topic. Please note, preference in the selection process will be given to seminars clearly addressing the latest developments in e-learning and where interaction and discussion are built into the agenda.
• Pre-Conference Meetings
  These meetings are targeted to a specific set of participants and will take place on Tuesday, December 2nd and Wednesday, December 3rd. They are essentially private and are not necessarily announced on the conference website or in brochures. Such meetings include consortium meetings for European projects and can be arranged for groups of 10 to 150 participants.
• Presentations
  We will include presentations in sessions dedicated to the specific themes of OEB08. Proposals for such presentations may feature a description of a particular experience or activity or alternatively an approach, an opinion or a view of a particular topic. However in all cases, preference will be given to proposals that promote dialogue and discussion with conference participants. Please note that time will be dedicated during all presentation sessions for audience interaction therefore potential presenters, in their proposal forms, need to emphasise how they will promote dialogue about their chosen topic with session participants during and after their presentation.
• Demonstration and Best Practice Showcase Sessions
  These are real ‘show and tell’ sessions which will include examples of pre-market tools, applications, services and courses that are likely to interest ONLINE EDUCA BERLIN participants. The format for these showcase sessions is highly interactive. Those selected will be allocated a table space where they set up their demonstration. At the start of the session, they will be invited to give a short (max. 5 minute) introduction to the pre-market application, service, tool or course they want to show. After these short introductions, participants taking part will be free to move around the room to find out more about the showcases that interest them most on an informal, one-on-one basis. These sessions will last about 3 hours each and will involve a significant number of demonstrations. They will take place in an area that resembles a large open market of e-learning products, services and tools and are designed to highlight innovation, excellence and future developments.
• Discussions and Debates
  ONLINE EDUCA BERLIN 2008 will feature several discussion and debate opportunities designed to actively involve participants. There are two different formats foreseen for these sessions. In the first format, we invite people with a strong opinion about a particular topic to put forward their point of view in one of the planned open discussion sessions called “Soapbox Sessions”. If your idea is selected, you will be given a short amount of time to present your point of view and then session participants will be invited to discuss it with you. Suggestions need to be linked to the conference themes and we will group those selected under common themes. In the second format, we plan to set up entire sessions devoted to a specific discussion topic. For these, we invite you to put forward both the topic and a minimum of 3 people willing to discuss the topic. We will choose those that fit best within the themes of OEB08. Again, suggestions need to be linked to the conference themes and in their proposal forms, applicants need to emphasise how they will promote discussion and debate with other participants.
• Expert Sessions
  Expert Sessions include a mix of presentations and panel discussions on certain topics led by a panel of experts. Every session features a single topic, for example accreditation, standardisation, quality control or return-on-investment, and offers participants the opportunity to interact on a specific topic with a number of people expert in that specific area.
• Knowledge Exchange Sessions
  Sometimes called 'Cracker Barrel' sessions, these are 60-minute long sessions where the emphasis is on the exchange of knowledge and networking. They are intended to be informal and informative where participants will introduce themselves and then move on to discuss the topic under discussion. It is an opportunity to share knowledge and ideas about specific projects, to find others who share your interests, to share new ideas or future visions, to pose a question in order to encourage discussion or to look for help with a specific problem. These sessions will be held in relatively small conference spaces and access will be limited to promote discussion.