PLE Conference 2010… All about you

It was almost a month ago and I haven’t had time to write anything about this…. This is a blog in Spanish, and I’m not very correct explaining myself in English, Nevertheless I want to write this in English to share it with all the PLE_bcn people to ask them for their comments if they want….

It was almost a month ago and it seems to be more time… Time flies when you miss something….

The PLE Conference is, without any doubt, one of the more interesting projects/events/situations I have been involved ever. And PLE Conference 2010 was a wonderful first opportunity to made this project touchable.
Some months ago I have invited you to Barcelona, and now I’m looking forward to being in Southapmton in july 2011 (follow #ple_sou)…. O maybe being able to go back to Barça again (yes, I know, I’m too nostalgic some times :-)). PLE conference, from the beginning (my friend Cristina Costa has made a great post were she explain how it was born) wanted to be a different event, and I’m sure people involved in this #ple_bcn (the hashtag of the PLE conference 2010), all of us, have done it different and continue doing this…

The incredible thing was I had the opportunity to attend it from the very beginning and from a privileged place… Close to all of you.

From I was back from bcn I have made some reflections every day about the conference, I don’t have time, space and words enough to express all of them, But I think there are some remarkable reflections about some special characteristics of the conference that I want to share with you:

The first remarkable from the very beginning of this adventure (yes, I’m sure this is an intense adventure) is that there isn’t almost anything normal in the preparing of the conference; everything was informal, dynamic but at the same time, everything was prepared very seriously. The conference had a wonderful academic committee plenty of VIPs who take their role in the revision of papers in very rigorous way. Everybody (academic committee and also helpers and chairs) seemed to be included in the project in a very deep and enthusiastic way, everybody wanted to work WITH us (the organising committee), and from my point of view, we get the goal

PLE_BCN was (is) very informal but rigorous

There were 4 keynote speakers (2 from Spain and 2 from outside ;-)) with more than an incredible curriculum and very well known (en español diríamos que de reconocido prestigio), Alec Couros (@courosa), Graham Attwell (@grahamattwell), Jordi Adell (@jordi_a) e Ismael Peña-López (@ictlogist), who not only accepted to come by the pleasure of come ;-), in addition to this they accepted the idea of don’t make a “typical” keynote. They had to prepare an “experience” together but including the participation of the public, before the conference (basically in twitter, but including some videos, wikis, googledocs, discussions and so on) and during the conference, something collective, collaborative, dynamic… And they done it :-)… And even more, they join us in the whole conference, in coffees, discussions, other presentations, and more 🙂

Is not too common for me to see the “stars” from so close, and it was wonderful see them down the flooring, sharing with all of us a bit of their light… And the best is to test that their shine mixed with the light of every participant (they all have their own shine and light) made a wonderful shine for all of us… At the end we had lot of light for everybody.

PLE_BCN was plenty of light and shine 🙂

We also invited to participants to present their proposals and papers in new and different formats. The idea was to avoid the doom of listening traditional and boring expositions of papers and papers for two loooooooong days… In change of this, every chair of session (thanks to all of them) could negotiate with the presenters to dynamite the session using different formats…

I also had the opportunity to chair a session in Spanish, where I finnaly meet personally @lernys, @ainhoaeus and (en dos patas a nuestro torito) @eraser (there are some pictures of his face :-))… Also I had chairing and sharing the incredible Pechakucha session in Spanish (thanks to @marett @lernys @monvall @ramonovelar @ocasquero, you are INCREDIBLY brave and daring accepting this challenge), and it was enormous exciting, interesting and fun…

PLE_BCN was excinting, interesting and fun!

Moreover, we did a beat about language. When we talked about the PLE Conference in Barcelona, we discussed about the need of opening a Spanish strand (as a detail for people from Spain), and to include a Keynote in Spanish (with the translation in English)…

The idea was not complicate the things… we know we can have keynotes in English, and almost everybody in the conference speak in English BUT, from our point of view, language is a question not only about words, is also about how people think and how they structure their minds and discourses; and , I have (we have actually) the impression that English is a wonderful common language for the most of sciences, BUT we must have the opportunity to listen to other ways to think in different languages as well (there is science and thought outside English)… I imagine, English native speakers don’t use to need any translator habitually in conferences. I know for some of them was quite strange to have to put into their heads the headphones to understand, BUT we love new experiences, even more, when they could give us other visions and enrich our owns…

My blog is in Spanish (mostly), because of Spanish is my mother tongue. Consequently, I’m feeling more comfortable in Spanish… I can express myself in English (indeed, I have the hope I can do it in any language by signs), BUT is t is not a question of express myself, is a question to express completely and freely, entirely wide open in a language, with every nuances I want to put into my reflections.

I love the idea of having a multilingual conference…

An PLE_bcn was multilingual!

Also it was fantastic to see many people from very different environments (most of them I meet before f2f and on twitter), people from European projects, from universities all around the world, from big associations in Europe, Spain and Latin-America (EATEL, EDUTEC), from schools, from non-formal learning institutions, from government… With technical background, with pedagogical background…

PLE_BCN was eclectic… And included multiple points of view!

There are many details to comment, but I don’t have time, space even words to say more… Well only I think the most important one… Without the people who made this conference it hasn’t been the same… And I’m not talking about Ricardo (our ubiquitous president), Graham (the spirit of PLE conference), Cris, Maria, Andrea, Ilona, Tobias…. I’m talking about YOU… without all of you, PLE_BCN people, it couldn’t have been the same…. And it was fantastic…

Thank you and sorry for a big post and my terrible English

Here some pictures… enjoy… and see you, at least, in Southampton!