Well it’s a bit more than a week really..... On 12th November I gave a talk on the “Library of the Future” to the ANGLES/Cilip group at the University of East Anglia. UEA is my alam mater and still has the motto “Do Different” that I was so impressed with when I was a student there. In fact “doing different” has characterised much of my working life. The ANGLES event was an interesting day with a focus on what users want and guidance from the other speakers on how to find out what they want and how to deliver it.

I went from Norwich to Nottingham to a workshop on 13th at the Learning Sciences Research Institute. LSRI won a JISC contract to investigate how new learning spaces are being evaluated and as the JISC expert consultant in this area I have a vested interest in the project. The workshop had a small number of participants and we had some good discussions about what matters with new learning spaces and what we should try to measure. Hopefully when the project publishes its report in the Spring of 2009 it will provide some useful guidance on new, and more appropriate ways of assessing whether the learning spaces that are being developed across HE and FE are having an impact on learners and their learning.

On 18th November I spent a very enjoyable day in Fife giving a keynote talk to an audience involved in developing new primary and secondary schools. The talk was followed by a World Cafe style workshop discussing key questions about the proposed developments. All present gave it everything they had and it was a great day. I was really pleased that what I had to say was so well received.....

“When asked what was best about the day delegates said  the inspirational speaker - the world cafe event - and the vision this presented - and the hope  that it will inspire decision makers”

Well there were some of the key decision makers at the event so I’m confident that we all made a significant impact taht will affect the development of the new Fife schools.