On 9th November, I'll deliver a keynote at the annual London2012 Olympic conference of the Higher Education Academy conference for Leisure Tourism, Sport and Hospitality. I will elaborate on aspects of the #media2012 project, focusing on how we may reconsider media events as media festivals in an era of pervasive digital interactivity. The premise relies on the claim that the era of spectatorship is being replaced with an era of total immersion, where the experience of live events has become intimately connected with remote viewing. Here's a linlk to the conference page, followed by the event brief and programme:

http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/hlst/events/annual_conference

With the 2012 Games now fast approaching, this year’s conference will explore opportunities presented by the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games to re-vitalise curricula to enhance student learning opportunities and experiences, and to encourage student engagement with learning. Keynote speakers are currently being confirmed and they will be chosen to reflect different perspectives of the Games which can stimulate developmental initiatives, for example:

  • “Capturing Olympic and Paralympic Values in the Curriculum”
  • “Critical examination of the Olympic Legacies aspired to by the Games organisers - their relevance in the HLST group of subjects and in HE generally”
  • “Olympic and Paralympic Research and its implications for curriculum development”

Workshop sessions will provide opportunities to share developmental initiatives in learning, teaching and assessment in which the Games can be used to revitalise the learning experience of students and to engage them with learning. There will also be a display of posters describing further work in this area its impact.

Conference Programme

Time
09:30 Coffee & Registration
10:00 Welcome Clive Robertson, Director Higher Education Academy Hospitality, Leisure, Sport & Tourism Network
10:05 First Keynote Dikaia Chatziefstathiou, Canterbury Christ Church University Capturing Olympic and Paralympic Values in the Curriculum
10:45 Parallel Workshops 1 Podium: Review of resources being developed to support learning and teaching including Get Set Elesa Argent (London Metropolitan University): Case studies and discussion starters Ian Bickerstaff (University of Ulster): Using the Olympics as an educational resources - a case study on partnership with the public sector Dave Warnes & Hannah Ross-Tatam (Richmond upon Thames College):Engaging student volunteers Kate Hughes (Leeds Metropolitan University) 'Peak oil, Promises and Prostitutes': Event mangement and politics through an Olympic lens.
11:30 Coffee
11:45 Question Time - Chaired by John Buswell
12:05 Secong Keynote Ian Henry, Loughborough University Olympic and Paralympic Research and its implications for curriculum development
12:45 Lunch
13:45 Third Keynote Andy Miah, University of the West of Scotland The Media Blueprint for London 2012
14:25 Parallel Session People 1st: Engaging students and practitioners through the broader legacies of the games SkillsActive: A curriculum that promotes Olympic values and legacy: The Diploma in Sport and Active Leisure
14:45 Keynote 3 Mike Weed, Canterbury Christ Church University Critical examination of the Olympic Legacies aspired to by the Games organisers - their relevance in the HLST group of subjects and in wider HE
15:25 Plenary discussion and close of conference