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Schools in the Cloud - Learning without teachers - it could not happen - could it? #cloudschoolsdebate
11 Feb 2014

Headline Speakers

Learning without teachers – it couldn’t happen, could it?

Professor Sugata Mitra (Professor of Educational Technology at the University of Newcastle, England) has launched a $1m experiment to find out. His ‘schools in the cloud’ will allow groups of children to teach themselves using the internet.

Some claim that true learning cannot happen without teachers, and that there will always be a place for face-to-face teaching. But concepts such as Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are attracting a growing level of support. So what are the threats, and what are the opportunities?

The event will bring together a panel of experts (including Professor Sugata Mitra and Lord David Puttnam) to debate the future for face-to-face teaching and learning, and the ways in which technology could – and should – transform the fundamentals of education and assessment. It will bring together practitioners, researchers, policy makers and those with an interest in the field.

Programme
10:00
Bene’t Steinberg, Group Director – Public Affairs, Cambridge Assessment
Chair’s Introduction

10:05
Viewpoint debate: ‘virtual learning: opportunity or threat?’
Sugata Mitra, Professor of Educational Technology, University of Newcastle;

10:06
Viewpoint debate: ‘virtual learning: opportunity or threat?’
Lord David Puttnam CBE FRSA, film producer and chairman of Atticus Education;

10:07
Viewpoint debate: ‘virtual learning: opportunity or threat?’
Dr Nick Saville, Director of Research & Validation, Cambridge English Language Assessment.

11:00
Break
11:20
What’s it really like to be ‘in the cloud’?
Some of the latest technologies demonstrated by four leading organisations:

Cambridge GCSE Computing Online. This MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) has been created by the partnership of exam board OCR, Cambridge University Press and the Raspberry Pi Foundation.
Christine Swan, Director of ICT and Enterprise, The Stourport High School and VIth Form Centre;
Clive Beale, Director of Educational Development, Raspberry Pi.

ALISON (Advanced Learning Interactive Systems Online). This global social enterprise provides essential, certified, education and workplace training skills free to any individual, anywhere, over the web.
Mike Feerick, CEO, ALISON.

Futurelearn. This is a private company wholly owned by The Open University. It offers a diverse selection of free, high quality online courses from some of the world’s leading universities and other outstanding cultural institutions.
Russell Beale, Professor of Human-Computer Interaction, University of Birmingham.

• Demonstrated by Dr Helen Eccles, Director - Development,an online learning platform from Cambridge International Examinations which supports Cambridge IGCSE Global Perspectives and brings schools together for shared learning.

12:15
Panel & audience discussion on ‘Technology and education: what’s the future for face-to-face learning?’
Chaired by Pat Glass MP;
Panellists from the first and second sessions will be joined by;
Siôn Humphreys, Policy Advisor, National Association of Headteachers (NAHT);
Nick Jones, Principal, Twickenham Academy.

13:00
End of live broadcast