Somehow I blinked at the start of February this year, and time has already flown by to June. Which of course means it’s time for the annual Learning Technologies Summer Forum. Our commitment to sharing the best of all the action from both the conference and this exhibition remains as strong as ever. The backchannel will encompass all four tracks of the conference, the new Fosway research roundtables, the best of the show and a chance to dig into some details with our speakers in a series of Google Hangouts.

How the backchannel works

Many of you know the drill by now and indeed, help make the Learning Technologies backchannel what it is with your participation and enthusiasm. But just in case you are tuning in for the first time, here’s everything you need to know about how it works. Each session at the conference has an individual hashtag that will be used in addition to the main #LTSF16 hashtag. So if you’re following using TweetChat or a similar application, you can search on the specific sessions to keep your focus on a particular topic. Below is a list of these hashtags and which of our tweeters is covering those sessions. The idea is that you can use this to filter the stream of tweets and hone in on any areas of interest during the event. Note, the keynote won’t have an individual hashtag. For the full conference programme, click here.

Meet the team

Before each session I’ll be announcing which of our social team will be tweeting from which session so you can make sure you’re following the topics of most interest to you. The team for this year’s event is:

Kate Graham – @kategraham23
Alistair Cockroft – @acockroft
Michelle Parry-Slater – @MiPS1608
Ady Howes – @adyhowes
Kim George – @kimsgeorge
Ken Croft – @ken_s_croft

Keynote: Wirearchy: The connected future of work and learning

This year’s keynote has a lot to live up to after Deborah Frances-White took last year’s event by storm. But Jon Husband promises not to disappoint. After a decade consulting on organisational design and effectiveness, Husband coined the word ‘wirearchy’ in 1999, exploring the implications of how networked environments impact on the way we interact, work and learn. At the summer forum, he will examine how organisational models present obstacles to the philosophy and practice of modern L&D. Please remember, there isn’t be an individual hashtag for this session, just tune in via #LTSF16.

Session 1: 11.15 – 12.15

* #T1S1 – Adaptive Learning, Donald Clark (Covered by Ken Croft)
* #T2S1 – Scaffolded social learning in action, Julian Stodd (Covered by Alistair Cockroft )
* #T3S1 – How to take leadership development to the next level, Nigel Paine (Covered by Ady Howes)
* #T4S1 – Moving beyond ‘click next’ mandatory training, Sharon Claffey-Kaliouby (Covered by Michelle Parry-Slater)
* #RR1 – The shift to digital learning, David Perring (Covered by Kim George)

Lunchtime session: 12.15 – 13.30

* #RR2 – Moving beyond 70:20:10, David Wilson

What L&D strategies really work and drive an actionable agenda for L&D and successful outcomes for the business? The 70:20:10 model continues to increase in popularity, but is it really a good strategy for learning? Does it drive the right behaviours in L&D, or help it perform more effectively? How does any L&D model help influence the business better and deliver greater business outcomes? With reference to the latest research from Fosway Group’s strategic research partnership with Learning Technologies, this analyst roundtable session with David Wilson will discuss what 70:20:10 really means for the business, and ways of getting beyond 70:20:10 and alternative learning strategies.

Session 2: 13.30 – 14.30

* #T1S2 – Make it memorable – Tools from a memory scientist, Dr. Julia Shaw (Covered by Alistair Cockroft and Ady Howes)
* #T2S2 – Creating mobile video interviews that work, Julie Wedgwood und Gemma Critchley (Covered by Ken Croft)
* #T3S2 – Your career as an L&D professional, Ant Pugh, Sharon Claffey-Kaliouby and Mike Booth (Covered by Michelle Parry-Slater)
* #T4S2 – Creating game-based learning simulations for teams, Ken Thompson (Covered by Kim George)
* RR3 – Next gen learning systems, Adrian Jones (Covered by Kate Graham)

Session 3: 15.00 – 16.00

* #T1S3 – Design thinking for learning, Sally Spinks (Covered by Alistair Cockroft, Michelle Parry-Slater and Kim George )
* #T2S3 – Demonstrating value – what to do and what to avoid, Laura Overton (Covered by Ady Howes)
* #T3S3 – Getting real with blended learning, Clive Shepherd (Covered by Ken Croft)
* #T4S3 – Transforming workplace learning with lean thinking, Mark Berthelemy (Covered by Kate Graham)

Stay tuned to Twitter on the day for details of the Google Hangouts including Don Taylor interviewing keynote speaker Jon Husband. We’ll be sharing insights from our new research roundtables after the event.