I was going to say “trapped in a hotel with 150 educators … ” but I’m really enjoying this conference. I always do – this is a regular event for the EIT crowd, & next year we’re hosting the conference in Napier.
This is a group of IT lecturers and tutors from polytechs and some universities around New Zealand. The papers tend to be about education, education technology, and teaching technologies, although it’s also a forum for applied IT research – because that’s what polytechs do – and people present software concepts they’re developing. They’re a friendly group, and a great way to meet collaborators.
Favourite presentation so far: actually, my boss! Steve Corich’s presentation on teaching multiple generations – baby boomers, gen X and gen Y. I was Steve’s example for Gen X; it’s a fairly good description of my attitudes, but there’s nothing like being psycho-analysed by your boss in front of 50 conference attendees 
Steve’s main message: don’t put people in boxes – these are just trends, but knowing them can help us; and don’t teach to Gen Y – in NZ they’re only predicted to be about 50% of tertiary students this decade. Instead, incorporate methods for all 3 groups.
Add that to Neil Commins’ & Kay Feldon’s presentation on learning styles in the Introduction to Business course at Unitec, which I teach next semester at EIT, and I have lots of food for thought.
