Durham Cathedral as viewed from Durham Castle 05.01.10

Hello all.

What a couple of snowy days this turned out to be! Although weather apart, I thought this was very well attended, even up to the very last session on the second day.

I find that of all the conferences, seminars or symposiums I have attended in the last few years this is without doubt the most useful and relevant to me in terms of my job role and day to day activities. The presenters are of a high standard and knowledgeable about what they do – which helps greatly as most of them are practitioners.

The main pointers I have gleened are:

• Single sign on for multiple systems (external especially) is still a big issue
• Institutional VLE regarded as the core tool and other tools/services added as required
• If Blackboard make a mess of the release of 9.1 they are in big trouble with HEIs in the UK
• Start promoting Bb 9 to staff asap
• Students are not necessarily web 2.0 or more specifically web savvy/literate
• Students are still students and we some times miss this issue in the web hyperbole

Many thanks to Malcolm Murray, the LT staff and Durham University for hosting a well run and professional event.