After a two year break, I attended the Online Educa Berlin conference. Three changes stand out: the number of Finns has decreased, the exhibitors seemed to be smaller players, and the event has become more interactive.
The absence of Finns may be due to the fact that there are not enough new topics for the top league, and for late adopters there is still enough to learn at home. Exhibitors, in turn, weigh the cost-benefit ratio; the Educa participant profile has probably changed so that vendors do not reach enough decision makers. For example, the only exhibitor from Finland was Tuudo.
In my opinion, adding interactivity is a good solution and reflects the state of online pedagogy. In the session I co-presented, our topics were related to communication: Vasilis Tsilivis called for Socratic dialogue and I spoke about the diversified utilization of social media in educational communication. This year’s presentations were shorter in duration, leaving more opportunity for public discussion. This is a great way to enliven a topic, but the obligation to engage in different learning cafés could also explain why we introvert Finns stay away.
Online Educa is still going strong. The 2017 event drew more than two thousand well-informed professionals from 80 countries. As a practical matter, I appreciate that it was again organized in the best German manner.