GASTA.me

When we thought about having an international online Gasta a year ago, few of us could have imagined the impact that the pandemic would have on all of us. Sadly, at the time of writing the WHO has reported over 123 million caes and over 2.71 million deaths, millions have lost their livelihoods and life as we know is so far from normal that I have run out of superlatives.

The original plan of #GastaGoesGlobal was that I would ask seven leading people in the TEL community and invite them to reflect on what (online) education might look like going forward. The past year has provided us with insight and experiences that may well temper; it will certainly inform our thoughts about where the future lies.

The idea of the Gasta is to get people involved and keep the seven presenters (Maha Bali, Martin Weller, Leigh Graves Wolf, Mark Brown, Frank Rennie, Sheila MacNeill, Tony Bates) to a strictly enforced five-minute limit in a spirit of togetherness in a slightly lighthearted way. This is not intended to be disrespectful; I certainly acknowledge the loss that many have endured, but I would also suggest that coming together in such a format raises the spirits.

I can imagine that for many people who have come to this site they may well not have heard about a Gasta session.

Therefore, let us first start with what is a Gasta session and where did it come from? Several years ago, myself and a former colleague Tony Murphy of the E-learning unit in the Institute of Technology, Tralee (ITT) responded to the Irish Learning Technology Association’s (ILTA) call to host its annual conference.

As part of the call ILTA asked that potential hosts to identify possible additions to the standard conference. In our submission document I suggested the idea of a quick 5-minute presentation that incorporated a LOT of participation on the part of the audience. Not wanting to use the protected term Pecha Kucha and in keeping with the Irish nature of the conference I decided to use the Irish word Gasta indicating quick or fast or rapid.

Although ITT was unsuccessful in its bid, the idea of Gasta was incorporated into ILTA’s EdTech Conference for the first time in 2014.

Maha BaliAssociate Professor of Practice, at Center for Learning and Teaching, American University in Cairo

College Website: https://www.aucegypt.edu/fac/mahabali
Blog: https://blog.mahabali.me/

Martin WellerProfessor of Educational Technology

Director - OER Hub at The Open University
College website: https://iet.open.ac.uk/people/martin.weller

Leigh Graves WolfClinical Associate Professor at Arizona State University

College Website: https://education.asu.edu/leigh-wolf
Blog: http://www.leighgraveswolf.com/

Mark BrownFull Professor, Dublin City University

Ireland's First Chair in Digital Learning and Director, National Institute for Digital Learning, Dublin City University
College: https://www.dcu.ie/nidl/people/director.shtml

Frank RennieProfessor at Lews Castle College, University of the Highlands and Islands

Professor of Sustainable Rural Development, Assistant Principal (Research, Enterprise, and Development
College website: https://www.lews.uhi.ac.uk/research-enterprise/contact-research-staff/prof-frank-rennie/

Blog: https://uheye.wordpress.com/

Sheila MacNeillManaging director at How Sheila Sees IT

Independent consultant, open educator and writer specialising in all aspects of supporting digital learning and teaching primarily within the UK HE sector. Current Chair of the Association for Learning Technology (ALT).

Blog: https://howsheilaseesit.net/

GASTA.me

#GastaGoesGlobal

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