The first ILTAC mini-conference took place at RMIT University, Melbourne on Saturday 22nd September, co-convened by Dr Chantal Crozet (RMIT) and Dr Adriana Diaz (UQ).
It was a great success. Close to 30 colleagues attended the event, from 11 universities: RMIT University; Deakin University; Monash University; The University of Melbourne, Griffith University, The University of Queensland, University of the Sunshine Coast; University of Technology Sydney; Macquarie University; Flinders University; The University of Newcastle (in collaboration with a colleague from Meijo University, Japan) and staff from the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER). Attendance also included three HDR students.
Professor Joe Lo Bianco (Graduate School of Education, The University of Melbourne) generously participated in the conference as the guest participant/speaker/facilitator.
ILTAC mini-conference general outcomes
- The presentations of eight academic papers on an ILTAC related topic.
- The dialogic process led by Professor Joe Lo Bianco facilitated in depth discussion, and allowed for the start of identification of common themes on which future collaborative research projects/publications will be based. This process will be completed shortly based on the notes taken by the research assistant during the conference.
- The creation of an online platform (Padlet) for general networking, sharing conference papers and other relevant publications.
Many participants commented that the conference gave them the rare opportunity to connect and reflect with like-minded colleagues on a common focused research interest, something they seldom have the chance to do at other conferences. These comments point to the value of having research clusters within LCNAU.
Future activities for ILTAC
Publications/dissemination:
- Professional development workshops.
- Edited collection.
- Special Issue in relevant Journal.
- ILTAC presence at upcoming conferences – round tables/symposia proposals:
- 2019 – LCNAU in Perth (UWA)
- 2020 – ALAA in Melbourne (RMIT)
Plans for research collaboration:
- Cross-institutional research projects.
- Research Grant applications.
Budget
- Attendance was free of charge.
- For future reference (for other LCNAU clusters and volunteer hosts of future mini-conferences), the total cost for running this one day conference amounted to: $967.50.
- Expenses included catering (morning and afternoon tea); research assistance (for note taking during the day to comply with the “facilitated dialogue” format of the event which was guided by Prof Lo Bianco); meal over planning session with guest speaker as well as a thank-you gift for the guest speaker who generously spent the whole day with attendees. RMIT contributed $739.50 towards this cost and LCNAU $228.