LEARNING:500 event, January 17th, London. An invitation.

January will see the 500th post on the Learning Blog and, to celebrate, i’ve organised a free event in London on the 17th. It will be a chance to bring together people from all of my learning communities: the blog, Twitter, LinkedIn Research Forum, clients and colleagues. The theme is an exploration of contemporary research and thinking in learning, with a focus on ‘e-learning’, ‘social learning’, ‘mobile learning’ and some of my current interests, ‘music in learning’, ‘learning culture’ and ‘how meaning is created’. There will be a number of co presented sessions and a lot of time for discussion and the sharing of ideas: you can see the current schedule here www.learning500.wordpress.com

Learning communities form for various reasons: some are highly focussed around specific challenges or projects, others are much more reflective, exploring ideas and the latest thinking. Some spaces are creative, others operationally focussed. There is no doubt that social learning is transforming how we work and learn: i interact with these communities everyday and rely on them for my own development and learning. Increasingly i reach out with questions and develop ideas in collaborative spaces.

I hope that LEARNING:500 will become an annual event that grows alongside our community, because it’s important to put markers in the ground, to celebrate your success and to take time out of the everyday reality to reflect on our professional practice and personal learning. If we don’t nurture these communities, they will not thrive.

Drop me a note if you’re interested in coming: this is a free and very informal event and i’m hoping that everyone who comes will contribute, much as you do here and in the Research Forum. In the countdown to 500, i’m proud of what we’ve achieved and excited about where we go next as we explore learning.