TUMAS-A 2008:
Web Intelligence & Intelligent Agent Technology in eLearning

Workshop Format

The workshop is organized as a full-day workshop that combines traditional paper presentations in the morning with interactive discussion following the Learning Café methodology in the afternoon.

Paper authors are asked to provide a 5-minute presentation where they highlight the open topics from those addressed in the workshop from their experience and research. These key issues will serve as the starting point for the Learning Café discussions.

Read more about the Learning Café Methodology

  • The World Cafe Community
  • The working method employed in the symposium is known as "learning discussion forum" or "Learning Café which involved expert's introductions and group discussions. The unique composition of the symposium together, with its pioneering methodology of synergy and interaction, provided and documented new ideas and concerns, which were crystallized in a series of observations, important for future planning in this field. (http://www.prolearn-project.org/articles/rm/1016.html)
  • The Café is built on the assumption that people already have within them the wisdom and creativity to confront the most difficult challenges. (http://www.ntnu.no/videre/sefi/pdf/tapio1.pdf slide 16)
  • The idea of the "Learning Cafe" is a developed form of the coffee table conversation. The participants sit around the small tables (from 6 to 8 people). Each table is presided by a moderator and has a special theme connected to the themes of the other tables by the overall topic of the discussion (for example: Participation). There are paper table clothes and pens on the tables and the participants are making their notes on the table clothes. After a while of discussion (approx. 20 minutes) the group dissolves and the people change to other tables, so the big group is mixing more and more as you meet new faces on every table. Only the moderators do not change to another table. At the new table the participants start to discuss again based on the notes on the table made by previous groups. They have a new conversation with new people and make their notes too. (http://work-in-process.at/html/dummy-3.8.1/index.php?id=82)
  • The Learning Café Workshops, which were used as a methodology throughout the process of writing the report, shared an emphasis on the meaning of attitudes that promote creativity and the will to change. Decision-makers are expected to be able to make decisions which are difficult but indispensable for the future. (ICT Cluster Finland Review 2006)