AI Education in a Box

Rose Luckin, Danny Liu, Sue Keay, & 
Tom Worthington in headphones at EduTech_AU. 
Photo by Tom Worthington, CC-BY 4 June 2026  

There was standing room only at EduTech_Au in Sydney today for "Beyond personalisation: Human-centred and equitable learning in the age of AI". Thanks to Danny Liu (University of Sydney), Rose Luckin (UCL Knowledge Lab and Sue Keay (UNSW AI Institute), putting up with my moderating. 

Audience in headphones
at EduTech_Au 2026. 
Photo by Tom Worthington, CC-BY 4 June 2026

Global events company Terrapinn has created a very workable formula for a combined trade-show and multi-stream conference. For EduTech_Au everything is contained in the one exhibition space at the Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre. The trade exhibits are in the center of the floor. Around the sides and back of the space are multiple simultaneous conference presentations. 

As there are so many people in the room, all speaking at once, those attending a presentation have to wear headphones. Each presentation has a separate channel, with headphones lighting up in a color to indicate the channel (like a "silent disco"). A single presenter doesn't need headphones, but a panel does, as one panelist can't hear what another says. This sounds cumbersome, but works well, with sound which is clearer and more intimate, with the usual public address system. 

This system works on a larges scale at EduTech Asia, which I will be experiencing again, first hand, in November. 

QR Codes in Place of Business Cards at Conferences

QR Code from Chrome

QR Code from LinkedIn

There were fewer business cards offered to me at the five conference I attended in Singap
ore recently. It may be a lingering fear of COVID-19, or people have just got out of the habit. One alternative is a QR code scan. This provides a similar ritual: you first can each other's code on your phone, then examine the profile, offering appreciative remarks. The LinkedIn App has a QR code built in, and the Chrome web browser can generate a code for any page.

Online Dating for Conference Deligates

Currently I am in Singapore for five conferences. One thing I noticed was that they are using applications like Swapcard, for delegates. This provides the agenda for the event, a QR code to get your badge at the event. But it also provides a way to find people, before, during and after the live event. This aspect is likely to be of great interest to businesses wanting to contact potential clients, as well as academics wanting to meet up.

Back to the Conference in Canberra

At the TiG food truck.

Greetings from Tech in Government (TiG) at the National Convention Center in Canberra. While I have enjoyed online conferences over the last three years, it is good to be back in a room, with people. I am speaking tomorrow on Learning to Innovate for Sustainable Computing.

TiG's big innovation this year are food trucks parked outside the exhibition hall. This prompts casual conversations with people you don't know. I was offered work with one of the world's big four consulting companies, and a pair of sox, while waiting for my Chicken Tikka. ;-)

Google slogan at TiG 2022:
"Let's getting solving for Government".

Google got perhaps more attention than they wanted for the slogan on their booth: "Let's getting solving for Government". ;-)

Will Conferences Remain Online Post-pandemic?

Steven Fraser

Had a message from Steven Fraser at Innoxec asking me to pass on a Future of Conferences Research Survey. I miss being on the stage at a conference, wandering through the trade show, and bumping into acquaintances. But I also don't want to give up the convenience of being able to attend an international conference online, without a 10 to 20 hour flight. 

During the pandemic academic conferences transitioned well to an online format. Keynotes worked fine, as did panel sessions. ASCILITE 2020 & ASCILITE 2021, made a good attempt at including a casual get together. EDUtech Asia did reasonable well with commercial online conferences, with sponsored round-table sessions.

However, hybrid events which offered both in-person and online options did not work so well. This requires organizers to work very hard balancing the needs of in-person and online participants. Perhaps as more experience is gained with this workable formats will be found.

Make academic conferences hybrid post pandemic

This is a plea, and a warning, to academic conference organizers to retain an online option for events post-pandemic. As Skiles, Yang, Reshef et al. (2021) report, virtual conferences forced on organizers by the COVID-19 pandemic have improved diversity, equity and inclusion in science and engineering conferences. Regrettably this may be a temporary, with some organizers I have contacted indicating they will only provide online access for those unable to get to the venue due to the pandemic. 

Where pandemic restrictions are lifted, some delegates may no longer be permitted to attend online. That this will exclude most of those who could previously attend, either is of no interest to the organizers, or seen as a a positive. The organizers want high quality delegates who can pay a high price to attend. Those who are from low income countries, or institutions which cannot subsidize high fees are not wanted. People who may not be able to attend due to child mining duties are similarly considered not worth having at the conference. The ideal delegate is a white, western, male from a wealthy university in the first world, with a wife to look after the children.

In the past there have been online conferences, but these were fringe events. The pandemic has shown an online event can be mainstream. Given this has shown to be the case, is it ethical and lawful to deny access to disadvantaged groups by removing the online option? I suggest not.

Reference

Skiles, M., Yang, E., Reshef, O. et al. Conference demographics and footprint changed by virtual platforms. Nat Sustain (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-021-00823-2 

Plea for Courses and Conferences to Remain Online Post-Pandemic

This is a request to those planning higher education and professional courses, as well as academic and professional conferences, to retain an online option after the COVID-19 pandemic is over. Universities, and most conference organizers, were able to quickly switch to online delivery last year. Many universities are now planning to offer hybrid mode. Many conferences are planning the same. However, some conferences are dropping the online option this year and universities might do the same with courses, when restrictions on travel are lifted. I suggest in the short term this is a risk to the financial viability of these organisations and the safety of the public. It also will prevent many people from taking part. Given that the online option has been shown to be feasible and useful, it can't simply be taken away. 

The difficult task for those offering education and conferences is what to do as, hopefully, COVID-19 is brought under control. If students and delegates can again get to face to face events, can we simply such down the online option? This is a difficult business, ethical and legal question. 

During for the next year or more, as vaccines are made available, there will be more opportunity to travel. However, particularly internationally, there may be limitations. An approach being adopted by most universities is hybrid, or dual, delivery, with some students in the classroom and some online at the same time. Hybrid mode is more difficult that either classroom or online modes. It will require more equipment, skills and staff. It may also lessen the quality of the experience for the students, than either single mode. It will cost more for institutions in the short term. The temptation is to drop hybrid mode as soon as possible and require students to return to campus.

Similarly, online conferences have worked well for the last year.  The lack of informal contact and visiting exotic locations has been compensated for by lower conference costs and easier access. Some organizers are now planning hybrid events. However, some, such as ASCILITE, are uncertain how to price the online option. Others such as HERDSA and ACEN are not planning to offer an online option.

Pre-COVID, most universities and conferences argued that an online option was not feasible. Last year proved that was not true and the online option has been found use not just for those kept away by COVID-19 restrictions. Not every student or delegate could get to a venue in the past, nor will be able to in the future. They may have a physical disability, job, family or community obligations which prevent attending face to face. It may just be that they cannot afford to get to the venue, or simply not want to. Given that online access has been shown to be possible, why take it away?

It should be noted the pure online events and blended ones are not new. I have helped run, speak at and attend such events over the last decade. An example is "Public Sphere #1 - High Bandwidth for Australia", which I assisted Senator Kate Lundy with in 2009. This used video streaming from ANU with Twitter for the back-channel.  

Some events have had a main and satellite venues, and some "follow the sun" formats. With the satellite model, one central authority runs the event and the other locations provide a place for viewing and for speakers to present from. A longstanding event using satellite locations is GovHack. This has had satellites ranging from large university halls, through company meeting rooms, to a handful of people in a cafe, around a laptop. In 2012 I surprised delegates of GovHack by appearing at the opening at the main venue in Canberra, and then at the closing at the satellite in Sydney. 

With "follow the sun" venues in time zones spread around the globe take turns running the event, during their business hours. The 2010 Hacking for humanity, was run from UNSW Sydney, as well as Nairobi, Jakarta, and Washington. The 2012 International Education Conference On-Line Festival has three venues roughly equally distributed around the world: University of Southern Queensland, University of Leicester (UK) and Athabasca University (Canada). 

There are difficult business issues with offering a blended event. The online option is seen as lower quality and so the customer expects a lower price. Universities are in a stronger position with this, as the student gets the same qualification after on-campus or online study. The costs of providing courses are mostly in teaching and administrative staff, which are much the same online. There will be some transitional cost, where universities have stocks of old, mostly unused lecture halls. 

The issue for conferences is more difficult than universities. The product is much less tangible. At an academic conference the delegate, who is a speaker, gets the same opportunity to present and have a paper published. But the opportunity for informal discussions is less online. If the conference offers an online option, even if it is not for a discounted fee, the delegate's employer may require them to take it to save travel and accommodation costs. That could result in face to face conferences disappearing.

However, it needs to be kept in mind that most academics in the world cannot attend national or international conferences, simply because they can't afford to. The advent of online conferences has allowed many more to attend. Removing the online option excludes most potential delegates from attending.

For the next year, no one will know with certainty when it will be safe to attend a class, or a conference, in person, or when a lock-down may occur. Simply announcing face to face events and hoping for the best is not an acceptable option. In particular, universities and professional societies have an obligation to act in the public interest. For-profit companies also are under legal obligations not to discriminate against particular groups when providing services such as education.

Live Discussion on Hybrid Learning at ASCILITE 2020 Conference

Greetings from the ASCILITE 2020 Conference, where I am participating in the presentation of the second of two of two joint papers I helped with. This has moved into an interview mode, where the MC is asking the authors questions. 

The papers:

1. A collaborative design model to support hybrid learning environments during COVID19 by Cochrane, Birt, Cowie, Deneen, Goldacre, Narayan, Ransom, Sinfield & Worthington (Day 2, Session 4, Stream A, 11:30AM).
2. A mobile ecology of resources for Covid-19 learning by Narayan, Cochrane, Cowie, Birt, Hinze, Goldacre, Deneen, Ransom, Sinfield and Worthington (Day 2, Session 4, Stream C, 11:30AM).

EduTECH Asia 2020 Online Now

Greetings from EduTECH Asia 2020, now online from Singapore. I attended this excellent event in Singapore. The organizers, Terrapinn, have put a lot of work in to translating the experience online. They have done this very well with the panel sessions. What is still a work in progress is the online equivalent of a vendor exhibition. This is my favorite part of a conference, with the excitement of new products and bumping into old colleagues and meeting new people.

Rethinking Research and Industry Conferences Online

There are companies offering to provide a platform to reproduce face to face academic and trade conferences on line. But perhaps rethink what is useful and what participants value about a conference, rather than reproduce a physical one.

Martin Dougiamas, creator of Moodle,
and Tom Worthingtont,
EduTech Asia 2018

I have been impressed with EduTech Asia's zoom based live webinars. These are very simple: an MC a panel of two or three speakers and plenty of time for questions. However, they clearly see this as just a stopgap to keep potential delegates and exhibitors connected until they can have a traditional event. Their first event is planned for November in Singapore, which I would be delighted to speak at it again, but not if I have to spend two weeks in quarantine in Australia, on my return.

Also the Australian Computer Society has run two Hackerthons, using Slack, Zoom, and the usual collaboration tools. What makes these effective is that they recruit a team of volunteers to be actively involved with participants. I was a mentor at the first and a lead mentor at the second. What also helps is having sponsors.

A conference is not just one thing. There is the chance for a trip somewhere. TALE 2019 had the attraction for me of visiting Yogyakarta.

Conference Organizers Need to Plan for Infectious Disease Outbreak

Tom Worthington speaking at NITC 2018

Those organizing international conferences in the next few months need to have a blended, or fully online, option available, due to COVID-19 Coronavirus restrictions. One option is to offer venues distributed around the world, which delegates can travel to locally. They will be able to interact face to face with colleagues. They can participate in local presentations face-to-face, and those from other venues via a video link. The moderator at the speaker's venue can relay questions submitted thorough the conference's chat facility, and queue audio questions.

A conference can be run 24 hours a day, with three venues spread equally around the world's time zones, to "follow the sun". With this format each venue takes turn running the conference during their daylight hours, handing over at sunset.

As someone who speaks at international conferences several times a year, I would miss the  travel to interesting places and meeting new people. But sometimes it can be a relief when you travel for many hours, to get to the same old place, and see the same old people. ;-)

ps: Not that I will be refusing invitations to interesting places just yet. I just accepted one for June.

Indian and Australian Education Conferences

The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning (IRRODL) provides a useful list of education conferences. I was looking for a conference in India to attend around the end of the year and came up with these:

1. November 15-18, 2016 Gartner Symposium/ITxpo. GOA, India. http://www.gartner.com/technology/symposium/
2. November 28-December 2, 2016 International Conference on Computers in Education (ICCE), 24^th. Organized by the Asia-Pacific Society for Computers in Education (APSCE). Bombay, India. http://www.et.iitb.ac.in/icce2016/
3. November 24-26, 2015 National Convention on Knowledge, Library and Information Networking (NACLIN), 18^th. Gulbarga University, Gulbarga, India. http://www.naclin.org/
4. Conference on Technology for Education, 8^th. Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, India. http://www.ask4research.info/t4e/2016/ or https://www.computer.org/portal/web/conferences/calendar
5. December 9-10, 2016 Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) International Conference on MOOCs, Innovation and Technology in Education, 4^th. Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai, India. http://www.mite2016.com/

Here are some of the Australian Conferences:

1. August 7-9, 2016 Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) Conference: Improving STEM Learning – What Will It Take? (STEM = science, technology, engineering and mathematics) Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, Brisbane, Australia. https://www.acerinstitute.edu.au/rc/overview
2. August 15, 2016 iPad: The Intersection of Pedagogy and Technology. Organized by Critical Agendas. Sydney, Australia. http://www.criticalagendas.com.au/victoria/ipad-the-intersection-of-pedagogy-and-technology-aug15-16 
3. August 23-25, 2016 InfoComm Integrate (professional audiovisual, entertainment, ICT marketplace). Sydney Olympic Park, Sydney, Australia. http://www.infocomm.org/cps/rde/xchg/infocomm/hs.xsl/22174.htm 
4. August 25-27, 2016 Leading a Digital School Conference. Crown Conference Centre, Melbourne, Australia. http://www.iwb.net.au/ 
5. August 27-29, 2016 MoodleMoot Australia. Perth, Western Australia. Australia. https://mootau.moodlemoot.org/course/view.php?id=62 or https://moodle.org/calendar/view.php 
6. August 28-31, 2016 Blackboard Teaching and Learning Conference. Sydney, Australia. http://experience.blackboard.com/TLC-Sydney/
     
7. August 29-September 2, 2016 Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) National Conference. Adelaide Convention Centre, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. https://www.alia.org.au/events/conferences-symposiums-and-summits
8. September 2-4, 2016 The Education Show. Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, Melbourne, Australia. http://www.theeducationshow.com.au/
    
9. September 9-11, 2016 International Computing Education Research (ICER) Conference, 12^th, annual. Melbourne, Australia. http://icer.hosting.acm.org/
    
10. September 15-16, 2016 National Vocational Education and Training (VET) Conference. Gold Coast, Australia. http://www.velgtraining.com/national-conference
     
11. September 26-27, 2016 Australian College of Educators (ACE) National Conference. Sydney, Australia. https://www.austcolled.com.au/events/category/ace-2016-national-conference
12. September 26-27, 2016 Joint Conference on Serious Games (JCSG): Serious Games Development and Applications (SGDA), 7^th and GamesDays, 6^th. Brisbane, Australia. http://jcsg2016.org/
     
13. September 27-29, 2016 MoodleMoot Australia 2016. Perth, Australia. https://mootau.moodlemoot.org/course/view.php?id=62
     
14. September 28-29, 2016 iPadpalooza. St. Hilda’s School, Gold Coast, Australia. http://www.ipadpaloozagc.com/
15. September 28-30, 2016 Australian Council for Educational Leaders (ACEL) National Conference: Leadership with Insight and Innovation. Melbourne, Australia. http://www.acel.org.au/acel/ACELWEB/Events/ACEL_National_Conference_2016/ACELWEB/Events/Conference_2016/Conference_2016_About.aspx?hkey=a9eccdd6-1a90-430c-96d8-d7ffbd6f5519
     
16. September 29-30, 2016 Australian Collaborative Education Network (ACEN) National Conference. Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. http://acen.edu.au/2016-acen-conference/
     
17. September 29-October 2, 2016 Australian Council for Computers in Education Conference (ACEC), biennial. Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. http://acec.acce.edu.au/ or http://acec2014.acce.edu.au/
     
18. September 21-23, 2015 Higher Education Research Group of Adelaide (HERGA) Conference, 10^th. Adelaide, Australia. http://www.herga.com.au/
     
19. September 30-October 2, 2015 Australian Society for Music Education (ASME) Conference: Music – Educating for Life. Adelaide, Australia. http://asme2015.com.au/
     
20. October 10-11, 2016 Association of Independent Schools Digital Technologies Conference: The Bigger Picture. St. Joseph’s College, Hunters Hill, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. http://www.aisnsw.edu.au/CoursesEvents/Pages/CourseDetail.aspx?cid=55b5bdc3-0262-4316-af4e-edba8f5db059 or http://www.aisnsw.edu.au/CoursesEvents/Pages/default.aspx?cat=CNFR
     
21. October 13-14, 2016 National Adult Training and Assessment Conference: Improving Quality, Reducing Risks. Organized by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER). William Angliss Institute of Technical and Further Education (TAFE), Melbourne, Australia. https://www.acer.edu.au/nallnac
     
22. October 14-15, 2016 Australian Curriculum Studies Association (ACSA) Conference: STEM, STEAM or HASS – Interrogating Models of Curriculum Integration. SMC Conference and Function Centre, Sydney, Australia. http://www.acsa.edu.au/pages/page656.asp
     
23. October 16, 2016 iDesignX: Australian Instructional Design Conference. Sydney, Australia. http://www.idesignx.net.au/
     
24. October 18, 2016 LearnX, 10^th. Melbourne Convention Center, Melbourne, Australia. http://www.learnx.net/
     
25. October 18-21, 2016 Australian International Education Conference (AIEC): Connectivity – The Heart of International Education. Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, Melbourne, Australia. http://aiec.idp.com/
     
26. October 19-20, 2016 Information Technology Services (ITS) in Tertiary Education 3^rd annual. Melbourne, Australia. http://www.criterionconferences.com/event/its/
     
27. October 23-26, 2016 mLearn: World Conference on Mobile and Contextual Learning – Mobile learning futures, Sustaining quality research and practice in mobile learning , 15^th. Organized by the International Association for Mobile Learning (IAmLearn). Hosted by the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Sydney, Australia. http://www.mlearn2016.com/
     
28. October 24-25, 2016 Learning@Work: Technology and Strategy for Workplace Learning. Australian Technology Park, Sydney, Australia. http://acevents.com.au/learningatwork/
     
29. October 25-26, 2016 Association of Independent Schools Education Research Symposium: Where Research Meets Practice. Waterview in Bicentennial Park, Sydney Olympic Park, Sydney, Australia. http://www.aisnsw.edu.au/CoursesEvents/Pages/CourseDetail.aspx?cid=022daa80-3187-405d-80d3-6af94a9128d9 or http://www.aisnsw.edu.au/CoursesEvents/Pages/default.aspx?cat=CNFR
     
30. October 31-November 3, 2016 Open and Distance Learning Association of Australia (ODLAA) Education Summit: Open, Flexible, Distance Education and eLearning, biennial. Perth, Western Australia, Australia. https://odlaa.org/summit-2015/
     
31. November 7-9, 2016 Learning for Change and Innovation World Congress. Organized by the Global Centre for Work-Applied Learning (GCWAL) and the Action Learning Action Research Association (ALARA). Hilton Hotel Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia. http://gcwal.com.au/2016congress/
     
32. November 7-9, 2016 Creative Innovation: The Exponential Shift – Making Transformation Happen. Melbourne, Australia. http://www.creativeinnovationglobal.com.au/
     
33. November 16-18, 2016 National Learning and Teaching Conference. Organized by Pearson Academy. Melbourne, Australia. http://www.pearsonacademy.com.au/ltcon
     
34. November 20-23, 2016 International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE) Presidents’ Summit: New Era of Leadership and Quality. Macquarie, Sydney, Australia. http://www.icde.org/
     
35. November 21, 2016 Learning and Teaching Collaboratively in Open Learning Spaces. Organized by Critical Agendas. Jasper Hotel, Melbourne, Australia. http://www.criticalagendas.com.au/victoria/learning-and-teaching-collaboratively-in-open-learning-spaces-nov21-16
36. November 27-December 1, 2016 Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE): Transforming Education Research. Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. http://www.aareconference.com.au/
     
37. November 28-30, 2016 Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education (ASCILITE) Conference: Show Me the Learning, 32^nd. Hosted by the University of South Australia. Adelaide Convention Centre, Adelaide, Australia. http://ascilite.org/2016-conference/
     
38. November 30-December 3, 2016 Technology Education Research Conference, 9^th, biennial. University of South Australia, Magill, Australia. http://www.techedconferenceaustralia.com/
     
39. December 4-7, 2016 Australasian Association for Engineering Education (AAEE) Annual Conference: The Changing Role of the Engineering Educator for Developing the Future Engineer, 27^th. Hosted by Southern Cross University. Coffs Harbour, Australia. http://www.aaee.net.au/index.php/resouces/aaee-conference
     
40. January 16-20, 2017 Linux.Conf.Au. Wrest Point Convention Centre, Hobart, Australia. http://linux.conf.au/ or hobart.lca2017.org
     
41. January 20-23, 2017 International Conference on Intelligent Computing and Applications (ICICA), 6^th. University of Canberra, Canberra, Australia. http://www.icica.org/
     
42. January 31-February 3, 2017 Australasian Web Conference, Geelong, Victoria, Australia. http://www.aut.ac.nz/study-at-aut/study-areas/computer-mathematical-sciences/news-and-events/events-folder/the-australasian-web-conference-awc-2017 or http://jiyu.cmslamp14.aut.ac.nz/awc2017/home.html
43. February 13-17, 2017 Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) Online Conference, biennial. Hilton Hotel, Sydney, Australia. https://www.alia.org.au/events/conferences-symposiums-and-summits
     
44. February 14-17, 2017 Microsoft TechEd Australia. Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre, Broadbeach, Queensland, Australia. https://msftignite.com.au/
45. March 1-3, 2017 Universities Australia Higher Education Conference. National Convention Centre, Canberra, Australia. https://www.universitiesaustralia.edu.au/conference or https://www.universitiesaustralia.edu.au/
46. March 23-24, 2017 Future Schools Expo. Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, Australia. http://futureschools.com.au/
     
47. April 3-7, 2017 World Wide Web Conference, 20^th. Perth, Western Australia, Australia. http://www.www2017.com.au/
48. May 8-10, 2017 The Higher Education Technology Agenda (THETA): Connecting Minds – Creating the Future, biennial. Sponsored by the Council of Australian University Directors of Information Technology (CAUDIT), Council of Australian University Librarians, and the Australasian Council on Open, Distance and e-Learning (ACODE). Auckland, New Zealand. http://theta.edu.au/
49. June 23-25, 2017 ALIA New Librarian’s Symposium (NLS), 8^th, biennial. Organized by the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA). Canberra, Australia. http://nls8.com/
50.  July 20-23, 2017 World Council for Gifted and Talented Children (WCGTC) World Conference: Global Perspective in Gifted Education, 22^nd, biennial. University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. http://worldgifted2017.com/

Online Paper Submission Systems

Submitting papers through on-line systems can be intensely frustrating. After working your way through the conference requirements, you are then handed over to some third party system and have to create (or remember) your user0-id and password, then find the conference (I tend to end up at last year's conference). Then you have to enter your details, the paper's details and upload the PDF. At this point the system gets pedantic about punctuation in keywords and the like.

One system which works better than most is Easy Chair. A feature I particularly like is that when I upload a paper, the system looks for keyphrases itself, in addition to those I entered. As an example, I have finally gotten around to writing the formal paper proposing an "Online Colombo Plan", which I discussed at Unconference Canberra in April. This proposes training Australian and Indian teachers jointly on-line in digital technology and entrepreneurship. Here are the keyphrases Easy Chair came up with:

colombo plan (226), higher education (150), international education (120), australian curriculum (80), australian government (80), international student (80), australian university (70), vocational education (70), student experience survey (63), digital colombo plan (63), virtual colombo plan (63), digital technology (60), sub degree (55), developing nation (50), distance education (50), draft national strategy (47), sub degree program (47), sustainable development goal (47), australian international education (47), australian government strategy (47), australian india education council (40), regional student (40), education exporter (40), massive open online course (40), australian strategy (40), professional development (40), open university (40), world bank (40)

Preparing a Poster for a Conference

A poster is a short form presentation at an academic conference. The process is much simpler, and often used to introduce new postgraduate students to conferences. Unlike a full refereed paper, the author just submits a short proposal, here is my poster "International Graduate Level Sustainable ICT Course" for CCA-EDUCAUSE Australasia 2011 (now called THETA Australasia).

Consider a Poster and Paper

Even if your full paper has been accepted for a conference you may still want to prepare a poster as well. Academic conferences have multiple streams, so every delegate can't attend every session. There is usually a poster time, where the author standards next to their poster and answers questions, giving you a chance to talk to people one-to-one, rather than the sometimes adversarial question and answer sessions in the paper sessions.

Unlike a full paper, which has to be submitted months beforehand, the author brings the physical poster with them to the conference. The poster is usually a paper document (possibly laminated with plastic for strength). Printed on one side of the page in colour. The poster might include a small sample object, or even a computer screen. But usually no power is provided and limited security, so any valuable or breakable object on the poster may be lost, stolen or broken.

The poster is placed on panels in an area of the conference venue, usually for the full period of the conference. The poster can include contact details for the author, so a delegate can arrange to meet. The author can use a computer for a presentation, but will have to prop it up as best they can, with no desk provided. Therefore a hand held tablet computer might be best for a demonstration.

Include a QR Code

It should be noted that many delegates at conferences, particularly at high tech ones, will have a smart phone or tablet computer. If the poster has a web address and a QR Code (a 2 dimensional barcode), this will allow them to obtain a copy of the poser, additional text, a video presentation and submit a question for the author. The Google URL Shortener will create a QR code from a web address.

Posters vary in size, but are usually 750 mm by 1200 mm  in the USA and A0 elsewhere (841 mm x 1189 mm). Large posters are usually in landscape mode (long side horizontal), but portrait mode is better for smaller ones.

Make it Bold

There may be hundreds of posters at a conference, with less than ideal lighting and positioning. Therefore the graphics used have to be bold and text kept short, in a large readable format. Many authors make the mistake of putting the text of a whole paper on the poster. The result is not readable from a comfortable distance. It is better to think of the poster as the slides for a short presentation.

"Advice on designing scientific posters" (Colin Purrington, 2011) provides a good overview of what to put in a poster. This suggests a person should be able to read the poster in at most 10 minutes, equivalent to a 15-minute talk.That sounds like too much content to me. A sample poster is provided by ANU CECS has about 1600 words (22,000 characters), which seems more than is desirable.

The conference organizer might provide a template for the conference, or your organisation may do so. ANU CECS have a LaTeX template (Zip) and a PowerPoint template (PPT). There are also specialist products, such as PosterGenius. Usually the poster will be created as a PDF file and then printed using a large format ink jet printer. When creating the PDF file, keep in mind that the images will be much larger than on a normal printed page and so need to be at a suitably high resolution.

A typical poster layout will have a header and footer one eighth the height of the page. The title will be at the top center. The organization name at the bottom. The main area of a large poster may be divided into four columns. Images may extend over more than one column. Usually dark text is used on a light background for the main area (sanserif font). Some designs have background images or patterns, but this can make the text hard to read.

An interesting variation on the academic poster is the Quad Chart format, as used for the NSF 2011 SBIR/STTR Phase II Grantee Conference. This divides the page into just four quadrants, each on a specific topic. It is popular for use by US military and government research funding bodies to obtain very brief descriptions of research proposals. The Georgia Institute of Technology Systems Realization Laboratory uses these topics for quad charts:

1. Motivation & Objectives
2. Approach
3. Key Results
4. Summary & Conclusions

The quad chart is in effect four slides for a very brief pitch presentation.

Consider a Smaller Poster

This year I was attending an international conference (ICCSE 2013) and wanted to display a poster, in addition to my presentation. But I was traveling extensively and did not want to be burdened with a large poster tube. I fond that an A2 poster (one quarter the area of the usual A0 poster) would fit in an airline carry-on bag. Printed on white polyester and rolled into a tight 10 mm cylinder, it resisted crushing well (the polyester looks like glossy paper, but is much stronger and thinner).

Two columns of text in A2 portrait worked well. The simplest way to format this was with the word processor set for an A4 page, which was then enlarged to A2 while printing. I used 10 point for regular text and 12 point for headings, but this was still a bit small when enlarged. 11.5 point text with 14 point headings might be better. Also I included a QR code, which people scanned with their mobile phone for more details on-line.

Perhaps academic conferences should switch to A2 size posters with QR codes as standard. This would allow twice as many posters in the available display space. It would be much more convenient for authors and organizers. It would also force authors to be more succinct in what they say on the poster. In addition A2 posters are much cheaper to have printed (a consideration for students).