Attending a conference: reflection planning
Attending a multiday conference can be an overwhelming experience – both in terms of choices (what to attend) and listening and taking in everything that you hear. As I mentioned in my previous post “Preparing to attend a conference”, with experience, I have learnt that taking verbatim notes can add to the challenges of attending a conference. So I can take full advantage of the opportunities available, I use my notebook to write down useful phrases, citations and ideas that they highlight in the talks. What I focused on this year were key theorists and ideas that I want to follow up.
Depending on your organisation, you may be asked to share ideas or things you learnt from the conference, so trying to distil those into key elements is really helpful. Think about your audience (even if it is only you), what do you want to take from it and what did you find the most helpful?
After returning from the conference, I take the time to type up my notes and look up references to any theorists or papers the speakers may have mentioned. A real benefit of attending a conference like LILAC is the way it can introduce you to completely new concepts and offer suggestions for further areas to explore. This was particularly beneficial to me this year as I attended with my research in mind.
LILAC: Generative AI
This year there was a strong focus on generative AI – as you might expect. Discussions varied from keynote speakers to presenters sharing examples from their area of practice. Rather than focus on any one talk, I’ve just noted some of the key elements that were discussed and what I found interesting.
There was a clear drive to understand both the positive and negative impact of generative AI. Speakers looked at it from multiple angles, highlighting that it is built into products that people aren’t even aware of (such as databases). It’s also energy heavy (endless server farms that have to be maintained) and perpetuates social inequalities (including how workers have been used to train AI). They also highlighted that there are implicit biases built into the AI training data (a dominance of Western, English language texts), therefore we need to be aware of and challenges those in the outputs. A clear message from LILAC was that we all need to move from the hype cycle around generative AI (where everything is new and exciting) to a reality where it is just a tool that is used for specific occasions. It can be a useful conversation partner to work through ideas, but it is not a reliable source of information.
Whilst you have to have digital skills and capabilities to use generative AI, the potential of it to help increase access to and awareness of research data that is hidden in repositories and internal silos is a positive one. Therefore, we need to help people to access and use it effectively – if they need it.
A handy nugget from one talk is that challenging ChatGPT makes it lie!
We also need to encourage transparency, explaining how and when we use it and sharing good practice. If we are truly digital citizens then we should be critical and responsible when we use these tools.
LILAC: specific highlights
Outside of generative AI, presentations highlighted interesting ideas with things that I want to explore in more detail.
Authenticity in teaching
A workshop which facilitated discussion around authenticity and organisational hypocrisy. This also highlighted the concept of vocational awe (Ettarh, 2018). They asked the question – how honest are we when we teach? I would say I am and I enjoyed reading Ettarh (2018) after the conference to increase my understanding of their perspective.
Knowledge sharing
Knowledge sharing at conferences can’t be ignored. Ohio State University presented a really interesting project around student orientation. I learned from their project and the tips they happily shared, for example the simplicity of good reflective questions, courtesy of Ohio State University.
- What worked well?
- What would you do differently?
It was also interesting to see the posters presented at LILAC, seeing innovative teaching methods and research projects. I’ve made a note of a couple of ones I want to follow up with when I have more time.
The key message I took from the conference was about listening to, working with and valuing students. It aligns with my own approach and interests, so I’m going to follow up on the articles that discussed building relationships with students and creating safe environments for them to flourish.
A number of different articles and books were highlighted during the conference. Some were fairly easy to track down. However, with others I’m going to have to look at the LILAC archive to follow them up or get in touch with the speakers. Keeping an open mind and exploring new and interesting ideas can make a conference a very interesting and engaging place. I’m looking forward to continuing to explore the ideas shared at LILAC!
Lessons learnt:
- You can put subtitles on the screen if you don’t have a microphone! Use Microsoft 365 subtitles. On PowerPoint, go to Settings – choose above or below and choose your spoken language (same in MS Teams).
- Planning pays dividends – having a simple A4 sheet of paper with all my identified talks, breaks and keynotes on meant I always knew where I had to go (rather than constantly checking my phone and using data!)
Useful links and references:
Goblin tools – magic to do list (AI tools) (for neurodivergent individuals): https://goblin.tools/
Ettarh, F. (2018). Vocational Awe And Librarianship: The Lies We Tell Ourselves. In the Library with the Lead Pipe. https://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2018/vocational-awe/
Leon Furze: Teaching AI ethics: https://leonfurze.com/ai-ethics/
Pickard, A. Jane. (2013). Research methods in information (2nd ed.). Facet.
Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2023). Research design : qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. (Sixth edition / John W. Creswell, J. David Creswell.). SAGE.