DevXS
Visit the DevXS website to register and for more information!
What is DevXS?
DevXS is a BarCamp / Hackathon – style conference that recognises the progressive ideas and talent that students can bring to the development of higher education services. At the core of DevXS is a two-day developer marathon, where students are encouraged to team up and build cool things that contribute to university life. It’s about students sharing their ideas, mashing up data and building prototypes that improve, challenge and positively disrupt the research, teaching and learning landscapes of further and higher education. Prizes will be awarded to the best ideas, prototypes and collaborations. DevXS builds on the success of the JISC funded Developer Community Supporting Innovation (DevCSI) project and events that it runs, such as the annual Dev8D conference.
Who is organising DevXS?
DevXS is organised jointly by the University of Lincoln’s Student as Producer project and the JISC-funded DevCSI project, run by UKOLN at the University of Bath. It began as an idea of Nick Jackson and Alex Bilbie, two students at the University of Lincoln who now work in the university’s Online Services Team.
Who should attend?
DevXS is open to undergraduate and post-graduate students across the UK and beyond. It’s a conference that’s principally aimed at student web developers, computer science geeks and journalism/media students who are increasingly expected to engage with data on the web. You don’t have to have programming skills to attend, but you should be enthusiastic about working with developers by sharing ideas, pulling together data from various sources and working collaboratively to solve one or more of a number of challenges which will be announced before the start of DevXS.
When and where is DevXS?
Friday November 11th, 2011, 4pm – Sunday 13th November, 4pm. University of Lincoln.
What is DevXS for?
There is a real opportunity to engage with the energy of those working in ‘social technology’ to develop new ideas and resources. Individual institutions could run events and become engaged with communities of developers. The Edgeless University 2009.
The objectives of DevXS are similar to Dev8D, Rewired State and other BarCamp / Hackathon type conferences. DevXS is a continuous 30hr ‘hack day’, “a pressure cooker for innovation — an intensified period of Research and Development that months of traditional work could not replicate.” It’s intended to provide space, support, incentives and stimulation to students who want to be more than just consumers of university services and build cool tools that make further and higher educational institutions better, learn something in the process and meet other like-minded students across the UK.
DevXS is a response to what The Edgeless University report called a “time of maximum uncertainty and time for creative possibility between the ending of the way things have been and the beginning of the way they will be.” At a time when the higher education sector is is undergoing significant change and students are increasingly expected to assume the role of consumer, Student as Producer encourages students to challenge this role through the idea of ‘excess’ where students, through a critical engagement with their social world, are anticipated to become more than just student-consumers during their course of research and study. DevXS is a disruptive learning experience, a pedagogical intervention for students who want to do cool stuff with the web that challenges the traditional institutions of learning.
Students: Why should you attend?
1. You’ll learn a lot. DevXS brings together experts from a broad range of disciplines, so developers learn outside of their narrow subject areas and comfort zones. And the learning is no passive experience – developers learn by talking, experimenting and sharing.
2. It’s a good use of your time. The 2 days spent at DevXS represent less than 1% of your academic year. Time spent productively at DevXS will be inspiring and should benefit your studies. The event takes place at the weekend so it won’t disrupt your studies.
3. It’s excellent for networking. Around 200 people will be attending DevXS – some working in further and higher education, some developers, some not. Discover what other people in your discipline are doing, and what they’re doing it with.
4. It’s fun. It’s no secret that many DevCSI events are fun, and that developers love going to them so much so they’ll give up their own time to attend.
5. It’s free. The event is fully supported by the Student as Producer and DevCSI projects, which means a full programme of great speakers and workshops at no cost to attendees.
6. Excellent opportunity to talk to future clients, employers and looks impressive on your CV.
Academics: Why should my students attend?
1. They’ll learn a lot. DevXS brings together experts and students from a broad range of disciplines, so developers learn outside of their narrow subject areas and comfort zones.
2. It produces awesome ideas. Students will be specifically challenged to design and build systems which harness existing data and platforms to do something useful for universities.
3. Prestige is up for grabs. Teams who create something cool or win challenge prizes could be up for sector-wide publicity.
4. Enhances your student’s CV that they have attended, participated and even got some recognition and kudos from experienced developers.
5. The event takes place at the weekend so it won’t disrupt their studies.