ASCILITE News

Expressions of Interest invited to join ASCILITE’s 2021 Community Mentoring Program (CMP)

Applications (Expressions of Interest) in the 2021 Community Mentoring Program are now being accepted and are due by 1 February 2021. Both potential mentors and mentees are required to submit an EOI to express interest in the program, and will be matched with a mentor or mentee in early February.

The ASCILITE Community Mentoring Program (CMP) has been operating since 2003 with over 185 members having taken part to date, and is recognised by members for its value in coaching, facilitating and networking for both mentors and mentees. It aims to provide mentoring opportunities across a number of fields including educational technology, academic development, learning development, faculty education, early career research, graphic design and programming.

You will find full details of the program and the application forms on the ASCILITE website here. An information session webinar has also been scheduled. Details are below.

CMP Information Session webinar, 27 January 2021

Anyone interested in the CMP is welcome to attend an information session on 27 January 2021 @ 11am AEDT to learn about the program and what it means to become a mentor or mentee. The session will be presented by 2020 CMP members and chaired by the CMP coordinators Associate Professor Michael Cowling and Dr Kwong Nui Sim.

Session login: ASCILITE webinar room

AJET Special Issue – Emerging Technologies in Education for Innovative Pedagogies and Competency Development

Call for Articles

The purpose of this special issue is to provide an opportunity to share these experiences of researching, evaluating and implementing emerging technologies in HEI and to collate the lessons learned from the intersection of emerging technology, innovative pedagogies and competency development. Our vision is geared toward state-of-the-art technologies that drive innovative approaches for teaching and learning.

Recent research about emerging technologies in education aims to understand the relationship between education policies, especially of higher education institutions (HEIs), innovative pedagogies and competency development (Bond et al., 2020; Lai & Bower, 2019). The purpose of such education policies is to implement emerging technologies (for example, virtual/augmented reality, 3D printing, drones, robotics, or artificial intelligence) to achieve two key outcomes. These are to support the improvement of an existing education system as well as to facilitate HEI educators’ development and enhancement of competencies through the adoption of innovative pedagogical techniques (such as mobile, adaptive, or blended learning) (Aljawarneh, 2020).

Focus of the Special Issue

The use of these emerging technologies, along with a focus on competency development, can provide the conditions necessary to transform higher education pedagogies in theory and practice. This transformational process in education foregrounds the central role of technology in the learning process. The recent global emergency has led to an unexpected leap in the utilization and implementation of technologies by educators (Moorhouse, 2020; Thompson & Lodge, 2020). Numerous examples of innovative practice have emerged. In this new educational paradigm, the integration of educational technologies in teaching and learning can foster the development of new skills for HEI educators. It is essential to share innovative experiences that promote the advancement of educational technologies in higher education institutions.

The topics relevant to this issue include but are not limited to:

Adaptive and personalized
Innovative pedagogical
Ethics in education.
Competency development and assessment.
Role of technology in instructions and learning
Artificial intelligence: Chatbots, virtual assistants or intelligent tutoring system.
Digital accreditations (free and paid digital diplomas).
Gamification and serious games to foster student’s engagement and
Learning
Open educational resources and
Remote and hybrid lecture tools (video conferencing, cloud-based whiteboards, and etc.)
Robotics in the classroom to enhance student motivation

Guest Editors

Asad Abbas (PhD), Writing Lab, Institute for the Future of Education, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico: asad.abbas@tec.mx
Samira Hosseini (PhD), Writing Lab, Institute for the Future of Education, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico: samira.hosseini@tec.mx
José Luis Martín Núñez (PhD), Institute for Educational Science, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain: joseluis.martinn@upm.es
Susana Sastre-Merion (PhD), Institute for Educational Science, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain: susana.sastre@upm.es

You will find further details on the AJET website.

OTHER NEWS

Flexible Learning Association of New Zealand: Submissions invited for Practice Papers and Posters

The FLANZ 2021 Conference, in association with Massey University, invites submission of Practice Papers and Posters:

The due date for Practice Papers is 01 February 2021.
Focus is on an application in an educational setting. This might be research focused, a great idea, or an innovation related to the conference theme.
Includes evidential information to draw on to demonstrate its impact.
The Practice Paper submission is a total of 1,500 words including a 250 word outline.
Instructions and information about your presentation format will be included with the confirmation of your Practice Paper’s acceptance. You will be expected to provide your finalised presentation in early April.

Further information is available on the FLANZ website here.

Immersive Learning Research Network 2021 Conference on the iLRN 3D Virtual Campus and across the Metaverse, 17 May to 10 June 2021

iLRN 2021 (7th International Conference of the Immersive Learning Research Network) will be an innovative and interactive virtual gathering for a strengthening global network of researchers and practitioners collaborating to develop the scientific, technical, and applied potential of immersive learning. It is the premier scholarly event focusing on advances in the use of virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), and other extended reality (XR) technologies to support learners across the full span of learning—from K-12 through higher education to work-based, informal, and lifelong learning contexts.

This year’s conference will once again be based on the iLRN Virtual Campus, powered by Virbela, but with a range of activities taking place on various other XR simulation, gaming, and other platforms. iLRN 2021 attracted well over 3,000 registrants from across the globe, making the scheduling of sessions a challenge; this year’s conference activities will be spread over a four-week period so as to give attendees more opportunities to participate at times that are conducive to their local time zones.

This conference is technically co-sponsored by the IEEE Education Society, with proceedings to be submitted for inclusion in the >IEEE Xplore® Digital Library.

The Call for Papers/Proposals can be found here.

Call for Papers: 11th International Learning Analytics and Knowledge Conference (#LAK21) workshops

We invite you to participate in Using Network Science in Learning Analytics: Building Bridges towards a Common Agenda at LAK21.

Details of the call are available here.

To join as a presenter, please submit a 6-page summary by 9 February 2021. All submissions will be peer-reviewed. Selected submissions will be included in CEUR-Ws Proceedings (Scopus indexed) as well as a joint LAK Companion Proceedings (published by SoLAR). Submit your work at https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=netscila2021

For any questions email Sasha Poquet.

Call for Participation

Given the diversity of the applications of network science in learning analytics, this workshop aims to identify common challenges experienced through the use of network science methodologies in learning analytics. The workshop invites researchers working on the intersection of learning analytics and network science to share their work and reflect on common challenges. We envision themes of causality, linkage between micro- and macro-processes, use of time and space, elements of generalizability and validity to surface in the group discussions. The workshop hopes to gather LA scholars to build a foundation for network modelling of learning data and shape strategies of future work in this important sub-field of LA.

We welcome various types of submissions to the workshop including (but are not limited to):

Empirical studies applying advanced network analytical techniques, including understanding properties of networks in learning settings as well as deriving insights about learning built on network analysis
Conceptual papers bridging learning processes and network representations
Methodological papers introducing approaches built off network analysis or integrating it with other methods
Demos featuring tools to support sense-making of network data or enabling network analysis
Classroom applications of network analysis for reflection and regulation of learning processes.

We would like for the authors to include a brief reflection on the challenges of the application of network science to learning data as a part of their submission.

We hope to attract thematically diverse submissions of similar methodological considerations. Participants will present their contributions in short talks, with two open group discussions. The event will take place online.

Participation and Submissions

The HALF-DAY workshop will be held online on April 12, 2020. We invite you to attend the workshop as a presenter or a participant.

To join as a presenter, please send a 6-page summary of your work that you intend to share following the Companion Proceedings Template (including references) by February 9, 2021. You may submit your work here.

Notification of acceptance will be sent out by February 23, 2021. Presenters need to register for the workshop during the LAK registration process.

Accepted workshop papers will be published in CEUR-Ws Proceedings (Scopus indexed), on the workshop website and in a joint LAK Companion Proceedings (published by SoLAR). Additional workshop materials will also be shared via the workshop website.

Anyone with an interest in the area is welcome to register as a participant.

Timeline

February 9, 2021 – Deadline for submissions
February 23, 2021 – Notification of acceptance
April 12, 2021 – Workshop date

Call for Submissions: EDULEARN21 (13th annual International Conference on Education and New Learning Technologies)

EDULEARN has become an annual meeting point for lecturers, researchers, professors, educational scientists and technologists that brings together over 800 delegates from 80 different countries each year to provide an opportunity to present your projects and experiences to an international audience.

The conference will be held on the 5 – 7 July 2021 in Palma de Mallorca, Spain and abstract submissions are invited but must be submitted by 18 March 2021. Abstracts should be submitted online here.

EDULEARN21 Proceedings will be reviewed for their inclusion in the Web of Science (Conference Proceedings Citation Index). Previous editions are already indexed. Also, a DOI number will be assigned to each accepted paper.