Association for Learning Technology
Fortnightly News Digest 169, issued 12 December 2008
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For further events, vacancies, invitations to tender and news, please
read on...
1. Association news
2. Association events – some with close deadlines
3. News
4. Calls for papers
5. Other events – some with close deadlines
6. Invitations to tender
7. Vacancies
8. Courses
1. Association news
1.1 Digest submissions address change:
If you would like to submit an item to the digest, please send it via
e-mail to [log in to unmask], following the guidelines at the foot of this
page.
1.2 ALT Christmas Closure
The ALT office will be closed from 24 December 2008 to and including 2
January, and we reopen on 5 January 2009. We can be contacted, in an
emergency, by ringing: 07753 324503. Alternatively the address
[log in to unmask] will be checked periodically during the shut-down period.
1.3 ALT Christmas Charitable Donation
Firstly to wish you all the best for Christmas and the New Year from all
of ALT's trustees, committee members, and staff. For the last three
years, in lieu of sending Christmas and New Year greetings cards, ALT
(with JISC infoNet) has organised an informal Christmas collection for
Oxfam. In 2007 this raised £158. We will repeat this again for
Christman 2008 and will make a donation to Oxfam equivalent to the cost
of sending Christmas cards. We would also welcome donations which will
be used on a mixture of the following:
Support a satellite school:
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/shop/ProductDetails.aspx?catalog=Unwrapped&product=OU2712
A set of 15 books:
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/shop/ProductDetails.aspx?catalog=Unwrapped&product=OU2713
Teach a teacher:
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/shop/ProductDetails.aspx?catalog=Unwrapped&product=OU3542ED
Build a bit of classroom:
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/shop/productdetails.aspx?catalog=Unwrapped&product=OU3543ED
If you would like to contribute, please send a cheque payable to: ALT -
(ALT/Christmas Collection) to arrive at the ALT Office, Gipsy Lane,
Headington, Oxford, OX3 0BP, marked as 'Christmas Charitable Donations'
by 9/01/2009. ALT will issue a full summary of how much has been raised
during the third week of the 2009.
1.4 ALT welcomes paper submissions for ALT-C 2009: “In dreams begins
responsibility” – choice, evidence, and change.
8-10 September 2009, Manchester, UK.
Submission guidelines for Research Papers and for Abstracts are
available now from: http://www.alt.ac.uk/guidelines_papers.html
Proposals can be submitted from week beginning 15 December 2008 via
http://www.alt.ac.uk/altc2009/
Deadline for receipt of proposals: 12.00 midnight, 16 February 2009
Bookings open: May 2009
Presenters' registration deadline: 29 June 2009
Earlybird registration deadline: 6 July 2009
Bookings close: 14 August 2009
1.5 Ray Schroeder from ALT member organisation the Sloan Consortium
highlights an interesting call for chapters from Leonard Shedletsky, for
a book "Cases on Online Discussion and Interaction: Experiences and
Outcome". The book will attempt to help us better understand how people
communicate through online discussion, what its strengths and weaknesses
are, what we can do to facilitate better discussions, how communication
is evolving, and how we can think about online discussions as we take
part in them, lead, moderate or facilitate them, and find new
applications in social and work contexts
http://media.usm.maine.edu/~lenny/call_for_chapters.pdf
Publication deadline: 31 March 2009
1.6 ALT Online Survey 2008/9
The purpose of this survey is to help ALT gain a better understanding of
the needs and interests of practitioners, researchers and policy makers
involved in the learning technology domain. We will use what we learn
from our analysis of the survey to help ALT improve our services for
individual and organizational members, our events and publications, and
our support for the learning technology community more generally.
We’ve tested the survey and we are confident that it really will only
take you around 15 minutes to complete. Please submit your response
before 16 January 2009.
http://www.surveymethods.com/EndUser.aspx?BD99F5EABBFDEEE8
2. Association events
2.1 One day conference: Supporting and enhancing learning through the
effective use of technology, 5 February 2009, Central London, UK.
For all those engaged in the Further Education system, an invitation to
share good practice at the national launch conference for the eCPD
Enhancing Learning Programme. BDP Learning, ALT, and a consortium of FE
partners have been commissioned to deliver the programme on behalf of
the Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS).
Bookings can now be made at http://www.alt.ac.uk/conferences.php
2.2 Second Life in real life: education beyond the hype
12 February 2008, 9.30 - 16.00 Netskills Suite, Newcastle University Led
by Dr Steven Warburton, King's College, London and Graham Hibbert, Leeds
Metropolitan University. Offered again due to popular demand, the aim of
this workshop is to introduce participants to immersive 3D environments
from a practical perspective and to stimulate critical inquiry into the
possibilities that massive multi-user virtual environments (MUVEs) offer
learning and teaching practice. Costs: £100 members, £155 for
non-members. http://www.alt.ac.uk/workshop_detail.php?e=322
2.3 eReturn – using ePortfolios to support women returners to
employment. Two one-day events to disseminate the work of the
JISC-funded eReturn project, 24 - 25 February 2009, 10.30 to 16.00,
Aston Business School, Birmingham, UK. The eReturn project is led by the
Open University, in partnership with the UK Resource Centre for Women in
SET (UKRC), Cardiff Women’s Workshop (CWW), the University of Salford,
Sheffield Hallam University (SHU), Centre for Science Education, and
ALT. The eReturn partnership has been working with the Open Source
“MyStuff” e-portfolio to support cross-institutional delivery of
lifelong learning for women returners in their transition to employment.
Costs: there are no fees associated with attending the day event(s).
Dinner and accommodation is available on the night of 24 February at
cost to those wanting to attend both days or for delegates travelling
from afar in preparation for 25 February.
http://www.alt.ac.uk/workshop_detail.php?e=321
2.4 Dragons Den event
Dragons Dens Event to prepare for JISC Calls 11/08 and 4/08
Organised by the EMERGE Community. For further information please see:
http://elgg.jiscemerge.org.uk/judithlyons/weblog/1951.html
3. News
3.1 Towards the academic library of the future
JISC, SCONUL, RLUK, the British Library and the Research Information
Network (RIN) are to work together on a major strategic initiative which
will explore the substantial challenges facing academic libraries as
they respond to a period of unparalleled change in the external
environment. For further information, please email Derek Law
[log in to unmask] or telephone +44 (0)141 548 4997.
3.2 Business Secretary Peter Mandelson has announced a new £30 million
fund to invest in technology companies looking to expand their business.
This new fund, part of the Enterprise Capital Funds (ECF) programme,
will be managed by TTP Ventures and will look to invest development
capital in information technology, electronics and instrumentation
companies. For further information, visit:
http://nds.coi.gov.uk/environment/fullDetail.asp?ReleaseID=386142&NewsAreaID=2&NavigatedFromDepartment=True
3.3 The most recent HEFCE headlines can be found at: http://www.hefce.ac.uk/
4. Calls for papers
4.1 ‘Shock of the Old Conference’ 2009
Call for Papers and Posters
http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/ltg/events/shock2009
Submission deadline: 9 January 2009
5. Other events
5.1 Workshop: Business and Sustainability Models Around Free and Open
Source Software
12 January 2009, 10.00 – 16.00, Oxford University Computing Services,
Oxford. Web sitee and on-line registration:
http://www.oss-watch.ac.uk/events/2009-01-12/programme.xml
email: [log in to unmask]
5.2 Diversity among Learners and Teachers:
Using Technology to Identify It, Respond to It, and Take Advantage of it
1 - 2pm, January 14, 21 & 28, 2009
http://www.tltgroup.org/OLI/Diversity/20090115Diversity.htm
5.3 The Centre for Work-based Learning and Education (WLE), at the
Institute of Education, London, in conjunction with the London Mobile
Learning Group (LMLG), will hold the 3rd WLE Mobile Learning Symposium:
Mobile Learning Cultures across Education, Work and Leisure, 27 March
2009, WLE Centre, IOE London, UK. The symposium aims to address
different audiences, with a focus on education professionals and
practitioners from school, further, higher and adult education as well
as clinical settings, work and leisure. Registration for the symposium
is free but numbers are limited. Priority will be given to authors of
accepted abstracts. Further dates and detailed information about the
Symposium is available at: http://symposium.londonmobilelearning.net
5.4 The SOLSTICE Centre for Excellence in Teaching & Learning, Edge Hill
University 4th international conference: It’s All in the Blend?
Innovation, Research and Development: enhancing learning with
Technologies. 4 June 2009, Edge Hill University, Ormskirk, UK
http://www.edgehill.ac.uk/solstice/Conference2009/
5.7 5th International Joint Conference on INC, IMS and IDC 2009
Call for Workshops, Invited Sessions and Committee Members
25-27 August, 2009, Seoul, Korea
http://www.aicit.org/ncm
http://www.aicit.org/ncm/call_workshops.html
5.8 Serious Games Institute Workshop
Increasingly games and virtual technologies are being used in education.
These techniques of exploratory learning have the potential to change
paradigmatically how we learn, what we learn and where we learn. This
workshop will explore the paradigm shifts with respect to leading edge
research and development projects in the field.
http://www.seriousgamesinstitute.co.uk/events.aspx?item=555
5.98 EdTech2009 is Coming – ILTA's 10th Anniversary Birthday Conference
The 2008-09 academic year marks the 10th birthday of the Irish Learning
Technology Association (ILTA). We are delighted to mark this significant
milestone by announcing that our annual conference EdTech 2009 will be
held in the National College of Ireland on May 21-22 2009.
http://ilta.learnonline.ie/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=489
6. Invitations to tender and funding calls
*Note from ALT*
Member organisations interested in involving ALT as a partner in project
proposals should contact Maren Deepwell, Membership Services Manager in
the first instance – [log in to unmask]
6.1 The Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) invites institutions
to submit proposals for projects in two areas of JISC activity; the
Information Environment (IE) and Support for Research
A total of £10,600,000 is available in grant funding.
Projects vary in length from 6 months to 3 years, and from £30,000 to
£1,350,000 in terms of grant available.
Further information can be found at:
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/events/2008/12/callbriefing.aspx
A full version of the Call can be found at:
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/fundingopportunities/funding_calls/2008/12/grant1208
Proposal deadline: 12.00 noon, 11 February 2009
(A Town Meeting will be held on 15 December at Woburn House, London
which will enable potential bidders to find out more about the funding
opportunities associated with this Call)
6.2 The JISC and the US's National Endowment for the Humanities are
pleased to announce they will be funding a second round of Transatlantic
Digitisation grants. This pre-announcement is being made so that
potential applicants can start developing the necessary partnerships.
The call will be issued mid December
Project duration: 18 months
Funding: available for projects starting from August 2009
As with before, applications will be sought in the following areas:
* New digitisation projects and pilot projects
* Addition of important material to existing digitisation projects
* Development of infrastructure to support US-English digitisation work
The maximum each project will be able to apply for is £200k / $300k, to
be split between the projects partners.
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/
Closing date: Early March 2009
6.3 The Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC), on behalf of the
Strategic Content Alliance (SCA), invites tenders to develop a web based
knowledge base which will provide insightful analysis and good narrative
copy for practitioners and policy makers on the e-content life-cycle.
Total funding of between £40,000-£50,000 (including VAT, travel and
subsistence) is available for this work. A full version of the ITT can
be found at:
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/fundingopportunities/funding_calls/2008/12/scasynthesis.aspx
Deadline for receipt of proposals: 12.00 noon, 16 January 2009
7. Vacancies
7.1 Learning Sciences Research Institute
Research Associate
Based: University of Nottingham
The Learning Sciences Research Institute requires a Research Associate
to work with Dr Camilla Gilmore (The University of Nottingham) and Dr
Matthew Inglis (Loughborough University) on an ESRC funded project
entitled “Uncovering the Sources of Arithmetic”.
Salary: £24,152 - £26,391 per annum (can progress to £29,704 per annum,
subject to performance) Ref: ED/22X1
Start: 1 March 2009 - fixed-term contract for 1 year
http://jobs.nottingham.ac.uk/ED22X1
Closing date: 16 January 2009
7.2 University of Northampton
Learning Technologist
Salary: £19,645 - £23,449 per annum Ref: TM3676RVT
http://www.northampton.ac.uk/about/jobs/
Closing date: 18 December 2008
7.3 Joint Information Systems Committee: Infrastructure and Resources
Committee Appointments. The Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC)
is seeking to appoint members to a new Infrastructure and Resources
committee (JIR).
Further information on the work of the JISC can be found at
http://www.jisc.ac.uk
For an application form, the full person specification and an
information pack containing hard copies of further information about
JISC, email Jennifer Stockford: [log in to unmask]
Tel: 0117 931 7072.
Closing date: 12.00 noon, 22 January 2009
7.4 The Robert Gorden University
eContent Developer
Salary: 25,623 - £29,703 Ref: D19550
Visit: http://www.rgu.ac.uk/jobs
Clsing date: 4 January 2009
7.5 University of Reading
Lecturer/Senior Lecturer/Senior Research Fellow in Technology-Based
Management Learning
Salary: £33,432 - £52,086 Ref: SL08003
http://www.reading.ac.uk/jobs
Closing date: 6 January 2009
7.6 Middlesex Univerity
Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in Work Based Learning
Salary: £31.440 - £46,701
http//www.mdx.ac.uk/jobs
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The digest returns on 16 January 2009.
All news, jobs, events, etc, to [log in to unmask] by Tuesday 13 January
please. Please see below for further details.
This issue was compiled by Melanie Fox and edited by Seb Schmoller.
Regards
Seb Schmoller
Chief Executive
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Disclaimer: Whilst every care is taken to provide accurate information
in compiling this digest, ALT cannot vouch for the accuracy of
information provided on other web sites to which the digest links, and
opinions expressed on those sites should not be construed to be those of
ALT.
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Association for Learning Technology
Telephone: +44 (0) 1865 484125
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