Association for Learning Technology
Fortnightly news digest 180, issued 12 June 2009
Join ALT at http://www.alt.ac.uk/membership_join.html
Sponsoring and organisational members' list:
http://www.alt.ac.uk/corporate_members.php
For events, vacancies, invitations to tender and news, please read on...
1. Association news, including two additional awards, with prizes, and
close deadlines
2. Association events – some with close deadlines
3. News
4. Calls for papers
5. Other events – some with close deadlines
6. Vacancies
1. Association news
1.1 We warmly welcome Huddle http://www.huddle.net/ as a sponsoring
member, along with new organisational members the Dublin Institute of
Technology http://www.dit.ie/, and Cambridge Assessment
http://www.cambrdigeassessment.org.uk.
1.2 Three individuals have been nominated for election for the two
vacancies for Trustees of ALT. We have appointed Electoral Reform
Services (ERS) to handle the ballot process on ALT's behalf, as we did
in 2008; as in last year, voting will be by post or online. ERS will
issue voting backs towards the end of July, and voting will close on
Thursday 3 September. ERS will issue an email reminder during August.
Because there was one nomination only for the role of Vice Chair of ALT
(who will become Chair and then President over the succeeding two
years), there will not be a ballot for this role. The results will be
declared at the ALT Annual General Meeting in Manchester during the
afternoon of Wednesday 9 September.
1.3 "Examining e-learning in higher education: perceptions and reality".
Some readers of the Digest will have seen the half page article in the 4
June 2009 Times Higher headlined "Questions of cost and usefulness dog
e-learning". The article contained a strange interpretation of a market
research report by ALT sponsoring member IMC (UK) Ltd. IMC has kindly
agreed to ALT hosting the report on the ALT Open Access Repository.
Visit: http://repository.alt.ac.uk/443/
1.4 Jorum Learning & Teaching Competition 2009
The Annual Learning & Teaching competition (previously known as the
Learning Object Competition) is again to be held in conjunction with the
2009 ALT-C conference in Manchester, 8-10 September. The panel of judges
will be looking for exciting, innovative learning and teaching resources
that have been created under a Creative Commons Licence to showcase at
the conference. Overall winners will be presented with their prizes at
the 2009 ALT Conference Dinner on Wednesday 9 September. The competition
is hosted by Jorum and sponsored by Intrallect. The closing date for
entries is 3 July 2009. For more information go to
http://www.alt.ac.uk/awards.html.
1.5 The ALT-Epigeum Award for the most effective use of
video in an educational or training context.
The winner will receive a £500 cash prize together with an expenses-paid
trip for two people to central London to spend half a day meeting and
learning from the Epigeum team. The winning and any highly commended
entries will be showcased at the September ALT Conference in Manchester,
with the prize awarded at the 2009 ALT Conference Dinner on Wednesday 9
September.
Closing date for entries: 19 June 2009
See: http://www.alt.ac.uk/awards.html.
1.7 Joining ALT-ANNOUNCE
Staff of organisational and sponsoring members, alongside individual
members of ALT, are entitled to subscribe to ALT-ANNOUNCE, the Jiscmail
list we use to distribute this fortnightly Digest, the quarterly ALT
News, and infrequent brief announcements about ALT. Please encourage
relevant colleagues to subscribe from the simple form at
http://www.alt.ac.uk/lists.html. In the case of staff of organisational
and sponsoring members, provided the staff member joining has an email
address consistent with the domain name of an organisational or
sponsoring member of ALT, we will approve the subscription.
1.8 JISC-supported CMALT initiative ends 30 June 2009.
After great success the JISC-supported CMALT scheme will close 30 June
2009. Well over 150 registrations have been supported under the scheme
and a very few places are now left. If you still want to take advantage
of the scheme, please contact ALT directly on: 01865 484 125 to check
availability. See: http://www.alt.ac.uk/cmalt.html. Meanwhile the CMALT
networking and support site, for CMALT holders and those registered for
CMALT, is growing. To join, please go to http://cmalt-net.alt.ac.uk.
1.9 Pitchaimani
Some years ago, through the Joe Homan Trust, ALT supported a South
Indian boy named Pitchaimani escape child labour and remain in
education. The Joe Homan Trust thanked us with the news that Pitchaimani
has successfully completed a 4-year Bachelor of Physiotherapy degree,
and is now working as a Research Physiotherapist for the Leprosy Mission
Trust in West Bengal.For further information, please visit:
http://www.joehoman.org.uk.
2. Association events
2.1 ALT-C 2009: “In dreams begins responsibility” – choice, evidence,
and change. 8-10 September 2009, Manchester, UK. Bookings are now open:
http://www.alt.ac.uk/altc2009/registering.html
Conference fees: http://www.alt.ac.uk/altc2009/delegate_information.html
Accommodation details: http://www.alt.ac.uk/altc2009/accommodation.html
Social programme: http://www.alt.ac.uk/altc2009/social.html
Keynote speakers:
Martin Bean, Vice Chancellor Designate at the Open University, UK, who
will speak on Wednesday 9 September;
Michael Wesch, Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology at Kansas
State University, USA, who will speak on Tuesday 8 September; Terry
Anderson, Professor and Canada Research Chair in Distance Education at
Athabasca University, Canada, who will speak on Thursday 10 September.
Confirmed Invited Speakers include: Jonathan Drori, Heather Fry, Diana
Laurillard, Matthew McFall, David Kennedy, Richard Noss, Vanessa
Pittard, Aaron Porter and David Price.
Presenters’ registration deadline: 29 June
"Early Bird" registration deadline: 6 July
Registrations close: 14 August For more information, visit:
http://www.alt.ac.uk/altc2009/
2.2 Video on a shoestring
Jointly with the E-Learning Network, ALT will be running the third of
three free 90 minute lunchtime webinars, "Video on a Shoestring", on 15
October with James Clay of Gloucestershire College and Rob Hubbard of
LearningAge Solutions. Booking deadline 09/10/2009.
For a full descriptions of the webinar, and to book, go to
http://tinyurl.com/cfzydr.
3. News
3.1 The latest HEFCE news headlines are at: http://www.hefce.ac.uk/news/
4. Calls for Papers/Chapters/Nominations
4.1 Distance Education: 2010 Special Issue on Mobile Learning
Articles are sought from researchers, developers, practitioners and
activists in the field of mobile learning which are making, and have
already made a significant contribution to the practice and
understanding of distance education in every sector and in any part of
the world. Guest editors are John Traxler and Jon Gregson.
Articles should be around 7,000-8,000 words in length. They should be
sent to John Traxler at the Learning Lab: [log in to unmask]
See: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/carfax/01587919.html
4.2 ascilite 2009 Conference
6 - 9 December, Auckland New Zealand
See: http://www.ascilite.org.au/conferences/auckland09/
Click on the 'call for proposals' link.
Registration will open 3 August.
(As an ascilite member, you can take advantage of the Early Bird and ALT
organisational membership rates when you register).
4.3 Call for Nominations for 2009 Sloan-C Awards
2009 Sloan-C Awards for Excellence in
Online Teaching and Learning
2009 Ralph E. Gomory Award for Quality Online Education
http://www.sloan-c.org/aboutus/awards.asp
4.4 Call for Papers - A Word In Your Ear 2009 Conference
18 December, Sheffield
Short Papers, posters, workshops, and case studies in audio format welcomed.
A one day conference about the use of audio for feeding back on
students' work in higher education
See: http://research.shu.ac.uk/lti/awordinyourear2009/
Registration will open 1st September
5. Other events
5.1 Taster Session Twitter for Teachers
25 June 5.30, University of Huddersfield
The session will provide a hands-on introduction to Twitter followed by
a discussion of its potential for enhancing teachers' practices and to
aid learning. For further details or to book a place, contact Liz
Bennett: [log in to unmask]
5.2 E-Assessment Live 2009
July 8th 2009, Loughborough University
http://www.e-assessmentlive2009.org.uk
5.3 Design Bash: An umbrella event of the European LAMS & Learning
Design Conference
8 July, Open University, Milton Keynes
http://lams2009.lamsfoundation.org/index.htm
5.4 Handheld Learning and Innovation Awards 2009
5 – 7 October, The
Brewery, Barbican, London
For further
information, see: http://tinyurl.com/lzmpko
5.5 Understanding the QCF (The Qualifications and Credit Framework) -
moving from policy to practice
One day events for those who want to gain a better
understanding of the Qualifications and Credit Framework. 7 July, London
– 9 July, Manchester For further
details, visit: http://www.lsneducation.org.uk/events/?ID=768&back=/Events/
5.6 Educational Technology and Related Conferences
July – December 2009
For details see: http://repository.alt.ac.uk/432/
5.7 TENCompetence project - One day open workshop
Learning and Competence Development in Europe for tomorrow and beyond
16 July, Sestri Levante, Italy
http://www.tencompetence.org/node/201
5.8 Mobile Learning Early Researcher Symposium
14 - 15 October 2009, Learning Lab, Telford Campus, University of
Wolverhampton
To register your interest and for further information, contact Abi Redmond:
[log in to unmask] or Tel: 01902 322362
See: http://www.learninglab.org.uk
6. Vacancies
6.1 Serious Games Institute - 2 Research posts
Research Assistant
Ref no: REQ000026
Grade: 6
Salary: £23,451 - £31,515 per annum - 3 year fixed term (full time)
http://wwwp.coventry.ac.uk/d/1195/$/a/5343
Senior Research Assistant
Ref no: REQ000027
Grade: 7
Salary: £28,839 - £36,534 per annum - permanent (full time)
http://wwwp.coventry.ac.uk/d/1195/$/a/5344
Closing date for both posts: 22 June 2009
6.2 Principal Research Fellow (and postgraduate scholarships)
DEHub Innovation in Distance Learning
Faculty of The Professions
Ref: 209/086w
Salary: $101,066 - $111,255 per annum (Level D) (plus 17% employer
superannuation and optional salary packaging) 3 Year Fixed-term
For further information about this position, contact the Project
Manager, Dr. Nathan Wise: [log in to unmask] or Tel: (02) 6773 2810
http://www.une.edu.au/recruit/2009/2009-051-100/209-086.php
Closing date: 13 July 2009
Also
2 postgraduate scholarships for the project
http://www.une.edu.au/research-services/pgstudy/scholarships/
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The digest returns on 26 June 2009. All news, jobs, events, etc, to
[log in to unmask] by Tuesday 23 June. Please see below for further
details. This issue was compiled by Melanie Fox and lightly 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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