Dear colleagues, 

(Apologies for cross posting, and please feel free to pass this information on to others who you think might be interested.)

Submissions are invited for a forthcoming special issue of the Australasian Journal of Educational Technology (AJET), entitled 'Virtual worlds in tertiary education: An Australasian perspective', guest edited by Mark J.W. Lee (Charles Sturt University and University of New England), Dr Barney Dalgarno (Charles Sturt University) and Dr Helen Farley (University of Southern Queensland).

Virtual worlds have generated much attention and interest among tertiary education practitioners and researchers over the last few years. Universities and colleges across the globe are investing heavily in the technology, with some making use of commercial platforms like Second Life to provide spaces within which to build resources and conduct activities, and others licensing or developing their own platforms for hosting on their internal servers and networks. This special issue will comprise articles that address theory, research and practical issues related to the use of virtual worlds in all aspects of tertiary education, encompassing both higher education and vocational education and training (VET), with a focus on Australasia and the Asia-Pacific region.

Topics of interest include but are not limited to the following: 

- Virtual worlds for learning and teaching in specific subject areas/disciplines 
- Virtual worlds in academic staff development and tertiary teacher training 
- Virtual worlds in open, distance and flexible learning contexts
- Virtual worlds for research student supervision, training and support 
- Virtual worlds and competency-based training 
- Work-based or work-integrated learning using virtual worlds, including the use of virtual worlds to support student work experience/field placements 
- Mentoring and coaching in virtual worlds 
- Learning design and resource development for virtual worlds 
- Assessment and evaluation of learning in virtual worlds 
- Methodological issues and strategies for researching learning in virtual worlds 
- Ethical issues related to the use of virtual worlds in tertiary education (e.g. access and equity, marginalised/disadvantaged learner groups) 
- Protecting student and staff intellectual property, personal identity, safety and security in virtual worlds 
- Virtual worlds in non-teaching areas of the institution (e.g. libraries, academic support services, student societies/guilds, careers, alumni, marketing and recruitment) 
- Virtual worlds and ICT policy, including institutional access and support issues 

Both research articles reporting on empirical studies as well as theoretical/conceptual papers that engage deeply with pertinent questions and issues from a pedagogical, social, cultural, philosophical and/or ethical standpoint will be considered for publication in the special issue. Systematic literature reviews and meta-analyses dealing with virtual worlds in tertiary education in Australasia or the Asia Pacific are also welcome. Authors are strongly encouraged to consider the implications of their work for those outside their disciplines and institutional scenarios, and to attempt to situate the discussion of their findings in the broader context of the tertiary education sector as a whole. They are also urged to critically examine what virtual worlds and their affordances avail us as educators that other 'simpler' and more mature technologies do not. 

*** Time schedule ***
- late February - early May 2011: Call for expressions of interest
- 23 May 2011: Extended abstracts due
- no later than 18 July 2011: Invitations issued to selected authors to submit full manuscripts
- 17 October 2011: Full manuscripts due
- 28 November 2011: Notification of acceptances
- 23 January 2012: Revised manuscripts due	
- 5 March 2012: Delivery of articles to AJET	
- mid to late March 2012: Publication of the special issue	

*** For more information ***
For more information about the Special Issue, including details of the submission and review process, please see the full Call for Articles at the following URL:

http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet/about/special-issues/virtual-worlds-2012.html

Prospective authors should also consult the AJET author guidelines at http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet/about/ref/author-advice.html. Questions may be directed to the Guest Editors at [log in to unmask]


Kind regards,



Mark J.W. Lee
Adjunct Senior Lecturer, School of Education, Charles Sturt University
Adjunct Senior Lecturer, DEHub, Faculty of the Professions, University of New England

Barney Dalgarno
Associate Professor, School of Education, Charles Sturt University

Helen Farley
Lecturer, Australian Digital Futures Institute, University of Southern Queensland

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