Association for Learning Technology
Fortnightly news Digest 239, issued on 9 December 2011

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*   Please note that this is the final issue of 2011. The   *
*    next Digest will be issued on Friday 6 January 2012.   *
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*    With Season's Greetings, therefore, from all at ALT.   *
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Key links
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* Join ALT at http://www.alt.ac.uk/get-involved/membership
* Summary of ALT membership rights and entitlements: 
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* ALT Online Newsletter – http://newsletter.alt.ac.uk/


Table of Contents
1. ALT news
2. ALT events
3. News
4. Other events
5. Calls for proposals
6. Funding calls
7. Job vacancies
8. ALT Online Newsletter - links to articles from the most recent issue
9. Current issue (19.3) of the ALT Journal - Research in Learning 
Technology


1. ALT News

1.1	Changes in ALT

1.1.1 We are very pleased to welcome Caroline Greves as our new Events 
Manager. Caroline joined ALT on 1 December 2011 from the British 
Accreditation Council. She will be managing ALT events, webinars etc, 
including our annual conference. You can contact Caroline via email at 
[log in to unmask] or call 01865 484 147. See also 
http://www.alt.ac.uk/about-alt/who-we-are/alt-staff-team

1.1.2 Seb Schmoller will cease to be Chief Executive in May 2012. For 
the detailed announcement see http://www.alt.ac.uk/changes-alt/. The 
closing date for applications for the post is 5/1/2012.

1.2 New Organisational Member of ALT
We warmly welcome Coleg Menai (http://www.menai.ac.uk/) as an 
Organisational Member of ALT.

1.3 Digital Inclusion and Learning - Call for Papers for a Special Issue 
of Research in Learning Technology
* Guest Editors: Jane Seale, Professor of Education, Plymouth 
University, UK; William Dutton, Professor of Internet Studies, Oxford 
Internet Institute, University of Oxford, UK.
* Deadlines: Abstracts can be submitted to Jane Seale for informal 
feedback until 1 March 2012.; Papers should be submitted via the online 
submission system by 1 May 2012.
For the full call go to 
http://www.alt.ac.uk/publications/rlt/callforpapers20.4

1.4 ALT's President Gilly Salmon will take up a new role
Gilly Salmon will be moving from the University of Southern Queensland 
to become Pro Vice-Chancellor of Learning Transformations at Swinburne 
University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia, from January 2012. 
There is a media release at http://goo.gl/4MUyk

1.5 ALT response to consultation
ALT has responded to Ofsted's consultation on the Common Inspection 
Framework for the Learning and Skills Sector for 2012 and beyond. The 
response is available from the ALT Open Access Repository at: 
http://repository.alt.ac.uk/2197

1.6 Videos of the Keynote and Invited speaker sessions from ALT-C 2011 
are available from ALT’s YouTube channel. Here are links to each talk:
* ‘The educational and social impacts of Plan Ceibal – a new approach to 
the use of technology in education’ – Miguel Brechner http://goo.gl/21o7R
* ‘Transforming American Education: Learning Powered by Technology’ – 
Karen Cator http://goo.gl/hf53s
* ‘The elusive technological future’ – John Naughton http://goo.gl/zCNYN
* ‘Open courses: Converting, launching, and letting go...’ – Jo Axe 
http://goo.gl/QCvND
* ‘Leadership in a cold climate. Leading where the past is no reliable 
guide to the future. A reflection on the strategic leadership of people, 
technology and institutions in UK HE’ – Ewart Wooldridge 
http://goo.gl/rIHQU
* ‘JISC's support for learning and teaching in a changing educational 
environment’ – Malcolm Read http://goo.gl/icAJ9
* ‘The city as the learning environment: making change happen in 
Leicester's schools’ – Josie Fraser http://goo.gl/Oe19J
* ‘On being public…how social media reshapes professional identity’ – 
Anne Marie Cunningham http://goo.gl/J6I9f
* ‘The ROI of Online Collaboration: Doing More With Less’ – Rajeev Arora 
http://goo.gl/UiGPX
* ‘Remembering Robin Mason’ – Sonam Penjor http://goo.gl/hOVSJ
* ‘I Have a Blind Student in My Maths/Science Class, Should I panic? How 
to promote inclusion for blind students’ – Dónal FitzPatrick 
http://goo.gl/famhd
* ‘Well, the kookaburras thought it was funny anyway! Gilly Salmon 
explores innovation in UK and Australian Higher Education’ – Gilly 
Salmon http://goo.gl/9m1bM

1.7 Any employee of an ALT member organisation is entitled to join ALT 
individually at no cost as an Associate Member. You can do this in 
seconds from http://goo.gl/fOCYC

1.8 ALT Special Interest Groups (SIGs)
ALT Special Interest Groups bring together individuals or organisations 
within ALT around a common theme. Here are links to each of our active SIGs:
* Inclusive Learning SIG (ILSIG) http://goo.gl/CQNQX;
* Learning Environment Review SIG (LERSIG) http://goo.gl/3MgBO;
* Video in Education SIG (ViTAL) http://goo.gl/oqV7n;
* Games and Learning SIG (GLSIG) http://goo.gl/01OtH;
* Politics and Critical Theory SIG (PACT) http://goo.gl/Hhzjp;
* White Rose Learning Technologists' Forum (WRLT SIG) http://goo.gl/LLmJM.


2. ALT events

2.1 To what extent should learning design be supported computationally?
Book early for this 90 minute webinar-based discussion between Diana 
Laurillard and Stephen Downes, to take place between 17.00 and 18.30 GMT 
on 22 February 2012. Go to http://goo.gl/qbGxg.

2.2 The ALT/ELN webinar schedule for 2012
This is as follows, with fuller details soon to appear on the ALT web site.
* Writing effective assessment questions.
* The psychology of learning.
Both webinars *will* run, but they will *not* run on the previously 
advertised dates. Please look out for new dates being published for 
2012. We apologise if this decision – which results from difficulties in 
making arrangements with the presenters – inconveniences you.
http://www.alt.ac.uk/events

2.3 Flowing from October’s meeting of all four of ALT’s Operational 
Committees, several events are now in the pipeline including:
* a one-day event about large-scale curriculum redesign modelled on last 
June’s successful Lecture Capture conference 
(http://www.alt.ac.uk/events/lecture-capture-conference) for 
particularly (but not exclusively) FE;
* an event for learning technology researchers and research managers, 
with the working title “Getting to grips with impact in the learning 
technology field”.
Dates to be announced shortly.


3. News

3.1 Best Practice Guide on Technology Enhanced Learning
Following a call for case studies earlier in the year, the UCISA 
Academic Support Group has now put together a Best Practice Guide on 
engaging academics in the use of Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL). The 
guide contains ten case studies which look at a variety of methods for 
engaging academics such as:
* Setting up communities of practice;
* Developing intensive training and support programmes;
* Incorporating TEL into Postgraduate Certificate courses;
* Encouraging academics to publish their research in TEL.
Each case study describes the activity and the approach taken, provides 
an evaluation of the activity and discusses future developments and 
transferability.
Best Practice Guide: http://goo.gl/wHiNz

3.2 Digital technologies and mathematics education - JMC UK Report published
The Joint Mathematical Council of the United Kingdom has published its 
report into Digital technologies and mathematics education, which is 
available to download from the JMC website.
Full report: http://goo.gl/cuXZg
Executive summary: http://goo.gl/KGvrB

3.3 New BBC WebWise Online Course now live
The new BBC WebWise Online Course is now live and offers an easy way to 
become confident with computers and the internet. The course has 4 units 
intended for beginners, working at Level 1, although some of the content 
touches on common objectives found in Level 2 ICT courses. Each unit is 
mapped to the following units of the IT user qualifications (ITQ) at 
Level 1:
* Using the Internet
* Using Email
* Using Mobile IT Devices
* Internet Safety
Developed by DESQ (an ALT Organisational Member) for BBC Learning, 
Maggie Philbin explains what it's all about...
http://goo.gl/wXbAu

3.4 Michael Gove on technology in learning
The final section of Michael Gove's 1/12/2011 speech to the Schools 
Network conference - from "Digital networks" onwards - has some 
interesting and constructive pointers to Government thinking on 
technology in the schools in England. See http://goo.gl/KNBsd

3.5 LSE's "Using Twitter in university research, teaching and impact 
activities"
LSE has produced a new twitter guide for academics and researchers, 
written by Amy Mollett, Danielle Moran and Patrick Dunleavy. For more 
information and to download the guide, go to http://goo.gl/x1oUK.

3.6 ALT Sponsoring Member ULCC has released a new “e-ILP” community version
With the release of Moodle 2.0, ULCC took the decision to review the 
existing code and implement a new e-ILP (Individual Learning Plan) that 
was more flexible and extensible to anticipate existing and future needs 
of the systems. Benefits of the e-ILP module, like improved learner 
engagement, retention and achievement as well as cost savings associated 
with a well integrated IT solution, have since been mentioned in Ofsted 
reports and JISC papers. Full details about the latest version of the 
community release can be found at: http://bit.ly/eilp2.


4. Other events

4.1 Free online 1 hour Digital Media sessions
Join us for 1 hour live online themed sessions with short presentations 
and Q+A each month. The next session on Wednesday 14th December is 
titled "Making better videos: shooting your video" 
http://www.jiscdigitalmedia.ac.uk/surgery/

4.2 David White gives update on Visitors and Residents
David White from the University of Oxford will deliver an update on the 
JISC-funded Visitors & Residents project at OCLC’s two-day conference, 
“Developing a New Brand of Library”, in Birmingham on 28th and 29th 
February 2012. For those who are looking for a broad picture of learner 
motivations, the Visitors & Residents research project, partnered by 
OCLC, is a welcome development. The project’s focus on 
information-gathering behaviours dovetails with the conference theme – 
how physical and digital spaces blend to meet the needs of today’s 
library users. Find out more and register to attend this free of charge 
event here http://goo.gl/vqIin

4.3 TEPL seminar- Theoretical perspectives on professional learning
We invite you to the Challenge 8 seminar of the Technology Enhanced 
Professional Learning Special Interest Group (TEPL SIG) that will be 
held on 16th of December 11-15h at the University of Brighton. The 
keynote speaker is Professor Henny P.A. Boshuizen, Open University of 
the Netherlands. You can find more info about the event here 
http://goo.gl/KHwaU. To register for the event please fill in the online 
registration here http://goo.gl/ZbAOK

4.4 Introducing Moodle 2.0
This four week online course will introduce participants to the key 
features and functionality available in the long-awaited, and much 
updated, leading open source virtual learning environment (Moodle 2.0). 
Through a series of hands-on activities and tasks, participants will 
develop their understanding of what the new version has to offer as they 
complete a number of tasks and activities, guided by an experienced 
online tutor. Find out more and book online at: http://bit.ly/M2_Jan2012

4.5 12th Durham Blackboard Users' Conference
This conference will take place on Thursday & Friday, 5 & 6th January 
2012 at the Calman Learning Centre, Durham University with the theme of 
"Openness". Professor Grainne Conole is our opening Keynote. The Call 
for Papers is still open and our registration system is taking bookings 
at the early bird rate. For full details visit our blog 
http://www.dur.ac.uk/lt.team/blog/

4.6 LWF 12 - Future of Learning - Festival & Conference
The annual conference of Learning Without Frontiers (LWF) about the 
future of learning - bringing together leaders and innovators from the 
education, digital media and entertainment sectors. 25 to 26 January 
2012. http://www.learningwithoutfrontiers.com/lwf12/

4.7 Educational Technology and Related Education Conferences for June to 
December 2011
The tireless Clayton R Wright has circulated an updated version of his 
thorough listing of conferences and, as with previous updates, this is 
now on the ALT Open Access repository at http://repository.alt.ac.uk/2106/.


5. Calls for proposals

5.1 Calls for papers for a special issues of BJET
5.1.1 Social Networking and Mobile Learning.
To access the call, go to  http://bit.ly/pNIbWD
5.2.2 e-Leadership.
To access the call, go to http://goo.gl/3K4zz

6. Funding calls

6.1 JISC Grant Funding 18/11: OER Rapid Innovation
The JISC and the Higher Education Academy (HEA) invite eligible 
institutions to submit funding proposals for Projects to enhance digital 
infrastructure to support open content for education.
The full text of the call is available here: http://goo.gl/oDTYc

6.2 JISC Grant Funding 19/11: Transformations Programme
The JISC invite eligible institutions to submit bids to participate in 
the JISC Transformations Programme. The objective of the Transformations 
Programme is to help institutions move towards organisational change 
through the application of existing JISC and other resources in order to:
* Enhance their student experience;
* Improve the efficiency of their business and become agile in a climate 
of change;
* Enhance their organisational capability for business and community 
engagement;
* Improve their environmental performance.
The full text of the call is available here:
http://goo.gl/LNqp3

6.3 JISC Grant Funding 20/11: Embedding impact analysis in research 
using BCE practitioners - Second Round
The Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) invites institutions to 
submit funding proposals for partnership projects to embed good practice 
in impact analysis in research departments utilising the expertise of 
Business and Community Engagement practitioners and information 
management specialists. Funding of up to £30,000 per project is 
available to support three-way collaborative partnerships comprising:
* Research groups seeking to develop their capabilities in analysing and 
articulating the impact and benefits of their research;
* Business and Community Engagement (BCE) practitioners with expertise 
in identifying external impact and benefits, and designing institutional 
services for this purpose;
* Leading research information management expertise and resources for 
impact evidence.
The full text of the call is available here - http://goo.gl/tPGvo


7. Jobs

7.1 De Montfort University
Music, Technology and Innovation Research Centre
Research Assistant: EARS II Project
7153
£24,370 - £29,972
Temporary
Closing date: 12 December 2011
Informal enquiries to Professor Leigh Landy, [log in to unmask]
http://goo.gl/pYebZ

7.2 Hamdan Bin Mohammed e-University, Dubai, UAE
Learning Innovations and Strategies office
Teaching and learning Specialist
2011
AED 20.000 per month
Full time
Informal enquiries to [log in to unmask]
http://goo.gl/ngBg8

7.3 There is a regular supply of mainly US jobs in the learning 
technology field at http://www.salt.org/salt.asp?ss=l&pn=joblistall, 
with a helpful RSS feed at http://www.salt.org/Weblink/SaltJobs.rss.

8. ALT Online Newsletter - links to articles from Issue 25, published in 
November 2011

Table of contents for Issue 25 - http://newsletter.alt.ac.uk/tag/issue-25/

Article – ‘ALT-C 2011 – Thriving in a colder and more challenging 
climate’ by Julie Voce
http://goo.gl/LkYl1

Article – ‘What Can We Learn From Stanford University’s Free Online 
Computer Science Courses?’ by Seb Schmoller
http://goo.gl/2ddmW

Article – ‘Developing and Reviewing Online Courses: Items for 
Consideration’ by Clayton R. Wright
http://goo.gl/d2QSN

Article – ‘The elements of e-assessment’ by Sophie White
http://goo.gl/ibx80

Article – ‘Supporting Learners with Activity Data’ by Tom Franklin 
http://goo.gl/cSRhm

Article – ‘Get set, ready and GO! ELT Blogathon 2012’ by Şirin Soyöz
http://goo.gl/AQGox

Article – ‘Future of Technology in Education Conference 2011’ by Frank 
Steiner
http://goo.gl/S0PLZ


9. Most recent issue of Research in Learning Technology, the Journal of 
the Association for Learning Technology (previously ALT-J) – published 
online on 23 November

Volume 19 Issue 3. If your organisation is a member of ALT, or if it has 
an online subscription to the Journal, *and* if its network is 
appropriately configured, then you should be able to click straight 
through to the individual articles. Note that all organisational and 
sponsoring members of ALT are entitled to online access to the Journal 
for all their employees when logged into the network.

*Note 1.* If you cannot access the Journal online, this is something we 
may be able to help you fix.
*Note 2.* Research in Learning Technology (including all back issues) 
will be fully Open Access from 1 January 2012, published by Co-Action 
Publishing.
*Note 3.* The DOI resolver that supports the links below sometimes works 
inordinately slowly.


Table of contents http://goo.gl/eg1it

Editorial – “Theory in Learning Technology”
Chris Jones & Laura Czerniewicz
http://goo.gl/H93lO
DOI: 10.1080/21567069.2011.632491

Article – “Talking back to theory: the missed opportunities in learning 
technology research”
Sue Bennett & Martin Oliver
http://goo.gl/5fJeZ
DOI: 10.1080/21567069.2011.624997

Article – “Theorising knowledge practices: a missing piece of the 
educational technology puzzle”
Sarah Howard & Karl Maton
http://goo.gl/hDylX
DOI: 10.1080/21567069.2011.624170

Article – “The socio-materiality of learning practices and implications 
for the field of learning technology”
Aditya Johri
http://goo.gl/5nPQE
DOI: 10.1080/21567069.2011.624169

Article – “Mobilities, moorings and boundary marking in developing 
semantic technologies in educational practices”
Richard Edwards, Fran Tracy & Katy Jordan
http://goo.gl/mu0HW
DOI: 10.1080/21567069.2011.624167

Article – “The roles and uses of design principles for developing the 
trialogical approach on learning”
Sami Paavola, Minna Lakkala, Hanni Muukkonen, Kari Kosonen & Klas Karlgren
http://goo.gl/7fpnT
DOI: 10.1080/21567069.2011.624171

Article – “Technologies for learning? An actor-network theory critique 
of ‘affordances’ in research on mobile learning”
Steve Wright & Gale Parchoma
http://goo.gl/GrzSU
DOI: 10.1080/21567069.2011.624168

Article – “Situated, embodied and social problem-solving in virtual worlds”
Andrew Cram, John G. Hedberg, Maree Gosper & Geoff Dick
http://goo.gl/tQ9NN
DOI: 10.1080/21567069.2011.624172

Article – “Revealing the transformatory moment of learning technology: 
the place of critical social theory”
Richard Hall
http://goo.gl/QMvlV
DOI: 10.1080/21567069.2011.624996

Article – “The social construction of educational technology through the 
use of authentic software tools”
Allan Jones & Christopher Bissell
http://goo.gl/GkUro
DOI: 10.1080/21567069.2011.624995

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The digest returns on 6 January 2012. All news, jobs, events, etc, to 
the form at 
http://www.alt.ac.uk/publications-and-resources/publications/alt-news-digest 
   by 12.00 noon on Wednesday 4 January 2012. This issue was compiled by 
those who submitted content for it, and very lightly edited by Anna 
Davidge, with a once-over by Seb Schmoller..
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Disclaimer. Reasonable care is taken to ensure that the ALT Digest is 
accurate. But ALT does not vouch for the accuracy of information 
provided on web sites to which the digest links, and opinions expressed 
on those sites should not be construed to be those of ALT.