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I'm replying to Marina's observation - partly because I help with the networked-learning list and partly because i'm on the programme committee for the Euro CSCL conference. It seems troubling that on the one hand we have financial restraints within many of our universities that make it very hard for us to take part in international conferences (relevant to the theme of networked learning or otherwise) and on the other hand we are working in an area where new technology is (supposedly) reducing the need for such face-to-face get-togethers. Marina writes from a university which isn't well-funded with respect to research. I'm writing from a university which regularly comes in the top ten of UK research universities (and from a department which regularly comes out with a high research grade). Yet I get only 200 pounds a year as a conference allowance. That won't even cover the costs of attendance at one of our main national conferences. All my other conference participation is paid for from funds I've won in competitive bidding for national and European research projects. I'm not aware of any alternatives to these two main sources of funding. I suspect that there aren't any/many 'hardship funds' because they'd be overwhelmed with applications and would be too costly to administer. So? a) Should we be taking steps to create a serious 'virtual' conference in our field (or promote something which already exists in/near our field)? This would allow greater access, at the expense of some of the things which we value about face-to-face conferences b) do we need some infrastructure that would help with some selective funding of participation in face-to-face conferences - so that people with really good contributions to make to the NL field aren't silenced by shortage of cash? Peter > -----Original Message----- > From: Marina Orsini-Jones [SMTP:[log in to unmask]] > Sent: Thursday, October 12, 2000 11:33 AM > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Re: FW: Extended Call for Papers EURO-CSCL 2001 > > Dear all, > I've just joined this list and I would really like to contribure to the > conference > advertised here. However, in my institution, like in many other 'new unis' in > the > UK, the financial crisis has hit so hard that we just cannot attend > conferences > any longer, not even if we present papers. I am just telling you this, as > many > colleagues abroad are unaware of the situation. Perhaps we could set up a > 'hardship fund' for conference attenders like we do for needy students! > Regards to all, > marina orsini-jones > > Marina Orsini-Jones > Subject Leader for Italian/Teaching and Learning Fellow > School of International Studies and Law > Coventry University > > > %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%