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Association for Learning Technology Fortnightly news digest 223, issued on 15 April 2011 Submitting Digest items *NEW PROCESS* To submit items for the ALT Fortnightly Digest, including job vacancies, complete the form at http://tinyurl.com/32bcqyk taking careful note of the instructions given. Your care in completing the form will make our editing job quicker and more effective. The deadline for the next issue of the Digest is 12.00 on Wednesday 27 April 2011 for the Digest to be issued on Friday 29 April 2011. Key links * Join ALT at http://www.alt.ac.uk/membership_join.html * Summary of ALT membership rights and entitlements: http://www.alt.ac.uk/docs/membership_at_a_glance_2010_v2.pdf * List of sponsoring and organisational members of ALT: http://www.alt.ac.uk/corporate_members.php * ALT’s YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/ClipsFromALT * ALT on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/A_L_T * ALT wiki - http://wiki.alt.ac.uk/ * ALT open access repository - http://repository.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 (19.1) of the ALT Journal - Research in Learning Technology - “The transformational impact of learning technology” 1. ALT News 1.1 The New ALT web site We expect to make do a soft launch of the new web site on either 20 or 27 April. The transition between the two sites is a complicated operation because the new site will support nearly all of our membership and booking processes. There are bound to be problems and issues with the new site, as well as some gaps – hence the soft launch – and for the first few weeks we will actively be seeking feedback from users, and keeping a publicly available log of known issues which will be asking you to review before providing feedback. 1.2 2011 Learning Technologist of the Year Award The entry form and details s for the awardis at http://goo.gl/nYzkK. Note that we have revised the eligibility requirements to read: “This year the award is open to individuals and teams based anywhere in the UK, and, this is newly added on 15 April 2011, to individual ordinary and certified members anywhere in the world.” The deadline for entries is 17.00 UK time, on 26 May 2011. 1.3 ALT welcomes Xtensis Ltd - http://www.xtensis.co.uk/ - as Organisational Member. 1.4 Call for expressions of interest in chairing or co-chairing the 2012 ALT Conference We have issued the call for expressions of interest in chairing or co-chairing the 2012 ALT conference, which will held in Manchester between 11 and 13 September. The closing date for responses is 3 May. There is a PDF of the call at http://goo.gl/yCnk0 1.5 Call for nominations for Honorary Life Membership of ALT ALT awards Honorary Life Membership to individuals whom ALT believes have made an outstanding and sustained contribution to the advancement of ALT's aims for the development of learning technology in a national or international context through research, practice, policy-development, leadership, or a combination of these. The 2011 call for nominations is at http://goo.gl/6CMZo. The closing date for nominations is Friday 13 May. 1.6 New CMALT Development Group Members appointed Dragos Ciobanu, Shirley Evans, Devampika Getkahn, Sarah Horrigan and Charles Juwah have been appointed as new members of the CMALT Development Group from March 2011. Dean Sheetz has retired from the group and we thank him for his involvement over the past year. 1.7 Response to the review of the English National Curriculum http://repository.alt.ac.uk/2099/ is our response, written with input from and the support of the Technology Enhanced Learning Programme (TEL), to the Review of the National Curriculum for England. 1.8 Staffing changes Hayley Maisey, Head of Operations and Events, flew the ALT nest on Wednesday 15 April, and we gave her a proper send-off. From Monday she will be eCommunications Manager with the Chartered Institute of Marketing. On behalf of the whole of ALT I thank her and wish her well. Mark Tindall is now Interim Events Manager. His post is currently not full time. Maren Deepwell is now Operations and Services Manager. Anna Davidge has joined us temporarily as an Administration Officer. Celia Gough is covering for Emma Carr-Jones in the role of Finance Manager. 1.9 The next issue of the ALT Online Newsletter We are in the process of transferring the newsletter – http://newsletter.alt.ac.uk/ – to a new platform (WordPress), as part of the web site upgrade. The next issue of the newsletter will not be ready until May. 1.10 Research in Learning Technology – all 18+ years of issues are freely available Until the end of April the whole of our journal will be freely available on from the Taylor and Francis web site from http://goo.gl/C9dIH 1.11 Journal tendering for societies: a brief guide We have published a guide for scholarly societies about how to tender for a publishing contract, and, possibly to change a journal’s publishing model. This is currently by far the most accessed item on the ALT Open Access Repository, having had over 2000 downloads in the last 7 days. http://repository.alt.ac.uk/887/ 2. ALT events 2.1 ALT-C 2011 - "Thriving in colder and more challenging climate" ALT's 18th international annual conference will be held 6-8 September at the University of Leeds. ALT-C 2011 - "Thriving in colder and more challenging climate" ALT's 18th international annual conference will be held 6-8 September at the University of Leeds. Keynote speakers will include Miguel Brechner, Head of Uruguay's Plan Ceibal, under which all children and teachers in public schools in Uruguay have received their own laptop and connectivity to the Internet; Karen Cator, Director of the Office of Educational Technology at the U.S. Department of Education, and previously head of Apple's leadership and advocacy efforts in education, where she focused on the intersection of education policy and research, emerging technologies, and the reality faced by teachers, students and managers; and John Naughton, Professor of the Public Understanding of Technology at the Open University, and the Observer's technology columnist. Conference co-chairs: John Cook, Professor of Technology Enhanced Learning at the Learning Technology Research Institute, London Metropolitan University and Sugata Mitra, Professor of Educational Technology at Newcastle University. Full details at http://www.alt.ac.uk/altc2011/ including a web-resolution A4 flyer, the sponsorship prospectus, and links to the call for proposals. The hashtag for ALT-C 2011 is #altc2011. 2.2 LERSIG Workshop: Changing Learning Environments – What’s going on? LERSIG - ALT’s Learning Environment Review Special Interest Group - will be holding their next one-day workshop at the University of Bradford on Wednesday 4th May 2011. Entitled “Changing Learning Environments – What’s going on?” the aim of the workshop is to establish current trends and issues surrounding institutional learning environments. There will be mini-keynotes representing interesting developments in learning environments: * Changing VLEs – a current example of an institutional move to Moodle 2.0; * Change Management Processes – an example of managed and supported change; * An alternative model? – an example of a different approach to curriculum engagement - Dynamic Learning Maps. This will be followed by a brief review of the developments in FE and HE in relation to learning environments and an opportunity for participants to share recent developments and current issues. Participants will be able to discuss the themes and issues arising from the keynotes with colleagues at the event or via Elluminate and to frame questions for a panel discussion. Registration form http://tinyurl.com/LERSIGMay2011 2.3 Lecture capture - doing it well and at scale - a one day ALT event on 16 June in London at Queen Mary’s University Many organisations are turning to recording lectures and other kinds of teaching session, and publishing these internally or externally so that students and others can access the recordings at their leisure. “Lecture Capture” is the awkward name for the family of technologies that support the making of such recordings. The aim of this ALT event is to help participants get to grips with the human, organisational, pedagogic, quality and technical challenges of doing lecture capture well and at scale. A small group has been working as the “conference committee” for the event, including Eoin McDonnell, QMUL; Graham McElearney, Sheffield University; Julie Voce, Imperial College London and Clive Young, UCL, and we intend that the day will cover most of the following: * Case studies of successful implementation including from the Institute of Theoretical Physics in Trieste, Italy; * Lecture recording in the sciences; * AV issues when working at scale and solutions; * Encouraging adoption (What are the barriers?); * Pedagogic and learning design issues; * Supporting teachers and students in their use of lecture capture; * Institutional policies and obstacles; * Lecture capture myths and misconceptions and how to tackle these; * IPR/Copyright issues. Register your interest for this event at http://goo.gl/jxrI1 2.4 Getting started with mobile learning The presentations and the recording from the ALT/ELN webinar with Lilian Soon and held on 11 April ' with Lilian Soon and Garin Hess are on the ALT Open Access Repository at http://repository.alt.ac.uk/view/divisions/webinar/2011.html 2.5 ALT/ELN 2011 webinar programme - dates for your diary. Jointly with the E-Learning Network, ALT is running another series of free 90 minute lunchtime webinars throughout 2011. Further details to follow, and a one-off announcement concerning “Making the most of informal learning” – with booking details – will be sent during week beginning April 18. * 24 May - Making the most of informal learning * 28 June - What's next in learning management? * 20 July - Practical strategies for evaluation * 15 September - Interview with top designer * 10 October - Getting started with serious games * 16 November - Writing effective quiz and assessment questions * 13 December - The psychology of learning [We reserve the right to change the order and titles of these webinars] 3. News 3.1 JISC on Air: Meeting student needs to improve retention In the third of a new series of online ‘radio’ shows – JISC on Air – we explore how digital technologies are helping universities and colleges to better meet students’ requirements and improve retention. Kim Catcheside speaks with Richard Francis, at Oxford Brookes University and Ellen Lessner, at Abingdon and Witney College about how their institutions are better preparing their learners for their experience of learning with technology. Kim also speaks with Helen Beetham, author of the recent Review of Digital Literacies, Stephen Jackson, QAA and Alex Bols, NUS . The show is available from http://www.jisc.ac.uk/blog/meeting-students-needs-to-improve-retention/#more-622 3.2 Desire2Learn Announces Release of Latest Mobile Platform - Desire2Learn Campus Life ALT sponsoring member Desire2Learn has announced the release of Desire2Learn Campus Life. This turn-key mobile solution connects learners with their academic community by extending the campus presence into their everyday lives. Through most smartphones, Desire2Learn Campus Life connects students and faculty to campus videos and media, news, events, campus directories, services, and their learning management systems. As a central resource for faculty and students to access their campus information on-the-go, Desire2Learn Campus Life benefits institutions through its customisability and its “hassle-free” maintenance. This mobile platform is available to both existing clients and those new to Desire2Learn products. For additional information about Desire2Learn Campus Life, visit http://ww.Desire2Learn.com/CampusLife 3.3 A new UK Government ICT Strategy The Cabinet Office has published a new Government ICT Strategy. Mercifully brief (25 pages), it is in four main parts, with, in addition, an Annex containing a ""new governance structure: Part 1 – Reducing waste and project failure, and stimulating economic growth Part 2 – Creating a common ICT infrastructure Part 3 – Using ICT to enable and deliver change Part 4 – Strengthening governance Parts 2 and 3 will probably be of most interest to ALT members. Go to http://goo.gl/4IU80 4. Other events 4.1 Media & Learning Conference 2011 Dates Announced The Media & Learning Conference 2011, aimed at policy makers and practitioners interested in how media can be used to enhance learning opportunities for all citizens, will take place on 24-25 November 2011 in Brussels, Belgium. It is being organised in collaboration with the Flemish Ministry of Education and Training and the European Commission Directorate-General for Education and Culture and will take place in the Flemish Ministry of Education and Training Headquarters in Brussels. The deadline for receiving proposals is 1 June 2011. For more information, see the latest press release: http://media-and-learning.eu/press-and-publications 4.2 ELESIG upcoming events - April to July 2011 For full details see http://elesig.ning.com/events Spring Symposium: Students as Change Agents - 27 to 28 April, University of Exeter * ELESIG Midlands Regional Group Meeting - 19 May, 10am to 3pm, University of Northampton * ELESIG Summer Symposium (with LERSIG), 17 June, University of Hertfordshire 4.2.1 Online facilitators’ workshop – June 15 or September 22 2011 This event is for online facilitators and those who wish to become online facilitators. The workshops take place for one day in March, June and one in September at the University of Bedfordshire, Luton Campus 10.00am to 3.30pm. The day will begin with an introduction to the key concepts associated with online collaborative software and go on to cover areas such as different types of community, how to get the most from the online tools, understanding the needs of your participants as well as the complexities of facilitating online learning environments. It will be run by Sarah Jones of Core Education http://www.core-ed.org.uk/. Find out more and book your place via Eventbrite http://onlinefacilitationworkshop-estw.eventbrite.com/ 4.3 Effective Teaching and Learning in the new and extended learning environments of the Digital Age Monday 9 May 2011, University of Birmingham, Nuffield Learning Centre, Cost £30. A workshop designed to showcase practice-based effective teaching and learning with a range of new and emerging technologies in traditional and new learning environments. Programme includes. * Technologies which can be used to make teaching and learning more interactive in classrooms and lecture theatres * Creating effective on line communities of learning in virtual learning spaces * Mobile and off-campus learning using the latest SmartPhones and Tablets * Augmented Reality and innovative ways of presenting and accessing educational resources on a new generation of mobile devices Further Details http://escalate.ac.uk/8051 4.4 ITTE Annual Conference 2011 – 5 to 7 July 2011 Given the government agenda on Initial Teacher Education (ITE) and the apparent threat to ICT the theme is 'Back to the Future?'; subtitled, 'where are we going with ICT in education and with ITE in general?' There will be a mixture of papers, workshops, poster presentations and discussion groups. Booking web site www.keele-conferencemanagement.com/itte2011. If you would like present, lead a discussion or submit a poster, contact Andy Connell, [log in to unmask] 4.5 6th International Blended Learning Conference Booking is now open for the Sixth International Blended Learning Conference: “From Innovation to Institutional Enhancement - operating in challenging times” 15-16 June 2011, The Fielder Centre, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, UK The conference will be opened by Professor Quintin McKellar and our keynote speaker will be Professor Diana Laurillard of the Institute of Education. The programme also includes presentations, discussion sessions and workshops from across the UK, including a wide variety of work associated with the JISC Curriculum Design and Delivery projects. http://www.herts.ac.uk/about-us/learning-and-teaching/learning-teaching-institute/conferences/conference-2011/home.cfm If you have any queries about the conference please contact the conference team through Gina Alessi on [log in to unmask] 4.6 2011 International CAA Conference, 5th & 6th July 2011 http://caa.ecs.soton.ac.uk/ The International CAA Conference is a two day research-led conference, now hosted by the University of Southampton and organised by Electronics and Computer Science and the Institute of Educational Technology at the Open University. The Conference aims to advance the understanding and application of information technology to the assessment process (e-assessment) through rigorous peer-reviewed research. As in previous years the conference will be accessible to those with an interest in implementation and pedagogy, the more technically minded, and those involved at a strategic level such as managers and support services. 4.7 Open Educational Resources 2011 (OER11) - Last chance to book - Bookings close 18 April OER11 takes place at the Manchester Conference Centre Wednesday 11 - Friday 13 May 2011 where the programme consists of over 70 refereed papers, workshops, symposiums and demos all exploring and reflecting on the impact of OER on HE. Two nights' accommodation with breakfast/lunch and refreshments, plus gala dinner are included for residential participants. Bookings close Monday 18 April. http://www.ucel.ac.uk/oer11 4.8 Teaching in the age of plenty: what does it mean for me and my students? Free workshop will explore the challenges of teaching in digital age where access to information is plentiful through ‘always on’ 21C devices. What changes in terms of our teaching? What should we be doing differently? How do we manage this new learning landscape? This practical taster session is for teachers, lecturers, learning technologists, trainers and those who support learning. It will provide some ideas for ways of understanding and managing the job of teaching in 21C classroom. We will be running an online course via Facebook during June. To sign up please email [log in to unmask] 5. Calls for proposals 5.1 The Third European Articulate Conference - University of Leeds, 17 May - call for contributions The call for contributions is now open for the third European conference dedicated to one of the best e-learning packages out there: Articulate Studio 09. The theme of this conference is Effective Scenario-Based Training. Please see the conference webpage for details: http://www.leeds.ac.uk/articulate/conference2011 5.2 Call for AJET Special Issue articles: Virtual worlds in tertiary education Call for articles: Submissions are invited for a forthcoming special issue of AJET (Australasian Journal of Educational Technology) to be published in early 2012, entitled ‘Virtual worlds in tertiary education: An Australasian perspective’, edited by Mark J.W. Lee, Dr Barney Dalgarno and Dr Helen Farley. Timetable: Extended abstracts due 23 May 2011, invitations to selected authors no later than 18 July 2011, full manuscripts due 17 October 2011. http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet/about/special-issues/virtual-worlds-2012.html 5.3 Researching Learning in Immersive Virtual Environments 2011 (ReLIVE11) - Call for Abstracts Creative Solutions for New Futures, 21- 22 September 2011, The Open University, UK. Innovation in teaching and learning through virtual worlds was a major theme of ReLIVE08. In the three years since this event, our understanding of what it means to work, play and learn in these spaces has increased significantly. ReLIVE11 will revisit some of the themes of ReLIVE08, but from the fresh perspective of using all that we have learned in between to explore how virtual worlds can help us and our learners to find creative solutions for new futures. Please visit http://www.open.ac.uk/relive11 for full details. 5.4 Second Call for Papers: mLearn 2011 The 10th World Conference on Mobile and Contextual Learning will be held in Beijing, 18 - 21 October 2011 (http://mlearn.bnu.edu.cn). The new full paper submission date is 5 May 2011, and the mLearn 2011 paper submission system is now open. Before uploading your paper, you should download the paper template and use it to format your conference papers. Should you experience any difficulties submitting your paper, please email: [log in to unmask] 6. Funding calls 6.1 JISC Grant Funding 03/11: Digging into Data Challenge - £1m available for projects up to £150k over 6 to 24 months from January 2012 JISC, the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), along with five international funding bodies, invite institutions to submit proposals for the Digging into Data Challenge. The deadline for receipt of final proposals in response to this call will be 23:59 (Greenwich Mean Time) on 16 June 2011. There is a UK specific addendum which should be read in conjunction with the main request for proposals available on the Digging into Data Challenge web site at http://www.diggingintodata.org/. For more information go to http://goo.gl/9gHF1 6.2 Learning and Teaching Enhancement Fund for Wales 2011 The Higher Education Academy (HEA) is pleased to invite applications to the Learning and Teaching Enhancement Fund for Wales for up to £2,500 per proposal. This is an open call and proposals are welcome any time up to Friday 13 May 2011. Projects need to be commenced no later than 31 May 2011 and need to be completed no later than 31 July 2011. http://tinyurl.com/3k78ylw 7. Jobs 7.1 University of Sydney Centre for Research on Computer Supported Learning and Cognition (CoCo) Job title: Postdoctoral Research Associates Reference number: 495/0311 and 332/0211 Salary: $AUD 91,300 Full time, Temporary Closing date: 27 April 2011 URL for further particulars: http://tinyurl.com/6jfuv9e 7.2 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. 7.3 IMS Global Consortium Community Adoption Coordinator for Digital Learning Services Full time, Permanent http://www.imsglobal.org/careers.html [log in to unmask] No closing date specified 8. ALT Online Newsletter - links to articles from the 1 February 2011 issue Article – “Chief Executive’s Report” by Seb Schmoller http://newsletter.alt.ac.uk/10ltall5ycoz5e6g3n66lm Article - ‘The role of embodiment in student success in virtual worlds” by Mark Childs http://newsletter.alt.ac.uk/11sipwzwdww Article – “Glow: the world’s first national intranet and online community for education” by Andrew Brown http://newsletter.alt.ac.uk/fctye0xf3xc Article – “Going Mobile: our approach” by Kayvon Beykpour http://newsletter.alt.ac.uk/pv0420x866q Article – “The National College’s online network - A case study in building and managing a professional networking and learning system by Stuart Sutherland http://newsletter.alt.ac.uk/8ov4e6fk6y3 Article - ‘What to do when you get Google Apps for your school” by Kevin McLaughlin http://newsletter.alt.ac.uk/11xp13p4k08 Article - ‘Why some 'successful' projects 'fail'’ by Tom Franklin http://newsletter.alt.ac.uk/1vk4dz2si0mz5e6g3n66lm Article - ‘Smartphone studying: the technology universities try to ignore? by Kent University student and ZDNet write Zack Whittaker http://newsletter.alt.ac.uk/1b98kryenqr Article - ‘Mahara 1.2 ePortfolios: Beginner's Guide’ by Eamon Costello http://newsletter.alt.ac.uk/1bzpzf3ukhb Article - ‘Epigeum 'University and College Teaching'’ by Wendy Harbottle http://newsletter.alt.ac.uk/165jdwaqmfe Article - ‘A week in the life of.Professor John Traxler, University of Wolverhampton’, by…… John Traxler http://newsletter.alt.ac.uk/1j5pnfi78wm 9. Most recent issue of Research in Learning Technology, the Journal of the Association for Learning Technology (previously ALT-J) Volume 19 Issue 1. You can access it online from the links below, and, during April, *without needing to login*. 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. *NB* If you cannot access the Journal online, this is something we may be able to help you fix. Note also that Research in Learning Technology will be fully Open Access from 1 January 2012. Table of contents http://tinyurl.com/4bpvyyj Editorial – “Evidence and evaluation in learning technology research” by Rhona Sharpe http://tinyurl.com/3fsbsqd DOI: 10.1080/21567069.2011.555604 Article – “Transforming Learners' reflexivity and the development of an e-learning community among students in China” by Zhen Li http://tinyurl.com/3vfc84j DOI: 10.1080/09687769.2010.548505 Article – “How do e-book readers enhance learning opportunities for distance work-based learners?” by Ming Nie; Alejandro Armellini; Gabi Witthaus and Kelly Barklamb http://tinyurl.com/3jlzaz3 DOI: 10.1080/09687769.2010.548506 Article – “Exploratory evaluation of audio email technology in formative assessment feedback” by George Macgregor; Alex Spiers and Chris Taylor http://tinyurl.com/3m9jzxl DOI: 10.1080/09687769.2010.547930 Article – “Transformation through expeditionary change using online learning and competence-building technologies” by Donald M. Norris and Paul Lefrere http://tinyurl.com/3md7ttl DOI: 10.1080/09687769.2010.549205 Article – “Information technology in university-level mathematics teaching and learning: a mathematician's point of view” by Alexandre Borovik http://tinyurl.com/3kjbpc2 DOI: 10.1080/09687769.2010.548504 ---- The digest returns on 29 April 2011. All news, jobs, events, etc, to http://tinyurl.com/32bcqyk by 12.00 noon on Wednesday 27 April. This issue was compiled by those who submitted content for it, and lightly edited by Seb Schmoller. ---- 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. ----