JOURNAL OF WORKPLACE LEARNING
ISSN: 1366-5626

Call for Papers :
e-Learning @ the Workplace


With the advent of the Internet, electronically mediated corporate training
and learning support efforts have exploded with growth and complexity. e-
Learning, a recent development which has already had a great deal of impact
upon the corporate training world, is beginning to penetrate a growing
range of areas within the contemporary workplace, and is widely being
promoted as a panacea to present-day skill-supply and just-in-time-just-
enough training needs. While electronic learning presents a number of
potentialities as a viable teaching tool, organisations should be wary of
claims that e-learning is a one-size-fits-all medium that can
comprehensively address all their training requirements. Indeed, an
important set of issues that, as yet, has been relatively under-researched,
is that concerning the extent to which e-learning as a medium can deliver
the kind of skills demanded by the 'knowledge economy' characteristic of
modern industrial societies.

Nonetheless, there is tremendous pressure on organisations to at least be
seen to be doing e-learning. Consequently many self-proclaimed e-learning
providers provide 'quick fix' e-learning solutions, characteristically by
translating existing paper-based course materials into HTML pages. This, of
course, is a highly problematic practice. Moreover, it raises a series of
questions as to what constitutes e-learning 'proper'. Is e-learning
simply 'courses on the World Wide Web', or might the term encompass
considerably more? What kinds of learning can be supported by e-learning?
Furthermore, are advocates of e-learning attempting to bend learning to the
will of technology, rather than vice versa?

Papers are sought to explore the capacity of e-learning for strengthening
corporate performance and building competitive advantage in the present-day
workplace. Such papers might consider the extent to which the utilisation
of technology can enhance the learning process and provide practitioners
with the leverage to manage knowledge for organisational gain. Papers that
are predominantly conceptual or empirical, case-study-based, or based on
industry-wide-analyses are welcome. Contributed papers may deal with, but
are not limited to:

Defining and delineating e-learning approaches and practices;
Assessing the benefits and drawbacks of e-learning as a medium for
workplace learning;
Exploring the potential and real applications of e-learning in managing
organisational knowledge;
The evaluation and maintenance of workplace e-learning;
The impact of e-learning on organisations, work, and workers;
Evaluating the costs of e-learning;
Organisational requirements for successful e-learning;
Pedagogical principles underlying the teaching and learning activities that
constitute effective e-Learning;
The Internet and organisational learning.

All submissions must be in English, should represent original work done by
the author(s), and must NOT have been published, accepted for publication,
or be presently under consideration for publication elsewhere. Articles for
this call are expected to be "academic" in terms of rigor, but "managerial"
in terms of readability and practical content. Papers are invited from both
research and practice.

A 500-word abstract should be sent, for guidance on appropriateness, to
Chris Seow and Jason Hughes by e-mail no later than by 31st October 2003.
Notification of provisional acceptance will be given by 6th December 2003.
Manuscripts should be prepared according to the submission guidelines of
the Journal of Workplace Learning (JWL)
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals/jwl/notes.htm). Reviews of the
submitted manuscripts will proceed in accordance with JWL's editorial
policy. Submissions should be by electronic transmissions ONLY (using a
Word file attachment) and must be sent to Guest Editors, Chris Seow and
Jason Hughes by 25th May 2004.

Guest Editors:

Chris Seow
Business School
University of East London
United Kingdom RM8 2AS
Tel: 020 8 223 2429
E-mail: [log in to unmask]

Jason Hughes
Centre for Labour Market Studies
University of Leicester
United Kingdom LE1 7QR
Tel: 0116 252 5949
E-mail: [log in to unmask]