STELLAR conference - call for proposals

!Call$for$Proposals:$TEL,%the%Crisis%and$the$Response!The$Alpine$Rendez-Vous$The!Alpine!Rendez-Vous!(ARV)!is!an!established!but!unusual!scientific!event!focused!on!Technology!Enhanced!Learning!(TEL).!The!ARV!series!of!events!are!promoted!by!TELEARC!and!EATEL!associations.!These!took!up!the!legacy!of!the!FP6!NoE!Kaleidoscope!and!Prolearn,!and!the!FP7!NoE!Stellar,!which!sustained!them!along!past!years.!The!goal!of!the!Alpine!Rendez-Vous!is!to!bring!together!researchers!from!the!different!scientific!communities!doing!research!on!Technology-Enhanced!Learning,!in!a!largely!informal!setting,!away!from!their!workplace!routines.!Although!originating!in!Europe,!the!ARV!is!open!to!other!continents’!researchers!and!proposals.!!ARV!is!structured!as!a!set!of!independent!parallel!workshops!located!at!the!same!time!in!the!same!place.!Workshops!may!last!two!to!three!days!each,!half!of!the!workshops!taking!place!in!the!first!part!of!the!week!and!the!other!half!in!the!second!part,!possibly!with!a!“common!day”!in!the!middle.!The!Alpine!Rendez-Vous!of!2013!will!take!place!from!January!28th!to!February!1st,!in!Villard-de-Lans,!a!village!in!the!middle!of!Vercors.!Breaks!and!meals!are!organized!in!a!way!that!promotes!informal!encounters!between!participants!from!the!different!workshops.!An!informal!group!concerned!about!the!relationships!between!TEL!research!and!change,!discontinuity!and!dislocation!in!the!wider!world!have!had!a!workshop!proposal!accepted!and!are!now!calling!for!individual!proposals!and!participation.!Background$The!TEL!research!community!has!undoubtedly!been!successful!over!the!last!fifteen!or!twenty!years!in!extending,!enriching!and!even!challenging!the!practices!and!theories!of!education!within!its!professions!and!within!its!institutions,!and!through!them!has!engaged!in!turn!with!the!institutions!and!professions!of!industry!and!government.!These!have!however!been!largely!inward-looking!discourses!best!suited!perhaps!to!a!world!characterised!by!stability,!progress!and!growth.!These!are!all!now!problematic!and!uncertain,!and!call!for!new!discourses!within!the!TEL!research!community!and!across!its!borders.!The!world!is!now!increasingly!characterised!by!challenges,!disturbances!and!discontinuities!that!threaten!these!dominant!notions!of!stability,!progress!and!growth.!These!represent!the!grand&challenges!to!the!TEL!research!community,!challenges!to!the!community!to!stay!relevant,!responsive,!rigorous!and!useful.!Earlier!discussions!(eg!purpos/ed,!http://purposed.org.uk/!!&!e4c,!education-for-crisis,!http://educationforthecrisis.wikispaces.com/)!had!outlined!the!emergent!crisis!in!broad!terms!and!identified!different!perspectives!and!components,!including!!

! • economic!and!resource!crises,!including!long-term!radical!increases!in!economic! inequality!within!nations;!youth!unemployment!across!Europe,!the!polarisation!of! employment!and!the!decline!in!growth;!sovereign!debt!defaults!and!banking! failures;!mineral!and!energy!constraints;.! • environmental!and!demographic!crises,!in!particular,!the!implications!of!declining! land!viability!for!migration!patterns;!refugee!rights!and!military!occupations;!nation- state!population!growth!and!its!implications!for!agriculture,!infrastructure!and! transport!! • the!crisis!of!accountability,!expressed!in!the!failure!of!traditional!representative! democracy!systems!especially!in!the!context!of!global!markets,!the!growth!of! computerised!share-dealing;!the!emergence!of!new!private!sector!actors!in!public! services;!the!growth!of!new!mass!participatory!movements!and!the!rise!of!unelected! extremist!minorities!both!challenging!the!legitimacy!of!the!nation-state!and!its! institutions! • socio-technical!disruptions!and!instability,!exaggerated!by!a!reliance!on!non-human! intelligence!and!large-scale!systems!of!systems!in!finance,!logistics!and!healthcare,! and!by!the!development!of!a!data-rich!culture;!!the!increasing!concentration!and! centralisation!of!internet!discourse!in!the!walled!gardens!of!social!networks;!the! proliferation!and!complexity!of!digital!divides;!!the!dependency!of!our!educational! institutions!on!computer!systems!for!research,!teaching,!study,!and!knowledge! transfer! • the!dehumanisation!crisis,!expressed!in!the!production!of!fear!between!people,!the! replacement!of!human!flourishing!with!consumption,!the!replacement!of!the!idea!of! the!person!with!the!idea!of!the!system,!the!replacement!of!human!contact!with! mediated!exchange,!the!commodification!of!the!person,!education!and!the!arts!and!specifically,!in!relation!to!TEL;! • TEL!and!the!industrialisation!of!education;!marginal!communities!and!the! globalization!and!corporatisation!of!learning;&futures&thinking!as!a!way!to!explore! TEL!in!relation!to!resilience;!the!political!economy!of!technology!in!higher!education! and!technological!responses!to!the!crisis!of!capitalism;!the!role!of!openness!as!a! driver!for!innovation,!equity!and!access;!digital&literacies!and!their!capacity!to!shift! TEL!beyond!skills!and!employability!in!an!increasingly!turbulent!future;! connectedness!and!mobility!as!seemingly!the!defining!characteristics!of!our! societies;!the!role!and!responsibility!of!research!and!of!higher!education!as!these! crises!unfold,!the!complicity!or!ambiguity!of!TEL!in!their!development;!is!the!current! TEL!ecosystem!and!environment!sustainable,!is!it!sufficiently!responsive!and! resilient,!how!extent!does!TEL!research!question,!support,!stimulate,!challenge!and! provoke!its!host!higher!education!sector?!TEL!is!at!the!intersection!of!technology!and!learning!and!encapsulates!many!of!the!ideals,!problems!and!potential!of!both.!!Education!and!technology!permeate!all!of!the!perspectives!!

!outlined!above,!some!more!than!others.!It!is!possible!however!that!they!could!ameliorate!some!of!their!consequences!or!amplify!and!exaggerate!others.!TEL!has!been!a!project!and!a!community!nurtured!within!the!institutions!and!organisations!of!formal!education!in!the!recent!decades!of!relative!stability!and!prosperity!in!the!developed!nations!of!Asia-Pacific,!North!America!and!Western!Europe.!Some!of!the!critical!challenges!directly!relate!to!the!perceived!missions!of!the!TEL!project!and!its!community.!Contemporary!formal!education!in!schools,!colleges!and!universities!is!increasingly!reliant!on!TEL.!The!TEL!community!is!however!currently!poorly!equipped!either!to!resist!the!progress!of!these!crises!today!or!to!enable!individuals!and!communities!to!flourish!despite!their!consequences!tomorrow.!The!transition!movement,!the!open!movement!and!the!occupy!movement!are!all!parts!of!wider!responses!to!differing!perceptions!and!perspectives!of!the!underlying!malaise.!!The$Call$The!proposed!workshop!will!enrich!conversations!by!bringing!in!new!perspectives!and!will!explore!how!the!different!communities!can!learn!from!each!other,!perhaps!bringing!about!more!open,!participative!and!fluid!models!of!education.!It!will!bring!together!researchers!seeking!to!articulate!these!concerns!and!responses,!and!develop!a!shared!understanding!that!will!engage!and!inform!the!TEL!community.!It!is!timely,!necessary!and!unique,!and!will!contribute!to!a!clearer!and!more!worthwhile!formulation!of!the!Grand!Challenges!for!TEL!in!the!coming!years.!!One!of!the!outputs!of!the!workshop!will!be!a!special!edition!of!a!peer-reviewed!journal;!other!options,!such!as!an!open!access!journal,!a!book!or!a!website,!are!possible!if!there!is!a!consensus.!Please!submit!an!individual!or!collective!two-page!position!paper,!or!propose!a!structured!discussion!or!debate!on!the!role!and!place!of!TEL!in!the!light!of!our!analysis.!Contributions!will!be!selected!by!the!organisers!on!the!basis!of!individual!quality!of!the!papers!and!the!overall!balance!and!coherence!of!the!programme.!!Deadline$Submission!by!17!August!2012!Organisers$ • Doug!Belshaw,!Badges!&!Skills!Lead,!Mozilla!Foundation! • Helen!Beetham,!Consultant,!JISC!! • Hamish!Cunningham,!Professor,!University!of!Sheffield! • Keri!Facer,!Professor,!University!of!Bristol! • Richard!Hall,!Reader,!De!Montfort!University! • Marcus!Specht,!Professor,!Open!University,!Netherlands! • John!Traxler,!Professor,!University!of!Wolverhampton,! john.traxler@wlv.ac.uk!(corresponding!organiser)!!

STELLAR conference - call for proposals

by Doug Belshaw on Jul 27, 2012

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STELLAR conference - call for proposals Document Transcript

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