Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) Bi-Annual Research Symposium

“The Next Generation of Education: Unconstrained Learning”
The 3rd bi-annual Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) Research Symposium is soliciting research-supported papers concerning the next generation of distance education for presentation, debate, discussion, and future publication in a book by Springer Press. Ideally, the symposium will bring together scholars, theorists, researchers, and other creative thinkers for an intimate conversation about their research into the next generation of distance education and the principles that should guide effective practice and research as we advance toward to a new learning landscape unconstrained by time and space.

This call presupposes that we have reached a tipping-point where the world of education is being radically altered and that change is being driven by technology, openness, and unprecedented access to knowledge. Older correspondence-style methods of instructional delivery are passé and “classroom adapted to the web” approaches to learning are often ineffective and do little to harness the transformational potential of technology. E-Learning scenarios, mobile technologies, communication and information access, and personal learning environments (that were unthinkable just a few years ago) are becoming mainstream and, as a result, control of the learning process is shifting away from institutions and into the hands of learners.
Specifically, the focus of the symposium is to identify research-supported ways to harness the power of new technologies and new ideas to improve distance learning. The research presented will be critiqued, discussed, refined, and will ultimately culminate in an edited volume that will be published to promote a forward-thinking agenda for research and scholarship that highlights new ideas, deep insights, and novel approaches to “unconstrained” learning.

It is the intention of the symposium to not only draw participation from academics in the field of instructional technology, but also to include the perspectives of those individuals who are creating, adapting, or evolving new technologies and instructional delivery methods as we transform education from the brick-and-mortar classroom to the next generation of distance learning. Participants may also include game designers, Web 2.0 and social networking practitioners, e-commerce specialists, human factors researchers, open learning researchers, educational psychologists and sociologists, alternate reality learning specialists, mobility and portability researchers, entrepreneurs, or those involved in other closely related fields such as learning science and informatics as well as technology trainers, educators, practitioners and specialists who are advancing innovative research supported educational agendas.
This symposium also represents a unique opportunity to mentor and inspire the next generation of scholars, practitioners, and leaders in distance education. To that end, participants with accepted papers are encouraged to bring promising protégés to the event where appropriate.


Overview
It is the goal of the symposium to gather together a select group of scholars to share research for real dialogue and deep discussions regarding fresh distance learning perspectives and ideas. The symposia will begin July 20, 2010 with a dinner and end on July 23, 2010 before noon. It will be held at the Memorial Union Hotel of Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. Conference fee (with included meals) is expected to run around $250.

Format
Proposals/presentation abstracts will be accepted, through electronic submission via the AECT website, until January 15th, 2010. Notification of acceptance/rejection will be sent by February 15, 2010.

Presentations at the symposium will be held in a discussion-centered environment. Each presenter will be asked to adhere to a strict 5-10 minute time-limit for formally presenting their ideas, followed by a 45-50 minute discussion period where exploration of their ideas with session attendees is expected. The initial form for proposals asks that interested presenters submit a short (minimum 750 words/maximum 1500 words) abstract communicating their conceptual ideas as well as how their thoughts will advance research and/or practice for new learning paradigms and technologies.

Proposals will be blind reviewed for fit with the symposium’s goals by a panel of members from the symposium advisory board. Please understand that proposals should be researched-based but innovative and inspiring ideas that have yet to be fully-developed are also welcome.

Through a collaborative dialogue, this symposium is designed to push the limits of creative thinking about the transformational power of technology in distance education and is not focused on showcasing specific technologies such a blogs, wikis, or other tools. So, a presentation dealing with learning how to podcast would not be appropriate; however, a paper that discusses how converging communication and technological trends are shaping new distance learning environments would be.

The general goal is for presenters to enter the symposium with a completed first draft paper, briefly present their ideas, engage in rigorous debate, and then revisit their papers to make adjustments based on the feedback from other attendees. This symposium may also open doors for scholarly collaboration opportunities as well. The expectation is that the discussion and collaboration fostered at the symposium may lead to papers that are different from the initial drafts. Should a proposal be selected and the presenter accepted, the presenter will be asked to commit to:

a. Strictly adhering to the presentation and discussion guidelines for the symposium.
b. Writing the initial proposal into a paper suitable for discussion and submitting said paper to the symposium chair by May 15, 2010. Failure to provide the formal paper by May 15, 2010 will result in a rescinding of the proposal acceptance and invitation to attend.
c. Commit to reading all papers from the other presenters prior to attending the symposium. Attendees with be given access to all of the presenters’ papers after May 15, 2010.
d. Attend the full symposium (including all sessions and workshops) and actively participate in all collaborative and/or group activities.
e. Based on feedback and collaboration from symposium attendees, make adjustments to your initial paper and resubmit the final draft for publication in an upcoming Springer Press symposium book by November 1, 2010.

For further information email Douglas Harvey at Douglas.Harvey@stockton.edu or visit http://www.aect.org/events/symposia/call/