E-Learn SIGs Call for Special Journal Issue

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Research Talks:

Be sure to post or comment using Flipgrid for introductions and to form research groups within the SIGs!

• Trends & Innovations SIG Chair: Chris Devers
• Designing, Developing & Accessing E-Learning SIG Chair: Stephanie Panke

Important Dates: 


Abstract Submission Deadline: June 10, 2017 (Submit – Special Issue: Perspectives on Mobile Technologies for Learning)

Notification of First Round Reviews: June 30, 2017

Full Paper Submission Deadline: September 30, 2017

E-Learn 2017 Conference: Oct 17-20 2017

Revised Paper Submission Deadline for conference participants: Oct 31, 2017

Final Notification: November 30, 2017

Print-Ready Manuscript: January 31, 2018

Publication Date: April 2018

Objectives:

Mobile technologies are typically depicted as catalysts for learning. Offering access to learning materials, workspaces, and social networks, mobile technologies create possibilities for enhancing personal productivity and connecting learners to educational experiences anytime, anywhere. Connected devices allow institutions to offer workflows and platforms that increase flexibility. Moreover, mobile technologies allow for self-directed, informal learning, led by curiosity or serendipitous discovery: one can learn something about almost anything at the palm of one’s hand (Horizon Report, 2017).

However, lately, critical voices have emerged. In a blog post on web literacy Mike Caulfield stated that ‘the mobile web makes us dumber and less investigative’ (Caulfield, 2017). Do the affordances of mobile learning indeed change the way we consume and evaluate information? In a recent essay, Claire Fontaine (Fontaine, 2017) discussed the apparent discrepancy between statements highlighting the educational potential of mobile learning in school settings and the recommendations to strictly limit screen time for children at home. Prominent technology researchers and psychologists such as Sherry Turkle (Reclaiming Conversation) and Barbara Fredrickson (Love 2.0) have published titles on the negative impact of screen time on meaningful social encounters, personal connectedness, kindness, bonding, love, and happiness.

Should educational technology research pay more attention to these concerns when promoting the use of mobile devices for learning? Are mobile technologies conducive or detrimental to learning? Which role do context, content, learner characteristics, and attitudes play? What are cultural and societal norms and how do they vary internationally? This special issue calls for contributions that engage in a conversation about mobile learning, offering a platform for diverse positions.

Topics may include, but are not limited to:

• Mobile technologies, digital literacy and civic reasoning
• Mobile learning in different contexts (Preschool, K-12, HigherEd)
• Tranlanguaging with mobile technologies
• International perspectives on mobile technologies: Public Health recommendations, guidelines and attitudes towards mobile devices in different countries
• Mobile learning and social connections
• Mobile learning content: apps, podcasts, e-books

We are looking for qualitative, quantitative, and mixed, methods studies, as well as literature reviews, theoretical and conceptual work and viewpoints.

During the review process, we will invite authors to engage with one another’s submissions and arguments. We will use the SIG meetings and special tracks during E-Learn 2017 in Vancouver to allow authors to collaboratively enhance their submissions, and plan to offer a writer’s workshop during the conference.

Contributors are encouraged, but not required to attend E-Learn 2017.

An abstract submission is required to allow editors a better assignment of reviewers. Abstracts of approx. 1-3 pages can be submitted to through https://conf.aace.org/elearn/submission/.

For additional information, please refer to ‘Journal of Interactive Learning Research’ and E-Learn Conference.

If you have any questions, please contact [email protected].

Guest Editors:

Dr. Stefanie Panke, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Prof. Dr. Christopher Devers, Indiana Wesleyan University

Prof. Dr. Curtis P. Ho, College of Education, University of Hawaii at Manoa

Prof. Dr. Cynthia Sistek-Chandler, Sanford College of Education, National University