The upcoming issues of eLearning Papers

• Technology Enhanced Learning against social exclusion, April 2010 - call for papers closed
• Technology Enhanced Learning in Science Education, July 2010 - call for papers closed
• Innovation in Lifelong Learning, September 2010 - call for papers closed
  
• Training and work, December 2010 - call for papers open
• Open education (practices, resources, digital literacy), February 2011
• Redefining university, April 2011
• Mixed realities, virtual worlds and gaming, July 2011
• Social networking, September 2011 Corporate training and performance support, December 2011

The calls for papers will be published on this page.

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Continuous call for papers on free topics (no deadline)

Besides the specific calls for papers, we consider continuosly free topic papers to be published according to available space in the publication and quality of submissions. Please feel free to contact us for further information and submit your paper by sending it to: jimena.marquez@elearningpapers.eu

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Training and work (deadline 24 September 2010)

Today, a large part of learning takes place in a work environment, rather than in tertiary and post-tertiary education settings. In order to stay relevant and contribute to the human capital of future workers, learning needs to be tightly integrated into organizational work processes, allowing it to become a fundamental part of workers' and managers' everyday activities. One visible result of this shift is the appearance of (on-the-job) teaching and instructing in an increasing number of expert job descriptions in many companies. Workers in this new scenario are not only in demand for on-the-job learning settings, they are also asked to take on new responsibilities and roles related to development and delivery. This has to be taken into account when learning and working processes are integrated.

One of the hindering factors of e-learning systems has been a lack of interfaces that are compatible with business information systems. This impairs aligning learning with business processes and affects the speed at which organizations can improve the competencies of their employees in accordance with continuous changes in business requirements. To solve this problem, open and standards-based, service-oriented applications are used today in order to connect business process management systems with learning repositories, market places and mobile and location-based technologies, and to provide ambient content management and ambient learning networks.

These new learning systems will understand the skills and competencies required by new business processes and match them with learning experiences in a way that will be transparent to the user. Therefore, 3rd generation e-learning systems will be able to offer ubiquitous, nomadic and mobile learning experiences and rich media content, while supporting users’ personal, knowledge development plans. Furthermore, these systems will offer easy access for subject matter experts in order to contribute content to repositories and collaborative learning applications.

Today, the leading companies in the consumer gaming market are located in the USA and India. Europe has traditionally been strong in solving complex business scenarios, developing integrated business software and inventing new application software for business processes. It is anticipated that an important market segment of learning technologies will be collaborative, business-oriented learning games and learning management for assessing results. Typical application areas could be the training of standard operating procedures within companies or the simulation of people's professional behavior, e.g. when serving or interacting with customers. Key technologies for this market are authoring systems that allow a faster production of business learning games and simulations, learning management platforms that allow collaboration among users while playing, as well as progress monitoring and the certification of learning results.

Embedding learning into technologies, processes and media products will create new ways for us to learn and will open new markets for learning technology. In the case of knowledge workers, for instance, learning has to be embedded into the business process and software must be used within this process. It thus makes sense to establish links between various interdisciplinary research domains from the fields of information technology, cognition and engineering.

Papers can be more specifically aimed at exploring the following themes:

• New social scenarios in Training and Work, eg: the Virtual world in Training and Business; Learning Games and Simulation
• Different innovative learning concepts and practices. Which may cover topics such as: Semantic Web Convergence and Interoperability; Generating Learning Content from Information Sources, Professional Documents and the Web; Integrating Media and Learning Management for Mobile and Instant Learning; Embedded learning, performance support and collaboration; Online validation and qualification, among others 
• The role of different actors and applications involved in the development of lifelong learning in work environments, including the learner, the teacher, online platforms, or the institutional environment.
• Challenges related to the pedagogical design of on-the-job training 

The article submission closes on 24 SEPTEMBER 2010. The provisional date of publication is December 2010. For further information and to submit your article, please contact: jimena.marquez@elearningpapers.eu

Guest Editor

• Dietmar Albrecht, Head of Human Resources Development Strategy, Volkswagen Coaching GmbH 

The submissions need to comply with the following guidelines: 

• Submission language: English
• Executive summary: Every submission must include an executive summary of 250-320 words.
• Keywords: 3-6 descriptive keywords need to be included
• Full texts: Full texts must have 2,000-6,000 words and must be divided into chapters with indicative subtitles.
• References: All the references must be adequately cited and listed. 
• Author profile: The authors must publish their profile with full details in the elearningeuropa portal  

See the complete guidelines at: www.elearningpapers.eu/index.php?page=collab_guide   

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Innovation in Lifelong Learning (deadline 28 June 2010)

Learning and Innovation go hand in hand. Learning is characterized by a change in behaviour, while innovation involves a change in the thought process. Both imply a change for the better.

The 21st issue of eLearning Papers proposes a broad approach to the theme of Innovation in Lifelong Learning. We are not only interested in research on innovation within formal education; this issue aims to reveal the potential of those innovations that are shaping informal learning in our everyday environments or in the workplace.

In addition to considering how innovation transforms our current educational practice, we are also interested in discovering how educational practice can support innovation in the greater socio-economic system. This is especially relevant in the context of adult education and training. Adult learners and corporate learners apply their new knowledge at their work organisation and in their work processes. Their learning benefits the organisation, which may introduce changes or become more competitive as a result of the learning and innovation acquired by employees that participated in training/education

Higher education institutions increasingly include courses on entrepreneurship and innovation in their curricula. Such programmes have the potential to have a wide impact on innovation, emphasizing the role of higher education in generating innovation in a regional socio-economic system.

Submissions might address the following issues:

1. Policies about new social scenarios of lifelong learning
2. New social skills and competencies for lifelong learning
3. Challenges related to the pedagogical design of lifelong learning content
4. Simulations and games as part of lifelong learning content
5. Community practices of lifelong learning
6. The role of the different actors and applications involved in lifelong learning in everyday contexts (the learner, the teacher, online platforms, the institutional environment, and so on)
7. Creative coalitions that redefine innovation systems in higher education and working life
8. Networks in lifelong learning
9. Different innovative learning concepts and practices in lifelong learning
10. Sustainable innovation supported by conceptualized lifelong learning

The article submission closes on 28 JUNE 2010. The provisional date of publication is September 2010. For further information and to submit your article, please contact: jimena.marquez@elearningpapers.eu

Guest Editor

• Seija Kulkki, Center for Knowledge and Innovation Research, Helsinki School of Economics.

The submissions need to comply with the following guidelines:

• Submission language: English
• Executive summary: Every submission must include an executive summary of 250-320 words.
• Keywords: 3-6 descriptive keywords need to be included
• Full texts: Full texts must have 2,000-6,000 words and must be divided into chapters with indicative subtitles.
• References: All the references must be adequately cited and listed.
• Author profile: The authors must publish their profile with full details in the elearningeuropa portal

See the complete guidelines at: www.elearningpapers.eu/index.php?page=collab_guide

Technology Enhanced Learning in Science Education (deadline 3 May 2010)

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have opened new ways of learning science. With ICT tools, for example, learners have now access to enhanced hands-on experiments and empirical data such as simulations and virtual reality environments in several areas of physics, chemistry, biology and nano-science. These developments have changed the context of learning natural sciences in the initial education, as well as during vocational education and professional training. Moreover, by supporting collaborative learning and providing tools to outline and test hypothesis, ICT facilitate new pedagogical approaches, including problem-based and inquiry learning. The recent emergence of mobile learning creates the possibility to include on-the-field approaches and to lower barriers between formal and informal learning, thereby opening new avenues to lifelong learning of science.

This special issue of eLearning Papers will examine how ICT can enhance science education, from the perspectives of the learner and the teacher-trainer. Among the issues to be addressed are the following themes, reflecting the current trends of innovation, research and development:

• Computer tools and environments for scaffolding inquiry, design, problem and project-based learning
• Mobile tools for collecting field data
• Intelligent games for learning science
• Simulation and virtual phenomena representation
• Tools to support scientific argumentation
• User modelling and intelligent support

Based on the new technologies and the technology enhanced research-based knowledge now available, which strategies and pedagogical approaches best benefit from the use of ICT? Which is the impact of technology-based science education on curricula and assessment? How can teacher training take recent ICT innovations into account?

We are looking for articles and practical case descriptions with real life examples about how ICT have been already used for science education.

The submissions need to comply with the following guidelines:

• Submission language: English
• Executive summary: Every submission must include an executive summary of 250-320 words.
• Keywords: 3-6 descriptive keywords need to be included
• Full texts: Full texts must have 2,000-6,000 words and must be divided into chapters with indicative subtitles.
• References: All the references must be adequately cited and listed.
• Author profile: The authors must publish their profile with full details in the elearningeuropa portal

See the complete guidelines at: www.elearningpapers.eu/index.php?page=collab_guide

The article submission closes on 3 MAY 2010. The provisional date of publication is July 2010. For further information and to submit your article, please contact: jimena.marquez@elearningpapers.eu

Guest editors:

• Nicolas Balacheff, CNRS, Laboratoire d’Informatique de Grenoble, France
• Sibel Erduran, University of Bristol, United Kingdom

CLOSED CALLS FOR PAPERS

Technology Enhanced Learning against social exclusion (deadline: 26 January 2010)

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are already part of our everyday life and key enablers for many activities, such as working environments, daily communications and relationships, handling of administrative affairs, etc. However, it is still necessary to encourage eInclusion, to promote ICT in order to enhance social inclusion in the knowledge society and to boost barrier-free technologies usable by all citizens.

In 2006, the Riga Declaration set a number of targets to promote an inclusive knowledge society for all European citizens. This was followed by an awareness and dissemination campaign in 2008 under the slogan: "eInclusion, be part of it!". The year 2010 has been declared the European Year against Poverty and Social Exclusion, and among its objectives are:

• Promoting inclusive labour markets;
• Eradicating disadvantages in education and training;
• Accessibility to adequate resources and services;
• Promoting social inclusion of immigrants and minorities.

Education and training have an important role to play in the activities that enhance eInclusion, for example through the promotion of digital literacy, e-skills, integration and cultural diversity. This also brings considerable challenges, such as issues around accessibility, the promotion of education and training among excluded groups, and the development of new pedagogic models and methods for inclusive learning.

This special issue of eLearning Papers will examine how Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) can help individuals and institutions to fight against poverty and social exclusion. Three ways of social inclusion, made possible by TEL, will be considered in this issue:

• Material inclusion: fight against poverty and the digital divide, contribute to “education for all”;
• Physical inclusion: help disabled and geographically isolated populations to be “mobile”;
• (Inter-)cultural inclusion: integration of minorities (Rroms), refugees and migrants, boost inter-generational relations, fight against discriminations.

Which strategies and pedagogical approaches can be applied through the use of technologies in order to contribute to these three categories? What is the role of, for example, foreign languages and/or intercultural education/citizenship in these approaches? Our hypothesis is that through technologies people can find new ways of reflecting on the notions of inclusion/exclusion and gain a feeling of being included and integrated. We are looking for articles and practical case descriptions with real life examples about how ICT have been already used for social inclusion in any of the three ways above mentioned.

The article submission closes on 26 January 2010. The provisional date of publication is the end of April 2010. See the author guidelines at: http://www.elearningpapers.eu/index.php?page=collab_guide

Guest editors:

• Fred Dervin, University of Turku,
• Finland Christine Develotte, INRP, Lyon, France

New Learning for a New Society (deadline: 14 December 2009)

Several recent forward-looking international reports about new technologies in education, such as the Horizon Report 2009 [1] and New Generation Learning [2], coincide to present a consolidation of new socio-digital learning environments within a couple of years. These environments are based on the establishment and regular use of advanced socio-technological concepts, such as cloud computing, integrated solutions for mobiles, full connectivity and “personal web”.

All this is accompanied with the fast development of the Web 2.0 and 3.0 technologies (also known as “semantic web”) and even beyond: we are going towards the Web 4.0, which will represent a qualitative leap towards a new concept of a self-manageable “spider web”. This web will build new connections and links in an intelligent, contextual and geolocalised way, taking into account the needs of individuals and groups. New technologies will also facilitate and enhance learning experiences, further reducing scarcity of information and communication opportunities.

The changing context of the socio-digital environment, based on relations and lifelong learning without physical or time limits, is where we need to plan the new ideals, tendencies and focuses of e-learning, and carry out analysis, reflection and innovative pedagogy.

The new learning context is characterised by webs, connectivity, self-oriented students and online learning communities, creation of shared knowledge and constant and omnipresent interactivity. In this context, exercising creativity and innovation takes us closer and closer to the true “ubiquitous learning environment”.

For the next issue of eLearning Papers we welcome articles which analyse these new environments, concepts and strategies of learning through social computing in the framework of the new knowledge society and the web.

Submissions may include vision papers based on literature research, and empirical research related to both learning in the corporate and in the regular education sector. If you are unsure whether your research topic is valid for this issue, please contact the editorial team. We offer the following aspects as examples, which do not exclude any other relevant topics.

1. Policies about the new social computing scenarios of learning
2. Tendencies and development of the e-learning offer
3. New social computing skills and competencies for and through learning
4. Efficiency and effectiveness of the new e-learning offers
5. Sustainability of the new e-learning offers
6. Quality and equity of the new learning environments
7. The strengths and weaknesses of an ubiquitous learning environment
8. Independency and dependency of the new social computing networks
9. Trends and examples of augmented and mixed reality for learning

The submissions need to comply with the following guidelines:

• Submission language: English
• Executive summary: Every submission must include an executive summary of 250-320 words.
• Keywords: 3-6 descriptive keywords need to be included
• Full texts: Full texts must have 2,000-6,000 words and must be divided into chapters with indicative subtitles.
• References: All the references must be adequately cited and listed.
• Author profile: The authors must publish their profile with full details in the elearningeuropa portal

See the complete guidelines at: http://www.elearningpapers.eu/index.php?page=collab_guide

The article submission closes on 14 December 2009. The provisional date of publication is the end of February 2010. For further information and to submit your article, please contact: jimena.marquez@elearningpapers.eu

Guest Editors:

• Jordi Riera i Romaní, Professor of Pedagogy and researcher, University of Ramon Llull, Spain
• Wim Veen, Professor of Education & Technology, Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands

[1] Johnson, L., Levine, A., & Smith, R. (2009). Informe Horizon. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium. Traducción al español de The 2009 Horizon Report.
[2] BECTA: Next Generation Learning - The Implementation Plan for 2009-2012: Technology Strategy for Further Education, Skills and Regeneration - June 2009.

Call for papers: eLearning content (deadline: 15 September 2009)

The landscape of e-learning content is undergoing continuous change. The development of digital media is providing radical new opportunities for learning content providers as well as learners. The increasing bandwidth of telecommunications enables the unforeseen use of media wealth (video clips, audio clips, simulations, etc.) in e-learning content provision. Digital libraries and other resource bases liberate learning providers and users from the use of physical libraries with restricted access.

The boundaries between learning providers and learners are also altering in relation to e-learning content: learners are entering the nucleus of content production. The fascinating examples of Wikipedia, YouTube and MySpace among others show the power and potential of peer production and user-created content in learning. Alternative ways of designing and distributing learning content have also created new e-learning models. One example is iTunes U, which is based on the use of audio and video courses stemming from elite universities and educational institutions. Learning content also originates from a broader variety of actors; for example, third sector organisations, museums and news companies can be important providers of learning content.

However, although the attractive technological opportunities are providing new opportunities for e-learning, good e-learning still has to be properly designed, implemented and supported. There are still important aspects of thorough pedagogical and instructional design to be respected. The interactivity of e-learning content does not just happen; it must be planned, implemented and supported. Access to learning remains a key challenge, now and in the future.

For the following issue of eLearning Papers, we welcome articles and papers that address practical experiences in the planning, design, implementation and continuous improvement of e-learning content. Although not limited to the following aspects, we look forward to receiving papers and articles addressing the following issues:

1. Interactivity of e-learning content
2. Evaluation and quality assurance of e-learning content
3. Challenges relating to the pedagogical design of e-learning content
4. Designing, planning and implementing access to e-learning content
5. Innovative design of e-learning content
6. Peer production of e-learning content
7. Simulations and games as part of e-learning content
8. The challenges of e-learning content intellectual property rights

The submissions need to comply with the following guidelines:

• Submission language: English
• Title: The title should be no longer than 15 words.
• Executive summary: Every submission must include an executive summary of 250-320 words. The abstract shall present the main points of the paper and the author’s conclusions.
• Keywords: 3-6 descriptive keywords need to be included
• Full texts: Full texts must be of 2,000-6,000 words divided into chapters with indicative subtitles. The text may be enriched with non-textual data, such as pictures, tables and figures. Graphs and images must be included in the article.
• References: All the references must be adequately cited and listed
• Author profile: The authors must provide their profile with full details (incl. a photo) to be published in the elearningeuropa portal

See the complete guidelines at:
http://www.elearningpapers.eu/index.php?page=collab_guide

The provisional date of publication is the end of November 2009.
For further information and to submit your article, please contact: jimena.marquez@elearningpapers.eu

Guest Editor:

• Ari-Matti Auvinen, Senior Partner, HCI Productions Oy, Helsinki, Finland.
  

Open topics (Deadline: 15 June 2009)

eLearning Papers launches a call for papers on open topics. We are looking for interesting and inspiring articles which will be published in September's issue. The deadline for article submission is 15 June 2009. Practical experiences on European projects are especially welcome.

The scope of the eLearning Papers reflects the four interest areas of elearningeuropa.info: schools, higher education, training and work and learning and society. All eLearning related themes are accepted as topics. The following subjects are provided as an example and are not restrictive in any way:

For further questions and to submit your article: jimena.marquez@elearningpapers.eu

The New Learning Generation (Deadline 30 March 2009)

Children and adolescents in modern societies are growing up in a world where digital technologies are ubiquitous. The widespread use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and online services by youngsters in their everyday life, for leisure, entertainment and social interaction is also impacting on their learning needs, requirements and expectations. There is evidence that the internet is being used by youngsters also for education and learning purposes, often outside the classroom. This gives rise to a "new learning generation" (also labeled New Millennium Learners by OECD/CERI) and to new ways of learning which are enabled but not determined by the possibilities offered by ICT.

This special issue on the "new learning generation" and on "new ways of learning" enabled by ICT seeks to bring together evidence, practice and/or theories on the key elements of this emerging new learning landscape.

The topic can be approached in many different ways. Nevertheless, the following could be used as a guideline:

• Possible questions to be addressed:
• What are the similarities and differences with current and previous learner generations and learning styles?
• What is the role of ICT applications (social computing, social media, web 2.0, learning 2.0, mobile learning, and game-based learning) in the new learning?
• Where is the learning in the "new" learning? Is it new?
• Is learning becoming more efficient, equitable, innovative, and creative?
• What are the implications of the new learner generation for lifelong learning?

Themes or issues that can be taken up:

• New learning cultures
• Learning theories
• The role of the learner, the teacher, the classroom, the school environment, the everyday life context outside school
• Learning outcomes, assessment, certification
• Collaboration, networking, personalization, innovation, creativity
• Self-regulated and self-directed learning

Please consult the eLearning Papers website for writer guidelines:
http://www.elearningpapers.eu/index.php?page=collab_guide

The deadline for article submissions is 30 March 2009
Provisional publishing date is June 2009

For further information and to submit your article, please contact: jimena.marquez@elearningpapers.eu

Invited Editor: Yves Punie, Institute for Prospective Technological Studies, European Commission, Seville.

Innovation and creativity (Deadline: 12 January 2009)

There are numerous definitions of innovation. It is understood in many different ways in scientific and professional discourses, not to mention the colloquial use and over-use of the term in business, media and politics. Similar exploitation applies to the term ‘creativity’. Globalization of knowledge, and the subsequent dissemination of concepts and best practices, are turning the working and learning cultures more innovative. On a European scale, competitiveness cannot be reached without competence development throughout the educational systems and working life. This requires a committed change towards passionate learning. We need and welcome a continuous debate over the concepts and the phenomena which link learning, ICT development and innovation.

To encourage creativity, the concept of innovation should be traced back to economy, technology and sociology, from where it has spread across other fields of research and professional practice. A common criterion for calling any phenomenon “innovation” is that it has to have some novelty and economic exploitability. Creativity stemming from psychology has a clear humanistic not-for-profit connotation.

There is, however, a double bind between these concepts. There is no innovation without creativity and creativity will not be fully benefited unless the fruits of creative activities can also be spread and exploited through business and other societal interaction mechanisms. Therefore, putting these concepts together under the loop could create fertile juxtapositions and clashes which we would like to solicit in this special issue of eLearning Papers dedicated to “Creativity and Innovation”. Particularly when addressing such an exciting polarity, we would not want to be restrictive in defining subthemes. Nevertheless the following might help to narrow down your foci:

1. Open innovation and learning
2. Creative coalitions redefining innovation systems in higher education and working life
3. Empowering peer networks in knowledge creation, sharing and exploitation
4. Towards true knowledge economies and increased productivity through networking and innovative working life practices
5. Different innovative learning concepts and practices
6. Sustainable innovation supported by conceptualized learning
7. Global value networks and technology enhanced learning

The extended deadline for article submissions is January 19, 2009.
Provisional publishing date is April 28, 2009.
For further information and to submit your article, please contact: jimena.marquez@elearningpapers.eu

Guest Editor: Markku Markkula, Director of the Lifelong Learning Institute Dipoli at the Helsinki University of Technology

Supported by the Learnovation Project Consortium

Digital Literacy: the evolution of the 21st century Literacies (Deadline: 10 November 2008)

Call for contributions to enhance the European learning communities’ approach to the 21st century Literacies’ Agenda – for policies and practice

In the beginning of the 21st century, we are experiencing an interesting evolution of the demand for learning by individuals, societies and education authorities. Economic globalization and the emergence of what has been identified as the Knowledge Society go, hand-in-hand, with a gradually changing set of key competencies, thus feeding the dialogue about academic and policy implementation of what some thinkers and stakeholders already have named as the Literacies of the 21st century.

The so called Paradigm Shift in the education model is related to a re-orientation of Lifelong Learning to a holistic view of learning as a critical factor of social development, both of the society at large and of the individual as a social actor. It is also related to a shift in the emphasis from learning as a process of reproduction to transformative learning.

The skillful, thoughtful and benefiting handling and use of information (and media stuff) by the individual and the communities has led to the adoption of the concept of Information Literacy, alternatively termed as Media Literacy and more recently as Digital Literacy.

We are facing a demanding exercise of re-defining the Competencies or Literacies in a lifelong learning perspective that correspond to the societal and conceptual structures of the emerging Knowledge Society. The Competencies – or the new Literacies – are being conceived as the pillars of Knowledge building and Skills development, not to mention their impact on the structuring of the School Education system (K-12) paradigm in the 21th century.

Whether or not we deal with a paradigm shift, we certainly need to face the increasing Policy inter-dependence between Education and Social Inclusion. In other words, the new Equity Challenge implies that we have to re-engineer our learning systems, from delivering massive education towards engaging people in massive knowledge experiences, by up-grading their Learning-to-learn Competency, whereby Digital Literacy takes a pivotal meaning. Download the full introduction text here

We invite the members of the European and international research and practice community to submit papers which could – indicatively and not exhaustively - address the following themes:

• Digital Literacy, Information Literacy and Media Literacy: defining competencies and skills
• Digital Literacy as a Key Competency: positioning in the set of other (basic/key) Competencies
• Digital Literacy and School Curriculum
• The Learning-to-learn Competency development agenda: the relation to Digital Literacy
• The Social (e)inclusion agenda in the lifelong learning perspective
• Digital Literacy, eSkills and Professional Development
• eSkills and the Learning Organization
• Digital literacy and critical thinking

The deadline for article submissions is November 10, 2008.
Provisional publishing date is February 25, 2009.
For further information and to submit your article, please contact: jimena.marquez@elearningpapers.eu

Guest Editor: Dr Nikitas Kastis, President, MENON Network & Director, Lambrakis Foundation

Training and work (Deadline: 18 August 2008)

In the context of economic globalization and development of an information society, we observe, in all economic areas, a recurring questioning of activities and employment associated to a transformation of competences related to technological evolution, company structure changes and an accelerated renewal of knowledge.

Consequently, lifelong learning becomes an essential method for permanently adapting qualifications, with a view for individuals to engage in learning and build a sustainable career and, in parallel, for companies to find human resources needed within the framework of the evolution of their activities. This issue of continuous adaptation of the relationship between learning and employment generates heterogeneous applications for training and a need for tools, both internal and external to companies, which can satisfy individuals as well as the masses of applicants.

Lifelong learning needs to develop flexible learning tools that can be adapted to each specific request (modularity, capitalizable units, shaping with various types of training and of learners…), but also to develop integrated solutions (competence assessment, skills and learning validation ...), in order to consider all formal, informal and non-formal learning when assessing and following-up training needs.

Use of ICT is an essential contribution to the learning environment as it places the individual in the midst of the training process while at the same time creates real multi-actor learning communities and helps to establish active, innovative and enriched pedagogy.

Employees’ competence acquired in vocational and personal contexts is a reference for company productivity evolution. With this in mind, it is important to define qualifications in a broader sense than academic programmes.

Faced with this determining stake in terms of economic dynamism and social cohesion, the eLearning Papers invite contributions on the general subject "Training and work" with a view to presenting reflections, innovating solutions and good practices.

Possible questions to be addressed

• How is learning and training in companies changing?
• How do lifelong learning and working life adapt to each other?
• What new partnerships are there for professional training?
• How are organisations changing into learning organisations?
• How are informal learning and Web 2.0 affecting everyday work?

Papers can be more specifically directed at the following themes:

1. Online Validation and Qualification
2. Computer and Internet Certificates
3. Informal and Non-formal Learning
4. Competence-based learning and e-Learning
5. Virtual World in Training
6. Training Communities
7. Collaborative working
8. New partnership for Learning
9. Transforming organizations (Distance learning, In-company training, blended system…)

Please consult the eLearning Papers website for writer guidelines:
http://www.elearningpapers.eu/index.php?page=collab_guide

The deadline for article submissions is August 18 2008.
Authors will be notified by September.
Provisional publishing date is November 28 2008.

For further information and to submit your article, please contact: jimena.marquez@elearningpapers.eu

Invited Editor:
Alain Nicolas, Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines University (France)
Alain.nicolas@uvsq.fr

 

Open Educational Resources (Deadline: 6 July 2008)

Open Educational Resources (OER) are learning and teaching materials that are offered freely to anyone under licenses that allow to use, modify and distribute the items. But that's not all. Through the world-wide movement of OER, magnified with user-generated content and underlying Web 2.0 technologies, the advantages and opportunities are numerous for teachers, authors, eLearning practitioners, developers and content providers, researchers and decision-makers, and last but not least: the learners.

Different models to develop, use and make OER content available have evolved. Examples vary from leading educational institutions that have made their content available for users who otherwise would be deprived of it, to communities of educators who collaboratively create content and share it. Moreover, new effective technical architectures are now in place to enable better discovery of Open Educational Resources across learning repositories on the international level, which allows users to access larger and more varied collections. Also, easy-to-use ways to acquire re-mix and mash-up user-generated content are around, examples of which are seen in the educational context too.

With this issue, we want to support the establishment of a new kind of ecology of Technology Enhanced Learning that focuses on Open Educational Resources as a chance to make a real difference in education and lifelong learning. We want to give a possibility to share OER-related practices and experiences that support people in acquiring the competences, knowledge and skills they need as individuals in the political, economic, social and cultural life of a modern society.

Against this background, the eLearning Papers invites contributions in the area of Open Educational Resources. The papers should focus on one or more of the following themes:

• Lessons learned and best practices of OER projects, tools and initiatives
• New findings, facts and figures of OER development and usage
• Discussion and position papers on how the OER movement can be supported
• Pedagogical innovations and OER, does OER make any difference?
• Transferability and usability of OER
• OER as a way to create and support sustainable development
• Business models around OER

Please consult the eLearning Papers website for writer guidelines:
http://www.elearningpapers.eu/index.php?page=collab_guide

The extended deadline for article submissions is July 6, 2008
Authors will be notified by July 28
The provisional data of publishing is September 30, 2008.

For further information and to submit your article, please contact: jimena.marquez@elearningpapers.eu

Invited Editors:
Sandra Schaffert http://edumedia.salzburgresearch.at
Riina Vuorikari http://flosse.dicole.org/