As usual, some of the review comments are helpful while others make little sense at all. What particularly amused me was the following: we make an explicit statement that we see our overall contribution as a reply to Johnson & Liber (2008) and that we want to extend the discussion of what these authors put forward.

Now, one of the reviewers actually wrote the following final statement commenting on our text:

“It seems to assume that the reader understands Johnson & Liber’s article on personal learning environments.”

Hell, yes… it does!!!

[Sebastian Fiedler]

References:
Johnson, M., & Liber, O. (2008). The personal learning environment and the human condition: from theory to teaching practice. Interactive Learning Environments, 16(1), 3-15.

CSEDU 2011 (International Conference on Computer Supported Education) has an open call for papers, whose deadline is on September 30, 2010. We hope you can participate in this prestigious conference by submitting a paper reflecting your current research.

The conference is sponsored by INSTICC and held in cooperation with the Workflow Management Coalition (WfMC). CSEDU will be held in Noordwijkerhout, Netherlands next year, on May 6-9, 2011.

CSEDU aims at becoming a yearly meeting place for presenting and discussing new educational environments, best practices and case studies on innovative technology-based learning strategies, institutional policies on computer supported education including open and distance education, using computers. In particular, the Web is currently a preferred medium for distance learning and the learning practice in this context is usually referred to as e-learning. CSEDU 2011 is expected to give an overview of the state of the art as well as upcoming trends, and to promote discussion about the pedagogical potential of new learning and educational technologies in the academic and corporate world.

The conference program will include a number of Keynote Lectures delivered by distinguished world-class researchers. Their names will be announced soon at the conference website (http://www.csedu.org).

Submitted papers will be subject to a double-blind review process. All accepted papers will be published in the conference proceedings, under an ISBN reference, on paper and on CD-ROM support. The proceedings will be indexed by several major international indexers, including INSPEC, DBLP and we are awaiting the confirmation of indexation by Thomson Reuters Conference Proceedings Citation Index and EI.
Best paper awards will be given during the conference closing session.
All published papers will be also available at the SciTePress’ Digital Library (http://www.scitepress.org/DigitalLibrary/).

Workshops and special sessions are also invited. If you wish to propose workshop or a special session, for example based on the results of a specific research project, please contact the secretariat. Workshop chairs and Special Session chairs will benefit from logistics support and other types of support, including secretariat and financial support, to facilitate the development of a valid idea.

Please check further details at the CSEDU conference website (http://www.csedu.org/). There you will find detailed information about the conference structure and its main topic areas. This conference is co-located with WEBIST 2011 (7th International Conference on Web Information Systems and Technologies – http://www.webist.org/).

[via email]

Regular paper submission is open until September 30., 2010. Author should be notified until January 06, 2011.

[Sebastian Fiedler]

The Technology and Knowlege Unit (http://technikundwissen.zsi.at) at the Centre for Social Innovation, (http://www.zsi.at), Vienna, is offering a full-time position (beginning July/August 2010).

Responsibilities:

• internal project management and conceptual work in an international network-project in the research area “Technology Enhanced Learning” (TEL)
• collaboration in a roadmapping project in the research area “Technology Enhanced Learning” (TEL)

We expect:

• appropriate higher-education degree (at least Master or equivalent) (in psychology, education, sociology, educational technology, etc.)
• personal history in the research area “Technology Enhanced Learning”
• several years of professional experience
• very good written and spoken English
• experience in the use of Internet-based communication and collaboration tools (Web 2.0 applications, Social Media, Video-conferencing, etc.)
• readiness to travel

Desirable experiences:

• collaboration within EU financed R&D projects
• international project management

We offer:

• a very good working atmosphere
• flexible worke schedules on the basis of 30 to 40 hours per week
• co-operation with numerous national and international partners of our centre

Please, send your expressions of interests and applications to Sebastian Fiedler not later than June 30., 2010.

Folks, this really is a nice opportunity. Give me a shout if you need to know more about it… or simply send your applications.

[Sebastian Fiedler]

Nordic ISCAR and FISCAR welcome researchers and students from all around the world to its 2010 conference in Helsinki, on the 23-25 of May. The conference is dedicated to examining human creative activities. The conference theme is “Perspectives on social creativity, designing and activity”. We conceive of design as a field of knowledge and activity concerned with the creation of artifacts. Creative activities operate with diverse modes of knowing and representations. Creativity is a social quality that involves communication and community formation. Creative activities and design are needed when humans transform their circumstances by developing new technologies and institutions. Creation of the new relies on cultural mediation and historically accumulated resources. Activity theory and socio-cultural approaches offer fresh perspectives on these themes. The conference aims at bringing together diverse points of view and disciplinary orientations to discuss social creativity, design and activity… [FISCAR 2010 Website]

Unfortunately, I only discovered this event after the deadline for proposals had already been passed. I still would like to go. After all, the preliminary programme (pdf) of this conference features a nice selection of prominent proponents of contemporary activity theory in education, human-computer interaction, and organisational development. Since last summer I must have studied about 50 to 70 papers related to Cultural and Activity Research. It is about time to meet some of the people in this area in person. Oh, well… I am not sure if I can still pull this off. We shall see…

[Sebastian Fiedler]

The Open Education Conference has been described as “the annual reunion of the open education family.” Each year the conference serves as the world’s premiere venue for research related to open education, while simultaneously creating the most friendly and energetic atmosphere you’ll find at any academic conference.

November 2-4, 2010, the seventh annual Open Education Conference moves to Barcelona for its first convening outside of North America! The 2010 conference venue is CosmoCaixa, designated Europe’s best science museum in 2006.

The conference theme for 2010 is OER: Impact and Sustainability.

Keynote speakers for 2010 include Brenda Gourley, former Vice Chancellor of The Open University, Great Britain; Erik Duval, Professor of Computer Science at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium; and Raquel Xalabarder, Director of Learning Resources at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Spain… [Open Ed 2010 Website]

Today is the last day you can send in your proposals. Details are outlined in the call for papers.

[Sebastian Fiedler]

The IADIS e-Learning 2010 conference aims to address the main issues of concern within e-Learning. This
conference covers both technical as well as the non-technical aspects of e-Learning… [E-Learning 2010 conference Website]

Short and full papers can be submitted until May 31. Details can be found in the call for papers.

[Sebastian Fiedler]

Multimedia technologies and networking infrastructure have changed human social behavior. One typical example is education. The impact of distance learning to traditional universities in particular allows educational professionals to rethink about how to efficiently and effectively using multimedia technologies to improve instruction, as well as to encourage students to learn. Although multimedia technologies have already been used widely in e-learning, various considerations should be carefully addressed from both pedagogical and technological perspectives, to ensure the successful incorporation of these technologies in e-learning.

This ACM workshop aims to discuss problems, current studies, and solutions in how to use multimedia and communication technologies to improve e-learning. Especially, presentations should address the difference between using and without using multimedia technologies in education. Practical solutions are encouraged, although pedagogical theories may be used to support the solutions.

[MTDL 2010 Website via TELeurope]

The submission deadline for this event is on May 21, 2010. Authors should be notified on July 05, 2010.

[Sebastian Fiedler]

On March 10. I will attend a workshop that is part of the E-Learning Symposium 2010 at the University of Technology Dresden (TU Dresden). The session will touch upon Personal Learning Environments, E-Portfolios, and Knowledge Management issues.

[Sebastian Fiedler]

Touch down in Central European winter. After three fabulous weeks on South Island, NZ, this will need some adjustment…

The IADIS e-Learning 2010 conference aims to address the main issues of concern within e-Learning. This
conference covers both technical as well as the non-technical aspects of e-Learning… [E-Learning 2010 conference Website]

Short and full papers can be submitted until March 15. Details can be found in the call for papers.

[Sebastian Fiedler]