e-learning publications and conferences

If you work in the school sector, you might be interested in a new publication by the UK's agency BECTa: Emerging technologies for learning (volume 2)

If you work in a university or college, another UK agency JISC is holding an online conference on e-learning in June.

Worldwide there are many such publications and conferences relating to ICT in education - too many to publicise here systematically - and they are often a rich source of enthusiasm, case studies, and issues.

However prospective H809'ers might also be wanting to take a step back to ask questions such as...

• How strong is the evidence for claims?
• Are alternative explanations possible?
• How could the claims be tested more strongly?
• What theoretical explanations are offered, what do they buy us, and what are their weaknesses?

We'd be interested to hear to what extent each of the e-learning gurus is engaging in these questions.

Show 'n Tell

One of the bright ideas we had earlier in the year was a research Show 'n Tell. Each of the course team brought along three examples of original research with which H809'ers might usefully engage and that could illustrate a cutting edge methodology. To discourage bashfulness, one of these examples had to be local (either one's own work or a colleague's). We then talked about each piece of research, and what it had to offer. The discussion proved so enjoyable we had two more of them.

The readings were about...

• research into technologies such as social websites, games consoles, podcasting, Google Maps, Second Life, robotics...
• research using technologies such as ChatBot, eye-tracking, remote observation, audio logs...
• analytical frameworks such as Activity Theory, discourse analysis, network analysis, content analysis...
• issues such as effectiveness, informal learning, interactivity, economics, privacy, personalisation, capacity building...

Of course we can't promise to fit all of this into the course, but the selection of readings for the first presentation of the course does draw heavily on these happy discussions. And the plan is to update the readings annually to keep them at the cutting-edge. We're happy to receive further suggestions.

Conference on practice-based research

There's a call for contributions to the second European Conference on Practice-based and Practitioner Research on Learning and Instruction. It's being held in Maastricht, the Netherlands, 14-16 November 2007.

According to the organisers, the conference "will offer opportunities to discuss educational innovations and developments based on evidence emerging from different forms of inquiry into educational practice. Interactive formats are intended to promote interaction between practitioners and researchers."

The deadline for the submission of proposals is 20 June 2007.

Registration now open

Worldwide approval has just been granted. You can now register for the course online.

It can count towards one of four different Masters degrees:

• MA in Online and Distance Education
• MEd Master of Education
• MSc in Research Methods for Educational Technology
• MRes Master of Research