Institute for Lifelong Learning
Synergic Integration of Formal and Informal E-Learning Environments for Adult Lifelong Learners
Introduction
The diffusing lifelong learning vision, emerging practices with social semantic computing technologies and research findings signal the need for more personal, social and participatory approaches that support learners in becoming active users and co-producers of learning resources, rather in gaining control over the learning process as a whole, and in pursuing personal life goals and needs.
Objective of the Book
This book will present an edited collection of accounts, issues and case studies written essentially by practitioners in adult education who have firsthand experience of attempting to define, develop, implement or evaluate personalised learning technologies in integrated formal and informal eLearning environments for adult lifelong learners within their practice in a vast range of scenarios. The accounts will describe, from a variety of perspectives, what the practitioner was trying to achieve through the use of such learning spaces and how and why they went about trying to achieve such personalisation exploiting the synergy of the integration of formal and informal eLearning. The accounts will also present reflections on what went well and what authors would do differently as well as providing grounded guidelines. The content will also include institutional and organisational changes and perspectives on the culture and management changes required as a consequence of introducing and implementing environments which are seen as counter institutional.
The book will have three main sections: Technological Issues, Pedagogical Issues and Infrastructural and Cultural Issues. The section on technological issues will present descriptions of the tools and platforms which practitioners are using, outline their strengths and weaknesses and highlight issues that need to be considered when planning to implement integrated formal and informal eLearning environments for adult lifelong learners. The section on pedagogical issues will present descriptions of the different ways in which practitioners have attempted to use integrated learning technologies and give personal examples which illustrate both the potential and drawbacks that the new learning systems provide as a consequence of integration. The third section will bring sections one and two together by considering the major infrastructural, cultural and organisational issues if integrated formal and informal eLearning environments are going to affect any change in the institutional regime. This third section will effectively bring together the pedagogical issues with the technical issues for consideration on an institutional level. It would be expected that chapters had a balance of theory, practice, methods and case studies.
Target Audience
The potential audience of this book will be academics, teachers, tutors, trainers, administrators, resource managers, learning technologists and researchers involved in or within the field of eLearning development, implementation and delivery.
This book will be of particular value to learning technology practitioners in adult education who wish to inform their own practice. It will present pros and cons of the value of using integrated formal and informal eLearning environments within tertiary education and enable practitioners to make informed decisions about how they might change or expand on their own practice within this area.
Recommended topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
Adult education and…
- lifelong learners’ characteristics and learning profiles
- models for the detection of adult lifelong learners’ learning styles
- scaffolded self-regulated and personalised learning
- empowering adult lifelong learners
Integrated formal and informal eLearning environments for adult lifelong learners and…
- implications and challenges of the concept of PLE
- implications and challenges of the shift from LMS to PLE
- integration models
- affordances, implications and challenges of their technological architectures
- learning standards, metadata and interoperability of web-based educational systems
- learners’ profiles sharing and portable personal profiles
- adaptive mechanisms for implicit personalisation of learning
- Social Semantic Web tools for personalisation, trustworthiness and assessment on the collection of resources
- web services for knowledge representation, retrieval, creation
- mobile and ubiquitous learning
- synchronous learning
- virtual worlds
- augmented reality and environmental markers or sensors
- evaluation
- assessment
- organizational and institutional issues
Submission Procedure
Researchers and practitioners are invited to submit on or before September 30, 2012, a 2-3 page chapter proposal clearly explaining the mission and concerns of his or her proposed chapter. Authors of accepted proposals will be notified byOctober 15, 2012 about the status of their proposals and sent chapter guidelines. Full chapters are expected to be submitted by January 31, 2013. All submitted chapters will be reviewed on a double-blind review basis. Contributors may also be requested to serve as reviewers for this project.
Submissions website: http://www.elearningplace.it/call-for-chapters/ (pleaseregister to submit your chapter proposal and upload Word documents only).
Publisher
This book is scheduled to be published by IGI Global (formerly Idea Group Inc.), publisher of the “Information Science Reference” (formerly Idea Group Reference), “Medical Information Science Reference,” “Business Science Reference,” and “Engineering Science Reference” imprints. For additional information regarding the publisher, please visit www.igi-global.com. This book is anticipated to be released in 2013.
CONFINTEA fellowships offered by UIL
To support the implementation of the commitments made at CONFINTEA VI, the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning is offering four fellowships for key personnel from Member States.
Participants should be government officials and senior specialists in adult education. As part of their assignments, they will be asked to produce a draft proposal for a policy and strategy framework which would lead (preferably after a broad national consultation process) to operationalising the Belém Framework for Action in their respective countries.
Fellowships are tenable for a period of from two weeks to two months. UIL offers a fully-equipped and networked workplace and the resources of its unique documentation centre and library. With 63,000 books, documents, non-print media and periodicals in adult education, literacy, non-formal education and lifelong learning, it is one of the most comprehensive collections of its kind in the world. Started in 1952 by the UNESCO Institute for Education, it comprises English language materials (some 60% of the collection), as well as publications in German, French, Spanish and other languages
The overall aim of the fellowships is to reinforce Member State capacity in implementing the Belém Framework for Action at country level by preparing a draft proposal for a national policy and strategy framework.
The major objectives are to support policy analysis and policy formulation in Member States, to improve advocacy for adult education in participating member states and to reinforce cooperation between adult education stakeholders at country level.
Expected Outcomes: Through the fellowship programme, senior experts from Member States will develop their capacity in policy analysis and in formulating, planning and implementing adult education programmes. Each fellow will be asked to prepare a draft proposal for national policy and strategy framework to follow-up the Belém Framework for Action.
Participants: Participants will be selected on the basis of their potential to achieve the aims and objectives outlined above. Candidates should preferably be government officials from Member States or senior specialists in adult education. Their experience or involvement in planning and implementing governmental or non-governmental adult education programme will be of special interest.
Geographical (regional and national) and gender balance of candidates will be sought for the CONFINTEA Fellowship Programme as a whole.
In this regard the selection criteria for candidates are as follows:
· Prospective fellows should have good experience in literacy, non-formal education, adult or lifelong learning, whether from government, civil society or research contexts;
· They should be involved in policy formulation or in planning and implementing programmes at national level;
· Prior involvement in national activities related to the preparations and implementation of CONFINTEA VI, or in planning its follow-up would be an asset; and
· Candidates should speak English as the common language of the Institute; knowledge of another official UN or UNESCO language would be an asset.
· Please note that Fellowships will only be granted to for candidates from developing or transition countries
How to apply: Interested candidates should submit a written application to UIL through their National UNESCO Commission. Applications should carefully consider the criteria outlined above. Applications are granted with respect to meeting the selection criteria and availability of funds. Please submit until 15 June 2011.
Contact: a.owusu-boampong(at)unesco.org