Call for papers on “ICT in Higher Education and Lifelong Learning”
Deadline: March 31, 2014
Authors are cordially invited to submit papers to the upcoming edition of REM-Research on Education and Media, Volume 6, Issue 1 , June 2014
Editor: Prof. Luciano Galliani, University of Padova – Italy
Topics:
ICT in Higher Education and Student Services
ICT for Lifelong Learning
Digital Competence and Lifelong Learning
Techological Innovation in Vocational Education and Training
Digital Literacy and Adult Education
Innovative Methods in e-Learning Research
Models and tools to evaluate e-learning
Mobile Learning in Adult education
OER- Open Educational Resources for Higher Education and Lifelong Learning
Description:
The introduction of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in higher education in the Seventies and Eighties of last century did not achieve the expected results, except of some cases in distance universities. In the middle of Nineties, with the new “technological wave” moved by Internet, conditions favorable appeared to integrate ICT transformative potential with subject knowledge (expressive multimedia), with teaching/learning environments (online communicative interactivity), with informative and supportive services for students (guidance, tutoring, credits recognition, placement, internship) as well as with adults’ educational needs (lifelong and lifewide learning).
ICT allowed universities to deliver three kind of teaching: web enhanced teaching supporting face-to-face activities, blended teaching with a designed integration between online and in presence activities, and totally online teaching, typical in “Telematic Universities”.
In the meantime, related educational research fields have developed, which have accompanied technological innovation, in particular during transitions such as: from platforms to communication environments; from web as information store to semantic web; from Learning Objects fruition to interactive and collaborative online resources (blog, forum, wiki, social software, pod casting, game simulation, story telling, ecc.); from the use as simple consumer to didactical and authorial integration of technology; from assessment of e-learning to integrated educational system evaluation.
ICT triggered deep changes in culture’s production, transmission and acquisition, which cover not only formal learning contexts, but also non-formal ones at workplace, as well as informal ones in daily familiar and social life.
First of all, Digital Literacy should be founded on educational actions specific for adult learning to become one of key competences of social citizenship. Moreover, researches, not only experiences, should enhance methods and tools – during initial instruction as well as continuing education and training for teachers/educators/trainers – to develop digital competences and to be able to support children, youth, adults in learning this competence. ICT, finally, are like the “nerves” of the trans-contextual social networks among school-university-vocational training-business, essential to create positive conditions to support and accompany adults to the recognition, validation and certification of competences acquired in the context of work and everyday life.