IRRODL is now requesting contributions for peer review and possible publication in an upcoming special issue: Emergent Learning, Connections, and Design for Learning
Call for Papers Emergent Learning,
Connections, and Design for Learning
Editors: Roderick Sims, PhD
and
Elena Kays, PhD
Rationale
Connections? Emergence? Chaos?
Complexity? Fractals? Quantum Theory?
Although many of these terms
originated and have been widely
studied in the natural sciences, they
are emerging as important
interdisciplinary ways to understand
both natural and social sciences,
including education. The question
therefore arises ... are the
traditions of what it means to teach
and learn being challenged by these
concepts, or are we simply
experiencing the natural evolution of
education through a process of
emergence?
• Emergence encourages random
encounters, paying attention to your
neighbours, and "more being
different". Through such encounters
and interactions we can look for
patterns in the signs which can be
extrapolated to an entire system, the
intelligence of which comes from the
bottom up, and where low-level rules
can create high levels of
sophistication.
• The connections being made
between people through social networks
has emphasised "connectivism", an
emergent theory of learning where the
interactions that are generated by
these connections, whether informal or
formal, have the potential to result
in new, emergent knowledge.
• For designers, taking account of
emergence and connections can
challenge the traditional models which
have been used to create
‘instructional order'. Emergence
theory offers insights into complex
adaptive systems that can
self-organize, a quite different way
of conceptualising the
teaching/learning space.
Given this link between connections
and emergence, and the significant
impact this association would have on
how we teach and learn, it is
therefore important to analyse what it
means to design for emergent,
connected learning experiences.
Special Issue
The purpose
of this special issue of IRRODL is to
provide a forum to explore
connections, emergence and design for
learning, and in so doing be sensitive
to emergent ideas. Because we've
designed and implemented education in
one way for decades does not mean it's
the right way!
We encourage your ideas for topics,
with the following list (by no means
exclusive) identifying possible topics
to be covered in this special issue.
• Methods for studying emergence in
distributed , online contexts
• Extensive literature reviews of
emergence and related disciplines
focusing on their significance for
education
• Empirical studies on extent and
impact of emergence in learning
contexts
• Emergence and social networks
• Connections and emergence - is
‘design' realistic?
• Designs for learning in connected
worlds
• Connecting affordances - virtual
worlds, networks, social media
• Open Educational Resources and
Emergent Learning
Submissions, especially those that
apply multi-disciplinary approaches to
online and distance teaching and
learning, are welcomed for this
edition.
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