Academic Practice and Technology Conference 2015
Flipping the Institution: Higher Education in the Post-Digital Age
Call for papers
This is a call for contributions to the 13th Annual Academic Practice and Technology Conference, to be held at the University of Greenwich on the 7th July 2015. This year we are ‘Flipping the Institution’ by looking at some of the key challenges, debates, disruptions and transformations that are shaping the future of Higher Education. From practices in physical and virtual learning spaces to national and international strategic and technological developments, this conference will be an opportunity to share practice, engage in critical debate around key sector issues and network with colleagues from across the UK, Europe and the world.
“Once I began thinking in terms of waves of change, colliding and overlapping, causing conflict and tension around us, it changed my perception of change itself. In every field, from education and health to technology, from personal life to politics, it became possible to distinguish those innovations that are merely cosmetic, or just extensions of the industrial past, from those that are truly revolutionary.”
Toffler Alvin. The Third Wave. 1980.
APT 2015 will explore and interrogate a number of key questions, which will address some of the challenges facing learning and teaching in the post-digital age. Within the discourse and activities variously described as flipped classroom or flipped learning, there have been an array of practices, understandings, representations and innovations that have scaled, challenged, debated and normalized the role of technology, pedagogy and the institution in learning and teaching. We called this conference ‘Flipping the Institution’ because many of the same revolutionary or cosmetic innovations that have rolled over and into higher education over the past decade have equally challenged technology, pedagogy and the institution. In the post-digital age, informed by transitions of practice, a redefining of the individual’s relationships with technology and perhaps by the assertion of Nicholas Negroponte in 1998 that the ‘Digital Revolution is over’, what are the next revolutionary changes that will shape and perhaps our institutions?
We are seeking papers, innovative workshops, presentations and engaging debates that address one or more of these questions:
· What are the opportunities and challenges for educational institutions heading towards 2020?
· What does it mean to be a connected or collaborative learner and a connected or collaborative institution?
· What does it mean for higher education to be in engaging in a post-digital age? What does it mean for the learner of the future and of today?
· What is the impact of 'disruptive' technologies on the student and academic experience, and on learning, teaching and assessment?
· What are the challenges for pedagogical design and development in a post-digital age?
· What are the emerging practices, tools and approaches that may enhance student learning?
· What is the role of pedagogical research and evaluation in the post-digital university?
· What are the impacts for learners, for practitioners and for the institution of the waves of ‘disruptive’ or ‘transformative’ change brought about by flipped classroom, MOOCs, open education practices, learning analytics, global competition and social media?
Closing date for submissions is: Monday 24th February 2015
The conference will support different types of investigation and research, which may include case study; practitioner-led inquiry; research paper/work in progress; developmental/research project report, and posters. We welcome presentations that take different and innovative formats, such as a round table, pecha kucha, makers workshop, performance, practical workshop, forum and debate, etc. The primary form of written submission will be an extended abstract (around 500 words). Each abstract will be double blind refereed. All proposals must be submitted through our conference website. https://showtime.gre.ac.uk/index.php/ecentre/apt2015/schedConf/index
Posters
We also welcome the submission of posters, which can represent shorter or more preliminary projects or ideas. These will be presented in a Pecha Kucha format. The Pecha Kucha format originated in Tokyo in 2003. Drawing its name from the Japanese term for the sound of "chit chat", it follows a presentation format that is based on a simple idea: each presenter has 20 slides, each shown for 20 seconds on a timer. Thus, each presenter has just 6 minutes and 40 seconds to explain their ideas before the next takes the stage. Conceived as a venue through which young designers could meet, show their work, exchange ideas, and network, the format keeps presentations concise and fast-paced.
All proposals must be submitted through our conference website. https://showtime.gre.ac.uk/index.php/ecentre/apt2015/schedConf/index
Fees
Successful contributors will be allocated one free place at the conference. We also have a number of free places available for student presenters. The conference organisers must receive confirmation of acceptance, by registering by the presenter registration deadline (see important dates below). Additional colleagues wishing to co-present will be offered the ‘early bird’ discounted rate but must register by the same deadline as the main proposer. After this date all co-presenters will be charged the full rate. A maximum of one free place will also be given to a student presenter or student co-presenter for each presentation. Additional student co-presenters will be charged at the ‘early bird’ discounted rate. Reflective papers may be submitted to our teaching and learning journal Compass: http:// www.gre.ac.uk/compass by November 2015.
For further details please see our conference website. https://showtime.gre.ac.uk/index.php/ecentre/apt2015
Peter Bryant
Head of Learning Technology and Innovation
London School of Economics and Political Science
ALD LG - Houghton Street London WC2A 2AE
Phone: +44 (0)20 7955 6008
Twitter: @peterbryantHE
LSE Experts: http://bit.ly/1hniikc
