Media Technology Conferences

Proposal Submission Deadline: March 31, 2008
Web-Based Learning Solutions for Communities of Practice:
Developing Virtual Environments for Social and Pedagogical Advancement
A book edited by Nikos Karacapilidis
University of Patras, Greece

Introduction

Technology-Enhanced Learning is a term referring to any learning
situation
involving the use of technology. In the context of the contemporary
knowledge society, research in this area focuses on technologies and
their
applications for the meaningful elaboration of diverse knowledge,
collaboration and learning issues. The proposed publication will
report on
recent advances of the above research in the context of Communities of
Practice (CoPs), where various technological, social and pedagogical
issues
have to be considered in a holistic way. For more than ten years,
CoPs have
been recognized as effective environments to support learning among
professionals, organizations and educational institutions. Collaborative
learning is inherent in such communities, in that their members learn
from
each other by making their knowledge and practices explicit, sharing
them
with their peers, and reflecting on them. Web-based technologies could
support the development of virtual CoPs. Consequently, more and more
CoPs
use virtual environments to support their activities. However,
despite the
rapidly increasing potential offered by technologies (including web-
based
platforms, wireless communications, mobile devices and extensive use of
multimedia contents), recent research underlines the lack of adequate
scaffolding in the form of both technical supports and usage of the
technology to address the diversity of CoPs' requirements.

Objectives, Contribution and Potential Impact of the Book

The overall objective of this book is to report on recent approaches
that
aim at aiding CoPs members to express, represent and share practices,
debate
and reflect about the practices and about the life of the CoP, develop,
reify and exploit knowledge inside and outside of the CoP, and
facilitate
engagement, participation and learning. Such approaches elaborate and
build
on various concepts that are related to the information, knowledge
management and collaboration services required. Particular emphasis
will be
given to the design, implementation and evaluation of the related
solutions.
The value and main contribution of the book lies in the joint
exploration of
diverse technological, social and pedagogical issues towards designing,
implementing and testing e-Learning solutions for CoPs, while paying
equal
attention to the issues of individual and organizational learning.
Advances
to be reported in the book are expected to augment current learning-
related
practices in diverse contexts, such as organizations, academia and
web-based
communities. The book is also expected to advance research being
conducted
in the field of technology-enhanced learning by assigning equal
importance
to its underlying technological, social and pedagogical dimensions.

Target Audience

This book will be valuable to people from academia as well as industry
(teachers, researchers, professionals or practitioners in the field of
e-learning). It will cover a large number of topics concerning the
appropriate information, knowledge management and collaboration
services to
be offered in order to facilitate collaboration and augment learning in
diverse communities' contexts. By also placing concentration on the
social
dimension of technology-enhanced learning, the book will be of
particular
importance to researchers and supporters of the so-called social
software.

Recommended topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

Communities of Practice: Technological, Social and Pedagogical issues
Technology-Enhanced Learning Solutions for CoPs
Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning
e-Learning solutions for CoPs
Groupware and CoPs
Social Software
Web 2.0 applications
Semantic Web and CoPs
Knowledge Management in CoPs

Submission Procedure

Researchers and practitioners are invited to submit on or before
March 31,
2008, a 2-3 page chapter proposal clearly explaining the mission and
concerns of their proposed chapter. Authors of accepted proposals
will be
notified by April 28, 2008 about the status of their proposals and sent
chapter guidelines. Full chapters are expected to be submitted by
June 30,
2008. All submitted chapters will be reviewed on a double-blind review
basis. The book is scheduled to be published by IGI Global (formerly
Idea
Group Inc.), www.igi-global.com, publisher of the IGI Publishing
(formerly
Idea Group Publishing), Information Science Publishing, IRM Press,
CyberTech
Publishing, Information Science Reference (formerly Idea Group
Reference),
and Medical Information Science Reference imprints.

Inquiries and submissions can be forwarded electronically (Word
document) or
by mail to:

Prof. Nikos Karacapilidis
Dept. of Mechanical Engineering & Aeronautics
University of Patras, GR 26500 Rion-Patras, Greece
Tel: (+30)-2610-997906, Fax: (+30)-2610-997260
nikos@mech.upatras.gr - http://www.mech.upatras.gr/~nikos/

# posted by Björn : 9:38 fm