SIG ATL/EST

UCSB is in the process of creating a new MA that focuses on Education, Learning and Technology Studies and I wonder if you can help me identify key programs in the country that we might look at. Our MA will build on collaborative research and school-community research that is ongoing here. I am interested in learning what others are doing.

I am also interested in finding others who are connecting research communities internationally using the new digital highways. Are there members of the sig who are involved with this? How might I find who is working on these connections?

Judith

New member Judith Green, University of California-Santa Barbara, invites all of us:

The following session may be of interest to members of the SIG.

International Research Collaborations and the Digital Highway: Possibilities, Innovations and Challenges
Unit: AERA Sessions
Session type: Symposium
Time: Mon, Apr 9 - 4:05pm - 6:05pm
Place: Hyatt, Columbus Hall, Section C, East Tower - Gold Level

I would like to extend an invitation to you to attend this. Jim Dolgonas, who is CEO of CENIC will be a keynote speaker at this session and Stephanie Couch who is Director of Statewide programs for CENIC and UCOP will be there. I did not know about your sig when we prepared this session but have now joined.

This session will focus on international and national research collaborations. In joining the sig and in exploring the website, I saw many overlaps in interest and directions. I would like to invite you to our reception in the Hyatt also, from 7-9. Tom and Stephanie will be there about 8 pm-9. I know that they would be interested in meeting you and learning more about the sig.

Please share the session with members of the SIG. I know that Jim Dolgonas will present important information about the new CENIC/I2/NLR links. This is a great opportunity to hear one of the leaders in building national and international links. I know that CALren (CENIC Highway) links us seamlessly with Latin America, Mexico, Arizona and all of California. We also link with the nation and international scene through CENIC’S links to the world.

The text of the proposed ATL description:

• Advanced Technologies for Learning (ATL) SIG is a dynamic community of practitioners, developers and researchers who recognize, leverage, and seek to understand the potential of new technologies to support the work of educators and improve learning environments. While technology alone can not solve many of the problems of education, research continues to identify ways in which the use of technology tools leads to measurable gains in student learning. ATL research examines the roles that technology can play in all types of learning environments including classrooms, informal and virtual settings. ATL studies use multiple research methodologies to address the complexity of learning environments.

The Chairs would very much like to get your feedback on this proposed change, both with your vote and you opinion. To vote go here. You can post your thoughts on this change by adding a comment to this post. Click the “comment” link just below this message.

Thank you for your participation!
Lisa Bouillion, Brian Foley, and Nancy Ares

The text of the proposed description:

• Learning sciences is an interdisciplinary community devoted to the study of teaching and learning as it occurs in school, online, in the workplace, at home, and in the community, and to the design of environments with the potential to facilitate learning and development more effectively. One strand of emphasis within this community is the examination of emerging technologies as potential levers for change and supports for learning. More broadly, this community uses complex systems as the unit of analysis to advance upon the combined goals of explaining, guiding and developing educational phenomena. This research is guided by multiple theoretical perspectives, including constructivist, social-constructivist, socio-cognitive, and socio-cultural theories of learning. While drawing upon a range of methodologies, this community also seeks to examine new methodologies, such as design- based research, in an effort to meet the dual challenge of solving problems of practice and building new theory.

The Chairs would very much like to get your feedback on this proposed change, both with your vote and you opinion. To vote go here. You can post your thoughts on this change by adding a comment to this post. Click the “comment” link just below this message.

Thank you for your participation!
Lisa Bouillion, Brian Foley, and Nancy Ares

At the meeting in April there was some discussion about potentially changing the name of the SIG for Education in Science and Technology. One of the most popular suggestions was to change the name to “Learning Sciences.” Many of us in the SIG are connected to the International Society for the Learning Sciences and the type of education research espoused by this group (see post on the proposed SIG LS description).

Because of the connection to ATL, the Learning Sciences SIG would always emphasize the use of technology. However the LS SIG would not have the same emphasis on science education of EST. Science educators may be disappointed by this, but it would also open the SIG to researchers working on other subjects (e.g. Math Education) who have similar methodology and interests that are better described as learning sciences.

The Chairs would very much like to get your feedback on this proposed change, both with your vote and you opinion. To vote go here. You can post your thoughts on this change by adding a comment to this post. Click the “comment” link just below this message.

Thank you for your participation!
Lisa Bouillion, Brian Foley, and Nancy Ares

Greetings members of SIG ATL/EST -

Welcome to our new blog! It is our hope that using this tool to have discussions, connect to other resources, and maintain a history of our collective work and conversations will benefit our membership for years to come.

Check out the space periodically to see what we’re up to. Please consider joining in the discussions as well. No doubt your input will push our collective thinking forward.

Looking forward to the dialogue…