Call for Papers #CfP #AI #mLearning #MOOC in conferences #UNESCO @FedericaUniNa

January has started and three important calls for papers are coming up, all related to conferences. The three conferences are: eMOOCs2019 (on MOOCs), Mobile Learning week at UNESCO (focus on AI for development and mobile learning, and eLearning Africa (this year in Cote d'Ivoir), listed per deadline of the CfP.

Mobile learning week UNESCO (Paris, France): focus on AI for sustainable development

Call for proposals deadline: 11 January 2019
UNESCO Global AI Conference: Monday 4 March 2019
Policy Forum and Workshops: Tuesday 5 March 2019
Symposium: Wednesday 6 & Thursday 7 March 2019
Strategy labs & International Women’s Day: Friday 8 March 2019

Exhibits: Monday 4 to Friday 8 March 2019

More information: https://en.unesco.org/mlw/2019

UNESCO, in partnership with its confirmed partners – the International Telecommunication Union and the Profuturo Foundation – will convene a special edition of Mobile Learning Week (MLW) from 4 to 8 March 2019, at the UNESCO Headquarters building in Paris (France). The five-day event, under the theme ‘Artificial Intelligence for Sustainable development’ will start with the ‘Global Conference - Principles for AI: Towards a humanistic approach?’, followed by a one-day Policy Forum and Workshops, a two-day International Symposium and a half-day of Strategy Labs. On 8 March, towards the close of MLW, participants will be invited to join the celebration of International Women’s Day, particularly a debate on Women in AI to be held in UNESCO Headquarters. During the entire week, exhibitions and demonstrations of innovative AI applications for education and more than 20 workshops will be organized by international partners and all programme sectors of UNESCO.

eMOOCs 2019 in Napels, Italy

Deadline CfP: 14 January 2019.
Conference date:  May 20 – 22, 2019
More information: https://emoocs2019.eu/call-for-papers/overview/
Description
The Higher Education landscape is changing. As the information economy progresses, demand for a more highly, and differently, qualified workforce and citizens increases, and HE Institutions face the challenge of training, reskilling and upskilling people throughout their lives, rather than providing a one-time in-depth education. The corporate and NGO sectors are themselves exploring the benefits of a more qualified online approach to training, and are entering the education market in collaboration with HE Institutions, but also autonomously or via new certifying agencies. Technology is the other significant player in this fast-changing scenario. It allows for new, data-driven ways of measuring learning outcomes, new forms of curriculum definition and compilation, and alternative forms of recruitment strategy via people analytics.

At the MOOC crossroads where the three converge, we ask ourselves whether university degrees are still the major currency in the job market, or whether a broader portfolio of qualifications and micro-credentials may be emerging as an alternative. What implications does this have for educational practice? What policy decisions are required? And as online access eliminates geographical barriers to learning, but the growing MOOC market is increasingly dominated by the big American platforms, what strategic policy do European HE Institutions wish to adopt in terms of branding, language and culture?

The EMOOCs 2019 MOOC stakeholders summit comprises the consolidated format of Research and Experience, Policy and Business tracks, as well as interactive workshops. Original contributions that share knowledge and carry forward the debate around MOOCs are very welcome.

eLearning AFrica - Abidjan - Cote d'Ivoir

Deadline CfP: February 22, 2019.
Conference date: October 23 - 25, 2019
More information: https://www.elearning-africa.com/programme_cfp.php
Description
The 14^th edition of eLearning Africa, the International Conference & Exhibition on ICT for Education, Training & Skills Development, which will take place in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire from October 23 - 25, 2019 and is co-hosted by the Government of Côte d'Ivoire. 

A unique event, Africa’s largest conference and exhibition on technology supported learning, training and skills development, eLearning Africa is a network of leading experts, professionals and investors, committed to the future of education & training in Africa.

Read more about the eLearning Africa 2019 theme, The Keys to the Future: Learnability and Employability, and become involved in shaping the conference agenda by proposing a topic, talk or session here.
Register today to profit from our Early Bird Rate

About eLearning Africa
Founded in 2005, eLearning Africa is the leading pan-African conference and exhibition on ICT for Education, Training & Skills Development. The three day event offers participants the opportunity to develop multinational and cross-industry contacts and partnerships, as well as to enhance their knowledge and skills.
Over 13 consecutive years, eLearning Africa has hosted 17,278 participants from 100+ different countries around the world, with over 80% coming from the African continent. More than 3,530 speakers have addressed the conference about every aspect of technology supported learning, training and skills development.

A free book on changing #education in challenging settings #ICT4D

This lively report - well it is a free book consisting of 318 pages - on Designing and Implementing an ICT for Development initiative in a resource constraint environment is one of the most amazing mobile learning and technology projects I have read. This is a book that can be used in any challenging setting, as it combines participatory design, teachers professional development, open badges as milestones in the learning process, earn-as-you-learn incentives, strategies from the known reality to a wishful future, and scaling up from one school to 26 schools! ... and all evidence-based in approach. The report is edited by Marlien Herselman and Adele Botha.

It is simply amazing how this talented and inspired group of people turned a really challenging situation in deep rural South Africa (Eastern Cape province) into a fruitful, inspiring educational surplus in only 3 years time! It combines mobile learning, literacy,

From the forword: "The book aims to provide an overview of the design and implementation of an Information and Communication Technology for rural education development initiative in a resource constrained environment. Various frameworks, models, guidelines and tools were developed by adopting Design Science Research as the chosen methodology. Certain specific case study phases were applied within the Design Science Research process and lessons were learnt in each phase which was documented as the initiative moved from one phase to the other. Certain steps were followed during each phase. The book provides an overview of how each of the components, within the ICT4RED Implementation Framework (Section 2), were managed and how they were operationalised to provide specific deliverables or to reach certain aims.
What became evident from this initiative was that it was NOT about the technology, but about the PEOPLE who are empowered to use the technology in order to improve their lives and that of their learners!This book will guide readers through the journey of this initiative and it is hoped that it will inspire all new prospective students, teachers and academia to realise that the value of using technology does not lie in that it can ever replace the teacher, but that it can enhance teaching and learning and transform traditional teaching methods in a classroom. This transformation can only be successfully done where technology is earned and not just given away or provided free of charge."

12 User centered issues for sustainability of learning projects in international settings

During the workshop all the participants shared their experience on what factors to include (if resources are possible) in a learning (mobile, eLearning) project:

1. involve all stakeholders using focus group and observation methods;
2. take a random sample of users within the defined user target group, not people you know, to ensure that you design something that is aimed at a wide variety of your target user group;
3. ensure longterm support for the users;
4. enable knowledge sharing between users;
5. include an ethnographic assessment to tailor to the local context: respect local customs, identify local 'information' stream, language use...;
6. look at human computer interaction (HCI): for increased design affordances and user preferences;
7. include adaptability for an ever changing technology settting;
8. ensure back-up people for all the profiles that are needed in the project;
9. ensure capacity building and empowerment of the users (lifelong learning capacities are a surplus);
10. use physical sensors (in the beginning it can be disruptive for the users, but after a while they get back to their natural state of behaving, enabling the observers to monitor emotional respons to the researched object or system;
11. include positive emotional stimulus to enhance motivation;
12. break the total system down to the smallest possible bubble (both content, design, technology....) to ensure longterm and rapid adaptability when necessary.

#ela2009 thursday sessions: Boots on the ground - the only way to ensure impact in ICT4D projects

Ignatz Heinz from Avallain Education for Development, Switzerland
(A man in black with a obvious ethically, warm heart. he has dark hair with a wave in it and a kind face.)
Ignatz focused on major issues to consider when starting an eLearning project:

• sustainability is key, not the (high tech) technology proposed (do not push technology)
• no longer open arms, if eLearning does not suite the audience needs, it won't take off anyway
• too much thinking too early from too far away is wasteful
• what does not work here, does not work anywhere
• simple here is not simple there and complex here is not complex there
• keep things in proportion to the local scale
• the world is flat! e.g. solar panels are available locally, so look for local solutions
• Potemkin, Potemkin, Potemkin: effect of 'projects-that-cannot-fail', but that are not sustainable but that was marketed for the wrong reasons = 'jungle of smiles'
• Believe too much or too little in government (lobby, shifts...)

They do early feasibility tests and look locally for technical solutions, which I like enormously.

Information: http://www.avallain.com/e4d

(sorry for the blurry pictures by the way, my camera lens was smudged and I only noticed once I was back)