The call for papers for a Special Issue of Research in Learning Technology, the Journal of the Association for Learning Technology has been issued at http://www.alt.ac.uk/publications/research-learning-technology/call-papers-special-issue-2013
Aims and rationale
There is growing interest in the field on the impact of digital technologies on meaning-making practices and identity in education, which has been explored via the related concepts of ‘digital scholarship’ and ‘digital literacies’. A range of initiatives have focused on digital literacies (associated with student practices), such as the current JISC programme, the ESRC seminar series on literacy in the digital university, and international networks such as the UK-Canadian, “New Media, New Literacies and New Forms of Learning”. In contrast, the concepts of ‘digital scholarship’ or ‘open scholarship’ have tended to refer to the impact of digital technologies on academics’ practices and identities, as with the Open University digital scholarship research strand, or else refer to data management, as with the Royal Society’s Open Science report or Friedrich Kittler’s late provocations.
However, these efforts remain disparate, and unconnected. This is a missed opportunity: it is important and timely to consolidate, critically interrogate and extend our understandings of the relationships between digital technologies and practices. There is also an imperative to broaden the base for our understanding beyond Higher Education, to other sectors; and also to understand how these practices differ internationally.
Our proposal is for a special issue of Research in Learning Technology to bring these strands together in a critical and theorized way, in order to consolidate and advance research, and to identify implications for practice, organizational change and policy. We are confident that a good selection of quality research will be submitted. This will be an open call, but the proposal has already gained the support of members of the JISC Developing Digital Literacies Programme, who will have undertaken new empirical work of direct relevance to this topic. We will encourage contributions from outside the UK and from across all educational sectors.
Types of submission encouraged
We expect the majority of papers to report on empirical work undertaken to support the understanding and development of digital scholarship and literacies, in a variety of contexts. However, we actively encourage submissions that critically review and consolidate prior work, through literature review, theoretical and historical analysis and critique. We expect papers to focus on one or other of these concepts, although submissions that consider their inter-relationship would be particularly welcome, including the introduction of new theoretical perspectives on these issues.
How to submit
Before submitting a manuscript authors should carefully review the style guidelines for Research in Learning Technology.
Submit manuscripts online via the Research in Learning Technology website. Step-by-step instructions on how to submit your manuscript online are available during the submission process.
Papers should be submitted by 1 May 2013.
The Special Issue will be published in autumn 2013.
Research in Learning Technology is an international, quarterly, peer-reviewed journal devoted to research and good practice in the use of learning technologies. Since 1 January 2012 Research in Learning Technology has been published as an Open Access journal by Co-Action Publishing.
Further information can be found on the journal's website.