[Air-L] Final Call for Proposals: JCAL Special Issue on Learning Analytics in Simulations, Games, Virtual Worlds, and MOOCs

[Lee, Mark]

Dear colleagues,

Contributions are being solicited for a special issue of the Journal of Computer Assisted Learning (JCAL) on 'Learning Analytics in Massively Multiuser Games, Virtual Environments and Courses'. The scope of the issue includes both massively multiplayer online games (e.g. World of Warcraft) and virtual worlds (e.g. Second Life) as well as massive open online courses (MOOCs), whether they be 'xMOOCs' delivered via one of the major MOOC platforms (Udacity, Coursera, edX) or connectivist-style 'cMOOCs' offered independently of those platforms.

The Call for Papers is available at http://goo.gl/2STf3V .

Importantly, while the special issue is intended to be about the use of learning analytics with very large numbers (hundreds, thousands or tens of thousands) of students, scholars who have conducted or are conducting studies with slightly smaller student numbers should not be discouraged from submitting proposals – particularly if they are able to show proof of concept for larger-scale applications. The editors are especially likely to consider studies on learning analytics in immersive simulations, games and virtual worlds involving fewer participants, since the use of such environments as part of massive courses remains in its infancy. However, it will be necessary for the author(s) to include a detailed discussion of how what is being reported or proposed might be scaled to accommodate a 'massive' situation.

Proposals consisting of 500-word abstracts and 7-10 key references are due on 7 October 2013, and the deadline for submission of full manuscripts is 27 January 2014.

Queries regarding the special issue should be directed to jcal.specialissues at gmail.com (but please note that proposals and full manuscripts are not to be sent to this address - see the Call for Papers for submission instructions).

Kind regards,


Paul A. Kirschner (Open University of the Netherlands), JCAL Editor-in-Chief
Liesbeth Kester (Open University of the Netherlands), JCAL Associate Editor
Mark J. W. Lee (Charles Sturt University), JCAL Editor-in-Charge of Special Issues