[Air-L] CFP: Learning With MOOCs 2017 (October 8-10, 2017, Austin, Texas)

[Vitomir Kovanovic]

We are proud to announce the Fourth LWMOOC Conference to be held at the university of Texas, Austin, Oct 8-10, 2017. The theme of this year’s conference is Developing and Advancing Careers with MOOCs.

Though initial visions of MOOCs as free learning resources for the masses have not yet been the reality, millions of learners around the world are using MOOCs to support professional development and career advancement. This activity represents an important shift from the top-down model of university degrees to a learner-generated, micro-credentialing “bottom-up” model. How will the research community respond to help ensure that technology-mediated instruction at scale continues to be more learner-focussed and community enhanced? What work can we initiate or surface that allows for underserved learners to benefit from more accessible opportunities for career advancement? How can we create the kind of socially supportive online contexts that are conducive for career development, especially for the underserved? And what resources might make this more possible?

We are now welcoming submissions at the LWMOOC EasyChair page [https://easychair.org/cfp/lwmooc17] where you can see the full CFP.  All submissions should be made using the extended abstract format [download] and should be 500 words maximum. Submission deadline is June 15, 2017.

Details about travel and accommodations are available at the conference website.  A draft program is currently available on the website and will be updated as speakers and panelists confirm. In the meantime, we invite you to register for the event by September 18, 2017. Click here to register.

Sincerely,
Carolyn Rose, Anne Trumbore, and Harrison Keller

- Carolyn Rose, Professor, Language Technologies Institute and Human-Computer Interaction Institute, Carnegie Mellon University
- Anne Trumbore, Senior Director, Wharton Online, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
- Harrison Keller, Deputy to the President for Strategy and Policy, University of Texas, Austin


CALL FOR PAPERS: LEARNING WITH MOOCS 2017
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Theme: Developing and Advancing Careers with MOOCs Overview
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Though initial visions of MOOCs as free learning resources for the masses have not yet been the reality, millions of learners around the world are using MOOCs to support professional development and career advancement. This activity represents an important shift from the top-down model of university degrees to a learner-generated, micro-credentialing “bottom-up” model. How will the research community respond to help ensure that technology-mediated instruction at scale continues to be more learner-focussed and community enhanced? What work can we initiate or surface that allows for underserved learners to benefit from more accessible opportunities for career advancement? How can we create the kind of socially supportive online contexts that are conducive for career development, especially for the underserved? And what resources might make this more possible?

The growth of digital learning communities, both in terms of research and practice, is part of a broader societal transition to a digital and data-driven world. Reports of future mass upheaval in employment driven by artificial intelligence are starting to cause alarm. Today, cognitive technologies can learn and in some cases outperform humans. While we cannot predict the exact nature of these technological disruptions, we can see foresee the growing need for continuing education and associated development of social capital in order for humans to remain competitive in the workforce. Against  this backdrop, the theme and guiding focus for LWMOOC4 is:

How can MOOCs be used for career advancement, especially for the under-employed? How can we better support career advancement with MOOCs?
As the influence of MOOCs and digital learning in general grow, it’s time to review many of the assumptions that researchers and practitioners currently hold. Are we creating the type of knowledge infrastructure through digital learning that will enable a generation of creative, innovative, honest, considerate, socially responsible, motivated, and full-filled learners? Or are we meeting AI in the middle by dumbing down and automating our learning needs to such a degree that the machines ought to take over?

The questions for LWMOOC4 include:
* How are MOOCs currently contributing to personal development and career advancement?
* What are notable successes in the MOOC space with underserved or underemployed learners?
* What are the biggest gaps in learning support and feedback offered in MOOCs, especially when considering underserved and underemployed learners?
* How can be better harness the resources students have to offer one another, through peer feedback, collaboration, and help exchange?
* What are successes and challenges in the space of supporting learning through social interaction in MOOCs?


Topics
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We call for submissions to LWMOOC IV from a diversity of disciplines and topics (see details below). In particular, we invite submissions that build on the main theme of the conference and highlight the strength of the core MOOC research community, with the important input from the other related research domains. We invite submissions related to research, practice, and theory related to MOOCs. Specific topics, though not limited to these, include:

* MOOCs used officially and unofficially in the workforce
* Problem-based learning and authentic/contextual learning environments
* Social and affective computing
* The role of specific human constructs, such as imagination, joy, and amazement, in MOOCs
* New pedagogical processes with MOOCs, particularly around social and peer pedagogies
* New and emerging models of instructional design, especially student-centered design approaches
* Difference in pedagogies between work environments and school environments. Do they exist? Should they?
* Learning analytics and MOOCs
* Learning sciences and new research models based on digital learning and MOOCs
* Use of learner data outside university domain (i.e. Corporation, LinkedIn, etc)
* Tools for collaboration, feedback, testing and content delivery
* Metrics of success for learners and instructors of MOOCs/Evaluation of MOOCs
* MOOCs and localized support (e. g., meetups and instructor meetings)
* Development of multiple pathways for learners
* Machine learning, AI, and MOOCs: what is new?

Submissions instructions
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All submissions to the LWMOOC4 should be made using the extended abstract format [link] and should be 500 words maximum. Submissions will be received and processed with LWMOOCSEasyChair page [https://easychair.org/cfp/lwmooc17].

Conference proceedings
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Similar to the 2016 conference, we will publish a proceedings of all accepted conference submissions. The proceedings will include abstracts as well as the presentation slides that will serve as a written record of the conference.

Key dates
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* Abstract submissions (500 words): June15, 2017
* Notifications of acceptance: July 15, 2017
* Learning with MOOCs 2017 conference: October 8-10, 2017

Program Chairs
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- Carolyn Rose, Professor, Language Technologies Institute and Human-Computer Interaction Institute, Carnegie Mellon University
- Anne Trumbore, Senior Director, Wharton Online, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania


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