Monthly Archive for August, 2011

Announcing the winner of the International Award for Excellence

Published on August 29, 2011 in Headline, Journal and Newsletter. 0 Comments

Congratulations to Lindsay Davidson, Loretta Walz and Nancy Dalgarno the winners of the International Award for Excellence in the area of learning and education with their paper Simple Technology Facilitating Complex Communities: A New Paradigm for Interprofessional Education?

Abstract: The Internet, and social media in particular, have in many ways made the world a smaller place. One can share their thoughts and stories with people on the other side of the globe in an instant. Social media is often thought of in this context – connecting people at great distances in a visceral way that until fairly recently was pure science fiction. But one can also use these tools to build a strong local network and create networks to, and within local community environs. Used locally within existing communities or by linking disparate communities within a region, social media tools can help facilitate virtual face-to-face networking in a world full of timetable conflicts and “too busy to stop” professionals.  This paper will tell the story of how one interprofessional education (IPE) research project came to realize that exploiting the potential of social networking technology would ultimately create the effective relationships and synergies necessary for foundational change in real life context. Genuine collaboration through social networking at the faculty level was the necessary component that ultimately embedded interprofessional (IP) competencies in health professional education.

About the Award

The Ubiquitous Learning Journal will present an annual International Award for Excellence in the area of learning and education. All papers submitted for publication in the Ubiquitous Learning Journal are entered into consideration for this award.

The review committee for the award is the International Advisory Board for the Journal and the Conference, who will select the winning paper from the ten highest-ranked papers emerging from the referee process and according to the selection criteria outlined in the referee guidelines.

Announcing Plenary Speaker Kimiko Ryokai for 2011 Ubiquitous Learning Conference

Published on August 17, 2011 in Conference, Headline and Newsletter. 0 Comments

We are pleased to welcome Kimiko Ryokai to the 2011 Ubiquitous Learning Conference as one of our plenary speakers.

Kimiko Ryokai is an assistant professor at the School of Information and Center for New Media at UC Berkeley. She teaches courses on interface aesthetics and theory and practice of tangible user interfaces at UC Berkeley. Ryokai’s work on tangible user interfaces to support creative learning and storytelling has been presented at CHI, SIGGRAPH, CSCL, IUI (winning 4 best paper awards), as well as exhibited at international venues such as Ars Electronica Linz Austria, Children’s Museum Kyoto, Japan, AIGA, and IDSA (Gold Award). She has also conducted a number of human-centered design research projects at the internationally renowned design firm IDEO as an interaction design and human factors specialist. Ryokai received a B.A. in Linguistics and Psychology from the State University of New York at Stony Brook (1997), M.S. degree (1999) and Ph.D. (2005) in Media Arts and Sciences from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

San Francisco Walking Tour Available for 2011 Conference

Published on August 12, 2011 in Conference. 0 Comments

San Francisco Evening Walking Tour – Saturday 12 November – 6:00 PM

Evening Walking Tour of San Francisco

After meeting at the Downtown Berkeley Bay Area Rapid Transport (BART) station and riding across the Bay, our experienced tour guide will lead us through some of the historic neighborhoods of San Francisco. We will visit Union Square and Chinatown, and if time allows, we might also visit the Tao Temple, fortune cookie factory, or walk down the street of Painted Balconies.

Then we will venture to North Beach, Little Italy, and Fisherman’s wharf. Should you wish to stay in the area, be sure to ask about the wonderful restaurants and cafés!

Finally, we will ride the famous San Francisco Cable Car back to the BART station to head back to Berkeley.

Remember to wear comfortable shoes, and to eat before the tour.

Total Cost: $35 per person (Includes transportation)

Appropriate for ages 14 and up.

Limited space is available. To sign up, please visit www.cgpublisher.com

Photo Courtesy of Marcel Burkhard

Ubiquitous Learning Journal: Recently Published

Published on August 6, 2011 in Journal and Newsletter. 0 Comments

ubiquitous_frontThe latest issue of Ubiquitous Learning: An International Journal includes:


An Anthology of Educational Innovation: Digital Frameworks of Understanding

Published on August 4, 2011 in Book and Newsletter. 0 Comments

An Anthology of Educational Innovation: Digital Frameworks of Understanding edited by Caroline M. Crawford is now available as part of the Ubiquitous Learning series.

As the Digital Age embraces the concepts related to online distance education environments, the importance of conceptually grounded and innovative impact upon the success of online education environment and support tools is realized. Dr. Crawford has focused a significant part of her career upon the conception of successful distance education learning environmental instruction and support. This anthology of various intriguing select works suggests the innovative ways through which quality instruction and the development of successful online learning environment communities can be supported.

Caroline M. Crawford, Ed.D., is an Associate Professor of Instructional Technology at the University of Houston-Clear Lake in Houston, Texas, USA. At this point in Dr. Crawford’s professional career, her main areas of interest focus upon communities of learning and the appropriate and successful integration of technologies into the learning environment.