MOOCS – Call for Papers for EMI Special Issue

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What is it Like to Learn and Participate in MOOCs?

Special Issue – Call for papers

Educational Media International – Scholarly Peer-Reviewed Journal

published by Taylor & Francis – http://tinyurl.com/k24mr3c

Overview

While during 2011-2012 the mass media were largely exuberant about MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), claiming that these courses will revolutionize and democratize access to education, in 2013-2014 anti-MOOC sentiment rose amidst concerns pertaining to completion rates, sustainable business models, and pedagogical effectiveness. Heated debates on the status quo and future of higher education have ensued since then. The aim of the special issue is to add to our understanding of learner experiences in MOOCs by providing answers the question: What is it like to learn and participate in MOOCs?

The availability of large-scale data sets also appears to have shaped the research questions that are being asked about MOOCs, and, while significant insights are developed via that research route, the field will benefit tremendously by gaining a better understanding and appreciation of learners’ experiences. To address these issues and to support the development of the field, we invite authors to submit manuscripts investigating the learner experience in massive open online courses.  Manuscripts can be of three types:

  • Empirical. Such manuscripts should follow rigor guidelines appropriate for the research methods used.
  • Systematic reviews of the literature and literature meta-syntheses.
  • Theoretical manuscripts, contributing to the development of theory pertaining to learner experiences in open courses.

We are interested in hosting a forum for leading edge contributions to the nascent field that help us make sense of learner experiences, and allow practitioners and researchers to benefit from these contributions. Towards this aim, recommended topics of interest for this special issue include, but are not limited to, the following research questions:

  • What is it like to learn in massive open online courses?
  • What are learners’ experiences in open courses?
  • Why are learners participating in open courses in the ways that they do?
  • What are learner-learner and learner-instructor interactions like?
  • How do learners respond to various instructional design decisions and instructor roles?
  • How do learners perceive their relationships with each other, content, instructors, institutions, and MOOC providers?

 

Submission Process

Interested authors should submit 500-word abstracts and 300 word bios by

December 19, 2014 via email at moocs@cardet.org.

Submissions should include short descriptions of the following:

  • Identified gap/problem addressed
  • Methods or modes of inquiry
  • Data sources
  • (in-progress or final) results

Invitations to submit full papers will be send on or before January 9, 2014. Manuscripts should be formatted using APA style and should be 6,000 words, including references.

DATES

The process to be followed thereafter is as follows:

  • December 19, 2014: Bio and paper abstract submission via email at moocs@cardet.org
  • March 1, 2015: Full-length papers due via email at moocs@cardet.org
  • May 1, 2015:  Notification of acceptance/rejections
  • June 30, 2015: Final papers with revisions due
  • 2015: Special issue is published

Special Issue Editors

Dr. George Veletsianos
Canada Research Chair in Innovative Learning and Technology
Associate Professor
Royal Roads University, Victoria, BC, Canada.
http://www.veletsianos.com

 

Dr. Vrasidas Charalambos
Executive Director, CARDET (www.cardet.org)
Associate Professor of Learning Innovations
Associate Dean for e-learning, University of Nicosia, Cyprus.
https://www.vrasidas.com