[ecrea] Cfp: Digital Tools for Collaborative Teaching, Learning and Research: A Small School’s Perspective

Mobility Shifts: An International Future of Learning Summit (The New 
School, New York, Oct 10-16, 2011) will host the workshop

Digital Tools for Collaborative Teaching, Learning and Research: A Small 
School’s Perspective
http://mobilityshifts.org/index.php?cID=480


*Wednesday, October 12, 3:00-5:30 pm
3:00-5:30 pm
/Orozco Room, Alvin Johnson/J.M. Kaplan Hall, 66 West 12th St., 7th floor/*

*Geoff Gilbert *(The American University of Paris, France)
*Mark Hayward 
<http://mobilityshifts.org/conference/participants/keynotes/mark-hayward/> 
*(The American University of Paris)
*Claudia Roda 
<http://mobilityshifts.org/conference/participants/keynotes/claudia-roda/> 
*(The American University of Paris)

This workshop will examine how the integration of digital and mobile 
media into teaching and research has been experienced at smaller 
colleges and universities globally. While the horizontal and distributed 
nature of digital networks is often seen as making questions of distance 
and scale irrelevant, this workshop aims to provide a framework for 
discussion which recognizes that, while these technologies have changed 
our experience of the world around us, the institutions in which we work 
continue to condition the way in which we do or don’t make use of the 
tools available.

A smaller number of staff as well as limited financial resources for the 
purchasing and maintenance of information infrastructure on campus 
produces a very particular set of constraints when it comes to the 
adoption of digital media.  At the same time, smaller institutions are 
often defined by pedagogical practice that gives space for more 
personalized relationships between students and faculty as well as 
providing the opportunity of greater collaboration across departments 
and disciplines.  What, then, possibilities are there for digital 
scholarship and education at smaller institutions?

*Questions addressed*

The questions that the workshop aims to address include, but are not 
limited to:

   * What are the ways in which digital and mobile technologies have
     been incorporated into curricula and research at small
     institutions? Participants are welcome to share their experiments,
     successes, and failures with the group.
   * How have different projects translated these technologies into the
     specific pedagogical and institutional cultures of their
     institutions? How do they contribute to the educational processes?
     How is this contribution measured?
   * What is the impact of these technologies on small classrooms
     environments where personal relationships, privacy, and trust, are
     central to the building of a successful learning experience? How
     do these relationships translate across linguistic and cultural
     differences in the classroom and beyond?
   * How have these technologies contributed to the building of
     communities and collaborations? What are the processes necessary
     to sustain culturally and locally specific knowledge? How do such
     /knowledges/ relate to projects that seek to contribute to
     students' global awareness?
   * The high costs of these technologies and/or of the human
     investment required to have often meant that smaller institutions
     have been hesitant or unable to finance major investments in
     digital media. How have different contexts adapted to the economic
     constraints, finding low-cost alternatives to developing a
     digitally-engaged curriculum? What kinds of funding agencies have
     different groups worked with to receive support?

*Call for Contributions*

We invite prospective participants to submit, by September 20 2011, a 
position paper addressing one or more of the above questions or 
proposing a related area of inquiry to be considered by the group.

Position papers should not exceed 2000 words and should be addressed to 
(digi4school /at/ aup.edu) <mailto:(digi4school /at/ aup.edu)>.

We would appreciate receiving expressions of interest with a tentative 
topic / title as soon as possible and we would be happy to answer any 
questions you may have.

*Workshop format*

These position papers will be circulated prior to the meeting in New 
York. It is our hope to be able to facilitate the development for a 
short report which might serve as a resource for other interested 
individuals working at small institutions that would provide examples 
for the adoption of digital technology, models for thinking about its 
place in the curriculum at small teaching-oriented institutions and 
organizations that might provide technical or financial support.