[ecrea] IxD&A special issue on Mobile Learning and Special Education call for articles

We are pleased to announce the Call for Articles for a special issue of
IxD&A focused on Mobile Learning and Special Education.  Please note
that although this special issue is broadly focused on mobile learning,
game researchers who do work on mobile games and special education are
obviously welcomed to submit their work.

The deadline for articles is February 28, 2016.  The call is listed
below; you may also see the call online at:
http://www.mifav.uniroma2.it/inevent/events/idea2010/index.php?s=102&link=call28

Please distribute to those interested in this topic.  Please contact
(egandol1 /at/ kent.edu) <mailto:(egandol1 /at/ kent.edu)> with questions.

------------------------

Dr. Richard E. Ferdig

Summit Professor of Learning Technologies

Professor, Instructional Technology

Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Technology & Teacher Education

Research Center for Educational Technology

Kent State University

http://www.ferdig.com <http://www.ferdig.com/>

(rferdig /at/ gmail.com) <mailto:(rferdig /at/ gmail.com)>

*Mobile learning and Special Education*

Guest Editors - Enrico Gandolfi, Peña Bedesem, Richard E. Ferdig, and
Cheng-Chang Lu (Kent State University)

_Important dates_

• Deadline: February 28, 2016

• Notification to the authors: March 30, 2016

• Camera ready paper: April 20, 2016

• Publication of the special issue: end of May, 2016

_Overview_

The widespread distribution of mobile devices as well as the massive
availability of mobile apps has created innovative opportunities for
teaching and learning in both general and special education.  Special
education here means “specially designed instruction, at no cost to the
parents, to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability,
including: (i) Instruction conducted in the classroom, in the home, in
hospitals and institutions, and in other settings; and (ii) Instruction
in physical education” (20 U.S.C. 1401(29)). This framework concerns
every type of disability, physical as well as cognitive, from autism to
speech/language and hearing impairments.

Mobile Learning has the potential to positively impact special education
for at least three key reasons.   First, it allows and promotes the use
of multi-sensorial inputs able to overcome possible problems of
communication, improving the resulting capacity of comprehension.
Second, the personalized support offered by mobile technology is
especially important for a child with special needs, who usually
requires individualized support. Third, the cooperative dimension that
mobile devices can create through their dynamics is a key-front in
disability studies.

Although research has supported mobile learning, the field lacks a
significant body of research in the use of mobile devices and
applications for supporting students in special education.    This is
not to discredit existing studies; however, the field needs more
research (theoretical and empirical) to further support researchers,
designers, teachers, parents, teacher educators, etc.

In light of these considerations, the special issue on Mobile Learning
and Special Education aims to stimulate proposals from researchers,
developers and educators.  Suggestions from Special Education and
Educational Technology fields are particularly encouraged. However, the
issue addresses also scholars and practitioners from Design, Art and
Computer Sciences in order to stimulate creative efforts able to push
beyond the frontiers of the topic. Finally, experts from disciplines
like Game Studies, Media Studies and STS (Science and Technology
Studies) are welcome due to related contribution in terms of engagement,
cultural analysis and oriented social/technological infrastructures.

_Topics of Interests_

• Mobile development (programming, development, production, promotion)
toward special education

• Special education teaching and learning based on mobile apps and
infrastructures for disability categories

• Assessment of the experience of the user with a disability (ID,
usability, etc.)

• Technology-mediated social patterns concerning special needs

• Participative design dealing with disabilities

• Best practices in involving, linking and supporting online
individuals, stakeholders, groups and communities connected to special
education

• Exploration of online networking opportunities to disseminate results,
support operators and stakeholders, and enable community feelings are
particularly appreciated.

_Submission procedure_

All submissions (abstracts and later final manuscripts) must be original
and may not be under review by another publication.

The manuscripts should be submitted anonymized either in .doc or in .rtf
format.

All papers will be blindly peer-reviewed by at least two reviewers.
Perspective participants are invited to submit a 8-20 pages paper
(including authors' information, abstract, all tables, figures,
references, etc.).

The paper should be written according to the IxD&A authors' guidelines .

More information on the submission procedure and on the characteristics
of the paper format can be found on the website of IxD&A Journal the
where information on the copyright policy and responsibility of authors,
publication ethics and malpractice are published.

For scientific advices and for any query please contact the contact
guest-editor:

(egandol1 /at/ kent.edu) <mailto:(egandol1 /at/ kent.edu)>

marking the subject as: 'IxD&A issue on Mobile learning and Special
Education''.





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