The European Conference on Technology Enhanced Learning (EC-TEL) is a unique opportunity for researchers, practitioners, educational developers, and policy makers to address current challenges and advances in the field. Through EC-TEL, established and emerging researchers as well as practitioners, entrepreneurs, and technology developers explore new collaborations, strengthen networks, and complement their core expertise.

Developments in information and communication technology, for example new communication patterns like in social applications, mobile devices and ubiquitous network access, together with social and economical changes lead to a networked world. The increasing networking in different scales from global to local is having a profound effect on learning and teaching. It makes new forms of collaborative and personalized learning experiences reality. Learners shift between formal, non-formal and informal learning. They come together in different social settings and communities. Teachers roles are also subject to change.

There is a pressing need to shape learning arrangements in such a way that they exploit the potentials and meet the requirements of a networked world. To address these challenges the theme of EC-TEL 2015 is Design for Teaching and Learning in a Networked World.

Conference Topics

From both research and innovative practice perspectives the following topics of interest to the conference include, but are not limited to:

Technological underpinning

    Large-scale sharing and interoperability
    Personalization, user modelling and adaptation
    Learning analytics
    Context-aware systems
    Recommender systems for TEL
    Adapted learning flow, content and monitoring process
    Serious games and 3D virtual worlds
    Augmented reality
    Social computing and social media
    Semantic Web
    Natural language processing and latent semantic analysis
    Mobile technologies (tablets & smartphones)
    Network infrastructures and architectures for TEL
    Sensors and sensor networks
    Roomware, ambient displays and wearable devices
    Cloud Computing in TEL
    eLearning specifications and standards
    Interoperability of devices, tools and architectures

Pedagogical underpinning

    Problem- and project-based learning / Inquiry based learning
    Computer-supported collaborative learning
    Collaborative knowledge building
    Game-based and simulation-based learning
    Story-telling and reflection-based learning
    Learning design and design approaches
    Communities of learners and communities of practice
    Teaching techniques and strategies for online learning
    Learner motivation and engagement
    Evaluation methods for TEL

Individual, social & organizational learning processes

    Cognitive mechanisms in knowledge acquisition and construction
    Self-regulated and self-directed learning
    Reflective learning
    Social processes in teams and communities
    Learning group formation
    Social awareness
    Trust and reputation in TEL
    Knowledge management and organizational learning

Learning communities and contexts

    Schools and universitues of the future
    Applications of TEL in various domains
    Formal education: initial (K-12, higher education), post-initial (continuing education)
    Workplace learning
    Global learning communities
    Lifelong learning
    Vocational training
    Informal learning
    Non-formal learning
    Ubiquitous learning
    Seamless learning

Open Learning Arrangements 

    Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC)
    Open educational resources (OER)
    Learning Networks
    Teacher Networks
    Bring your own Device (BYOD)
    Orchestration of learning activities
    Learning ecologies, learning ecosystems, fitness and evolvability of learning environments
    Business models for TEL

TEL in developing countries and for users with special needs

    ICT Inclusion for learning
    Digital divide and learning
    Generation divide and learning
    Education policies
    Promoting learning and employability within disadvantaged groups and communities
    Rural learning
    Accessible learning for all
    Visual, hearing and physical impairments
    Psycho-pedagogic support for users
    Standards about accessibility and learning

Submission Formats

Submissions will be handled through EasyChair (https://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=ectel2015). All papers will be reviewed through a non-blind review process. Accepted papers will be published in the conference proceedings. "As every year, we will publish proceedings within Springer “Lecture Notes in Computer Science” (LNCS) Series". The use of supplied template is mandatory: http://www.springer.com/computer/lncs?SGWID=0-164-7-72376-0

    Full Papers: max. 14 pages, published in proceedings
    Short Papers: max. 6 pages, published in proceeding
    Demonstration Papers: max. 4 pages (published in proceedings) plus max. 2 additionals pages describing the demo (not published in proceedings)
    Poster Papers: max. 4 pages (published in proceedings)
    Workshop proposals: max. 4 pages, not published in proceedings.

DEMONSTRATIONS

The EC-TEL Demonstration session is your chance to fully engage EC-TEL attendees at a personal level by letting them see, touch, squeeze, or hear your visions for the future of TEL, or demonstrate highly interactive ‘TEL in Action’ (e.g. through videos, implemented tools, or real-time learning experiences). We expect that your Demonstration will be a reliably running prototype of your vision that is ready to be tried out, questioned and interacted with.

You need to submit a concise scientific description of your research prototype, clearly showing how your technological innovation realises a clear learning innovation. This needs to be in a paper that is a maximum 4 pages long including references that will be published in the EC-TEL 2015 proceedings if accepted. In addition describe on maximum 2 pages how your prototype presented at the conference booth will look like.

At the conference, all accepted demonstrations will be invited to participate in the EC-TEL 2015 Demo-Shootout session. The participants of the EC-TEL Demo-Shootout session will vote for the best EC-TEL prototype in this session and the winner will be awarded.

In particular, we encourage Demonstration submissions that complement an EC-TEL Paper submission, so that attendees can get a direct experience of your work in addition to the scientific presentation.

POSTERS

Posters report on significant work in progress. We are planning a poster session in which you can present your work and elicit feedback from EC-TEL participants. Please submit a paper up to a maximum of 4 pages long including references describing your work and the results that you plan to achieve until September 2015. It will be published in the EC-TEL 2015 proceedings if accepted.

WORKSHOPS

EC-TEL 2015 offers the opportunity to host several workshops. Workshop organizers interested to coordinate a workshop are requested to submit a proposal of maximum 4 pages.  A proposal shall include 1) the theme of the workshop, 2) workshop format, 3) expected participants, 4) domains addressed, 5) dissemination activities, 6) workshop organizing committee, 7) plans for publishing workshop papers, and 8) organizational requirements. 8) Please also include whether your workshop is planned as  full-day or half-day workshop and what day you prefer for the workshop (a day or half day on 15 Sept or 18 Sept (There is no guarantee that we can arrange your preference due to space restrictions.)). 9) Please also outline the workshop timeline, especially, submission date, which should be around mid of June, and notification date, mid of July (not later than 15 July 2015), since the early-bird registration for  participants of EC-TEL ends 24 July 2015. We plan to add this timeline as information about the workshops on the EC-TEL Website, together with links to the workshops individual websites. Note that we expect the accepted workshop websites to be online by 8 May 2015. Workshop proposals should be submitted via the EasyChair system of EC-TEL due to 25 March 2015.

Workshop organizers are encouraged to propose innovative and interactive formats, which will be given priority in the selection process. The workshop selection will be handled competitively: proposals will be ranked according to their fit with EC-TEL’s topics, innovativeness, extent of interaction, overall quality, and comprehensiveness of planning.

Identification of workshop participants, solicitation of workshop contributions and publication of workshop outcomes will be handled by the workshop organizers themselves. In publishing the workshop contributions, workshop organizers are encouraged to target high-quality publication outlets (international impact-rated journals, including special issues in these).

PROJECT MEETINGS

In addition to the regular sessions and workshops, EC-TEL offers a unique opportunity for European Projects in TEL to hold face-to-face meetings. Please contact the local organization chair at your earliest convenience to book meeting rooms.

DOCTORAL CONSORTIUM

The EC-TEL Doctoral Consortium brings together Ph.D. students working on topics related to Technology Enhanced Learning providing them an exceptional opportunity to present, discuss, and receive feedback on their research in an interdisciplinary and international atmosphere. Prominent professors and researchers in the field of Technology Enhanced Learning will provide formative feedback to the selected papers through the review process and contribute actively to discussions at the workshop. The Doctoral Consortium will take place immediately before the EC-TEL 2015 conference.

The intention of this doctoral consortium is to support and inspire Ph.D. students during their ongoing research efforts. Therefore, it is necessary that authors will have neither achieved their Ph.D. degree nor officially submitted their thesis before the doctoral consortium (September 2015). To enforce this rule we require authors to disclose their expected graduation date and their advisor's name when submitting.

Information about

    Doctoral Consortium Eligibility,
    Application Process, Submission and Review
    Dates 

can be found at the Doctoral Consortium section.