eelearning <-- (that isn't a typo)

--from an e-mail from Jim Morrison the Editor-in-Chief of Innovate ----

Innovate is issuing a call for papers for a special issue devoted to the emerging field of “ee-learning.”

We have become familiar with “e-learning” or (E)lectronic Learning, which uses communication technologies to connect students and instructors separated by distance and/or by time, and to provide students with access to learning resources and interaction. And there is a long history of (E)xperiential Education, where learning takes place in the “real world” of work and service and governing and the other institutions we create to organize our encounters and interests.

Historically, electronic and experiential learning have been unique and separate domains of study and practice. The joining of the two e’s in “ee-learning” provides an opportunity to define and organize an emerging pedagogy that brings together these two domains.

ee-Learning offers the possibility of ending (or at least dramatically reducing) the distance between the academic disciplines and the practices they are designed to inform and illuminate. ee-Learning allows the settings of the world–businesses, service agencies, government offices, or community centers–to be the primary scene of instruction, making it possible for students to learn by applying theory to practice in these settings. Communication technologies allow students engaged in such settings to act as a learning community by engaging with each other as well as their teachers and colleagues, and to reflect on their experiences. Instructors help students relate their experiences to the bodies of knowledge of the curriculum, and to extend their learning by use of the rich resources found on the Internet as well as books and the older media of instruction. The combination of real-world experience and communication technologies can provide learning opportunities not available in the traditional classroom setting.

We solicit manuscripts that illustrate the possibilities and challenges of ee-learning pedagogy. Key questions for consideration may include the following:

1. How does ee-learning impact our traditional views of learning as separate from practice in the real world? As needing a specialized and set-apart environment called “school” or “college”?
2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of minimizing the traditional role of the classroom and face-to-face contact with fellow students and faculty?
3. What is the potential impact of ee-learning on the roles of teachers, students, and learning support services?
4. What is the potential impact of ee-learning on the structure of colleges, universities, and public schools?

If you would like to submit a manuscript for this special issue on ee-learning, please refer to the submission guidelines described in the “Submit an Article” link from the main page of Innovate (www.innovateonline.info) and send it to the special issue editor, Steve Eskow (drseskow@cox.net) and to the editor-in-chief, James Morrison (jlm@nova.edu). Deadline for submissions is April 30, 2006.

A discussion forum for this special issue has been opened within the Innovate-Live Portal at http://www.uliveandlearn.com/innovate/. In order to participate in the Innovate-Live interactive webcasts and community, you must be a member of the Innovate-Live Portal. Please register at http://www.uliveandlearn.com/innovate/register.cfm

Best.

Jim
----
James L. Morrison
Editor-in-Chief, Innovate
http://www.innovateonline.info
Professor Emeritus of Educational Leadership
UNC-Chapel Hill
http://horizon.unc.edu