Malaysian e-Learning Council for Public Universities, OpenLearning to host Social Learning Conference

by Raja Fariz | Aug 2, 2017 | Uncategorized

• Held at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia from Nov 27-28, 2017
• Technology is a means to provide equal access to quality education across the globe

OpenLearning chief executive officer and co-founder Adam Brimo (left) and MEIPTA chairman Assoc. Professor Dr. Alyani Ismail

THE Malaysian e-Learning Council for Public Universities (MEIPTA) and OpenLearning announced their first Social Learning Conference, aimed at exploring a move beyond traditional instructivist education towards constructivist teaching and learning strategies, which fosters student knowledge co-creation and knowledge transfer.

The two-day conference will be held at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia on Nov 27 and 28, 2017.

The Social Learning Conference brings together academics, educators, researchers, instructional designers, technology specialists and government officials from Malaysia, Australia, US, UK and other countries around the world, in discussions, keynotes, as well as interactive workshops that seek to provide extensive networking opportunities for participants.

Online learning growth in Malaysia

Under the Malaysian Higher Education Blueprint 2015-2025, the Ministry of Higher Education aims to have 30% of all public university courses online by 2020. The growth of online learning including Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) is part of the government’s strategic plan to increase the quality and accessibility of higher education.

“Creating dynamic and innovative online learning environments enables university students to have a meaningful learning experience. Malaysia is committed to ensuring the success of e-learning among public universities in the country and MEIPTA, as Malaysia’s lead government arm on e-learning, is pleased to partner with OpenLearning in hosting our first ever Social Learning conference and to coordinate strategic programmes for online learning at all 20 public universities in the country,” said MEIPTA chairman Assoc. Professor Dr. Alyani Ismail.

Constructivism and online learning

Constructivism suggests that learning is an active and continuous process where each student will base their learning on the understanding and meaning which is personal to them. Students are encouraged to be actively engaged in their process of learning within and beyond the lecture room, where the lecturer or educator acts as a mediator and facilitates collaboration and interaction between students.

“We believe that education should be accessible to all, and technology is a means for us to provide equal access to quality education across the globe. We are excited for the conference to be a catalyst to encourage academics, educators and learning institutions at large to move beyond traditional instructivist approaches and content delivery to a more constructivist learning environment,” said OpenLearning chief executive officer and co-founder Adam Brimo.

“We look forward to bringing together these brilliant and dedicated minds in education for a substantive discussion toward our common goal of building effective learning environments today.”

Call for papers and material submission

The conference welcomes contributions from academics and educators, including research findings, abstracts, constructive, experimental, and empirical work relating to Social Learning. These submissions will be assessed by a diverse panel of expert reviewers who may invite contributors to speak, run workshops or be part of panel discussions.

Selected paper submissions will also be collated and published in a conference proceeding. Papers are to be submitted under four themes: Community, Contribution & Connectedness, Beyond Content & Quizzes, Behavioural Learning Analytics and Rethinking Assessment.

2x travel grants for best papers

OpenLearning will sponsor a travel grant for one winner each from the Best Research Paper and Best Beyond Papers categories respectively. Each winner will receive return economy flights plus four-days/three nights’ accommodation, and a two-day conference pass.

An expert panel of reviewers will select the two winners that can bring the greatest contribution to our conference agenda.

Leading up to conference, OpenLearning has designed a Social Learning Conference Course 2017 to foster communities of practice among innovative educators. The course will be launching early November and has now opened for registration for anyone interested in attending the event. To join the course and start shaping conference discussions and accessing resources visit: http://start.openlearning.com/social-learning-conference-course-2017/

For more information on the conference and registration, call for papers and the travel grants, visit sociallearningconference.com

source : https://www.digitalnewsasia.com/digital-economy/malaysian-e-learning-council-public-universities-openlearning-host-social-learning