Webheads in Action Online unConvergence:

3rd bi-annual free global online conference for teachers and education professionals

Call for Participation for WiAOC 2009, May 22-24:

Lifelong Learning, Connecting Facilitators, Transcending Borders

Webheads in Action http://webheads.info and http://webheadsinaction.or, a world-wide multi-cultural online community of ESL/EFL educators and other professionals, invites your participation in a unique international conference held entirely online. Participation is free and open to all who are interested.

Date & Location of Events

May 22-24, 2009, on the Web, at a computer near you

For information and registration go to: http://webheadsinaction.ning.com

Description of Event

WiAOC 2009 follows on the success of our first two completely free online global convergences in 2005 and 2007 (links at http://wiaoc.org ) This year's unConvergence will be a celebration of the work of educational professionals from a variety of fields in a wide variety of formats.

Why the 'un' in unConvergence? The WiAOC 2009 committee provides a framework for the convergence; however, the participants/presenters determine the focus and content of the convergence based on the identified tracks, so instead of submitting a proposal for review, we invite you to simply sign up for a time slot to present your ideas or research for discussion.

You can do so here: http://wiaoc09.pbwiki.com/schedule (request to join the wiki if wishing to present)

Who should present at WiAOC?

Students, Teachers, Educators, Administrators, IT professionals, librarians, and others interested in teaching, learning and technology. We encourage anyone interested in sharing expertise or discussing educational issues related to our theme to offer a session. WIAOC 2009 invites presentations (non-commercial only) that meet the needs of introductory through advanced users of educational technology on one or more of the conference tracks.

Tracks

• Ubiquitous and Lifelong Learning How can we leverage the unprecedented anytime anywhere access to information, networks and expertise? What teaching-learning paradigms are best suited to these new realities? How do we harness distributed learning networks and communities of practice to foster ongoing intercultural understanding, collaboration and professional development?
• Emerging and Future Educational Technology What technology and tools do you feel most impact education? What is the future of teaching and learning given the trends predicted in publications such as the Horizon Report: http://wp.nmc.org/horizon2009/ ; e.g. use of mobile devices, cloud computing, geolocationary tools, the personal web, semantic aware applications, smart objects, virtual worlds, augmented reality, gaming, ubiquitous computing
• Educational Technology Worldwide What are the practical realities of worldwide digital divisions? How do we overcome societal, administrative, technical and financial constraints to create powerful learning experiences? What joys have we encountered in intercultural collaborations?
• Technology Innovations for Teaching and Learning What technology tools, open source or otherwise, have you used successfully to engage students in the learning process, create a sense of community, or promote collaborative peer-to-peer learning? What innovative practices with web 2.0 tools/features have resulted in deeper learning or enhanced productivity? Sub topics: digital portfolios, digital storytelling, blogs, wikis, microblogging, podcasting, international collaborative projects, social networking applications, voice / VOIP tools
• Virtual Worlds and Learning To what extent is the potential future of the Internet and education being realized for teachers and learners worldwide? What locations, tools and networks are essential for broadening understanding and educational practices in virtual worlds? How are libraries, museums, universities and private organizations providing freely available educational opportunities?
• Other Feel free to offer sessions in other areas if you feel your area is pertinent to our theme.

Session Types

Proposals are invited for synchronous events, asynchronous events, or a combination of the two. Session topics can be pedagogical or technical, and might include examples of practical work with students, training sessions, reports of research or research in progress, demonstrations of new media, or descriptions or explorations of how interaction takes place over the Internet—e.g., how online communities form as a result of computer-mediated communication.

We encourage facilitators to incorporate an interactive component into the session (e.g.: an information presentation plus 15 min. question/answer period, or asynchronous presentation materials posted beforehand and a synchronous session to discuss them; interacting with other participants in hands-on demo or workshop format, etc.).

Technical Requirements

Synchronous events (including, but not limited to presentations, workshops, demonstrations, panel / roundtable discussions, chats and conversations) can be held at any of our partners' voice-enabled presentation portals, or one of your own choosing. Training and assistance will be available for presenters wishing to use our partners' venues. Asynchronous events might include bulletin board discussions, online poster sessions, integration with content management systems, or other formats.

Scheduling Presentations

To propose a session, simply join the wiki and fill in the information requested at http://wiaoc09.pbwiki.com/schedule

In order that we can finalize arrangements for presenting, streaming, recording and archiving, please sign up for a time slot by May 15, 2009. Conference

TAG

Tagged artifacts will be aggregated during and around the time of this conference.

Please tag any artifacts you create wiaoc09.

Distributing the Call for Participation

Thank you for helping us to publicize this event by sharing this CfP with all who might be interested in participating.

Find a copy of this CfP here: http://wiaoc09.pbwiki.com/Call4Participation

and linked from the sidebar at http://wiaoc09.pbwiki.com/

Hope to see you there!

The WiAOC 2009 Organization Team

http://wiaoc.org and http://webheadsinaction.ning.com